Colin S. Smith's Blog, page 70

Why Your Children Need to Understand that They’re Image Bearers

“Lord, help me see my girls the way you see them.”

This is a normal prayer for me. I say it nearly every day, sometimes multiple times a day. It’s often answered as the Lord helps me soften my responses and tailor my discipline. However, recently this prayer was answered through old school FM radio.

The voice coming through the speaker shared the biblical truth that we are all image bearers of God. This means that everyone—even those people we find offensive, or unlovable, or consider enemies of God—were created in his image.

Created in God’s Image

The Bible only takes 26 verses before it tells us that we are created in God’s image:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

I knew this. But it was like my heart heard it for the first time. And then, in the rearview mirror, I saw my three girls.

These girls are stunning because of their similarities and their differences, their strengths and their weaknesses, but mostly because they are image bearers of God. Yes, these beautiful little ladies that make me batty one second and make my heart crumble into a million pieces the next, are created in the image of God himself.

Of course, their sinful nature and sinful choices cloud and corrupt the image they bear. But when I pause long enough, I can see God’s reflection. I can see him as Creator in the way my daughter sketches the flowers in our front yard. I can see his joy in the way the littlest one throws her head back in full-bellied giggles.

But this isn’t just a sweet thought to hold on, it’s a truth that transforms. Here are five reason why we and our children need to understand that we are made in the image of God.

Why We Need to Understand that We Bear God’s Image
1. It clarifies our identity.

By remembering that my daughters are image bearers of God, I parent them with a better understanding of who they are and to whom they belong. They are not mine. Created in God’s image, they belong completely to him. Therefore, my training, correction, and discipline take on a new meaning.

I am simply the Lord’s ambassador in my home, and it’s my role to help them understand his Lordship, rather than make myself lord (2 Corinthians 5:20).

And because they are created by him, they were created to be like him, not like me. This means that their interests, their traits, and their futures may look very different from mine. I am a writer, but I shouldn’t expect to raise a bunch of little writers (although I wouldn’t complain).

They are unique, and they are uniquely made for him, for his glory (Psalm 100:3).

2. It glorifies the work of Jesus.

When I remember that my girls are image bearers of God, the glory of the Jesus Christ gets much bigger. So often I think of the gospel as only a message of Jesus saving sinners from hell. But, the gospel is both about Christ saving sinners and about him sanctifying them towards what they were always intended to be—“little Christs.”

Teach your kids what they are called to in Christ, and not just what they are saved from.
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Because of this truth, my parenting is now empowered to rebuke and exhort with patience, with the goal of teaching my girls what they are called to in Christ, and not just what they are saved from (2 Timothy 4:2).

And, prayerfully, as each one of my daughters surrenders their life in repentance and faith to Christ as their Savior, they become willing participants in the sanctification process that follows. I can tell my girls:

…To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

The Holy Spirit produces in them the communicable attributes of God, enabling them to bear God’s image rightly, which ultimately brings him glory.

3. It shapes our worldview.

Teaching my girls that they are image bearers of God sets them up to stand firm on a biblical, God-centered worldview.

If they understand that they are created in God’s image, then they will better understand what it means to have God be the Lord of their life. Instead of raising them with a humanistic perspective that inevitably robs humanity of its value, I am raising them to experience the joy of understanding that their intrinsic value comes from God’s image. Jen Wilkin says it this way:

Fullness of joy results when we seek to reflect our Maker. It is what we were created to do. It is the very will of God for our lives. (Jen Wilkin) [1]

4. It changes the way we see others.

With the image-bearer worldview, my girls will be able to see the value of others. Prayerfully, this knowledge will help them be kind, justice-seekers, defenders of the weak, and loving speakers of the truth. With the biblical perspective that all people are created in God’s image, life becomes more valuable, friendship becomes more powerful, communities become more united, and we become more compassionate (Matthew 5:14-16; Mark 16:15).

5. It fuels holy motivation for good works.

This truth challenges me to better pair discipline with instruction—to not only tell my children what not to do, but show them what they should do because God has redeemed them by sending his own Son to the cross for their sin and raised him from the dead for their new life, thus restoring the image he imprinted upon them.

I can open conversations about what God is like, how he loves, how he is righteous, truthful, patient, gracious, and full of mercy, and how we ought to strive to be like him.

And I can talk to them about how being redeemed image bearers of Jesus means we are also light bearers, calling others away from the darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).

My prayer to see my girls the way God sees them was answered when God reminded me by his Word that they are made in his image.

With this knowledge, my parenting is given a renewed focus on helping them see their identity in Christ, their sanctification by the power of the Holy Spirit, and their life’s purpose with God as Lord. And I have the honor of walking alongside them as we all learn to better love others and serve God because he made us and loved us first.

[1. Jen Wilkin (2018). “In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us To Reflect His Character.”][Photo Credit: Lightstock]

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The post Why Your Children Need to Understand that They’re Image Bearers appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

A Hurried Life Isn’t a Holy Life

In college, every hour of my life was scheduled in a color-coded planner, made and kept with meticulous precision.

Senior year, I worked a full-time job, took 23 credit hours per semester, and made the Dean’s list for the eighth consecutive semester. Purple designated “free time” in my planner, which was immediately assigned a task so that no “free time” actually existed. Therefore, purple meant I was meeting with girls for discipleship, prayer, and Bible studies, cooking for other discipleship groups, and serving at church or on campus ministry teams.

People praised me for my capacity. But I was a slave to my schedule. I kept it excessively full and pushed myself beyond human capabilities. For I believed saying “No” to people meant I was being lazy, and therefore dishonoring God, and wasting my season of life.

Six years post-graduation, I no longer have a color-coded planner, but my default continues to be overstretching, overexhausting, and overestimating my limitations. In my head, my capacity should be bigger. I’ve walked with the Lord longer. Shouldn’t I be able to handle a fuller schedule? Shouldn’t I be able to sleep less and squeeze more into a 24-hour period while never losing traction, or joy, or having even the tiniest twinge of exhaustion? No, that’s insanity—and I fall for it almost every time.

Three Searching Questions to Ask Concerning Your Schedule

It’s so easy to believe the lie that busyness equals productivity. Or, that keeping a schedule full of good things proves we’re contributing to the kingdom of God.

Maybe you can relate. Maybe your life is filled with constant motion—sports, academic obligations, church, work, meetings, cleaning, keeping tiny humans alive, chauffeuring kids, or managing a home or office. Our hectic, fast-paced, Energizer-Bunny lives of constant going and going and going can fool us into believing we’re doing something for “the greater good”—and maybe we are.

Or maybe we’re blinded by the tyranny of “doing.” Either way, a hurried life is not what Jesus died for.

So, brothers and sisters, let’s take a look at our schedules. Let’s hit the pause button of our lives, take a deep breath, and ask three searching questions.

1. What does your schedule reflect about your Lord?

Our activity flows directly from our view of God. What do our schedules say about the God we claim to follow?

Do they say that he is sovereign, omnipotent, and all-sufficient? Do they demonstrate that he is full of mercy, joy, and rest? And do they affirm that Jesus said, “It is finished” on the cross, and that we work in response to what Christ has completed?

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24-25)

Does our lifestyle display Christ’s lordship and greatness (Psalm 145:2-3)? Can we really maintain hectic busyness for the glory of God? Can we honestly evaluate our present pace of life and say, “This is a schedule made to him, and through him, and for him, to him be glory forever” (Romans 11:36)?

If not, our eyes and calendars may need to be recalibrated to better see (and therefore worship) the Lord in the splendor of his holiness (Psalm 29:2).

We are to be found faithful; not smart, cool, rich, clever, famous, creative. Faithful.
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Are we constantly rushing? Perhaps we need to be reminded that God never sleeps so we can (Psalm 121:3-4).

Are we constantly maxing out our schedules? Perhaps we need to be reminded God spins the world by himself (Isaiah 44:24).

Are we constantly feeling pressure to go and do for the kingdom? Perhaps we need to be reminded that our security, approval, worth, and value are not determined by what we can accomplish, but in what Jesus has accomplished (Galatians 3:12-14).

We cannot reflect the beauty of our limitless God if we’re too busy trying to be him, or too busy in general. Though followers of Jesus are not to be lazy (may it never be), we should be the most at-rest people, as we serve the God who has complete sovereignty over every atom in the universe.

The gospel frees us from relentless pressure of having to prove ourselves and secure our identity through work…for we are already proven and secure. (Tim Keller)

2. Are you being faithful?

There are always more committees to join, things to do, and people to meet with. But what have you been called to right now? Maybe you can’t say yes to as many things in this season as you could the last, or maybe you can say it more. But what is priority? Essential? What has God called you to be immediately faithful in?

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)

We are to be found faithful; not smart, cool, rich, clever, famous, creative, or always-exhausted-because-they-do-so-much. Faithful. God is looking for faithfulness to himself and to the tasks he has currently assigned us (Ephesians 2:10).

As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5)

Did you hear that? Fulfill your ministry. Not someone else’s. Not everyone else’s.

Run the race marked out for you. Learn from men of God but don’t try to be them—be you. (Matt Chandler)

If you’re reading this, I’m sure you don’t want to waste your life. You want to spend and be spent for the glory of God and the joy of others. But staying busy does not ensure that happening. We can be spread so thin that we become unfaithful in the most important areas of our calling. One of my best friends is constantly preaching that we must learn to say no to good things in order to say yes to the best things.

3. Have you surrendered your schedule to Christ?

The core of our frenetic lives is not dependence on God, but a desperate urge to control every detail of our lives. We don’t like depending on his sufficiency, but rather, flexing our muscles to show our worth.

In “The ‘Busy’ Trap,” Tim Kreider shares the following quote:

Busyness serves as a kind of existential reassurance, a hedge against emptiness; obviously your life cannot possibly be silly or trivial or meaningless if you are so busy, completely booked, in demand every hour of the day. (David Murray, Reset)

But we know that instead of bowing to the god of productivity and basing our worth in how much we do, we must slay the sinful idol of self-sufficiency. We bow to the crucified King, whose resurrection cut the chains of our slavery to sin. When we confess to the Lord our arrogance and our failure to submit to the limitations he has set for us, by his grace, his Spirit heats our iron will to flexibility. Then, he bends us into the shape of our Master, who exemplifies a life not of busyness, but surrender.

“For I [Jesus] have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38)

A surrendered schedule demonstrates dependence on the Holy Spirit, who is to lead and govern our days. Not having a jam-packed day creates availability to go, do, and be, as the Lord intended for his ambassadors.

The Answer to Ungodly Busyness

The answer to ungodly busyness is the message of the gospel: Repent from rebelling against your God-given limitations and his lordship. Submit to the Sovereign One who secures our righteous standing not by our works, but by his blood shed on the cross in love, and by his resurrection from the dead.

And in response to what he has done, let’s intentionally walk in the good works he prepared for us in order to glorify him, live with his full joy, and spread that joy to others (Ephesians 2:10, John 15:11, Psalm 67:4).

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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The post A Hurried Life Isn’t a Holy Life appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Good News for Husbands

God does not make demands without supplying grace.

In our last article, we studied Paul’s exhortation in Ephesians 5 that husbands must “love their wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her.” This is a serious, heavy responsibility, focused on the wife’s spiritual growth (v. 27).

But in the midst of this command, we read that it is Christ’s mission to “present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” As a husband who falls far short of this mandate to love, I need this encouragement. Though I may fail to give myself up for my wife’s sanctification, I can be sure that Jesus gave himself up for mine!

As Christ Loves the Church

We have, however, only explored half of Paul’s instruction for husbands. First, Paul tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (v. 25). Then, he says husbands must also love their wives as Christ loves the church.

The key section of the passage is Ephesians 5:28–30:

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of his body.

To apply this passage, we must consider two distinct but related questions: How do humans love their own bodies? And, How does Christ love the church?

As Your Own Body

Fortunately, we need not consider all possible ways a man cares for his body, for Paul speaks of nourishing and cherishing in verse 29.

Paul uses the word for “nourishes” later in the context of raising children to maturity (Ephesians 6:4). And the word for “cherishes” is translated as “tenderly cares” in 1 Thessalonians 2:7, where Paul describes his gentleness among the people.

So, how does a man care for his body? He nourishes his body by feeding and providing for it, through exercise, sleep, and nutrition. He strengthens and equips it. He cherishes his body by cleaning it, protecting it, and giving attention to any wounds or weaknesses.

Not all of these descriptions translate to the marriage relationship, but some do.

Just As Christ Does the Church

Christians often hear what Jesus has done for his people in history—and rightly so! His birth, life, obedience, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension are glorious and essential.

But we don’t often recall the ways that Jesus cares for his church today. This is what Paul points to in Ephesians 5:29 when he uses the present tense, and we are to use this example, in part, to learn obedience as husbands.

Paul has not left us in the dark about Christ’s present care for the church. Consider what he has already written in Ephesians:

1. In Christ, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance (1:13–14). Jesus gives us his promise and points to the glorious future we will share with him.

2. God has put all things in subjection under Jesus’ feet, who has been given as head over all things to the church (1:20–23). Jesus is the supreme ruler, governing all things for the good of his body.

3. We have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Jesus has broken down the wall that divided Israelites from Gentiles. These are written in the past tense, but here is the present truth: Jesus is our peace. The reality of the ascended Jesus means we currently have peace with God; we are not excluded (2:11–16).

4. Because of Jesus, we have present-day access to God (2:18).

5. We are God’s household, growing into a holy temple in the Lord, a dwelling of God in the Spirit (2:19–22).

Isn’t Jesus’ love for us lavish? Tender? Generous? So should a husband’s love be for his wife.
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6. Paul prays that Christ would dwell in the Ephesians’ hearts by faith, so that they “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that [they] may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (3:18–19). Christ’s presence gives a supernatural knowledge of his immense love, which fills us up to the fullness of God.

7. Christ has given gifts to the church (apostles, prophets, etc.) to equip the saints for the work of service. Since these gifts include pastors and teachers, this is a present-day work of Jesus, helping us grow in unity, knowledge, maturity, and love (4:11–16).

There are other ways that Jesus loves his church — in particular, he prays and advocates for us (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 2:1). Isn’t his love for us lavish? Overflowing? Tender and generous?

So should a husband’s love be for his wife.

What Tender Love Looks Like

From these descriptions, we can make some practical conclusions about the ways a husband should love his wife.

Each husband must nourish and cherish his wife; this has physical, emotional, and spiritual dimensions. Because each marriage is unique, instead of giving universal suggestions I have provided a list of questions for husbands to consider.

Are you tending to your wife’s health? Do you pray for her physical, emotional, and spiritual vitality? As much as it depends on you, are you working to provide for her in these areas? Do you talk with her about them?
In areas of weakness for your wife, are you tender? Does she have confidence that you are for her, protecting and covering and nurturing her, eager for her growth and flourishing?
Do you know the best ways to pray for her? Do you pray regularly and fervently for her?
Do you value her? Does she know how much you value her? Do you celebrate the woman she is and the woman she is becoming?
Do you give her gifts that let her know you love her? Do you make arrangements to share special times and make memories together?

Good News for Husbands

I love the way Paul injects hope into his commands. There is difficult work here for husbands, but there is so much good news too.

Remember—Jesus nourishes and cherishes the church. He does this not simply out of obligation or command, but because we are members of his body. In the same way that a man and woman become one flesh in marriage, so it is with Christ and the church.

Out of the overflow of infinite love, God the Father sent his Son to rescue his people. Because of the work of the Son in history, we are now joined to him—in love—forever.

Husbands, love your wives. Nourish and cherish her as your own body. Do so knowing that, as part of the church, Christ loves you with a tender, unbreakable, unending love. And in that love and strength you will be able to love your wife.

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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The post Good News for Husbands appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Key Connections (July 6, 2018)

How to Make a Mature Disciple (John Piper, Desiring God)

God inspired a book — not a video. He inspired a book, and the book is made up of sentences, and paragraphs, and words, and they’re connected in certain ways so that they have meaning, from God Almighty, into the brains of human beings. He could have done it another way, but he did it this way. We’re stuck with having to teach our kids to read.

Student Ministry Isn’t Second-Tier Ministry (Adam Griffin, The Village Church)

When we stand before God, we will be just as accountable for our teenage years as our adult ones, and we are called to pastor teenagers like we believe that’s true. Student ministry isn’t just shepherding the future of the Church; it’s shepherding the Church today.

What Expository Preaching Is Not (H.B. Charles, hbcharlesjr.com)

Expository preaching aims to teach, convert, and renew the mind…It should be a sin to bore people with the gospel! Faithful preaching should be faithful, clear, and passionate. Expositors are heralds who persuade, not journalists who report. We should preach like satisfied customers, not paid advertisers.

When Failure Saves and Success Destroys (Tim Challies, Challies.com)

God’s care for us may be better expressed in allowing us to fail than permitting us to succeed. That’s because we’re often better at handling failure than success. Failure has a way of bringing us to the end of ourselves, of causing us to rely even more on the Lord.

Do Your Hermeneutics Hold to Sola Scriptura? (Abner Chou, The Master’s Seminary)

The Bible is not some platform from which we can pontificate our own theology and advice. Its assertions are also not that which we can shrug off and ignore. It doesn’t have to live up to our reason or sensibilities.

What Is Freedom? How Do We Become Free? ( Colin Smith, Unlocking the Bible)

“Anyone who sins.” That’s all of us. By nature, “All of us are slaves to sin.” Our Lord is not saying that sinning makes you a slave. He is saying that your slavery makes you sin. Our sinning is the evidence of our slavery and it is universal. By nature, we are not as free as we think we are.

The post Key Connections (July 6, 2018) appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Your One Hope for Judgment Day

Video Transcript:

Our lives are eternal and we all face the judgement of God.

…the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:2)

Again, these truths are basic principles of the Word of God. Your life is eternal. There was a time when you were not, but there will never be a time when you will not be. However long you live in this world, it is just a flash of your entire life.

Here is the ultimate reality that every one of us must face: “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27). And then the writer of Hebrews says a little bit later: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

There was a time when you were not, but there will never be a time when you will not be.
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People who have no faith in Jesus Christ are sometimes very confident, even defiant, in the face of death. But the problem for the sinner does not lie in the event of death itself. It lies in the resurrection.

The real problem lies in the fact that the sinner will be brought into the presence of the living God, and held accountable for every word, and thought, and deed. The real problem is the awful reality of facing justice as a sinner, and of that judgment stretching on into eternity — an eternal judgment with no end. Death can’t hide you from this God.

There will only be one hope for any of us on that day, and that is, that Jesus Christ will stand beside us and claim us as his own, that he will say of you, “She is one of mine. I died for her sins. All that eternal justice could ever bring to her fell on me. I bore it on her behalf and dealt with it forever on the cross.”

The resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment is a basic principle of the Word of God. If this foundation is laid in your life, if this basic principle is settled in your mind and heart — that death will not be the end for you, that there is a judgment, that it is eternal and you cannot avoid it, that you will be in the presence of infinite holiness — then you will come to Jesus and your faith in him will be a faith that lasts.

[This sermon clip was taken from the sermon, “Firm Foundations” in the series, Faith that Lasts]

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The post Your One Hope for Judgment Day appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

What Is Freedom? How Do We Become Free?

As a culture, we want to feel that we are in control of our lives, and especially that we are in control of the things that matter most. That includes our salvation. You hear this all the time on the talk shows: “You can be anything you want to be.” That’s the spirit of our culture. But there are some things you cannot be, that only Jesus can free you to be. So, Jesus is telling us that this simply is not true.

We are not as free as we think we are. In John 8:31-34, Jesus addresses the Jews about what makes a person truly free:

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free? Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”

“Anyone who sins.” That’s all of us. By nature, “All of us are slaves to sin.” Our Lord is not saying that sinning makes you a slave. He is saying that your slavery makes you sin. Our sinning is the evidence of our slavery and it is universal. By nature, we are not as free as we think we are.

This raises the question of the will. In what sense is the human will free?

What Kind of Freedom Do We Have?
We make real choices and we make them freely.

We are people, not puppets. We make choices, and the choices we make shape the contours and direction of our lives. We can make good choices. We can make better choices. We have the ability to make changes and improvements in our lives.

We are responsible for the choices that we make.

We cannot blame other people for our choices. You can’t blame God or the devil. You can’t blame your wife, your husband, or your friend for your choices. Adam tried that: “The woman gave me the fruit.” That won’t work, Adam. You ate it. That was your choice and you are responsible for it.

God has created the world in such a way that we have real choices and real responsibility. The big question lies deeper: Why do we choose what we choose? Why do we do what we do?

We choose according to the prevailing desires of our heart.

“Free will” is a slippery term. The Bible never uses it, and people mean different things by it. If you want to talk about “free will,” always remember that the freedom we have is the freedom to follow the deepest desires of our own hearts.

To put it more simply, the freedom you have is the freedom to do what you most want to do.
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I was talking to someone recently who said to me, “I reinvent myself every five years.” How far can you go with that? You can change jobs, you can change where you live, or you can change your appearance—the color of your hair, your eyes, lose weight and get a new wardrobe—but you cannot change yourself.

Your mind is still your mind, your heart is still your heart, and your will is still your will. Can the leopard change its spots? No, only God can make you a new creation. Only God can save you.

Christ Tells Us That He Can Make Us Free

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)

Christ does not drag you, kicking and screaming, against your will to follow him. What does he do? God shines his light into your mind and pours his love into your heart.

When God works in us, the will is changed under the sweet influence of the Spirit of God…It desires and acts, not of compulsion, but of its own desire and spontaneous inclination. [1]

I follow Christ because I want to. The will chooses according to the prevailing desires of the heart, so when, by God’s grace, the prevailing desires of the heart change, the will chooses a new direction! Paul says, “We make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:9). Do you see how wonderful that is? It is the evidence of this miracle in your life.

Does this mean that we always choose what is good after we have been regenerated and become Christians? No. The freedom Christ promises in this life is not freedom from the struggle with sin, but freedom from slavery to sin.

You will be tempted in many ways, and often you will fail. The prevailing disposition of your soul is not the only disposition of your soul. There may be times when you fall into pride or lust or lies, but at the core of your being, you know that is not what you want. You want to honor Christ because you are a new creation in him.

Our freedom in Christ makes sense of our struggles with sin, brings us enduring hope in Jesus Christ, gives glory to God for his saving work in us, and gives us confidence that God is faithful and will keep us in his grip until Christ comes, and into eternity.

So be who you are! True freedom is when what God calls you to do and what you most want to do turn out to be the same thing. That is the freedom Christ gives. If you have this freedom you are free indeed!

[1. R.C. Sproul, Willing to Believe, (Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing, 1997), 94][Photo Credit: Lightstock]

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The post What Is Freedom? How Do We Become Free? appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

God Tells Us Not to Fear

The dictionary is filled with phobias that can range from the fear of being without mobile phone coverage (nomophobia) to the fear of trees (hylophobia). I can fear what comes next in my life or my children’s lives, and I can fear for the future of this world, which leads me to panic and worry.

And yet, in Isaiah 41:10 God tells us to not to fear. He says,

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

In this verse, God gives us three reasons to not be afraid.

Remember That God Is With You

The first reason God gives us is this: God tells us, “I am with you.” When we are tempted to fear, we need to remember that God is with us. God promises us that he will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). His Word also says that he will go with us (Deuteronomy 31:6).

We do not face our fears alone. God created us and he knows each specific fear we have. He created our inmost being and knit us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), which includes every tiny cell and every stitch of our personality. God says to his prophet in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”

Because God created us, he not only knows our fears, but also the situations which may cause us fear. And yet, we know he never leaves us to face those fears alone if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ. We can take comfort in the fact that God is with us always. And “if God is for us, who can be against us” (Romans 8:31)?

Meditate On Who God Is

Once we know who is with us, then we need to daily remind ourselves who he is: God! The King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Creator of all heaven and earth walks with us. “For I am your God,” he says in v.10.   

He is not one of the small “g” gods that the Israelites used to worship. He is not the little idols that we worship today — money, perfection, fame, or fortune. But he is the great “I AM” (Exodus 3:14). He is the one who parted the waters for Moses, who can part the seas of doubt and fear for us.

We need to spend time meditating on God’s Word to understand who he is.
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We need to spend time meditating on God’s Word to understand who he is. When we do that, we will also understand who we are; we will see the depths of our sin against him and our need for Jesus, the Savior, to reconcile us to God. We will have a deeper understanding of who God is — our Lord and Savior. Only then will we know the reason we have to not be afraid. Only by consistently abiding in his Word will we understand God’s great power. This brings us to the last reason to not be afraid.

Trust God’s Promise to Strengthen You

This Scripture clearly gives us a promise from God to strengthen us. For he says, “I will uphold [strengthen, NIV] you with my righteous right hand.”  

Knowing God will uphold me alleviates my fear of the unknown and my fear of evil.

He will strengthen us in every situation and always for his glory. Whether it is the peace we find in his promises, or the confidence that our identity and worth comes from him and not in what we do, the Lord will give us the strength he promises. God is not reactive, but proactive in our lives. The power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that is at work in us by God’s Spirit (Romans 8:11).

And we do not need to fear tomorrow. God wants us to be filled with hope and trust, not fear. He has given us hope through the promise that he can uphold us by his strength today. And he has also promised those who have faith in Jesus Christ for their salvation a life of eternity with him.

It is God who is with us, and he will strengthen us with his righteousness right hand. In his perfect way, he knows exactly what we need for every situation. In every situation, his righteousness will work for our holiness. He will be our strength.

What areas in your life cause you to fear? What fears do you need to confess to God knowing he can strengthen you by his power?

[Photo Credit: Lightstock]

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The post God Tells Us Not to Fear appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

The Root of Your Doubt

For a short time in my life, God seemed distant and far off from me. I was drowning in a pit of hopelessness and despair as I engaged in spiritual warfare with a sinful pattern I had picked up in elementary school before I became a Christian.

Guilt blinded me from the goodness and sweetness of God’s grace offered in Jesus Christ. Little did I know, the stirring of horror and disgust within my heart at the ugliness of this sin-pattern was the fruit of the very goodness of God that I doubted.

The Root of Doubt

I doubted I was a recipient of his promises of redemption from slavery, forgiveness of my sins, reconciliation from his wrath, adoption from orphanhood, healing from the scars of sin, and the recreation of the desires of my once dying soul. The root of my doubt lay in my lack of understanding how God accomplishes and applies these promises because of my union with Christ.

As I gradually became rooted in an understanding of my union with Jesus, I grew in security. This foundational knowledge became a shield to protect me from the venomous, fiery darts of the devil. This knowledge became solid ground for me to stand on when the doubting quells of my soul raged.

The Father, the Divine vine-dresser, rescued me from my spiritual grave where I lay dead in my sins and trespasses, condemned by the law, and awaiting the coming judgement. Then, he placed me—a dead and inanimate branch—into the cultivated vine, Jesus, so that I might bear good fruit out of a spirit of worship and joy for his glory (John 15:1-11).

The Core of Identity

After telling his disciples to store up treasure in heaven, Jesus states, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). In You Are What You Love, James K. A. Smith states that the heart is “the core of our identity, the wellspring from which our actions and behavior flow” (Smith, 2). What we treasure will be at the core of our identity.

Before God created the world, he wanted to manifest his glory to creatures that could know him, respond to him, and long for him in a spirit of worship. We were made to treasure him. Thus, God designed humans with the capacity to love and seek after him for their satisfaction and joy.

The Work of the Spirit

After God finished creating the world and everything in it, Adam stood as our representative. Adam’s disobedience against God affected his descendents by corrupting their souls with sin (Romans 5:13-14). This corruption and depravity disarrayed the loves of our heart. Our gaze became fixed on man as the object of our worship and enjoyment, rather than on God.

In a futile journey, we sought to satisfy the insatiable hunger pangs inside each of us, which were meant to be satisfied in God (Romans 1:21-25). The dreams, actions, and words which flow from our heart do not conform to the perfect law of God — they conform to the imperfect law of man. As transgressors of God’s perfect law, we plunged ourselves into darkness and death, since our guide to and end of worship was ourselves.

Our salvation was selected by the Father, secured by Jesus, and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
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But, at the day of our regeneration, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, pierced our hearts. He convicted us of our rebellion and revealed to us our need for reconciliation with God (Hebrews 4:12). The Holy Spirit gave us new spiritual birth, represented by baptism and a new heart (John 3:5). He began a work in us: conforming us to the image of Jesus with reoriented and renewed loves. Our gaze is being gradually fixed back on God, who enables us to seek after him in worship to satisfy the hunger pangs of our soul.

The Work of Christ

During the difficult time spoken of earlier, I was a new creation in Christ. Therefore, I had no reason to blaspheme God by doubting the work done within me to accomplish and apply my salvation. Rather, I had every reason to praise him out of a comforted heart.

As John Murray writes in Redemption Accomplished and Applied, God gives us, sinners, once dead in our trespasses and sins, a new birth, whereby he stretched his merciful arms into “the lowest depths of our need” and met “all the exigencies of the moral and spiritual impossibility which inheres in our depravity and inability” (Murray, 100).

In his power and  benevolence, God enabled us to take a step of faith towards Christ. Faith, “a whole-souled act of loving trust and self-commitment,” is God’s ordained instrument through which he grants us grace. It’s the only fathomable response of the heart, mind, and will to the divine call (Murray 87-88). And our faith is in Christ:

[He] had to begin his work in prenatal darkness, mature through every stage of life in perfect fellowship with his Father, and then die in the deeper darkness that surrounded him on Golgotha. (Sinclair Ferguson, In Christ Alone, pp. 30-31)

The Father drew us to the Son (1 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Timothy 1:8-9). The Son lived the perfect life we could not live, and died the death we deserved on our behalf (Romans 5:15-21). The Holy Spirit transformed our callous hearts of stone into tender hearts of flesh, and he is reorienting the loves of our hearts towards the end that God created us for (Jeremiah 24:7; Ezekiel 36:26).

That end is himself, the Creator and Sustainer of all life, light, and love.

The Security of Union with Christ

Our entrance into the kingdom of God was selected by the Father, secured by Jesus, and sealed by the Holy Spirit. The centerpiece of our redemption is our union with Christ, our beloved and heavenly groom.

Christ was chosen to be the means of our redemption before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-4). Our redemption was secured in Christ’s death, resurrection, and exaltation (Romans 6:2-11; Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:3-4). Our redemption was applied by the Holy Spirit because of what Christ had already accomplished (Ephesians 2:10). Our lives are lived and deaths are died in Christ. We will also be raised with him (Romans 6:5).

The inception of our salvation is in God’s grace. The constant reminder of this eternal security was and is the means by which I fought, and fight, the doubt which threatens to crush and blind me. With realigned and renewed loves, my identity lies in Jesus, whom I am free to serve and worship for the rest of eternity.

I greatly anticipate the day when I will be fully free of the presence of the old self, absorbed with vanity, and full of the new self, finding my pleasure only in God. “The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him” (Psalm 28:7).

[Photo Credit: Unsplash]

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The post The Root of Your Doubt appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Key Connections (June 29, 2018)

Scripture and Stickball: Why You Might Be a Better Biblical Counselor Than You Think (Tim Allchin, Biblical Counseling Center)

God desires for all of his children to care for the hurting, pursue the lost sheep and disciple others. Biblical Counseling is not just for the elites, pastors or old people. Biblical Counseling is speaking the truth in love over time in community – so that others grow closer in their walk with Christ.

Five Marks of Effective Prayer (H.B. Charles, H.B. Charles Jr.)

The key to prayer is a heart of dependence. Pray with the holy urgency of one who has a need that only Jesus can meet. Your prayers will not mean anything to God until they mean everything to you.

Oh the Deep, Deep Joy of Jesus (David Mathis, Desiring God)

Rejoice not in ministry fruit that is yours, but in your Father who has made you his. The joy that fed and sustained Jesus himself was not the sermons he gave, the sick he healed, even the dead he raised, but the relationship he had with his Father. The bottom of his joy was not what he did in the world but whose he was.

How the Church Submits to Jesus Christ (Tim Challies, Challies.com)

The church is not in subjection to Jesus Christ; we haven’t been ruthlessly conquered by him. No, the church has been won by Jesus Christ, so we willingly submit to him. We acknowledge his right to rule, we acknowledge his overwhelming love, we respond to his Spirit, and we arrange ourselves accordingly.

14 Ideas to Make Your Bible Reading More Consistent (Kristen Wetherell, Kristen Wetherell)

But God says his words are like food—“Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). And no human can survive without food. If we’re not eating, we starve. And if we aren’t feeding on God’s Word consistently, so will our souls.

Three Wise Principles for Dealing with Scandals (Colin Smith, Unlocking the Bible)

He [David] states the truth clearly, openly, and without evasion. Where there is a crime, a public scandal, the truth must be known. The first two pieces of the armor of God are the “belt of truth” and the “breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). Only when you know what is true, can you discern what is right. You have to get at the truth.

The post Key Connections (June 29, 2018) appeared first on Unlocking the Bible.

Three Wise Principles for Dealing with Scandals

Joab, the hotheaded commander of King David’s army, had been out on a raid when Abner came to visit David. When Joab returned and learned that David had received Abner with grace, he was furious, for Abner had led a rebellion against David and killed Joab’s very own brother. So Joab went to the king and said, “What have you done?” (2 Samuel 3:24).

Joab is convinced that Abner came as a spy, so he decides to take the law into his own hands. He sends messengers after Abner, presumably in David’s name, calling on Abner to come back to Hebron. David knew nothing about this. Joab did it behind his back (v. 26).

Abner has been shown grace in Hebron so he has no hesitation in returning. But when Abner does return, we read: “Joab took him aside into the midst of the gate to speak with him privately, and there he struck him in the stomach, so that he died, for the blood of Asahel his brother” (v. 27).

This was a brutal revenge killing, a cold-blooded murder, a murder committed by the man who holds the highest position in the land—the commander of David’s own army! It was an outrageous scandal in David’s kingdom.

How did David deal with it?  

Three Wise Principles for Dealing with Scandals

There are three principles here that give wisdom for how leaders should deal with scandals today. In two of them, we learn from David’s example. In the third, we learn from what David failed to do.

1. Tell the truth.

When David heard of it, he said, “I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the Lord for the blood of Abner… May it fall upon the head of Joab…” (vv. 28-29)

David gives us a good example here. He states the truth clearly, openly, and without evasion. Where there is a crime, a public scandal, the truth must be known.  

The first two pieces of the armor of God are the “belt of truth” and the “breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14). Only when you know what is true, can you discern what is right. You have to get at the truth.

There were two things people needed to know about this murder. The first was that it had nothing whatever to do with David. The second was that it was entirely on Joab, who had taken the law into his own hands, motivated by a desire to avenge the death of his brother (v. 30).

There is a warning here about the danger of making false assumptions: Joab was David’s commander. Joab murdered Abner. It would be natural for people to assume that David had at least winked at this being done. But the truth was that David knew nothing about it.

2. Mourn deeply.

The king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. (v. 32)

Telling the truth matters when there has been a crime or a public scandal, but words will ring hollow to the one who hears them if the one who speaks them does not feel the pain of what has happened.

Everyone could see the depth of David’s sorrow over what had happened:

David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, “Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.” And King David followed the bier. They buried Abner at Hebron. And the king lifted up his voice and wept at the grave of Abner, and all the people wept. (vv. 31-32)

Abner had been a thorn in David’s side for years, but when he died this brutal death, David grieved for him. “So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s will to put to death Abner the son of Ner” (v. 37).

The reason the people knew the truth about David was not only that David told the truth, but it was also that David mourned deeply over what had happened to Abner. What the people heard in his words they saw in his heart.

3. Act with justice.

David gives us a marvelous example of telling the truth, and mourning deeply. But acting with justice was something that David failed to do. “I was gentle today, though anointed king. These men, the sons of Zeruiah, are more severe than I. The Lord repay the evildoer according to his wickedness” (v. 39).

Scholars have different opinions on David’s way of dealing with Joab. Was he wise and prudent in allowing Joab to continue commanding his army? Or was this a failure of leadership?

What Should David Have Done?

When there was a brutal crime, there were words of truth, and there were heartfelt tears—but

Joab was never brought to justice. That left a stain on David’s kingdom. David’s failure to exercise justice was a decision that he came to regret. It remained on his conscience for the rest of his life.

Why did David not execute justice? We are not told. Perhaps David thought, “I showed grace to Abner, so how can I bring justice to Joab?” But Abner killed Asahel, Joab’s brother, in self-defense. Joab killed Abner in a brutal act of aggression. There was no comparison there.

You find grace and justice bound together in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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Perhaps it was that David did not feel strong enough to deal with his commander. Joab was a powerful figure! Perhaps, having refused to rely on Abner, there was part of him that felt he could not survive without having Joab beside him. In the NIV translation, verse 39 says, “Though I am anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me.”

Whatever the reason, Joab’s murder of Abner left a stain on David’s kingdom. Justice was not done and this remained on David’s conscience for the rest of his life.

A Better King

There are so many ways in which David points us wonderfully to our Lord Jesus Christ. We see in David a foreshadowing of the King who gathers people from every tribe and nation and makes them one by his grace.

But there are also times when David points to our need of a Savior, and places where we see that we need a greater king than David. And I think this is one of them right here in 2 Samuel 3. The story makes us say, “We need a better king than David!”

David has been reaching out with grace to bring people together. But will there be justice in his kingdom? Sometimes! More for some than for others! No wonder Isaiah longed for the One who would sit on David’s throne and establish it with justice (Isaiah 9:7; see also Jeremiah 23:5).

How do you hold grace and justice together in the same kingdom? Is it even possible? You would not want to live in a kingdom where there is grace without justice—where men like Joab can commit a cruel murder without consequences. And you would not want to live in a kingdom where there is justice without grace.

Where can we find grace and justice in the same kingdom? And how will the two be held together?

Where Grace and Justice Meet

The answer is that you find grace and justice bound together in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Here’s why: At the heart of Christ’s kingdom stands the cross. And the cross is the place where grace and justice meet.

Grace comes to us because justice fell on Jesus.

The New Testament makes clear the answer to the question, “Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?  “…So that he [God] might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

It is not simply that God comes to those who believe and says, “I’ll just sweep your sins under the carpet.” No, God acts with justice when you come to faith in Jesus Christ. Justice has been carried out on Christ at the cross, so that his grace and mercy, which reconciles you to God, may be released to you.

The stroke of justice fell on him. So that, in him, the gift of grace may come to us. Despite all the scandals and all the seductions, Christ will establish his kingdom with justice and with grace.

[This is an adapted excerpt from Pastor Colin’s sermon “The King’s Gentleness” in the series The Life of David.][Photo Credit: Lightstock]

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