Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 3

Biblical Counsel vs. Psychology

Practical Christianity 6

The video for this message can be found here.

Prayer: Father, we confess that we have often been far more effected by the world and false teaching than we care to admit. And often we have turned more readily to so-called doctors, therapists, and medications before turning to You and Your Word. But we are gathered here to hear Your Word, and we ask that it would be a sharp blade in our lives, revealing our sin, cutting away our cancer, and so setting us free. We ask for this in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Introduction
We live in a therapeutic age – which means we live in an age that believes that many (if not most) hard things can be solved by medicine – whether therapies or treatments or pills, and we must acknowledge that humanistic therapies and psychologies have become in large part rival religions to Christianity. While it used to be that churches were on many corners of American towns, there are now counselors, psychologists, therapists, and social workers on many blocks of American cities. We have turned away from God, and we have turned to science and medicine for our peace and joy.

While the Dominion Mandate certainly includes studying the science of the brain, there have been antagonistic philosophies at work in much of the secular therapy world. Materialism and humanism are the central lies: we are more than just chemicals and material mechanisms; we are embodied souls made in God’s image and we live in the world that God made. This means that peace and joy are not possible apart from coming to grips with our relationship to our Maker. 

There are many trials in this life, but God has given us His sure word to comfort our hearts (Rom. 15:4). Where do you look for peace and comfort? Where do you turn?

The Text: “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican…” (Lk. 18:9-14). 

Summary of the Text
This parable is for those who trust in themselves, think they are right, and thereby, whether they know it or not, despise others (Lk. 19:9). Jesus chose for the parable a man from one of the most respected classes (Pharisees) and a man from one of the most despised classes (tax collectors) (Lk. 18:10). The Pharisee prays in the temple with a lot of proud gratitude, and he is thankful that he hasn’t fallen into many different sins, and for his spiritual disciplines of fasting and tithing (all with himself!) (Lk. 18:11-12). The tax collector, on the other hand, stood in the back, and refusing to even look up, simply begged God for mercy (Lk. 18:13). And Jesus says that the beggar went home made right, but the other was not because God exalts the humble and humiliates the proud (Lk. 18:14). 

Therapeutic Failure
Much like the Pharisees, the medical profession has been one of the most respected classes in our modern world because of their (often) selfless service in saving and protecting life. But where there is much good, there is also often a temptation to arrogance and pride, and right after that, much evil (think abortion, trans-surgeries, COVID madness). It is often assumed that if someone has good intentions and wants to “help people,” they must be virtuous and doing some good. But we really ought to have a bit more biblical cynicism. Thoreau once said, “If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.” Good intentions are not enough. “I want to help people” is a nice sentiment, but do you actually know how to?

Since the explosion of humanistic therapies over the last century, one wonders what good it has done us. As one commentator put it, “Despite the creation of a virtual army of psychiatrists, psychologists, psychometrists, counselors, and social workers, there has been no letup in the rate of mental illness, suicide, alcoholism, drug addiction, child abuse, divorce, murder, and general mayhem. Contrary to what one might expect in a society so carefully analyzed and attended to by mental health experts, there has been an increase in all these categories.” Like the woman in the gospels, we have suffered many things from many physicians, and we have only gotten worse (Mk. 5:26). It is also striking that while therapies have increased, Biblical preaching and counseling has largely cratered, with a great deal of it simply echoing therapeutic mantras. 

Self-Esteem vs. Dignity of Guilt
At the very center of the problem with many therapies is an anti-Christian anthropology (doctrine of man). The assumption of much humanistic psychology is that people are basically good and bad feelings and habits are mostly a result of their environment (e.g. what has been done to them, chemicals in their brain, genes, deprivation, weather, poverty, etc.). But Scripture teaches that despite the real challenges in our fallen environments, every human being is born in sin, inclined to sin, and morally culpable for their actions and reactions to their environments (Rom. 3). We are not fundamentally victims; we are fundamentally moral agents. This is the dignity of guilt. The humanist wants to absolve humans of guilt and so destroys human agency: “it isn’t your fault, it was your dad, your mom, your brain, the weather, the economy…” But by blaming everything else, the humanist destroys the individual’s meaning and value. If nothing is your fault, then nothing you do matters, and therefore you don’t matter. Some of God’s kindest words in Genesis 3 are “because you have done this…” 

And this brings us back to the parable. Humanistic psychology often preaches a gospel of pride and self-esteem: talk about how good you are, how valuable you are, all your accomplishments, how brave you are, how strong you are, think positive. But Jesus says that is the path to humiliation and shame: everyone that exalts himself will be (the Greek word is literally) “depressed” (Lk. 18:14). People are often depressed because they are constantly trying to lift themselves up, prove themselves, have high self-esteem. And sometimes this is done subtly by constantly focusing on yourself and how you feel. It is possible to “exalt yourself,” by simply making yourself the center of your focus and concern. But that too is a form of pride and despising others.  

But the gospel, the “good news” of Jesus Christ, begins with the dignity of guilt: “All have sinned.” And the first step towards healing is bowing your head in true humility and pleading with God: “Be merciful to me a sinner.” And notice that this plea both acknowledges personal responsibility and helplessness and turns out of self and looks to God. And Jesus says, that is the path to healing. Taking humble responsibility for our own sin is the path to being lifted up – by casting your cares on Christ: “for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (cf. 1 Pet. 5:5-7).

Applications
Are we saying that all therapists and psychologists and their treatments are evil and worthless? Not at all. We are saying beware. Be careful. Be on guard. Some Pharisees were good men, but Jesus said, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Beware of the leaven of the humanistic therapists.

Many modern “psychological disorders” are simply the result of unconfessed sin, sinful lifestyles, and sinful habits. Even when it comes to true medical matters, the Bible teaches that we ought to consider whether we have any unconfessed sin (Js. 5:14-16). When it comes to our thoughts and feelings, we ought to do so even more since the Bible explicitly teaches that unconfessed sin results in feeling awful and loss of joy (Ps. 32). Worry, anxiety, and fear are sins that can make you sick (in body and mind), not to mention lies, sexual immorality, bitterness, and envy. Sin is not good for your mental health.

Just as some medical conditions having nothing to do with personal sin, so too, some psychological disorders are true medical conditions that are simply the result of the Fall (Jn. 9:2-3). There are hormonal imbalances, and brain damage, and sometimes there is a challenging mixture of both sin and medical conditions. Just because there may be something truly medical does not ever justify sin.

Many humanist therapies arrogantly teach that it is “abusive” to tell people that they have sinned, that they are wrong, or to correct them in any way – especially victims of other sins/crimes or certain classes of people (often women) because correction makes people “feel bad.” But that is like refusing surgery on cancer because it will be painful. But this is the sin of empathy, and in the name of compassion despises people. Christ sympathizes with us in our weakness, but He does not leave us there. 

This same arrogance often calls biblical spanking of children abusive. But the Bible is extremely clear: “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Prov. 13:24 ESV, cf. 22:15, 23:13-14). This must be done calmly, judiciously, and never in anger, but it must be done. God disciplines us as His children because He loves us and He wants us to become holy like Him – and His discipline is painful (Heb. 12:5-11). Some trials are God’s fatherly discipline that we are called to endure patiently and joyfully. Jesus learned obedience through the things He suffered, and He refused to take the sponge of alcohol to dull that pain. 

We do not have some sacred “right” to always feel good. Sometimes we are simply feeling human (tired, hungry). Sometimes there are many trials. Sometimes God gives us the means to alleviate some of the pain. But we must not immediately demand a pain-free existence. The testing of our faith produces patience, and patience works perfection in God’s people (Js. 1).

Humility recognizes that we don’t always understand the connections between the mind and the body, but humility trusts God’s Word above all other words. And humility looks to Christ. 

Prayer: Father, please show us any area where we have swallowed anti-Biblical assumptions about sin and our minds, or medicine or therapy. We want to study and understand the way You made us and our minds, but we want to do it in absolute humility before You. Help us to truly cast our cares upon you, and not merely say that we are. And I pray that you would give great peace and greater joy to my people this week because they are looking to You. And we ask this in Jesus name, who taught us to pray…

Andrew & Meagan

One of our community’s favorite metrical psalm settings is Psalm 128:

“Blessed the man who fears Jehovah
And that walketh in His ways
Thou shalt eat of thy hand’s labor
And be prospered all thy days
Like a vine with fruit abounding
In thy house, thy wife is found
And like olive plants thy children
Compassing thy table round.” 

The thing I want to point out is that this Psalm connects the blessing of God with the fear of God. And the picture of that blessing is a table full of people and rejoicing. The Psalm actually continues to underline that point: “Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord” (Ps. 128:4). And the blessing is the good of Jerusalem and seeing thy children’s children and peace upon Israel. The fear of God is the foundation of fearless hospitality. 

The fear of the Lord is not a vague feeling or sentiment. It’s a very concrete thing. In Genesis, when the fear of God was not in one place, Abraham was seriously concerned that they might murder him and take his wife. The fear of God honors life and marriage. Later, when Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, on the mountain, the angel stopped him and said, “Now I know you fear God.” The fear of the Lord is fiercely obedient to the commands of the Lord. And Jacob understood this so well that he simply called God the “fear of his father Isaac.” 

But it’s striking that this was not servile terror or dread, since throughout the lives of the patriarchs, God was also coming to them regularly and saying “fear not.” “Fear not, Abram; I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward” (Gen. 15:1). And to Isaac: “Fear not, I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham’s sake” (Gen. 26:24). And when Jacob had heard that his son Joseph was still alive, God said, “fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation” (Gen. 46:3).

This combination continues throughout the rest of Scripture. God’s faithful fear Him and obey Him, and He repeatedly assures them not to fear and blesses them. The midwives feared God and did not obey Pharaoh’s command to expose the Hebrew baby boys, and God blessed their houses (Ex. 1:21). They feared God and so they were fearless and received God’s blessing. But the converse is also true: those who fear man or the world disobey God and lose His blessing. So for example, when Saul offered the sacrifice without Samuel, he says, “I feared the people, and obeyed their voice” (1 Sam. 15:24). And the kingdom was torn from Saul. 

The fear of God puts everything in its place, like setting the table for a great feast: So Peter says, “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” And in Ephesians 5 right before God gives specific instructions to husbands and wives, Paul writes, “submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God” (Eph. 5:21). This is sometimes construed as some kind of bland, egalitarian “mutual submission.” But Paul isn’t saying everyone submits to everyone in some vague way. What would that even mean? No, Paul means that everyone should submit to one another based on the order that God has established in the world. Fear God and fulfill your station, and then he goes on to explain that: husbands, wives, children, servants.  

But the fear of man is a snare (Prov. 29:25). The fear of man bungles all of this. Saul submitted to the people and disobeyed God and the nation descended into turmoil. Adam submitted to his wife and disobeyed God and death and suffering came into the world. Sapphira went along with the lie of her husband and disobeyed God and they were destroy. The fear of man is a snare. But the fear of God sets us free. The fear of God puts everything in its place, like a feasting table full of people and joy. 

So Andrew, my charge to you is fear God and love your wife fearlessly. Men naturally tend to respect one another, and so men often treat their wives with respect and then wonder why it’s not going so well. The answer is that a wife does not appreciate being treated like one of your buddies. She does not want to be treated like a man. But the fear of God teaches you to dwell with your wife in an understanding way, honoring her, thinking of her needs, and leading her in every way to flourish as a woman and a co-heir of the grace of life with you. This is the difference between living by faith and living in fear. You cannot fear what anyone else thinks, that is only a snare. You must care fundamentally only about what God thinks. Loving your wife well is imitating the love of Christ, which is sacrificial. Christ died for you, so that you may lay your life down for Meagan. 

Meagan, my charge for you is similar but from the other side: fear God and respect your husband fearlessly. Just as men are tempted to merely respect their wives, wives are often tempted to merely love their husbands. We tend to give to one another what we most naturally would prefer to receive. But God says that you must respect your husband. Look up to him, think highly of his abilities, wisdom, accomplishments, and say so out loud. Think about how you can help him in accomplishing his goals and mission. This is the fear of God for you, and it will set you free. Do not fear anything or anyone else – that will only be a snare for you, causing worry and anxiety. Think fundamentally about what God thinks. And the center of this must be the great glory of imitating the Church’s obedience to Christ. We obey Christ because He has loved us and given Himself for us. And the Bible says, wives, submit to your own husbands like that. 

And as you both fear the Lord, your house will be greatly blessed. It will have a table at the center that is full of people, full of joy, and full of blessing, everything in its place – a glorious testimony to the goodness and hospitality of God in Christ Jesus. 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.  

The Duty of Forgiveness

Practical Christianity 5

Prayer: Father, we confess that while we know that we are supposed to forgive those who have sinned against us, it is often very hard to, and we make excuses or rename our bitterness, in attempts to hide our hard hearts. So please deal with us today graciously and set us free from all resentment, so that we might live as a truly free people, and set those around us free. Amen.

Introduction
The Christian duty of forgiveness is a difficult one, but it is also a very freeing one. This is the center of Christian joy and peace: being forgiven and releasing those who have wronged us. And this is what Sabbath keeping is all about. 

The Text: “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Mt. 18:21-35).

Summary of the Text
When Peter asked how often Christians must forgive their brothers, Jesus said, seventy times seven (Mt. 18:21-22). Jesus then told a parable to explain why He said that: a story about a servant who owed 10,000 talents to his King, and was granted mercy and the debt was forgiven (Mt. 18:23-27). But when that same servant was owed 100 pence, he refused to have compassion, and had the fellow servant thrown into prison until he paid his debt (Mt. 18:28-30). When the King was told, he confronted the forgiven servant in great wrath and commanded him to be delivered to tormentors until he paid, and Jesus explains that this is what His Father will do with us if we do not forgive our brothers from our hearts (Mt. 18:31-35). 

Let’s Do Some Math
In the New Testament a denarius (what the KJV translates “pence”) was a silver coin that was considered one day’s wage for an unskilled worker. So if you use our US minimum wage ($7.25 @ 8hr), you’d get an approximate equivalent value of $58 for a denarius. A “talent” was not a coin proper but the total weight of 60 minas and 1 mina was 100 denarii.  So one talent (of silver coins) would be about 6,000 coins or approximately $348,000. This means that ten thousand talents would have probably been the equivalent of 3-4 billion dollars in modern currency. The King forgave the servant a vast sum of money, and that servant went out and demanded 100 pence (100 x $58), almost $6,000 in modern currency from his fellow servant, which is nothing close to what he was forgiven, but is still nothing to sneeze at (about 4 months of wages). And if a year’s worth of wages was around 300 denarii or 3 minas, it would have taken 20 years to make one talent, and therefore about 200,000 years to make (pay off) ten thousand talents.

Seventy Times Seven  
These numbers are not merely large numbers, they are loaded with symbolic significance going back to creation and the Sabbath. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, establishing a six and seven day rhythm to human economics. Six days of labor and one day of rest is the foundation of economic fruitfulness and faithfulness. (Incidentally, tithing is closely related. Anyone struggling financially, should begin with Sabbath keeping and tithing.) But the Sabbath laws specifically required that this rest be given to everyone around us: “thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates” (Ex. 20:10). Notice that even work animals get Sabbath. 

This principle was extended to every seventh year, where the people were required to give rest to the land (and therefore the workers of the land) and forgive debts and release Hebrew slaves (Dt. 15), and every seven seven-year cycle was an additional sabbath year (the 50thyear) called “Jubilee,” the year of release, when all debts were forgiven and Hebrew slaves released (Lev. 25). When Judah was conquered by Babylon, it says they were carried away into exile “until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years” (2 Chron. 36:21). And if you do that math, that would suggest that they had failed to keep 70 sabbath years, or 70 7s, or 490 years’ worth of Sabbath breaking.

So “70 times 7” isn’t just a big number, it is the number of Judah’s hard-hearted sin against God. “70 times 7” is the number of Israel’s refusal to forgive, release, and give rest. It’s the number of their exile; and so it is also the number of God’s forgiveness of Israel. Jesus is not just pulling that number out of the air; He’s taking it from Old Testament history. In other words, Israel is the servant in the parable who was forgiven billions of dollars. This was initially the forgiveness/release of the Exodus from Egypt, but then also the forgiveness and return from the Babylonian exile for their refusal to practice Sabbath forgiveness. The logic of the gospel was proclaimed from the Exodus: You were slaves in Egypt, therefore, release your slaves. You were in hard labor in Egypt, therefore give rest to your people. You were redeemed from Egypt, therefore, forgive debts. You have been forgiven; so forgive. 

Applications
This brings us to the duty of forgiveness. It is what we pray week after week: “forgive us our trespasses (or debts) as we forgive those who trespass against us (our debtors).” And perhaps it hits a little harder when you think of forgiveness in financial terms. 

And Jesus teaches that this is basic: “And if [thy brother] trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith” (Lk. 17:3-5).

What is forgiveness? It is a promise not to hold any offense against you for the sake of Christ. Which means that forgiveness is not a feeling, although Jesus says that we must disciple our feelings so that we forgive “from the heart” (Mt. 18:35). But forgiveness is a promise that the sin will not come between you and your brother as far as Christian fellowship is concerned. 

Forgiveness is not the same thing as trust. And forgiveness does not require the restoration of privileges (job, office, marriage). Forgiveness means no animosity, no rage, no bitterness, no careful accounting of wrongs. 

The differences between the King and the servant are striking: the initial plan of the King is to “sell” the servant and his family, presumably into debt slavery, where he could actually work towards paying the debt (a little mercy!). The servant, on the other hand, ordered the fellow servant thrown into “prison” until he would pay – which would seem to be never. This is bitterness: putting a fellow image bearer into a prison (if only in your heart) in which you say they can pay it off but nothing would ever really be enough because your pain and wrath are too great. 

This underlines a crucial aspect of the gospel: if you think about it, we can never pay for any of our sin. Even what we consider “small sin” is against the infinite goodness and majesty of a Holy God and against our fellow servants who bear the image of that Holy God. 

Can you calculate the damage and harm you have committed? How do you put a number on that? The impulse of the fellow servant actually hints at the truth: you can never pay. And so that is what the King ultimately gives the unforgiving servant.

This is why Christ suffered torture in our place and for sin. This is why He had to be both God and man. What we (and your dad, mom, sister, son) could never pay, Christ paid in His own body on the tree. When we “forgive” we are not actually taking away anyone’s sins. We are only agreeing with God that Christ has paid all our debts, and so, they are free. 

Prayer: Father, wherever this needs to be applied today, would you please direct Your Spirit into our lives and do not let us get off the point. Give us true Sabbath rest today, and give us the rest of forgiving those who have sinned against us. In Jesus’ name…

Heaven

Practical Christianity 4

Prayer: Father, we come this morning as your children asking You to provide us bread just as You have promised. But just as You provided Israel with bread from Heaven, we ask You to do the same, but give us the faith to receive and be truly satisfied. Use Your Word to shine the glory of Christ upon us, so that we may be changed into His glorious likeness and so burn away our dross. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Introduction
It has sometimes been said that some people are so heavenly minded they are not any earthly good, but this is a malicious slander. The fact is that Christians are commanded to be heavenly minded so that they can be the most earthly good. 

Heaven is the end toward which all things on earth are bending, growing up into. So, to focus on Heaven, where Christ is seated, is to focus on what you and all things are becoming in Christ. Heaven is not an escape. Heaven is the future. In this sense, Heaven is the most practical thing there is. 

The Text: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God…” (Col. 3:1-10).

Summary of the Text
If we have been raised with Christ, Scripture says we ought to be seeking everything that is heavenly, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). We ought to think about those things which are in Heaven because to be a Christian means that we have already died, and our true lives are hidden with Christ in God in Heaven (Col. 3:2-3). When Christ appears, who is our life, then we will finally and fully appear glorified and heavenly (Col. 3:4). Therefore, put to death your old, earthly ways: “fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence [passions/emotions], and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).

These “things of earth” are what God is destroying in order to heal this world, and those are the things you used to live in – but they don’t define you anymore (Col. 3:6-7). And since you don’t live in them anymore, put them off with all the deeds of the old man, “anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth” and lying, and put on the new man who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the One in Heaven who made man (Col. 3:8-10). So the logic of this text and the whole gospel is that since we have been united to Christ, and Christ has died and risen and ascended into Heaven, we are to set our minds on this fact, putting to death our sin and focusing on what we have become in Christ and therefore what we are becoming, where we and all things are going: Heaven.

What is Heaven Like?
The Bible teaches that Heaven is where God dwells: He is “our Father in heaven” (Lk. 11:2). Heaven is where Christ is seated on a great throne in all majesty (Mk. 16:19). Heaven is our Father’s house, full of many mansions prepared by Jesus for His people (Jn. 14:2-3). And since it is our Father’s house, Heaven is truly going home. If you are in Christ, Heaven is where your heart is. And Heaven is where you are fully known (1 Cor. 13:12). Heaven is described as a new heaven and a new earth, with a new capital city, a resplendent garden-castle coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:1-2). 

Heaven is that place where there is no death, no dying, no sin, no curse (Rev. 21:4, 22:3). And the God who has kept a record of all our tears, will personally wipe away every tear (Ps. 56:8, Is. 25:8, Rev. 21:4). This means that every sad thing will be completely undone, and we will have a fullness of joy that only grows and pleasures that only increase (Ps. 16:11).  

The Bible says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), but to be absent from the body is to be “unclothed” and therefore, the fullness of Heaven will be when our bodies are raised from the dead and we are given new immortal bodies (2 Cor. 5:2-5). It’s possible that there is an intermediate state while we await in spirit our new bodies (Eccl. 12:7, Heb. 12:23), but since time need not work the same way in Heaven, it’s also possible that when we die, we are immediately taken to the resurrection at Christ’s second coming (1 Cor. 15:20-26). Since even creation groans for our redemption (Rom. 8:19-22), and Heaven includes a new earth, we are invited to believe that all of creation (including animals and stars) will be raised to incorruption, which could certainly include beloved family pets (1 Cor. 15:38-44). Isaiah foretells a future in which wolves and lions will lay down with the lambs and calves and little children will play with serpents, and there will be complete harmony (Is. 11:6-9, 65:25).

All of this of course means that we will have plenty to do with our new and perfect bodies in this new creation: good work and games, inventions and discoveries, cheetah and dragon rides, the loveliest arts and architecture, and the best adventures forever and ever. But it will always be without the burdens of pain and anxiety, and full of perfect rest (Heb. 4:10). It should seem obvious, but the Bible teaches that Heaven will not be immaterial (floating on clouds, etc.) which would be really boring, but if anything, Heaven will be more material, more solid, certainly more real than ever. And nothing good from creation will be missing, and it will only get better and better.  

In that place, we will be reunited with our believing families: “gathered to our people,” as it was said of the patriarchs (Gen. 25:8, 35:29, 49:33). We will be with our fathers and mothers, grandparents, spouses, children, brothers and sisters, and dear friends who have died in the Lord. It is worth mentioning that this includes unborn children and siblings that we never met. Children of believing families are holy to the Lord, and therefore, we have every reason to believe they are washed in the Redeemer’s blood. And given how Christ welcomed children, we may even have a strong hope for all children. 

We serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of the living, the God of generations and families, and therefore, while marriage will not be the same, we will know and love one another even better there than we ever did here (Mt. 22:29-32). We will be with all the saints, all the angels, and there will never be any sad goodbyes again. 

And at the center of it all will be the greatest Wedding Feast, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9), full of the best food, a feast of wine and fat things, full of marrow and the finest wines (Is. 25:6). And there will singing and music like we’ve never heard, vast choirs and orchestras and bands, from all the nations, with all their instruments and distinctive languages and styles and rhythms, praising the Lamb who was slain, the King of kings (Rev. 5:8-9, 7:9-12, 14:2-3, 15:2-4). And every one of us will see His face (Rev. 22:4). And we will cast our crowns before Him, and He will give us lavish rewards that we don’t deserve and put crowns on our heads that defy all reason (2 Tim. 4:8).

Applications
Since all of this is true, put to death your sin. As the old hymn says, “Fading is the worldling’s pleasure, all his boasted pomp and show; solid joys and lasting treasure none but Zion’s children know.”

Your wrath and anger and lust and envy are weights holding you down, bending you down, deforming your life into nothing. But Jesus Christ died so that you might die, so that your sin might die in Him, and He rose from the dead so that you might rise with Him from the dead (without your sin) now in this life and rise in a new body in the Resurrection of Heaven.

Heaven and Hell begin here in this life. In Isaiah 65:17-20, it foretells the new heaven and new earth, but it describes a time of a great peace and harmony when children are still born and the elderly still die, but it says that you will be considered a child if you die at only a hundred. For those who know Christ, Heaven begins here and now. But for those who do not know Christ, you are already in the beginning of Hell. Either you are being pulled down into increasing selfishness and pettiness and bitterness and idolatries and fading, or else you are being set free to love and forgive one another as true human beings, real men and women, and beginning to enjoy creation as it was meant to be enjoyed and gathered to the Heavenly Mt. Zion to worship the King forever.

So which one are you? Where are you? Are you in Hell or are you already in Heaven? If you think you are in Hell but somehow when you die you will go to Heaven, you are very much mistaken. Heaven is for those who have already died and their lives are hidden with Christ in God. Heaven is for those who know Christ who is in Heaven at the Father’s right hand. 

Prayer: Father in Heaven, we are about to pray that prayer that Jesus taught us, to call on You as our Father who is in Heaven and to hallow Your holy name. But please do not let us call on Your name in vain. Please give us Your Holy Spirit which teaches us to call You Abba Father and to truly know You as our true Father in Heaven who cares for us more than any earthly Father and who will never leave us or forsake us because of Jesus. Please do this because we ask in Jesus’ name, who taught us to pray, singing…

Assurance of Salvation

Practical Christianity 3

Prayer: Father, these are your saints, your sheep, for whom Christ died. Some of them are troubled with many burdens, and I ask you to use this message to relieve those burdens. Others are not troubled as they ought to be, even though they are causing a lot of trouble in those around them. And Father, I ask you to trouble them now. May this message be used by Your Spirit to wake them up from their Theoden slumbers so they might live. Amen. 

Introduction
In a room with this many people, a preacher always runs the risk of worrying the faithful and flattering the faithless. There are some who have very fragile faith who need to be encouraged, and there are some full of arrogant presumption that really need to be rattled. 

What do I mean? There are some fragile folks who love God and their neighbors, and they can get themselves into a knot because one time in second grade they *might* have said something a little disrespectful to Mrs. Jones and they’re just not sure they’re really saved. 

On the other hand, there are others who are real pills to their families, regularly causing harm and heartbreak, who constantly explain it away as “not perfect just forgiven.” And it would never even occur to them that they might not be saved.

And with a message like this, chances are good that the presumptuous will latch on to the encouragement, and the easily worried will get rattled. So pray that the Spirit would direct the Word to the right targets. When we talk about assurance of salvation, the goal is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.  

The Text: “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother…” (1 Jn. 3:10-24

Summary of the Text
Fundamentally, everyone in the world is either a child of God or a child of the devil (1 Jn. 3:10). While it is certainly true that God saves sinners, such that a snap shot of Cain and Abel might have caught Cain in what appeared to be a good moment and Abel in a bad moment, nevertheless the game film generally reveals God’s grace working righteousness in believers and sin working evil in unbelievers – this is manifest (1 Jn. 3:10-12). Some of this is proven by the hatred of the world for believers (1 Jn. 3:13). But we know that we have passed from death to life because we love other Christians (1 Jn. 3:14). But bitterness and spite for those around you is a sure sign that you are still in your sins (1 Jn. 3:15). 

This distinction between the children of God and the children of the devil flows directly from the love of God, who laid His life down for us, compelling us to love those around us in word and deed (1 Jn. 3:16-17). This truth is part of how God assures our hearts, even if our hearts sometimes condemn us (1 Jn. 3:18-21). God also gives us assurance by answering our prayers, which He does in part because He is pleased with the obedience which He has given to us (1 Jn. 3:22). But the fundamental obedience is faith in His Son and love that obeys, which proves that we have been given the Holy Spirit (1 Jn. 3:23-24). 

Presumption vs. Faith
Jesus said that there would be some who prophesied in His name, cast out devils and performed wonderful works, to whom He will say, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mt. 7:22-23). There will be some who went to church, participated in choir and PDGs, homeschooled, and gave tithes, to whom Jesus will say, “I never knew you.” Scripture says that it is possible to be baptized and take communion and still become idolaters and be destroyed (1 Cor. 10:1-11). It says, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Do not be presumptuous. Likewise, in Romans, it warns Gentile branches in the covenantal olive tree against boasting and presumption: “Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee” (Rom. 11:20-21). Unbelieving Jews were cut out of the covenant, and so unbelieving Gentiles may be cut out of the covenant. 

Presumption assumes everything is fine because nothing too bad has happened (yet) but it is always far worse than they think. Faith trembles before God knowing that it deserves destruction. Presumption is arrogant; faith is humble. 

Assurances of Salvation
When Christ saves a sinner, He begins a work that He has already planned, paid for, and guaranteed: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). 

This work begins as a seed that is planted, and the first fruit of that good soil is confessing that Jesus is Lord and calling upon Him: “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3). “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Rom. 10:9). “Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God” (1 Jn. 4:15). Have you called on the name of the Lord? Have you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Then you are saved. This is part of what makes worship so central. Do you love to gather with all the saints and proclaim Jesus is Lord? Is missing church a bummer or do you hardly notice?

Baptism is also given as a sign of salvation: “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3) Baptism is not so much something that we do as it is something that God does and says: “The like figure [Noah’s Ark] whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 3:21). “How does holy baptism remind and assure you that Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross benefits you personally?” The answer is: “In this way: Christ instituted this outward washing and with it promised that, as surely as water washes away the dirt from the body, so certainly his blood and his Spirit wash away my soul’s impurity, that is, all my sins.” (Heidelberg 69). Do you believe? Communion is meant to be a similar assurance of faith. 

Scripture also teaches that when God begins the work of salvation there is a real change of character: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…” (Gal. 5:19-23). Which one are you? Which list characterizes your life? Good trees bring forth good fruit. 

The presence of the Holy Spirit confirms that we are Christians: “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit” (1 Jn. 4:13). The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (Jn. 16:8), gives us the power to repent and obey God’s commandments (1 Jn. 3:24), and leads us to pray and receive what we ask for (Rom. 8:15-16, 1 Jn. 3:22). The Holy Spirit is also the Comforter: so when He convicts us of sin, He shows us sin clearly so we can get rid of quickly. He doesn’t just make us feel vaguely bad. 

Finally, those who have passed from death to life love other Christians (1 Jn. 3:14). “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 Jn. 4:20) And this includes your children and spouse (Mt. 18:5, 1 Pet. 3:7). Do you love God’s people? Is there a growing desire to be around other Christians (1 Cor. 12:13)? Or are they often annoying and bothersome: believers are the aroma of life to those being saved and the aroma of death to those who are perishing (2 Cor. 2:16)?  

Conclusion
The Christian life is marked by peace and comfort in the Holy Spirit and growing in grace and obedience over time (Rom. 14:17). This is a humble peace, not an arrogant presumption. This is not always a smooth ride, but it is sure and steady progress. What is the pattern in your life?

The Bible teaches that the trajectories are generally manifest. The difference between light and darkness, life and death are not really small. They are open and obvious. Do you love Jesus? Do you love to worship? Do you love the Bible? Do you love forgiveness? Are you baptized? Then you are a Christian. You are saved.

But if you’re looking around wondering what’s for lunch. If you’re bored and slightly annoyed, if you can’t wait to get out of here, if you’re just here because your friends or family are here, there’s a good chance you are not really a Christian and you are not saved. If you’re here in this room in that condition, the invitation is very simple, stop lying, stop pretending, stop blaming others, stop trying to prove yourself. Salvation is all about recognizing that you cannot save yourself, that you are lost, and everything is hopeless in your sin. But Christ was crucified for sinners, not for good people, not for people who have their act together. He came for the sick. He came for the dead. He came for the blind. Do you want to see? If you call on the Lord Jesus, you will be saved. 

Prayer: Father, we have been blessed with tremendous fruit in our community, but we know that it is all your doing, your blessing, your salvation, your Spirit. So do not let us forget this, and so assure us of Your great salvation. And wherever any presumption or hypocrisy has crept in, search it out and expose it. Comfort our hearts with real grace, and trouble the hearts that are hard and full of pride until they fall down in worship. We ask this in Jesus’ name, who taught us to pray…

That Hideous Witchcraft

Introduction
Historically, theonomists have not quite known what to do about drugs. On the one hand, we are massively skeptical of attempts by the state to enforce morality beyond what God has explicitly granted. The state should not be in the health care business because the state sucks at health care. The state’s ministry is primarily one of violence: punishing evil doers, protecting the innocent, and enforcement of private property and equal weights and measures. You don’t want the magistrate taking care of your newborn baby or great-grandma because they will inevitably harm them, but enough about Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins.

On the other hand, the proliferation of psychedelic drugs, the legalization of marijuana, and the mass destruction of meth and fentanyl all around us seem to be screaming for some measure of criminalization. For many years, I’ve fallen back on a defense of criminalization from a tactical standpoint: it’s unwise to remove the ancient landmarks – the laws have been on the books, we are clearly not in any kind of position to handle this “freedom,” so keep the laws until great maturity breaks out in our land. Hey, we can hope can’t we?

However, I had a high school civics student recently suggest that mind altering drugs (THC, meth, fetanyl, ayahuasca, etc.) ought to be banned by law for their close association with witchcraft, demons, idol worship, and the occult. And I think he’s right. 

Theonomy has often leaned libertarian on drugs because it has assumed that plants and chemicals are just materials. But contra materialistic libertarianism, some materials are used to commune with the dead and demons and therefore should be illegal in Christian nations.  

Of Witches & Familiar Spirits
One element of biblical law that may leave many Christians scratching their heads is what to do with all the passages about witches, wizards, divination (consulting with the dead), and summoning up “familiar spirits.” We can certainly begin by prohibiting public worship of false gods, legally suppressing Islam, Hinduism, etc. While some well-meaning folks have decided that means Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are all inherently immoral (but Moses and Elijah and Jesus were types of wizards), there would seem to be a far more hideous application in hallucinatory, mind altering drugs.  

“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Ex. 22:18).

“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer” (Dt. 18:10-11).

“And [Manasseh] caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger” (2 Chron. 33:6).  

Are those ceremonial or moral laws? It would seem very straightforward to see them as moral laws, right there with, no worshipping false gods or passing your children through the fires of Molech. And if they are moral laws then they likely have judicial/criminal applications since in Israel witchcraft and idolatry had potential death penalties tied to them. These are not ceremonial death penalties (ordered directly by God) because they require witnesses and legal due process (e.g. Dt. 13).

While there is certainly a resurgence of occult activity and full blown Satan worship and idolatry in Hinduism and Islam in the West, the gateway into idolatry and witchcraft is not usually a direct leap from a broadly Christian culture to putting fruit in front of statues or communing with demons. And the story of Israel suggests the path: drunken and drugged revelries and orgies. In Exodus 32, when Aaron makes the golden calf, the people offer sacrifices, begin eating and drinking, and Scripture uses a euphemism, “and rose up to play,” which is clearly sexual (cf. Gen. 26:8, 1 Cor. 10:7). This pagan worship is a sort of gluttonous, drunken frenzy. The historical connections between pagan worship, mind altering drugs, drunkenness, and sexual deviancy are well established: temple prostitution, pederasty, peyote, cannabis, opium, etc.

There is no doubt a complex psychology of despair, boredom, lust, and stupidity that leads many people into sexual debauchery and mind-altering drugs. But the search for euphoria through sexual highs or chemical highs (or both) is a deep-seated craving in the human heart, especially in contexts of deep depression, anxiety, fear, and loneliness. 

But the Bible clearly teaches that we are not merely chemical animals, and the world is not merely a chemical junkyard. We are also spiritual creatures made in God’s image, and the world around is far more alive and haunted than we often realize. And there is a deep hatred of God, His image, and His world that drives these cravings and urges, a hatred which loves death and in some perverse way sees power in death (and therefore the powers of death).

Pharmaceutical Witchcraft
Paul teaches this in Galatians 5:20 listing the works of the flesh: “Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.” There are the close associations of wrath and hatred and strife with idolatry, witchcraft, and heresies. In fact, the word for “witchcraft” is the Greek word “pharmakeia,” from which we get modern words like “pharmaceutical” (related to medical treatments) or “pharmacy,” (a place to buy medicine or drugs). In the ancient world, medicine and drugs were often closely connected to religious rituals, shamans, and “witchdoctors.” But despite the claims of the Enlightenment, we haven’t actually left that world behind. 

In C.S. Lewis’s book That Hideous Strength, he suggests that certain pseudo-scientific meddling with the universe can summon up dark powers and demonic entities. In another children’s story, The Last Battle, a dark deity is summonsed accidentally by lust for power and manipulation. While it may at first seem relatively harmless or merely superstitious, there really are dark powers in the world and the Bible prohibits us from seeking them out for a reason. Pharaoh’s magicians used some real sorcery, and the witch of Endor really did summon up Samuel’s ghost. And when Jesus came into the world the demons and evil spirits were swarming everywhere. 

The repeated commands in the New Testament to be sober and sober-minded are not merely a matter of clear thinking and physical safety (though they are certainly that). 

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Sobriety is particularly necessary because the Devil is looking for victims to devour, and insobriety is apparently one of the ways into human cultures and societies and souls. 

“But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8). Again, sobriety is part of our defensive armor against the “thieves of the darkness and night” (1 Thess. 5:4-5), which is known for drunkenness and sleepy stupors (1 Thess. 5:7). In other words, people putting themselves into drugged stupor are making themselves available and opening themselves up to dark forces and spiritual thieves. 

The irony of course is that initially, the euphoria can feel powerful. It provides chemical highs that feel beautiful, poetic, and can even seem to give dreams and visions of enlightenment and wisdom. Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert were notable examples of this pseudo-scientific-psychedelic crossover with their Harvard Psilocybin Project in the early 1960s. It’s no accident that Richard Alpert ended up as a Hindu guru renamed Ram Dass, teaching eastern meditation and yoga techniques to the West. 

The witchcraft and wizardry that God prohibits is attempting to manipulate the world, to access power apart from the God who made the world. All sin is a bit of sorcery, attempting to trick blessing out of disobedience: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Sam. 15:23). But if left unchecked, there is a certain hardness of heart that will continue down that dark road until dead spirits are coming out of the ground. And hallucinatory drugs are often involved. And what might begin as mere hallucination may end up more real than we imagine.

Conclusion
The overall point here is simply to point out that the civil magistrate does have a role to play in defending citizens from demons and false gods. This is primarily done through encouraging Christian worship and practice (praising righteousness) and through punishing true criminals. But it cannot be an accident that the kings of Israel and Judah are primarily evaluated on whether they destroyed demon shrines and high places or not. 

The problem with idol worship is not merely that it offends the goodness and glory of the true and living God (though it does). The problem is also the fact that idol worship invites demons and dark forces into a land. And pot shops are some of the high places of modern society. The same thing should be said about abortion. It is not merely mass genocidal murder (it is that), it is also the modern day shrine of Molech, where we pass our children through demon fires. As Megan Basham pointed out one time, while Francis Collins was head of the NIH he, “not only defended experimentation on [babies] obtained by abortion, he has also directed record-level spending toward it. Among the priorities the NIH has funded under Collins — a University of Pittsburgh experiment that involved grafting infant scalps onto lab rats, as well as projects that relied on the harvested organs of aborted, full-term babies.”

You cannot have mass human sacrifice without demons involved. Yes, fallen human beings are desperately wicked, but the sadistic celebration of child sacrifice and the experimentation on aborted baby bodies is the kind of witchcraft Lewis was warning about. The N.I.C.E. hooked up a decapitated human head to a machine and called down demons, and we have been grafting infant scalps onto lab rats. The demons have been summonsed. Tash is not far off. 

And the mass legalization of THC is part of the play. The proliferation of increasingly deviant pornography is part of the play. Anti-depressant drugs are also in the mix. And then comes the meth and fentanyl and LSD and ayahuasca, in the aftermath of the guilt and shame and despair and loneliness and searching for meaning. And the accusers whisper darker and darker lies in their ears. 

We do have witches and wizards and demon shrines that must be destroyed. They are pot shops and abortion clinics and sex-change operating rooms and porn studios, all of which traffic in human flesh, and none of which are limited to human flesh. Theirs is a lust for “strange flesh,” like the men in Sodom seeking to rape the angels, “relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones” (Jude 8-9 ESV).

The law of God prohibits idolatry because idolatry is the worship of demons, and demons are thieves that steal, kill, and destroy, but Christ has come that we and our neighbors might have life. The church and families certainly have significant work to do in this area. Discipleship and discipline in the home and the church contribute enormously to sobriety and fruitfulness in society, but magistrates also play a role in prohibiting public celebration of immorality and demons. While I continue to be highly skeptical of much of the modern “war on drugs” since it appears to have been massively confused about biblical principles of criminal justice (e.g. what is the “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” equity for drug trafficking, selling pot, or communing with demons?), I am convinced that magistrates of Christian nations do have some duty to protect the life and livelihoods of their citizens from the ravaging of drug-induced demons.

Photo by Mishal Ibrahim on Unsplash

Creationism vs. Theistic Evolution

Practical Christianity 2

Prayer: Father, we acknowledge that this is a topic that our enemies have established as a stronghold against us, and it affects us far more than we realize. So we ask that Your Word would be like dynamite this morning, breaking up and breaking through our hard hearts, in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Introduction
One of the most virulent viruses to infect modern Christianity is Darwinism. On the one hand, many academics have been cool-shamed into compromise, and on the other hand, even many young earth creationists are functional Darwinists. But you cannot build any house on the sand of human whims and hubris. Scientific theories come and go, but the Word of God stands forever. 

And the thing I want to underline here is that human whims and arrogant scientific theories are ultimately cruel and malicious. They are not only false, but they destroy human lives. But the Word of God is the kindness of God. God’s true word is a gracious word. Jesus is the Word of God, and Jesus is truth and grace. And to whatever extent your life is not centered on the Word of God it will have elements of falsehood and cruelty. 

The Text: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light…” (Gen. 1:1-2:3)

Summary of the Text
The whole Bible opens with this record of God’s intentional, personal creation of all that exists from nothing by the power of His word. This is kind of a big deal. The Bible records this work of God as occurring over the course of six ordinary days, marked by “evening and morning” culminating in the seventh day of rest, and all “very good.” There is a clear structure to the work and text, the first three days “forming,” the second three days “filling.” Again, the detail given to us means that it’s important. This is bedrock for Christian living. Those who say that Genesis 1 is not telling us how God created the world, just that He created the world, are lying. There is a lot of how.  

God created light and separated day and night on the first day (Gen. 1:1-5). He separated the waters above and below and created the heaven or sky on the second day (Gen. 1:6-8). He gathered the waters into one place and caused dry ground to appear and the first plants on the third day (Gen. 1:9-13). In this way, God created something like a three-story house: heaven, earth, and sea. And then He began filling the house: On the fourth day, He set the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament as signs and for keeping time and ruling the day and night (Gen. 1:14-18). On day five, God filled the sea with creatures and the sky with winged, flying creatures (Gen. 1:19-23). And God created every land animal on the sixth day and finally man and woman in His image to rule the world (Gen. 1:24-30). And God saw all that He had made and pronounced it very good and rested on the seventh day and blessed it (Gen. 1:31-2:3).

Evidence of History
Some Christians try to avoid the straightforward meaning of this text by arguing that it is symbolic or poetic. But that merely betrays a very modern prejudice against poetry, as though if something is poetic, it’s meaning is unclear or not historical. Which incidentally tells you that this excuse was come up with by men. But men, just try using that on your wife. I don’t recommend it. But the Song at the Sea celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 15) and the Song of Deborah celebrates the defeat of Sisera (Jdg. 5): and those poems are historical. Genesis 1 is poetic, but it is also historical. 

While some like to connive by pointing out that God is outside of time and time is different for God, the Bible repeatedly invites us to believe that God condescended to our ordinary time. A “day” ordinarily means 24 hours, an evening and a morning, and that is exactly what is presented in Genesis 1. The Sabbath command says that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and that is why we work for six days and rest for one day (Ex. 20:11). Likewise, Jesus says that Adam and Eve were created at the “beginning of creation” (Mk. 10:6). To posit millions (or billions) of years of “creation” before Adam and Eve (or the first male and female creatures) contradicts Jesus.  

I’ll just add here that sometimes Christians are troubled by scientists claiming that there is indisputable evidence of the earth existing for millions or billions of years. To which we have three quick answers: first, the Bible actually tells us that God created the world with some apparent age: Adam and Eve were mature adults when they were created, the trees in the garden already had mature fruit on them for Adam and Eve to eat (and the trees probably had rings) and the stars were apparently created millions of light years away with starlight enroute to earth so Adam could see them on his first day; second, the primary measurement of deep time for modern science (radio carbon dating) is notoriously inaccurate and relies on assumptions about the rate of decay that are not always true; and third, the Bible also tells us that there was a world-wide flood that disrupted everything, causing sedimentary layers, canyons, likely massive volcanic eruptions which could easily account for even more appearance of age. 

Theistic Evolution
While there are several different ways Christians sometimes try to dodge Genesis 1, the most common and popular is called “theistic evolution,” or sometimes “evolutionary creation” (a phrase used by one popular group called Biologos, founded by Francis Collins and promoted by prominent theologians like NT Wright and the late Tim Keller). We should simply note here that Francis Collins was the former director of the National Institute of Health and was a major player in promoting Anthony Fauci’s COVID agenda. 

Theistic evolution or evolutionary creation generally accepts Darwin’s model of gradual evolution from pre-existent matter into simple organisms over billions of years all the way down to the present complexity and intelligence of human beings, which really is one of the dumbest things moderns have come to believe. And theistic evolutionists try to salvage the folly by insisting that God actively used and guided the evolutionary process. But making God the author of evolution only makes it worse. 

The problem is that this means God used random mutations (deformities), survival of the fittest (strong destroying the weak), violence, suffering, and death for billions of years to create the present state of the world. This is an entirely different picture, and an entirely different God. Genesis 1 introduces a Good and gracious God who created a good and very good world that Fell into sin. But theistic evolution posits evil from the beginning, and God merely “working with” violence and death and suffering. 

One example of this would be the fact that under Francis Collins, the NIH funded research on aborted babies, including one study that grafted aborted baby skulls unto the lab rats. I mean, if God used violence and death to created “good,” why can’t we? 

But this does deadly damage to central doctrines of the Christian faith: First, the Bible says that creation groans for redemption, having been subject to corruption (Rom. 8:19-22). Creation was created “good” and pronounced “very good,” and it was Adam’s sin that subjected it to corruption. The curse of death infected all of creation: e.g. weeds and thorns. Theistic evolution essentially says that creation has always groaned, has always been cursed, always been subject to corruption, and somehow that was “good.” (But then what does “good” even mean?) This introduces real moral confusion.

Second, the Bible teaches that death did not enter the world until Adam sinned: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). This guts the Fall of any real significance (there had been dying for millennia?). What really changed? Some might say that only Adam and Eve were offered eternal life and they lost that, but who really cares if we got here by death and dying? 

And this brings us to the biggest problem: Third, theistic evolution undermines the point of Christ and His death. Why did Jesus have to die if a sinless man could be evolved from a humanoid ape? Couldn’t God have just re-evolved man for salvation? The Bible teaches that Christ is a “new Adam” come to restore what the first Adam lost (Rom. 5, 1 Cor. 15). He did not merely lose a chance at immortality in the midst of mass mutations and violence. He lost the whole world, and so Christ has come to restore what was lost. Christ has come to save the world, far as the curse is found. To mess with the First Adam is to undermine the work and significance of the Last Adam.  

Political Ramifications 
The Declaration of Independence famously says: “… that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…” 

You cannot have life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness or the kind of limited governments that actually secure those rights, unless you have a Creator who has created men endowed unalienably with those rights. You cannot have that freedom apart from that Creator. And the more muddled you are about that Creator and His creation, the more muddled you will be about those rights and how civil governments secure them. When the doctrine of Creation is considered non-essential, soon your churches, your businesses, and your unalienable rights will also be considered non-essential.

Conclusion
The personal, intentional creation of all things by the Word of God in six days is the foundational expression of God’s kindness, and grace. It is what theologians often call “common grace,” but it is not really common at all. It is exotic and mind-blowing love. The special creation of all things is the foundation of God’s kindness. 

And that it is why it is not merely enough to reject Darwinism as a scientific theory, you must also reject it in every form. And what I mean is the kind of functional Darwinism that imagines that you can trick God’s blessing out of disobedience, that presumptuously lies about the goodness of God’s providence, and no matter what, “God will work it all out for good.” Sometimes this is done in the name of “telling the truth.” People say things like “I’m just being honest.” No, you’re being a jerk. You’re being unkind. This has been weaponized against us by progressive liberals who demand that we lie in the name of kindness, but that doesn’t justify using the truth as a sledgehammer on your wife or husband or kids or the guy on Facebook. 

Sometimes some of the most hardcore creationist families are some of the harshest and ugly in their words. When I was at the Ark Encounter a couple years back, I heard a mother chew out her son outside our hotel right in front of the Ark Encounter. And I will never forget it. The little boy probably was being a pill, but the mother was acting like a Darwinist in that moment, imagining that her harsh and deforming words would somehow create life and order in that young boy’s life. But it never does. You cannot sin with your words and expect it to go well. You will reap what you sow with your words, with your tone of voice, with your heart. God’s word spoke the universe into existence. God’s word upholds it all with supreme kindness. What kind of world are you making with your words? With your text messages? In the car with your kids?

I just did a funeral yesterday for the Bratcher’s daughter who was in a terrible car accident a couple of weeks ago and died unexpectedly from complications this last week. She was almost 42. You don’t know how much time you have here. You don’t know how much time you have with your kids, with your spouse, with your parents. It’s shorter than you think. Darwinists try to fix everything with time, stretching time into distant horizons. And many Christians do the same, thinking they’ll fix the problems later, imagining it will somehow evolve into something better. It won’t. It never does. Sin doesn’t get better. Deal with your bitterness today. Deal with your anger today. Deal with your resentment today. You don’t know if you will have tomorrow or next week. 

It can sometimes seem like too big of a mess, too many years of hurt or pain, too many years of sin, but God created the universe in six days, and He re-created all things in three days in the death and resurrection of His Son. And He paid for all your sins on Good Friday. It may take a few days or weeks to rebuild, but you can get clean in one day. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Don’t let sin fester. If you turn to Him in complete humility and submission, His word to you is grace and truth. If you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will lift You up. He will make you a new creation. 

Prayer: Father, wherever we have made peace with evolution, would you please expose it to us, so we can see it? Would you please grant us and our world a complete deliverance from this great curse of madness? And would you please work in our hearts the kindness of Your creative word, Your saving word, so that we might have mercy and kindness and truth for our families and neighbors. Please do this for Jesus’ sake, who taught us to pray…

Practical Christianity 2

Creationism vs. Theistic Evolution

Prayer: Father, we acknowledge that this is a topic that our enemies have established as a stronghold against us, and it affects us far more than we realize. So we ask that Your Word would be like dynamite this morning, breaking up and breaking through our hard hearts, in Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Introduction
One of the most virulent viruses to infect modern Christianity is Darwinism. On the one hand, many academics have been cool-shamed into compromise, and on the other hand, even many young earth creationists are functional Darwinists. But you cannot build any house on the sand of human whims and hubris. Scientific theories come and go, but the Word of God stands forever. 

And the thing I want to underline here is that human whims and arrogant scientific theories are ultimately cruel and malicious. They are not only false, but they destroy human lives. But the Word of God is the kindness of God. God’s true word is a gracious word. Jesus is the Word of God, and Jesus is truth and grace. And to whatever extent your life is not centered on the Word of God it will have elements of falsehood and cruelty. 

The Text: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light…” (Gen. 1:1-2:3)

Summary of the Text
The whole Bible opens with this record of God’s intentional, personal creation of all that exists from nothing by the power of His word. This is kind of a big deal. The Bible records this work of God as occurring over the course of six ordinary days, marked by “evening and morning” culminating in the seventh day of rest, and all “very good.” There is a clear structure to the work and text, the first three days “forming,” the second three days “filling.” Again, the detail given to us means that it’s important. This is bedrock for Christian living. Those who say that Genesis 1 is not telling us how God created the world, just that He created the world, are lying. There is a lot of how.  

God created light and separated day and night on the first day (Gen. 1:1-5). He separated the waters above and below and created the heaven or sky on the second day (Gen. 1:6-8). He gathered the waters into one place and caused dry ground to appear and the first plants on the third day (Gen. 1:9-13). In this way, God created something like a three-story house: heaven, earth, and sea. And then He began filling the house: On the fourth day, He set the sun, moon, and stars in the firmament as signs and for keeping time and ruling the day and night (Gen. 1:14-18). On day five, God filled the sea with creatures and the sky with winged, flying creatures (Gen. 1:19-23). And God created every land animal on the sixth day and finally man and woman in His image to rule the world (Gen. 1:24-30). And God saw all that He had made and pronounced it very good and rested on the seventh day and blessed it (Gen. 1:31-2:3).

Evidence of History
Some Christians try to avoid the straightforward meaning of this text by arguing that it is symbolic or poetic. But that merely betrays a very modern prejudice against poetry, as though if something is poetic, it’s meaning is unclear or not historical. Which incidentally tells you that this excuse was come up with by men. But men, just try using that on your wife. I don’t recommend it. But the Song at the Sea celebrates the crossing of the Red Sea (Ex. 15) and the Song of Deborah celebrates the defeat of Sisera (Jdg. 5): and those poems are historical. Genesis 1 is poetic, but it is also historical. 

While some like to connive by pointing out that God is outside of time and time is different for God, the Bible repeatedly invites us to believe that God condescended to our ordinary time. A “day” ordinarily means 24 hours, an evening and a morning, and that is exactly what is presented in Genesis 1. The Sabbath command says that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and that is why we work for six days and rest for one day (Ex. 20:11). Likewise, Jesus says that Adam and Eve were created at the “beginning of creation” (Mk. 10:6). To posit millions (or billions) of years of “creation” before Adam and Eve (or the first male and female creatures) contradicts Jesus.  

I’ll just add here that sometimes Christians are troubled by scientists claiming that there is indisputable evidence of the earth existing for millions or billions of years. To which we have three quick answers: first, the Bible actually tells us that God created the world with some apparent age: Adam and Eve were mature adults when they were created, the trees in the garden already had mature fruit on them for Adam and Eve to eat (and the trees probably had rings) and the stars were apparently created millions of light years away with starlight enroute to earth so Adam could see them on his first day; second, the primary measurement of deep time for modern science (radio carbon dating) is notoriously inaccurate and relies on assumptions about the rate of decay that are not always true; and third, the Bible also tells us that there was a world-wide flood that disrupted everything, causing sedimentary layers, canyons, likely massive volcanic eruptions which could easily account for even more appearance of age. 

Theistic Evolution
While there are several different ways Christians sometimes try to dodge Genesis 1, the most common and popular is called “theistic evolution,” or sometimes “evolutionary creation” (a phrase used by one popular group called Biologos, founded by Francis Collins and promoted by prominent theologians like NT Wright and the late Tim Keller). We should simply note here that Francis Collins was the former director of the National Institute of Health and was a major player in promoting Anthony Fauci’s COVID agenda. 

Theistic evolution or evolutionary creation generally accepts Darwin’s model of gradual evolution from pre-existent matter into simple organisms over billions of years all the way down to the present complexity and intelligence of human beings, which really is one of the dumbest things moderns have come to believe. And theistic evolutionists try to salvage the folly by insisting that God actively used and guided the evolutionary process. But making God the author of evolution only makes it worse. 

The problem is that this means God used random mutations (deformities), survival of the fittest (strong destroying the weak), violence, suffering, and death for billions of years to create the present state of the world. This is an entirely different picture, and an entirely different God. Genesis 1 introduces a Good and gracious God who created a good and very good world that Fell into sin. But theistic evolution posits evil from the beginning, and God merely “working with” violence and death and suffering. 

One example of this would be the fact that under Francis Collins, the NIH funded research on aborted babies, including one study that grafted aborted baby skulls unto the lab rats. I mean, if God used violence and death to created “good,” why can’t we? 

But this does deadly damage to central doctrines of the Christian faith: First, the Bible says that creation groans for redemption, having been subject to corruption (Rom. 8:19-22). Creation was created “good” and pronounced “very good,” and it was Adam’s sin that subjected it to corruption. The curse of death infected all of creation: e.g. weeds and thorns. Theistic evolution essentially says that creation has always groaned, has always been cursed, always been subject to corruption, and somehow that was “good.” (But then what does “good” even mean?) This introduces real moral confusion.

Second, the Bible teaches that death did not enter the world until Adam sinned: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). This guts the Fall of any real significance (there had been dying for millennia?). What really changed? Some might say that only Adam and Eve were offered eternal life and they lost that, but who really cares if we got here by death and dying? 

And this brings us to the biggest problem: Third, theistic evolution undermines the point of Christ and His death. Why did Jesus have to die if a sinless man could be evolved from a humanoid ape? Couldn’t God have just re-evolved man for salvation? The Bible teaches that Christ is a “new Adam” come to restore what the first Adam lost (Rom. 5, 1 Cor. 15). He did not merely lose a chance at immortality in the midst of mass mutations and violence. He lost the whole world, and so Christ has come to restore what was lost. Christ has come to save the world, far as the curse is found. To mess with the First Adam is to undermine the work and significance of the Last Adam.  

Political Ramifications 
The Declaration of Independence famously says: “… that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…” 

You cannot have life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness or the kind of limited governments that actually secure those rights, unless you have a Creator who has created men endowed unalienably with those rights. You cannot have that freedom apart from that Creator. And the more muddled you are about that Creator and His creation, the more muddled you will be about those rights and how civil governments secure them. When the doctrine of Creation is considered non-essential, soon your churches, your businesses, and your unalienable rights will also be considered non-essential.

Conclusion
The personal, intentional creation of all things by the Word of God in six days is the foundational expression of God’s kindness, and grace. It is what theologians often call “common grace,” but it is not really common at all. It is exotic and mind-blowing love. The special creation of all things is the foundation of God’s kindness. 

And that it is why it is not merely enough to reject Darwinism as a scientific theory, you must also reject it in every form. And what I mean is the kind of functional Darwinism that imagines that you can trick God’s blessing out of disobedience, that presumptuously lies about the goodness of God’s providence, and no matter what, “God will work it all out for good.” Sometimes this is done in the name of “telling the truth.” People say things like “I’m just being honest.” No, you’re being a jerk. You’re being unkind. This has been weaponized against us by progressive liberals who demand that we lie in the name of kindness, but that doesn’t justify using the truth as a sledgehammer on your wife or husband or kids or the guy on Facebook. 

Sometimes some of the most hardcore creationist families are some of the harshest and ugly in their words. When I was at the Ark Encounter a couple years back, I heard a mother chew out her son outside our hotel right in front of the Ark Encounter. And I will never forget it. The little boy probably was being a pill, but the mother was acting like a Darwinist in that moment, imagining that her harsh and deforming words would somehow create life and order in that young boy’s life. But it never does. You cannot sin with your words and expect it to go well. You will reap what you sow with your words, with your tone of voice, with your heart. God’s word spoke the universe into existence. God’s word upholds it all with supreme kindness. What kind of world are you making with your words? With your text messages? In the car with your kids?

I just did a funeral yesterday for the Bratcher’s daughter who was in a terrible car accident a couple of weeks ago and died unexpectedly from complications this last week. She was almost 42. You don’t know how much time you have here. You don’t know how much time you have with your kids, with your spouse, with your parents. It’s shorter than you think. Darwinists try to fix everything with time, stretching time into distant horizons. And many Christians do the same, thinking they’ll fix the problems later, imagining it will somehow evolve into something better. It won’t. It never does. Sin doesn’t get better. Deal with your bitterness today. Deal with your anger today. Deal with your resentment today. You don’t know if you will have tomorrow or next week. 

It can sometimes seem like too big of a mess, too many years of hurt or pain, too many years of sin, but God created the universe in six days, and He re-created all things in three days in the death and resurrection of His Son. And He paid for all your sins on Good Friday. It may take a few days or weeks to rebuild, but you can get clean in one day. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Don’t let sin fester. If you turn to Him in complete humility and submission, His word to you is grace and truth. If you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, He will lift You up. He will make you a new creation. 

Prayer: Father, wherever we have made peace with evolution, would you please expose it to us, so we can see it? Would you please grant us and our world a complete deliverance from this great curse of madness? And would you please work in our hearts the kindness of Your creative word, Your saving word, so that we might have mercy and kindness and truth for our families and neighbors. Please do this for Jesus’ sake, who taught us to pray…

Julie Chandler R.I.P.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one… I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (Jn. 10:10-11, 27-30, 11:25-26).

The Bible clearly teaches that death is an enemy: “For [Christ] must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Cor. 15:25-26). But in the same passage it says that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the power and sting of death have been taken away, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law” (1 Cor. 15:52-56).

So Scripture teaches that after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven He began to reign and He began putting all of His enemies beneath His feet, like a conquering King. And the last enemy that He will put down is death itself, and that will be put down at the final resurrection when the dead are raised incorruptible, when our corruptible bodies are transformed into immortal bodies, and then will finally be fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet foretold: “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces” (Is. 25:8). Paul is also quoting from the prophet Hosea who promised, “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (Hos. 13:14). 

So outside of Christ, death is a terrible enemy, and the Bible says that it is the particular weapon of the Devil. This is why Jesus died: “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:14-15). So the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But when Jesus Christ died on the Cross, He suffered the sting of death in our place, and He perfectly fulfilled the law’s demands. In the Cross, justice for our sins was fulfilled. And this is why Jesus said, “It is finished.” Justice was completed. In Romans 6 it says that he wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, the Devil has the power of death only so long as justice demands our death. But when our sins have been paid for, the sting of death is removed. 

In Revelation 1, when John met the risen Christ, Jesus said, “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Rev. 1:17-18). When Jesus died and rose from the dead, He became the Lord of the living and the dead. He conquered sin and death and the Devil, and He took the keys to death away from the Devil. In Ephesians it says that when Jesus ascended He took captivity captive. That included the captivity of death, the bondage of death. Jesus is the destruction of the grave. He tore a hole in Hades and began the great conquest of death for all who believe.

This is how Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life, unending and abundant. And He secured this by giving His life for His sheep. But Jesus adds two additional claims to assure us of our security and comfort in life and in death. He says that God the Father has given all of His sheep to Him, and His Father is greater than all. The thief cannot touch any of the sheep because the Father has given them to Jesus, and the Father is greater than all – greater than death, greater than the devil, greater than any thief. Secondly, Jesus says that no one is able to pluck them out of His hand. He actually says this with regard to the Father’s hand, and then He says it again with regard to His own hand. No one can pluck the sheep from the Father’s hand or from Christ’s hand. And you might naturally wonder, well, which hand is it, whose hand are we in? And Jesus answers that question very clearly: “I and my Father are one.” 

If Jesus is merely a great teacher or a good man who became a god or like God, He may be very inspiring, but He cannot guarantee what He promises. He cannot guarantee our safety and security even through death itself. But if Jesus is one with the Father, then He is the Good Shepherd, and we know that we have been made right with the Father. Because they are one, they have one hand, and we are safe in His hand. We know our sins are forgiven. And we know that just as the Father raised Jesus from the dead, so too, He will raise Julie and all those who trust in Christ, and “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces.”

Julie was a Christian woman who trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. She was claimed by God before the foundation of the world, and she was purchased by Her Savior at Calvary, in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. She was baptized and professed her faith in the Lord Jesus; she heard His voice. This means that He was her Good Shepherd. He held her firm in His grip all her days, and He brought her home to Himself in His great goodness and love. Death has not won. And death had no sting for her because Christ had paid for all her sins with His precious blood, and by that same blood she has been ushered into the very presence of the Father and she is guaranteed resurrection and eternal life.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Photo by Yoksel Zok on Unsplash

Cyrus & Ava

In John 2, Jesus attended a wedding that ran out of wine. His mother famously brought the problem to Jesus. And He asked, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour is not yet come.” And Mary simply told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them. So Jesus saw six large stone water jars nearby, kept for Jewish purification rites. They held 20-30 gallons a piece, that’s 120-180 gallons total, and Jesus told them to draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. This means that Jesus made the equivalent of between 600-900 bottles of wine, which, if you were wondering, is 50-75 cases of wine.

The bridegroom was apparently the one entrusted with providing the wine, and it may have been a source of significant embarrassment or shame for him to run out of wine right in the middle of the celebration. But when the miracle is performed, the embarrassed bridegroom is given the credit for not only providing wine, but providing the best wine, saving the best for last. And the gospel says that this was the first miracle and sign that Jesus performed to manifest His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. 

This story is no accident at all. It is the first sign because it reverses the first sin. In a garden 6,000 years ago, the first bridegroom failed, and he failed like the bridegroom in this story with regard to food and feasting. God provided a feast in the Garden, even the Tree of Life, from which God said they were welcome to eat of every tree, just not the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But Adam the Bridegroom failed to protect his bride and sinned, and their eyes were opened to their guilt and they became ashamed. And God pronounced curses upon them and ushered them out of the garden, away from the feast. Now they would work a cursed ground, with thorns and weeds, and the food and feasting would only come by great trial and toil. 

This great toil was pictured by the ceremonial laws of the Old Covenant. After the Fall, everything was dead and decaying, everything was unclean and impure, tainted with sin and shame. Anyone who has lived long in this world knows about this. But God in His mercy still came near to His people, but He required them to constantly wash themselves and wash everything around them. God wanted them to constantly acknowledge that they need Him to cleanse them. And Hebrews calls all these washings “baptisms.” They had to be baptized over and over, sprinkled with purification water again and again because they were always getting unclean again. It was never enough.  

Until God sent a new Adam, a new Bridegroom to make the world new. Unlike the first Adam, Jesus did not listen to the serpent. He did not seize food or glory or power. He waited patiently for it to be given. And here at the very beginning of His ministry, He demonstrated why He had come. He came to bring the feast. Or better, He came to bring us back to the feast, back into the garden. But He provides what we cannot provide. And He even alludes to this when His mother tells him they have run out of wine. He says, “Woman, my hour is not yet come.”

It’s worth noting that in the Garden, the woman’s name is “woman.” Her name is not Eve until after the Fall, and after the promise is given that the seed of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. He names his wife Eve in faith believing that she will become the mother of all the living. So you kind of have to wonder if Jesus said this line with a grin and a twinkle in His eye, calling His mother “woman,” and I wonder if His mother smiled back as she told the servants “just do whatever He says.” 

Later, Jesus will refer to “His hour” as the time of His death on the cross. He knows that His death is the real moment when He will provide for all our needs and cover all our shame and welcome us back to the feast with the very best wine of all. But He pictures that coming hour in that quiet wedding in Galilee, perhaps in someone’s backyard, who suddenly had a lot more wine than they probably knew what to do with. And His disciples saw it all and they believed. 

So this really is a glorious sign of the gospel. Jesus comes as the new Adam, the new Bridegroom to supply what the first bridegroom and all other bridegrooms have always struggled to supply: life and joy. But in this sign, Jesus proclaims that He can supply what we cannot. But more than that, Jesus provides what we cannot provide, and then He lets us get the credit for it. He covers our shame. Of course, we should always want to point away to Him as the One who makes it all possible. But this is how Jesus loves to do it for all who believe in Him. 

Cyrus, today you are the bridegroom, and from this day forward, you are called by God to bring life and joy to your wife and family. You are to do this by imitating Jesus. Ephesians says you do this by leading your wife and loving her. And when you do this faithfully, it will require you to lay your life down for her in obedience to God. And this will be exceedingly hard. But this is the wine you are called by God to supply for the feast, and sometimes you will run out. So the only way to keep the feast going is for you to constantly look to Christ, telling Him that you have run out, and He will always provide more. All of this requires great strength and joy: strength and joy for the many burdens and trials of life, but also strength and joy to ask Christ for more. But He died on the Cross and rose from the dead to provide that strength for every man who asks. Jesus gives His blood for wine so that He might live in You, and His life makes you strong for this. And your glory is this strong joy.

Ava, today you are the bride, and from this day forward, you are called to help your husband as he seeks to lead you and your family in obedience to God. In Song of Songs, wine is a central theme in celebrating marital love. As Cyrus loves you, you are called to return that love with joy, and hospitality, and children. He brings the wine of joyful sacrifice, and you return it to him with the wine of respect and obedience and submission. We live in a world that is utterly embarrassed of a woman’s obedience to her husband, but we call it glory because Ephesians says you are imitating the glory of the Christian Church, which submits to Christ in all things. At the same time, your task will not be easy because you are promising to obey a fallible man. And you will be tempted to resent his weaknesses and failures. Sometimes you will run out of the wine of respect and obedience, and so the charge is the same for you: look to Christ for the wine that you need to supply. Tell Him when you have run out, and He will always supply you with more. He died and rose again so that every woman might have the strength she needs to submit to her own husband in the Lord. Jesus gives His blood for wine so that He might live in You, and His life makes you strong for this. And your glory is this submission and respect.

In this way, as Cyrus pictures Christ in his leadership and love and you respond like the Church in joyful obedience, together you are spreading a feast, and Christ will always supply the wine, the next vintage always better than the last.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Photo by Luigi Pozzoli on Unsplash