Tim Chester's Blog, page 21

Why doesn’t God do something about injustice? Lessons from Amos 5

What about suffering? Why doesn’t God do something about injustice? If God is a God of love and power then why doesn’t he stop wars and end poverty?

I wonder if you’ve every asked questions like that.

For some people they’re merely a way of pushing the thought of God away – much as you might wave your hand at a fly. I don’t really what to think about God so I’ll play the suffering-card. This morning we’re going to see that that’s a dangerous attitude.

But for some people those questions are deeply personal and painful. Their question, Is why doesn’t God stop my suffering?

It was a question the people in Amos’s day were asking. Look at verse 18: ‘Woe to you who long for the day of the LORD!’

Here are people who long for the day when God intervenes to things right. ‘Why doesn’t God do something?’ they were saying. ‘Why is he just letting things drift and ignoring our problems?’

What’s the prophet Amos’ answer?

God will bring judgment on those who do wrong

Look how Amos 5 begins:

Hear this word, Israel, this lament I take up concerning you:

‘Fallen is Virgin Israel,

never to rise again,

deserted in her own land,

with no one to lift her up.’

This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Israel:

‘Your city that marches out a thousand strong

will have only a hundred left;

your town that marches out a hundred strong

will have only ten left.’ (5:1-3)

Israel is going to be decisively defeated. The land will be deserted.

And look at the final verse of the chapter:

‘Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,’

says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty. (5:27)

Damascus was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, the superpower of the day. Assyria is going to defeat Israel and Israel will go so deep into exile that she’ll never come out.

And that’s exactly what happened. By this point Israel had split into two kingdoms – ten northern tribes and two southern tribes. Amos is talking to the northern tribes and what he says came true. They were defeated by the Assyrians and carried away into exile – never to return.

So what was their crime? Elsewhere the focus is on other things. But here Amos’ focus is on injustice and corruption. Three times he says, ‘There are those who …’

Verse 7:

There are those who turn justice into bitterness

and cast righteousness to the ground …

Verse 10:

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court

and detest the one who tells the truth.

Verse 12:

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes

and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

The word ‘courts’ is literally ‘at the gate’. That’s because legal issues were resolved at the city gate. It was their court room. But it was also their marketplace. So Amos is talking about legal corruption and business corruption.

Those are very contemporary issues. Around the world corruption is a big issue and major reason the poor stay poor. But they’re also issues for us. What would Amos say to us? Make sure you do a fair day’s work – not spending work time on Facebook. Make sure you’re honest in business. Make sure you tax return is accurate.

When we see colleagues over-claiming expenses and throwing a sickie, it’s easy to feel we’re missing out. But actually what we’re missing out on is God’s judgment!

God judged Israel for her injustice. It was a judgment in history. But it’s a picture of God’s judgment at the end of history – the final judgment. Look at verses 18-20:

Why do you long for the day of the LORD?

That day will be darkness, not light.

It will be as though a man fled from a lion

only to meet a bear,

as though he entered his house

and rested his hand on the wall

only to have a snake bite him.

Will not the day of the LORD be darkness, not light –

pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

It’s the stuff of nightmares or horror movies – fleeing from danger into worse danger, thinking you’re safe only to find things are worse than before. But perhaps that final line is the most chilling. It’s a description of hell: ‘without a ray of brightness’.

I realise people don’t like to think about hell. I don’t like to think about hell! People like what Christianity says about Jesus, but not its message of hell. It seems so ‘medieval’. But the fact is Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. In the Old Testament they were hazy about life after death. It’s Jesus who brings that reality into focus. You can’t believe in Jesus without believing in hell – not the real Jesus.

Now, you may not think there’s a hell. You may find the idea abhorrent. But let me invite you to ponder two things.

First, it’s interesting that so many people do long for justice. The people of Amos’ day longed for ‘the day of the LORD’. We may not use that language, but we still say, ‘Why doesn’t God do something about suffering, war, evil?’ We want justice. And in that sense we want hell – a place where evil is punished. What we don’t like is the idea that we might be accountable for the wrong we have done.

Here’s the second thing to ponder. Suppose for a moment that Jesus is right and there is a hell – an eternity ‘without a ray of brightness’. Wouldn’t it make sense to check that out? To see if it’s real? To find out what you can do to escape? Even if there’s only a slim chance it’s real, it would make sense to look into it.

Amos says the day of the LORD is coming. God will intervene to stop injustice. The problem is that when he comes, he will come knocking on your door and my door.

But Amos also have good news for us.

God offers life to those who do wrong

Amos has three invitations to find life:

Verse 4:         This is what the Lord says to Israel: ‘Seek me and live.’

Verse 6:         Seek the Lord and live …

Verse 14:      Seek good, not evil, that you may live.

It’s the offer of life – eternal life. If you seek God, what you find is life.

Why doesn’t God intervene? What doesn’t he do something about injustice? Amos’ answer is: He will. He will come in judgment and when he comes he’ll knock on your door. But now in the meantime he offers you life. The delay of his judgment is not a sign of complacency. It’s a sign of God’s patience and mercy.

The Apostle Peter faced exactly the same questions that Amos faced and we face. He wrote:

You must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” [God] promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation’ … The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:3-4, 9)

God delays justice to offer us life. God is offering you life.

But Amos’ invitation comes with a warning. Don’t confuse religion with God. Don’t think that because you’re religious, you’re right with God. Look at verses 4-5:

This is what the Lord says to Israel:

‘Seek me and live;

do not seek Bethel,

do not go to Gilgal,

do not journey to Beersheba.

For Gilgal will surely go into exile,

and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.’

Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba were the leading shrines in Israel. They were the York Minster and Ripon Cathedral of their day. Just because you go to church, Amos is saying, doesn’t mean you know God. Or look at what God says verses 21-24:

‘I hate, I despise your religious festivals;

your assemblies are a stench to me.

Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

I will have no regard for them.

Away with the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

But let justice roll on like a river,

righteousness like a never-failing stream!

There are four couplets here. Four times God describes what the people do: they attend religious festivals, they bring offerings, they bring choice offerings, they sing songs of praise. But four times God rejects their religion: it stinks (21). I will not accept (22), look (22) or listen (23).

God is talking about religious hypocrites. People who do and say all the right religious things, but it never touches their hearts and lives. And the evidence of this is the corruption at the city gate.

‘Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel.’ The key phrase is: Seek me. God doesn’t want our religion. He wants us. He wants our hearts. God wants a relationship.

We can worship God in everyday life

The flipside of this, the good news, is that we can seek God and know God and enjoy God everywhere and every day. We can seek him at the shrine of Gilgal and at the city gate.

Think about those three invitations to seek: ‘Seek me … seek the LORD … seek good’ (4, 6, 14) Can see how seeking God and seeking good are lined up together? Every time we seek good can be an act of seeking God. Every time we choose good can be an act of choosing God. When you do good you can enjoy a sense of God’s pleasure.

Sometimes when we gather on a Sunday we talk about coming into the presence of God (and there is something special about the gathering of God’s people). But we can enjoy God’s presence everywhere and every day. Every act can be an act of worship.

Or consider again verse 24. God hates their religious festivals. Instead, he says, ‘let justice roll on like a river’. We worship God by loving our neighbours.

The lovely thing is that this elevates everything we do. Everything is an opportunity for worship. Monday morning is as sacred as Sunday morning. Your home, your workplace, your neighbourhood are as sacred as any cathedral.

What we do on a Sunday is kind of re-tune our hearts. We call one another back to Christ. We sing, we pray, we hear God’s word so they are our hearts are captured afresh. And then we go out to continue worshipping God.

The local church is to be a community which is known for fairness and honesty. Think of it like this: We gather on a Sunday to be filled afresh with the truth of God’s patience, the glory of Christ, the joy of the gospel. And then as we go out into Boroughbridge and the villages righteousness flows with us and through us like a never-failing stream. Think of us spilling out of the door into our neighbourhood as a kind of wave of God’s goodness. We spread righteousness throughout the area through our actions and our words. We spread the glory of Christ.

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:

amazon.co.uk :: amazon.com

includes Tim Chester’s books

One minute on The One True Story

The Glory of the Story Sample: Day 115 – Jacob’s son, Judah

Here is another extracts from The Glory of the Story , my father’s devotional introduction to biblical theology in the form of 366 daily readings which show how the Old Testament story is fulfilled in Christ. The Glory of the Story is available as a Kindle book for $2.99 from amazon.com and £1.99 from amazon.co.uk. I’m posting extracts from the chaper on the story of Jacob, usually on the first Monday of the month.

1. Jacob’s prophecy

Read Genesis 49:8-10. In tracing the history of Jacob and his family we need to understand the special role Judah, the fourth son, plays in the total story. Jacob prophesies on his deathbed that Judah will be praised by his brothers and from him will come one whose right it is to rule. We might have expected Joseph the experienced governor and morally upright son to succeed as clan head, but it is to Judah, not Joseph, that Jacob sees his sons bowing (8).

2. The nation of Judah

The tribe of Judah is given the leading role as the tribes march through the desert (Num. 2:9; 10:14). When, in later history, the ten northern tribes revolt and establish their own monarchy (1 Kgs. 12:16-17), Benjamin joins the small nation of Judah, and Jerusalem remains the capital city ruled by the dynasty of David. The nation continues until 586 BC when Judah is invaded by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and most of the citizens taken into exile. Never again does a human descendant of David sit on an earthly throne.

3. Judah and the Messiah

Jacob’s prophecy, however, looks beyond the nation of Judah to a ruler to whom the nations will give their obedience (10). No doubt Jacob’s faith is quickened by all that God has achieved through putting Joseph on the throne of Egypt. As we will discover, God’s promise and purpose come to focus on the royal line of David from the tribe of Judah.

Just as David will be born in Bethlehem, so will the coming Christ (Mic. 5:2). Jesus is born in Bethlehem of Judea (Matt 2:1), a descendant of David and of the tribe of Judah (Luke 2:4, 11; Rom. 1:3). As the term ‘Jew’ was commonly used to refer to the people of Judah (Jer. 52:27b-30), this may shed light on the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman, ‘salvation is from the Jews’ (John 4:22).

4. Judah and the future

Judah is the lion of the tribes (9) and so Jesus is fitly styled the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5). But he displays a finer strength than that of the lion, for he is also the slain lamb (Rev. 5:6). He, and he alone, is able to open the scroll so that all God’s purposes in history can be unfolded.

Closing thought

With a truly thankful heart, read again Genesis 49:10.

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:



includes Tim Chester’s books

The One True Story trailer

A Reformation glossary

Today is 499th anniversary of the Reformation, or at least its iconic start – the nailing of Luther’s 95 theses. In the course of writing Why the Reformation Still Matters and Rediscovered Joy: Exploring the Dynamics Power of the Reformation in Galatians (forthcoming) I came across this ‘glossary’ written by Luther in the preface to his commentary on Romans. It’s a great guide to both understanding Paul and the heart of Luther’s theology.

Why the Reformation Still Matters can be bought from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

Law

You must not understand the word ‘law’ here in human fashion, i.e., a regulation about what sort of works must be done or must not be done. That’s the way it is with human laws: you satisfy the demands of the law with works, whether your heart is in it or not. God judges what is in the depths of the heart. Therefore his law also makes demands on the depths of the heart and doesn’t let the heart rest content in works; rather it punishes as hypocrisy and lies all works done apart from the depths of the heart. All human beings are called liars (Psalm 116), since none of them keeps or can keep God’s law from the depths of the heart. Everyone finds inside himself an aversion to good and a craving for evil. Where there is no free desire for good, there the heart has not set itself on God’s law. There also sin is surely to be found and the deserved wrath of God, whether a lot of good works and an honourable life appear outwardly or not.

Therefore in chapter 2 St. Paul adds that the Jews are all sinners and says that only the doers of the law are justified in the sight of God. What he is saying is that no one is a doer of the law by works. On the contrary, he says to them, ‘You teach that one should not commit adultery, and you commit adultery. You judge another in a certain matter and condemn yourselves in that same matter, because you do the very same thing that you judged in another.’ It is as if he were saying, ‘Outwardly you live quite properly in the works of the law and judge those who do not live the same way; you know how to teach everybody. You see the speck in another’s eye but do not notice the beam in your own.’

Outwardly you keep the law with works out of fear of punishment or love of gain. Likewise you do everything without free desire and love of the law; you act out of aversion and force. You’d rather act otherwise if the law didn’t exist. It follows, then, that you, in the depths of your heart, are an enemy of the law. What do you mean, therefore, by teaching another not to steal, when you, in the depths of your heart, are a thief and would be one outwardly too, if you dared. (Of course, outward work doesn’t last long with such hypocrites.) So then, you teach others but not yourself; you don’t even know what you are teaching. You’ve never understood the law rightly. Furthermore, the law increases sin, as St. Paul says in chapter 5. That is because a person becomes more and more an enemy of the law the more it demands of him what he can’t possibly do.

In chapter 7 St. Paul says, ‘The law is spiritual.’ What does that mean? If the law were physical, then it could be satisfied by works, but since it is spiritual, no one can satisfy it unless everything he does springs from the depths of the heart. But no one can give such a heart except the Spirit of God, who makes the person be like the law, so that he actually conceives a heartfelt longing for the law and henceforward does everything, not through fear or coercion, but from a free heart. Such a law is spiritual since it can only be loved and fulfilled by such a heart and such a spirit. If the Spirit is not in the heart, then there remain sin, aversion and enmity against the law, which in itself is good, just and holy.

You must get used to the idea that it is one thing to do the works of the law and quite another to fulfil it. The works of the law are every thing that a person does or can do of his own free will and by his own powers to obey the law. But because in doing such works the heart abhors the law and yet is forced to obey it, the works are a total loss and are completely useless. That is what St. Paul means in chapter 3 when he says, ‘No human being is justified before God through the works of the law.’ From this you can see that the schoolmasters [the Medieval scholastic theologians] and sophists are seducers when they teach that you can prepare yourself for grace by means of works. How can anybody prepare himself for good by means of works if he does no good work except with aversion and constraint in his heart? How can such a work please God, if it proceeds from an averse and unwilling heart?

But to fulfil the law means to do its work eagerly, lovingly and freely, without the constraint of the law; it means to live well and in a manner pleasing to God, as though there were no law or punishment. It is the Holy Spirit, however, who puts such eagerness of unconstained love into the heart, as Paul says in chapter 5. But the Spirit is given only in, with, and through faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul says in his introduction. So, too, faith comes only through the word of God, the Gospel, that preaches Christ: how he is both Son of God and man, how he died and rose for our sake. Paul says all this in chapters 3, 4 and 10.

That is why faith alone makes someone just and fulfils the law; faith it is that brings the Holy Spirit through the merits of Christ. The Spirit, in turn, renders the heart glad and free, as the law demands. Then good works proceed from faith itself. That is what Paul means in chapter 3 when, after he has thrown out the works of the law, he sounds as though the wants to abolish the law by faith. No, he says, we uphold the law through faith, i.e. we fulfil it through faith.

Sin

‘Sin’ in the Scriptures means not only external works of the body but also all those movements within us which bestir themselves and move us to do the external works, namely, the depth of the heart with all its powers. Therefore the word ‘do’ should refer to a person’s completely falling into sin. No external work of sin happens, after all, unless a person commit himself to it completely, body and soul. In particular, the Scriptures see into the heart, to the root and main source of all sin: unbelief in the depth of the heart. Thus, even as faith alone makes just and brings the Spirit and the desire to do good external works, so it is only unbelief which sins and exalts the flesh and brings desire to do evil external works. That’s what happened to Adam and Eve in Paradise (Genesis 3).

That is why only unbelief is called sin by Christ, as he says in John 16, ‘The Spirit will punish the world because of sin, because it does not believe in me.’ Furthermore, before good or bad works happen, which are the good or bad fruits of the heart, there has to be present in the heart either faith or unbelief, the root, sap and chief power of all sin. That is why, in the Scriptures, unbelief is called the head of the serpent and of the ancient dragon which the offspring of the woman, i.e. Christ, must crush, as was promised to Adam (Genesis 3).

Grace and gift

‘Grace’ and ‘gift’ differ in that grace actually denotes God’s kindness or favour which he has toward us and by which he is disposed to pour Christ and the Spirit with his gifts into us, as becomes clear from chapter 5, where Paul says, ‘Grace and gift are in Christ, etc.’ The gifts and the Spirit increase daily in us, yet they are not complete, since evil desires and sins remain in us which war against the Spirit, as Paul says in chapter 7, and in Galatians 5. And Genesis 3 proclaims the enmity between the offspring of the woman and that of the serpent. But grace does do this much: that we are accounted completely just before God. God’s grace is not divided into bits and pieces, as are the gifts, but grace takes us up completely into God’s favour for the sake of Christ, our intercessor and mediator, so that the gifts may begin their work in us.

In this way, then, you should understand chapter 7, where St. Paul portrays himself as still a sinner, while in chapter 8 he says that, because of the incomplete gifts and because of the Spirit, there is nothing damnable in those who are in Christ. Because our flesh has not been killed, we are still sinners, but because we believe in Christ and have the beginnings of the Spirit, God so shows us his favour and mercy, that he neither notices nor judges such sins. Rather he deals with us according to our belief in Christ until sin is killed.

Faith

‘Faith’ is not that human illusion and dream that some people think it is. When they hear and talk a lot about faith and yet see that no moral improvement and no good works result from it, they fall into error and say, ‘Faith is not enough. You must do works if you want to be virtuous and get to heaven.’ The result is that, when they hear the Gospel, they stumble and make for themselves with their own powers a concept in their hearts which says, ‘I believe.’ This concept they hold to be true faith. But since it is a human fabrication and thought, and not an experience of the heart, it accomplishes nothing, and there follows no improvement.

Faith is a work of God in us, which changes us and brings us to birth anew from God (John 1). It kills the old Adam, makes us completely different people in heart, mind, senses, and all our powers, and brings the Holy Spirit with it. What a living, creative, active powerful thing is faith! It is impossible that faith ever stop doing good. Faith doesn’t ask whether good works are to be done, but, before it is asked, it has done them. It is always active. Whoever doesn’t do such works is without faith; he gropes and searches about him for faith and good works but doesn’t know what faith or good works are. Even so, he chatters on with a great many words about faith and good works.

Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God’s grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it. This kind of trust in and knowledge of God’s grace makes a person joyful, confident, and happy with regard to God and all creatures. This is what the Holy Spirit does by faith. Through faith, a person will do good to everyone without coercion, willingly and happily; he will serve everyone, suffer everything for the love and praise of God, who has shown him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from faith as burning and shining from fire. Therefore be on guard against your own false ideas and against the chatterers who think they are clever enough to make judgements about faith and good works but who are in reality the biggest fools. Ask God to work faith in you; otherwise you will remain eternally without faith, no matter what you try to do or fabricate.

Righteousness or Justice

‘Righteousness’ means precisely the kind of faith we have in mind, and should properly be called ‘divine righteousness’, the righteousness which holds good in God’s sight, because it is God’s gift, and shapes a man’s nature to do his duty to all. By his faith, he is set free from sin, and he finds delight in God’s commandments’. In this way, he pays God the honour that is due to Him, and renders Him what he owes. He serves his fellows willingly according to his ability, so discharging his obligations to all men. Righteousness of this kind cannot be brought about in the ordinary course of nature, by our own free will, or by our own proper powers. No one can give faith to himself, nor free himself from unbelief; how, then, can anyone do away with even his smallest sins? It follows that what is done in the absence of faith on the one hand, or in consequence of unbelief in the other, is naught but falsity, self-deception, and sin (Romans 14), no matter how well it is gilded over.

Flesh and Spirit

You must not understand ‘flesh’ here as denoting only unchastity [moral or sexual impurity] or ‘spirit’ as denoting only the inner heart. Here St. Paul calls flesh (as does Christ in John 3) everything born of flesh, i.e. the whole human being with body and soul, reason and senses, since everything in him tends toward the flesh. That is why you should know enough to call that person ‘fleshly’ who, without grace, fabricates, teaches and chatters about high spiritual matters. You can learn the same thing from Galatians 5 where St. Paul calls heresy and hatred works of the flesh. And in Romans 8 he says that, through the flesh, the law is weakened. He says this, not of unchastity, but of all sins, most of all of unbelief, which is the most spiritual of vices.

On the other hand, you should know enough to call that person ‘spiritual’ who is occupied with the most outward of works as was Christ, when he washed the feet of the disciples, and Peter, when he steered his boat and fished. So then, a person is ‘flesh’ who, inwardly and outwardly, lives only to do those things which are of use to the flesh and to temporal existence. A person is ‘spirit’ who, inwardly and outwardly, lives only to do those things which are of use to the spirit and to the life to come.

Unless you understand these words in this way, you will never understand either this letter of St. Paul or any book of the Scriptures. Be on guard therefore against any teacher who uses these words differently, no matter who he be, whether Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, Origen or anyone else as great as or greater than they.

The translation of this paragraph is by Bertram Lee Woolf and is taken from John Dillenberger (ed.), Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings, Anchor Books, 1961, 24-25.

Why the Reformation Still Matters can be bought from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:

amazon.co.uk :: amazon.com

includes Tim Chester’s books

The One True Light introduction

I used to be a big curmudgeon about Christmas. Not quite Ebenezer Scrooge—but close. I moaned about the rubbish on the television. I moaned about the terrible Christmas songs that get repeated every year. I moaned about all the tatty decorations—tinsel and snow globes and illuminated reindeers. In my mind, Christmas was unavoidably associated with the oppressive warmth of my in- laws’ home.

In my high-minded moments I moaned about the commercialism that seems to be replacing the Christmas message. Or I moaned about versions of Christmas that sanitise Jesus and make him “safe”.

But, of course, by “high-minded” I really mean “self-righteous”. I used to be a curmudgeon—a proud one.

However, I’ve noticed a change over the past few years.As I slide into middle age, I’ve somewhat given up the fight. I let Christmas happen to me. I embrace the festivities. I even sometimes allow myself to have fun.

But, whether being curmudgeonly or celebratory, it is easy to get distracted from the wonder of God becoming man.The build- up to Christmas is a busy time.There are presents to buy, parties to attend, food to prepare, cards to send and relatives to visit.

So it’s easy to forget about Jesus, even at Christmas—especially at Christmas. But the truth is that we’ll never enjoy Christmas properly unless we understand who it is who was born in Bethlehem that night. Indeed, we won’t enjoy life to the full until we see God in a manger.

In these Advent readings, we’re going to look at John’s version of the Christmas story. It’s not the Christmas story as we’ve come to expect it. There’s no stable, no donkey and no star. There are no angels, no shepherds and no wise men. Even Mary and Joseph don’t get a look in. Instead the focus is entirely on Jesus, the God- become-man.This is Christmas stripped bare.All that’s left is Jesus. And that’s all you need to make your December explode with joy, and your life revolve around the One who brings truth, life, community, reality, clarity—light.

So by all means make sure you’ve bought your presents, ordered the turkey, attended your parties and ticked off seeing the relatives. But see the 24 daily readings in this book as an opportunity to focus not on the to-do list, or even on Christmas as such, but on Christ—to join John in fixing your eyes on Jesus, the one true light.

Click here for sample chapters.

The One True Light is available here from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. 

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:

amazon.co.uk :: amazon.com

includes Tim Chester’s books

The One True Story introduction

Everyone loves the Christmas story—Mary meeting an angel, being told she’s having a baby by the Holy Spirit, Joseph faithfully standing by her, travelling to Bethlehem while Mary is heavily pregnant, no room at the inn, the baby in a manger, God in human flesh, choirs of angels, shepherds on the hillside, Magi following a star.

But the Christmas story is not just a great story. It’s the great story. It’s the story that ties together a thousand other stories. Everything came together on that night in Bethlehem. “The fulfilment of the ages,” Paul calls it.

Matthew can’t get the old stories out of his head as he tells the Christmas story. Five times he says that what happened at the birth of Jesus took place to fulfil what the prophets had said (Matthew 1 v 22-23; 2 v 5-6, 15, 17-18, 23). Luke makes the same point in the four songs he records.The songs of Mary, Zechariah, the angels and Simeon all riff on “tunes” from the past. Mary ends her song with the words,“He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants for ever, just as he promised our ancestors” (Luke 1 v 54-55). As the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem says, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight”.

The Christmas story is the one true story because it completes and fulfils all the stories of the Bible.

But it also goes on being the one true story.This is the story that makes sense of my story and your story.We were made to know God. All our longings only truly find their fulfilment in him and through him.The plotlines of our lives are meant to find their resolution in the enjoyment of God. But we’ve set our lives on other trajectories which always lead to disappointing endings.

But through the Christmas story God is rewriting the story of human history, bringing it to a glorious climax. In all the busyness of Christmas, don’t miss the opportunity to discover or rediscover how you can be part of the one true story.

Click here for sample chapters.

The One True Story is available from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:

amazon.co.uk :: amazon.com

includes Tim Chester’s books

The Image of God #5: Remade in the image of God

The post is part of series looking at the image of God. We have seen how the gospel critiques our culture’s view that reality is malleable and desire is sovereign. In this final post in the series we see how the gospel also offers a better alternative.

Remade in the image of Christ

So if flourishing involves being conformed to reality, what’s the reality to which Christians are to be conformed? Colossians 3:5 begins ‘therefore’. This pattern of putting to death evil desires (mortification) stems from a new reality. And Colossians 2:20 begins, ‘Since you died with Christ …’ 3:1 begins, ‘Since, then, you have been raised with Christ …’ Our defining reality is the cross and resurrection of Jesus. We’ve died with Christ and risen with Christ. So we flourish to the extent that we’re Christ-like or cruciform, to the extent that we follow the path of the cross in the power of the resurrection.

Look at verse 10 of Colossians 3: we ‘have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.’ The gospel restores our humanity. For to become like Christ is to become like God because Christ is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (1:15; 2:9).

So the image of God is not just our origin, but our destiny.
And that means the church is a witness to the future of humanity.
And the future of humanity is Christ.

Because being made in God’s image was a relational reality, being remade in God’s image is also a relational reality. We’re remade together as God’s image. So the sins of verse 8 are communal and the virtues of verses 12-15 are communal. You can’t do them on your own! This is why the church and church planting have to be central to mission.

Paul ends that list of virtues with the words ‘be thankful’ (3:15). This is so important. It’s not that if we behave in a certain way then we will create a new reality or forge a new identity (activity ð identity). It’s not, for example, that if we live in peace then we will create one body. It’s the other way round (identity ð activity). It’s because we’re one body that we’re to let Christ’s peace rule our hearts (verse 15). It was the Serpent’s lie to say that being ‘like’ God was something to be grasped when being like God was already gifted to us. Our identity is given, not grasped.

Belief in justification by faith is another way of saying we’re not self-defined. Instead, we’re defined or redefined by God. Our identity is a gift. We’re redefined by God’s word – the word which is creative, covenantal and grace-filled.

Humanity is not the climax of creation, Sabbath is. We are made for rest, worship, relationship. Personhood and identity are not the product of our work. Sabbath is a reminder that life is a gift.

Remember: wisdom is to live in conformity with reality. And we don’t create reality – not at a fundamental level. We don’t create our identity. The gospel is the good news that God has created and recreated reality. Being thankful is a recognition that who we are is a gift from God. So we flourish as we live together in conformity to that gifted reality.

So the old adage ‘Know thyself’ still stands. Our new self is ‘renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.’ (3:10). We grow as we know ourselves to be ‘God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.’ (3:12) We grow as we tell one another, ‘You are dearly loved by God.’

But that’s tough in our world which says we’re self-defining, self-creating and self-evaluating. So in verse 9 Paul says, ‘Do not lie to each other.’ That doesn’t simply mean, ‘Don’t tell fibs’. It means don’t echo the lies of the culture in the church. Why not? Because ‘we’ve taken off the old self’ with its attempts at self-rule, self-creation and self-evaluation. Instead we are ‘renewed in knowledge’ – the knowledge of who we are in the image of our Creator. Instead of being self-defined, the Christian community is to be word-defined. So, as verse 16 says, the word of Christ must dwell among us richly.

 

Imaging God together

One final thought … What’s an ‘image’? The word is usually used in the Bible of an idol. King Nebuchadnezzar sets up an ‘image’ of himself to represent his power and glory. This means the true God is represented by us! God placed humanity in his world to reflect his glory. In Deuteronomy 4 Moses reminds God’s people that they did not ‘see’ God at Mount Horeb. ‘You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice.’ (12) So Israel is not to create visible forms for God by making images or idols. But then Moses says: ‘But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance.’ (20) ‘Out of the iron-smelting furnace’ is the language of idol-making. Israel is not to make idols because God himself has made an image of himself to represent him in the world – his own people. The world will see the goodness and love of God in the life of the covenant community. This is how God is made known to the nations.

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:

amazon.co.uk :: amazon.com

includes Tim Chester’s books

The Glory of the Story Sample: Day 114 – God’s mysterious ways

Reading: Genesis 39; 45:1-11

Here is another extracts from The Glory of the Story , my father’s devotional introduction to biblical theology in the form of 366 daily readings which show how the Old Testament story is fulfilled in Christ. The Glory of the Story is available as a Kindle book for $2.99 from amazon.com and £1.99 from amazon.co.uk. I’m posting extracts from the chaper on the story of Jacob, usually on the first Monday of the month.

Today’s first portion illustrates the ups and downs of Joseph’s thirteen years in prison, while the second gives his assessment of all that has happened to him. The LORD was with Joseph is stated twice at the beginning of Chapter 39 (2-3) and twice at the end (21-23). The matching of these verses point for point shows that, in spite of all that intervenes (a period of about ten years), God is in control and Joseph’s faith is quietly victorious. Observe:

1. God is sovereign

He is a purposeful God who works in spite of Joseph’s brothers and Potiphar’s wife, and even through the dreams of the butler and baker (45:5-8). His purposes, though often beyond our understanding (Is. 55:8-9), are not vague and ethereal, but concrete and historical (cf. Gal. 4:4). He does not merely intrude to make everything right, nor is he one who ‘has no hands but our hands’ do to his work. He works sovereignly in and through people and events, bringing order and light from chaos and darkness.

2. God is hidden

He does not make his presence obvious by speaking or appearing. The story simply hints and implies. All we are told is, the LORD was with Joseph and only late in the story are God’s purposes made explicit (45:7-11). But if Joseph had not been Egypt’s prisoner, he would not have been Egypt’s governor. Sometimes it is only as we look back that we can discern God’s hand in events.

3. God is gracious

‘God sent me ahead of you … to save your lives by a great deliverance.’ (45:7) What the mighty Egyptian empire cannot do for itself (41:8), this Hebrew slave does for it. This is another incredible reversal, for the Hebrews are a scorned class (39:17). The story of Joseph clearly anticipates the Exodus, when Egypt will be defeated and hopeless slaves will sing victoriously (Exod. 15:1-18).

4. God’s people are to act responsibly

Joseph never allows his circumstances to become an excuse to sin, for sin is always against God (39:9-10). But he also knows that God has overruled the sin of his brothers for good (45:5). Though that did not excuse them, this liberating perspective on God’s sovereignty and hiddenness (cf. Rom. 8:28) saves Joseph (and can save us) from sinking into resentment at what can sometimes seem like the cruel hand of fate.

Closing thought

Joseph’s faithfulness in small things over many years prepared him for authority in great things. See Matthew 25:23.

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:



includes Tim Chester’s books

The Image of God #4: Disordered desires

The post is part of series looking at the image of God. We’ve seen that in our culture reality is malleable and desire is sovereign. What does the Bible make of this?

To see how counter-cultural the gospel has become consider Colossians 3:5-6: ‘Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.’ Paul is describing unrestrained sexual expression, desire, consumption – everything our culture celebrates. But Paul says it’s immoral, evil and idolatrous.

‘Know thyself’ has become ‘be yourself’, even ‘create yourself’. Our generation attempts to be self-ruling, self-creating and self-evaluating. We are our own king (self-ruling), our own creator (self-made), our own judge (self-evaluating): our own king, creator and judge – that’s idolatry!

It’s not desire itself is wrong. God is not a kill-joy who wants to stamp on our desires. Desire is part of what it means to be human. The problem is after humanity’s fall into sin our desires have become dis-ordered. They are mis-aligned with reality. So desire itself is no longer a good indicator of who we are or how we should live. We still have good desires, but we also have evil desires which do not lead to human flourishing.

I don’t drink coffee. The last time a drank a coffee I felt like my brain was firing. But it firing in different directions all at the same time. That’s what’s happened to human desires. The fall of humanity did not switch our desires on for the first time. They were already there. But now our desires are firing in different directions, sometimes contrary directions, sometimes harmful directions.

Today nearly all desires are seen as good.

But pursuing bad desires does not enable us to be the people we were made to be. They’re akin to a fish desiring to walk on the land. That desire will not lead to flourishing fish! God has not arbitrarily decided to punish some desires and not others. He didn’t look down from heaven and say, ‘That look fun – I better make a law against it’! Evil desires are evil because they’re not consistent with who God made us to be.

I’m making the case for self-denial and self-restraint. And I need to do that because self-denial and self-restraint have become counter-cultural.

When someone becomes a Christian they don’t simply change their opinions. Nor are they simply forgiven by God – though that, of course, is true. Paul’s view is much more radical than this. Paul says that when someone becomes a Christian they die and rise again: ‘You have died with Christ … you have been raised with Christ.’ This is what’s symbolised in baptism (whenever and however it takes place) (Romans 6:1-5). Baptism is like a funeral. How do we escape humanity trapped in sin and under judgment? Our old self (indebted and enslaved) dies and we rise to live new lives (free from the debt of sin and free from the slavery of sin).

Colossians 3:3-4 says: ‘For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also with appear with him in glory.’ We have died and risen to new life. But our new resurrection life is hidden. Christians are not glowing super-beings who float around free from the problems of this world. Our bodies are still subject to decay. But when Christ returns our glorious new life will ‘appear’. It will be evident as we receive glorious resurrection bodies.

So is resurrection just a future reality? No, we have resurrection life now. But it’s a hidden life. It’s not yet revealed in all its glory. So how does it appear? How do you spot a Christian? If it’s not because they glow with spiritual energy, how can you spot them?

The answer is there is verse 5 of Colossians 3: ‘Put to death’. Our new life is revealed in death. Our resurrection life is revealed as we put to death evil desires. That’s how you spot people with resurrection life: they’re the people denying themselves, putting others first, making sacrifices for Christ.

It’s not just that we die to self now and then one day we will receive life. It’s the other way round. We’ve already been raised with Christ. We’ve already received new life. How else is anyone going to die to self? Nothing is more contrary to the instincts of the old humanity. It’s only because we have received new spiritual life through faith in Christ that we want to and are able to die to self.

My friend Andrew has a severely handicapped daughter. It means he can’t stay away from home overnight. It means many hours of unrewarded patience and sacrifice. But quietly he gets on with it. He’s a nobody in our celebrity culture. But in the kingdom of God he’s a hero.

Does the pursuit of self-fulfilment make us happy?

You may be thinking, ‘All this talk of self-denial doesn’t sound much fun. It doesn’t sound like the good life.’ But here’s where things gets surprising. Yankelovich’s instinct was that the move to self-fulfilment would be liberating. But he admits the evidence shows the opposite. After 3,000 in-depth interviews and many more questionnaires, he concedes that the search for self-fulfilment has been futile.

If life is about self-fulfilment then it’s only as good as your last experience. If it’s about self-expression then it’s only as good as your last performance. It’s all precarious and we’re all insecure. So our generation suffers far more from depression, anxiety, mental disorders.

Or let’s return to Christopher West’s image of sexual desire as rocket fuel launching us beyond the stars. He asks, ‘What would happen if the engines of that rocket became inverted, pointing us back only upon ourselves and no longer toward the stars? Launch that rocket and the result is a massive blast of self-destruction.’ (Christopher West, Theology of the Body for Beginners, Ascension Press, 2009, Kindle Location 1001.) David Wells explains:

Whereas the older kind of success was durable, this is not. This is fleeting. It is dependent not on its own quality but on the perceptions of others. Perceptions, however, are fickle, changing, quickly superseded, quickly forgotten. Success today, therefore, has to be constantly renewed, burnished, updated, recast, reinvigorated, made even more current, made freshly appealing, dressed up afresh, and reasserted. This is an on-going project, and if it does not go on, our success begins to evaporate. (David Wells, The Courage to be Protestant, IVP, 2008, 152.)

Or think of it like this. Think of the Christians you know who are most preoccupied with themselves, their desires, their status. And then think of the Christians you know who are most preoccupied with serving others and God’s glory. Who are the happiest?

If life is about developing character and virtue then it has substance. You can find joy in the routine. We were made in God’s image to reflect God’s glory in his world. And Paul ends this section in verse 17 of Colossians 3 by saying whatever you do, do it in God’s name for God’s glory. Everything we do becomes an opportunity for a true self-realisation through self-giving. We gain our lives by losing our lives – including in the routine and everyday.

Jesus said, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.’ (Mark 8:34-35) Yes, this is eschatological (as Mark 8:38 makes clear). But it begins now. Those who live for themselves are relationally and emotionally impoverished. Those who live for Christ and for others are rich beyond wealth.

Our relentless desire for quite pleasures has is like a diet of whipped cream and sugar icing. If that’s all you ever eat then you’ll get ill. That’s our culture. We’ve over-dosed on self-fulfilment and now we feel sick. But virtue is deeply nourishing for the soul. It creates lasting contentment and joy.

Yes, following Christ does mean suffering and sacrifice. But we’re also being confirmed to reality. We’re becoming truly human. We’re living life as it is meant to be lived.

SPONSORS

Support this site by using these links:

amazon.co.uk :: amazon.com

includes Tim Chester’s books