Bite-Sized: The Goodness of God

Our framework is wrong. When most people read the book of Job, they think that what happens to him is unfair. The reason is this: We have a very large box, which we call Fairness and Goodness. We then place God in that box and tell Him that He has to abide by these rules. We do the same thing with love. We read, "God is Love", and invert our interpretation. As opposed to coming to the conclusion that God is the definition of love, we come to the conclusion that love as we conceive of it in our relationships is the manifestation of God. This is only true insofar as the love in our relationships mirrors the love that God shows, as that is true love. The same goes for fairness and goodness. Isaiah 55 comes back to mind: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." God does not conform to our human conceptions of fairness and goodness, but rather we need to conform our conceptions of fairness and goodness to the heavenly standard. To say that God is good is to say that everything He does is good, at least in some way. Are we prepared to really say that? To say that God is just is to say that his acts, including, notably, the killing off of entire peoples in the Old Testament, are just. As emotionally uncomfortable as it is to admit, Scripture says that it is true. Let's stop submitting truth to our emotions and instead, submit our emotions to the truth. And yeah, it's much easier said than done.

The Transcendence of God: What It Is and What It Means

What it is:
So the word, "transcendent", comes from Latin, specifically "transcendere", which means to climb over. To describe God as transcendent is to say that He "climbs over" ordinary existence. This word helps one apprehend the idea that God is impossible to comprehend. Because He is ultimately the Creator and outside of His creation, we can only see and understand bits and pieces of Him. The name of God is an example of this. When Moses asks God what His name is in Exodus 3:14, God responds with the Tetragrammaton, literally "four letters", YHWH, which is vocalized as "Yahweh" and later latinized as "Jehovah". The name is a conjugation of the verb "to be", showing that in this verse, as well as in others, God characterizes himself, most commonly, by the fact that He is. He not only is, but He also was, and He also will be. This is one of the characteristics of God that is, perhaps, the basis of His ultimate authority. As the Creator and the originator of the universe that we live in, He essentially has the right and the ability to do whatever He wants with it. This is the concept of God's sovereignty. He, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, can and does do what He wants when He wants. Of course, as with many of the attributes of God, this can affect the individual negatively and positively.

What it means:
One of the advantages of serving a transcendent and sovereign God is the fact that no matter what happens, He is ultimately in control. In the times that we feel powerless, we must remember that we serve the One with all power. It is even more comforting to keep in mind that if one loves God and is called according to his purpose, God works all things for his/her good. But the flipside of this is that we sometimes have a twisted sense of what is good. Too often, we think our happiness, satisfaction, and self-actualization is the ultimate good, so when something happens to us that disrupts that, we blame God. The story of Job illustrates this concept beautifully and tragically. Job, by all counts a righteous man, has his family killed, possessions lost, and health afflicted due to an agreement between God and Satan. His friends offer little comfort, telling him that it is his fault and he needs to repent, when Job maintains that he has done nothing wrong. In the end, God appears in order to assert his sovereignty and eventually bless Job beyond his former possessions, inconveniently leaving out any clarification as to why Job was being afflicted. Often we feel like God does this to us minus the blessings. We suffer (perhaps knowing that this is an inevitability...after all, it's promised that we will in numerous places in the Bible), we demand to know why, and God remains silent. It makes us reconsider whether or not God is really good. But what ultimately is "good"? Do we really have the right to question the One who laid the foundation of the Earth?

This Just In: My Favorite Bible Story

2 Kings 2:
²³ He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” ²⁴ And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.
...
These are, in my opinion, two of the most baller verses in the Bible. Elisha was returning from seeing Elijah being taken up into heaven. The youths in the story were mocking his baldness, which was, most likely, a sign of his calling as a prophet, (another thing to consider is that the name "baldhead" is an epithet of scorn anyways) and the "Go up" is a reference to Elijah. Some people get squeamish about the fact that Elisha is essentially executing "small boys" but the word translated "small boys" actually means young men. We would probably see them as older teenagers. Nonetheless, the lesson from this event is clear. Don't mock God's anointed.* Because the Lord takes care of His own. 


*Obviously, this doesn't mean don't rebuke God's anointed using the foundation of Scripture, as interpreted through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which is what we should all be judging by. Just don't make fun of them and call them names. Otherwise...bears. Large she-bears. 

Bite-Sized: More Immanence

There was another aspect of this idea that I neglected to mention. God’s immanence is not just relevant when you’re sinning or when you’re overwhelmed with adversity. It’s relevant when you’re doing His will too. There will also be times in our lives where we will be doing good and obeying our Lord and, quite frankly, it will seem like a thankless existence devoid of glory. It is for this reason that Paul writes this to the Galatians: “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season, we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” The phrasing in 2 Thessalonians 3:13 is very similar where he says, “You brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” But the grammatical differences point to Paul's different situational approaches. The Greek of the Galatians verse is a hortatory subjunctive phrase. This just means that Paul is encouraging the church at Galatia not to lose hope in the face of adversity. In using the first person plural, he identifies with his audience, acknowledging his own weakness but encouraging the church to fight with him. But in 2 Thessalonians, this encouragement is not merely encouragement, but rather an imperative command. It is no longer “Let us not grow weary”, but rather, “You guys had better not grow weary. Do what I say.” One gets the feeling that in Galatia, the words are preventive while in Thessalonica, the words are prescriptive. In Thessalonica, he sees that laziness is an issue and so he strikes it at its source. Taking these instances where Paul addresses a common issue in the Christian life, we should also take the prospect of “growing weary in doing good” very seriously. The Lord will, in due time, send you the harvest that you have worked for because He, being immanent, is smiling over you as you serve His people wherever and whenever you do it. The reward may be in this life and it may not be. But you will receive it. And if you find yourself about to get weary, take encouragement from Galatians 6. But if you are weary now, obey the command of 2 Thessalonians 3. Your faith and your works are not in vain, for Christ is indeed risen. 

The Immanence of God: What It Is and Why It Matters

First of all, I apologize for not having posted in about a week haha. Lots of stuff has been going on, but it’s time to get back on the horse. So I’ll be continuing with this discussion of the immanence and transcendence/sovereignty of the Trinitarian God.

What It Is:

To say that God is immanent is to say that He is “permanently pervading and sustaining the universe.”* To begin the discussion, it is important to establish what God is not to create a proper understanding of what this phrase means.

Of course, such a view needs to be differentiated from a pantheistic view. We, as Christians, don’t believe that God is everything or that everything is God, or that everything has a little piece of God in it. The Trinitarian God that we know, love, and worship is distinct from his creation but constantly aware and intervening in it.  We don’t believe in a deistic deity, who creates the universe and then lets it run its “natural” course, but rather a God who, as it is documented in the Bible and the lives of millions of believers, intervenes on behalf of his chosen people, working on their behalf. Perhaps the most salient examples of God’s immanence are the nature of the Holy Spirit and the person of Jesus Christ.

David’s characterization of the Holy Spirit is particularly striking in Psalm 139:

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”

This passage beautifully illustrates the omnipresence of God’s Holy Spirit. Wherever David (and by extension, any one of us) goes, God is there. No matter how deep, high or far away. That can be deeply comforting or deeply disturbing. More on that in the Why It Matters section.

            Jesus took this omnipresent, immanent idea to a whole ‘nother level. In the Incarnation, God took a human form to literally dwell with his creation. He went from “hovering over the face of the waters” to breathing, eating, and drinking with other human beings. It is this aspect of God’s immanence and intervention in his creation that so amazes the writer of Hebrews when he describes Jesus. He silences any arguments that Jesus doesn’t understand what you’re going through because he’s also God. Jesus’ humanity is just as mind-blowing as his divinity. As the writer of Hebrews says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect was tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may reveive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16) The immanence of God is made manifest in the Incarnation of Christ. The Son of God, Immanuel, is literally that: Immanuel, or “God with us.”

Why It Matters:

“Ok, Malcolm. God’s immanent. He’s in his creation and working in His creation. Got it. Easy. So what? What does this mean for my daily life?” Put simply, if you thought about it, it would consume your daily life. Hearken back to that psalm that I said could be simultaneously both deeply comforting and deeply disturbing. When you understand that God is everywhere, it becomes a new consideration in everything you do. Specifically, in instances of sin, it is a reminder that everywhere you are, God sees what you’re doing. Nothing is beyond his gaze. You can neither run nor hide from Him. This is why it’s better just to pray honestly for forgiveness, since it’s not like you can just sweep it under the rug with the Supreme Creator and Sustainer of the universe. But it is also a source of comfort. The promise that He will never leave you nor forsake you can help you through the toughest of times if it is truly internalized. There will be times in all of our lives where things will seem hopeless. There will be times where God seems to be far away. Where He seems not to care. Where it feels like He’s sitting on His throne in heaven, twiddling his thumbs. The Psalms are full of instances where David and other psalmists are overwhelmed, whether by sin, circumstances, or enemies. But they all look to God to intervene because they know that He is there. We must have and act on that same knowledge. So when our sin, circumstances, and enemies overwhelm us, let us look to God. The immanent One. The One who is always with us, even if we don’t feel it. Remember, the God you serve sent his Son to die for you. Let me repeat that: He sent his Son to die (brutally, I might add) for you. Don’t ever forget His love. Embrace it, believe it, and place your trust in Him.

*According to the MacBook Pro dictionary

Next time: The flip side of the coin: The transcendence and sovereignty of God

This Just In: Stewardship

Up Front Apology: This one’s long, but most of it is a speech from May. Some of you heard this in person, but others have not. For those with an aversion to reading, *cough cough Nathan*, here's the Youtube link: http://youtu.be/IXp3x7VMus4

So I’ve got to interrupt the Paradox of the Week for a more pressing concern. For my birthday, my girlfriend, Desiree, gave me the book, The Hole In Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns, the president of World Vision U.S. This book has been weighing on me over the past few days, specifically reminding me of the duty that we as Christians have to the poor, the widow and the orphan. This admonition is one of those things that is unavoidable when you read the Bible in almost any capacity. It pervades Israel’s history. It pervades the prophetic literature. It pervades the wisdom literature. It pervades the teachings of Jesus. It pervades the teaching of Paul.* Needless to say, this was convicting to me. To make the situation even worse, I re-read my own words from the graduation speech I gave to the Black Senior Alliance at WashU. Reading this book reminds me to practice what I preach. I’ve attached a slightly edited transcript of my remarks. I pray that the Lord pricks all of us with an unfailing love for His people, wherever they are. While these remarks specifically touch on the enormous blessing and gift of education, in principle, it applies to financial blessing as well.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells a parable that we now refer to as the Parable of the Talents. At the end of this parable, he says this: “For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” Malcolm Gladwell, in his book, “Outliers”, uses this verse to outline his view of success by using a sociologist’s interpretation of this verse, yielding what he calls “The Matthew Effect”. According to him, this verse means, very plainly, that the rich get richer and the poor will get poorer. He turns this verse into the fatalistic notion that successful people get and are given more opportunities, thus they are successful, while others, who have been given little, are destined to lose what they have. Thus the cycle is inevitable. Such an interpretation is patently false and ignorant of the parable’s content and context. Allow me to show why.

In this parable, Jesus tells of a master who gives his three servants five talents, two talents, and one talent, respectively. It’s from this parable that we get the meaning of our English word, “talent” meaning skill or ability. But in the time of the New Testament, it was a measure of currency, amounting to about 20 years of wages for a laborer. So needless to say, it was a ridiculous amount of money. The one with five goes out, trades and makes five more talents, The one who had two also went out and traded and made two more. But the one with one dug a hole in the ground and buried his. Upon the master’s return, the two who invested their talents were rewarded. But the one who buried his is rebuked as wicked and slothful and his little was taken away and given to the one with much. A plain reading of this text yields a different conclusion than that of Gladwell and his sociologist buddy. This is not a message of fatalism but rather a message of the importance of stewardship. In looking at this parable, the master says the exact same thing to both the servant with five talents and the servant with two talents. To both, he says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.” Such a fact suggests that they are rewarded equally. The one who buried his talent, however, is rebuked and stripped of his blessing. It is this parable that I want us to keep in mind as we move on, fellow graduates. What we have received at this university is equivalent in worth to a New Testament talent: a world-class education. Our responsibility is the same as the servants in this first-century parable. We must invest these talents, these skills, this knowledge, this awareness that we have gained after four years at this school. To go out and not make this world a better place would be the equivalent of burying our “talent” and we run the risk of losing what we have. This can be done in every atmosphere you are going into. Some are going to be home for a few yea- months. Enjoy that time of transition (though parents will probably encourage you not to enjoy it too much)! Use that time to strengthen your personal resume before starting a life on your own.  Going onto graduate school? Buck the stereotype that graduate students spend all of their time alone mulling over their work. Enjoy the material! Enjoy the people you’re studying with! Going into the workforce? Don’t focus exclusively on your own success. Give yourself time to build relationships with your co-workers and neighbors. As a finance major, I gained a little bit of insight into the nature and atmosphere of that industry and I know that such a suggestion can seem daunting, but ultimately, money can be fleeting and your relationships with people can last a lifetime if you cultivate them. Remember, the ultimate test of your worth is not how much you’ve done, but rather whether or not you stewarded well what you were given. Stop comparing yourselves to those around you. That’s a game that you are destined to lose.

To the parents, continue to encourage your children. They will scatter but they will still need your love and support in their endeavors. I can only speak from personal experience and the patience, discipline and virtue of my dynamic duo parents are a standard that I will hold myself to and hopefully look to exceed. Thanks, parents. You have been and will continually be integral to my growth.

To all, remember this: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” At first glance, this seems redundant, right? Ok, so if someone gives you a lot, you should give back, right? If we leave the lesson at that, we miss the richness of the admonition and we acknowledge a weak perception of our own blessings. I encourage you all to look at the education that you have received at this university (and beyond that, the life that you’ve been given) through this lens. What you have received over the course of the last 4 (or so) years by means of instruction, exhortation, friendship, encouragement, and hilarious foolishness is not merely yours to use for your own advancement. You have been given much, and of you, much is required. Not strongly encouraged. Required. But you have also been entrusted with much. This was not a thoughtless gift. Your parents, community, and teachers have entrusted you with, first and foremost, wisdom. Your education is not a gift to be hidden, but rather a lamp to be shone and a garden to be cultivated. People will ask much of you and I encourage you all to oblige. You’re all in my prayers. God bless you.

*When Paul talks about being a cheerful giver, he’s speaking to the Corinthian church, a relatively well-off church, and telling them to help support economically depressed churches. Throughout the entirety of Scripture, we are called to support the poor, the orphan, and the widow. 

Isaiah 7 vs. Isaiah 55 (Introduction)

Sorry about the erratic updating this week…occasionally Jack Bauer distracts me. The paradox that we’ll address now is one that I spent most of last semester researching and grappling with: a paradox I like to call the Isaiah paradox. In Isaiah 7, Isaiah prophesies about what we now know is the birth of Christ. In verse 14, he says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin* shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Now Immanuel means “God with us”, and I’m guessing that it’s where we get the word “immanent” to describe our God. The immanence of God can be explained thusly: The Trinitarian God is a God who is intimately aware and active in His own creation. He is not a deistic clockmaker who winded the world up and then let it go, but rather a loving God who continually delivered and disciplined his chosen people, Israel, and who became human in the person of Jesus Christ to save mankind. Pretty simple, right? Cool. But there is also another side of God (there always is, isn’t there?). In Isaiah 55, the prophet has some words that a lot of people like to quote: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” The Hebrew names for God, El Shaddai and El Elyon, translate to God Almighty and God Most High, pointing to a different attribute of God: His transcendence. We serve a God who is very much out of our league. Our minds cannot come close to fully comprehending the length, width, and depth of His majesty. So how do we reconcile these two? How do we pray to a God that we know is always “with us”, but who we also know is perfect, holy, and completely out of our league?

In essence, this was the basis of one of the biggest and earliest large-scale theological battles of Christian history and it led to the writing of the Nicene Creed.  There were two sides of this epic battle. In one corner, there was the bishop Athanasius, arguing for the necessity of a pre-existent Jesus Christ for the sake of salvation, presumably a Jesus, who is the Word of John 1, where it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”. For Athanasius, Jesus needed to be as much God as God the Father. In the other corner, we have the bishop Arius, as constructed mainly through people’s writings against him. His stance was that Jesus, because he is the “only-begotten” Son of God, there must have been a time when he was begotten. Therefore, it follows that there was a time that Jesus was not. This became a battle for the divinity of Christ because it struck deep at how people viewed who God is. Is God truly among us? Is God “way out there”? To explore this, over the course of the next few weeks, I'm going to look at the immanence of God and the transcendence of God and how they both characterize a glorious aspect of the wonderful God we serve.

*The translation here is based on the Greek translation of the Hebrew term for young woman. Some translators have used this fact to insinuate that the virgin birth was a fabrication of the early church. Do not be fooled, brothers and sisters. When you read the books of Luke and Matthew, the circumstances of Jesus’ birth are clear. Mary was indeed a virgin (though I do not think she was perpetually so, as some believe) and Jesus’ birth was indeed a miracle. 

Truth and Unity (Bite-Sized)

The Dichotomy of Truth and Unity: an interesting way of posing the question. Cole NeSmith’s article is interesting and definitely thought provoking, especially for those of us who are Protestant. It’s tough to wrap your mind around the fact that there are literally thousands of different denominations and yet, we’re all supposed to be one united Church and Body of Christ. Where do we draw the line of balance between truth and unity? I would say there is no balance. Like the Word, when he became flesh and dwelt among us, was full of both grace and truth, we should pursue both of these with equal vigor, as opposed to compromising one at the expense of the other. We must worship God in Spirit and in truth and we must also seek to be “of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, and intent on one purpose.” (Philippians 2:2) The only way to do that is to love one another in the way that Paul outlines love in 1 Corinthians 13, which is, quite clearly, not a feeling. It is a continuous act looking towards a specific end: namely sanctification and Christlikeness. Let’s love one another, but never at the expense of truth. Start with your neighbor. Preferably today. And continue to look forward to the day that Christ will gather us all together. 

Child-like vs. Childish (Bite Sized)

Note: The phrase, "Bite Sized", will mean that the post is relatively short, as opposed to one of the normal pages-long rambling post heh heh. 

In light of my 22^nd birthday, I felt prompted to look what “the faith of a child” really truly looks like. The phrase is based on verses like Luke 18:17, which says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it,” and Matthew 18:4, “Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Jon Acuff, a hilarious and also pretty wise guy, in his book, Stuff Christians Like, says that Jesus says this because kids get grace. Kids’ imagination and creativity make it easier to understand grace. Unfortunately as people get older and become adults, they lose that wonder and awe as they become, in some cases, jaded with the world. They become fixated on how things work and how things are supposed to work as opposed to always keeping in mind that they serve a God able to upend all of that. I’d agree with that point, but also point back to the specific words of Jesus in Matthew, namely his encouragement to humble yourself like this child. Now while children aren’t necessarily naturally humble*, the image is clear. The child recognizes that he does not have control over his life’s circumstances and runs into the arms of his parents. If we are to have child-like faith, we must be willing to run into the arms of our Father. The difference between child-like and childish faith is an issue of maturity, and it addresses this issue in a rather unorthodox way. The mature Christian runs to the Father. The childish Christian looks to himself and his own “independence”. The mature, child-like Christian trusts in the Lord with all her heart. The childish Christian leans unto her own understanding. Trust the Lord for something today. Be a child.

*I’m pretty sure modern psychology backs me up on that one. Psych majors, (aka Desiree), please back me up haha.

Wrath in the NT: The Death of God (POTW Part 2)

Preliminary Note: If you have any questions or topics that you would like to see in this blog in the future, please e-mail me at foleymalcolm@gmail.com and let me know if you prefer to be held anonymous (by default, I'll quote the question by first name). I prefer for my thoughts to be a little less unilateral. The more interactive this can be, the better. 

Warning: This is not for the squeamish. The details of crucifixion are explained…not in excruciating* detail, but in detail nonetheless.

            The death of God is probably the most confusing, and yet foundational aspect of the Christian faith. In the words of Paul,

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

I’m going to have to side with Paul. And the only way for Christ to have been resurrected was for Him to die. But Christ was also, by his own admission, the divine Son of God and the human Son of Man. We’ll deal with the theological implications of that later. For today, we’re going to get a deeper understanding of what the Passion really meant, especially the pain that our Lord went through. As I said a few days ago, we like to think of the New Testament God as nice, loving, and comfortable. We throw around the fact that Jesus died for our sins. But there is a reverence that should be present whenever we say that fact. Jesus Christ, the only sinless man to ever live, endured agonizing physical torture and the spiritual weight of the sin of all mankind so that you and I might be his brethren. But we’ll begin with the physical.

            When Luke describes Jesus praying at the Mount of Olives in the garden of Gethsemane in the 22^nd chapter of his gospel, he notes a detail that the other gospels don’t mention: “And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Now one can view this figuratively and see the blood as representation of the spiritual agony that Jesus is enduring at the time. After all, he’s just prayed the “Not my will, but yours, be done” prayer, a prayer that is difficult for all of us. But a figurative interpretation isn’t necessary. Others believe that Jesus was actually sweating blood, which is an actual medical condition. Hematohidrosis is a condition where, due to intense stress, you literally excrete blood through your sweat glands. Jesus, in his knowledge of the intense pain that He would go through for you, was so stressed out that he bled. That’s intense. And only the beginning.

            The worst physical pains that Jesus went through, in my mind, were the scourging, the cross carrying, the crown of thorns, and the crucifixion itself. First, the scourging that Jesus endured tore his flesh. This scourging was a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal. On top of that, they put a crown made of thorns on his head. On top of THAT, he had to carry the 100 pound crossbeam for his own cross. On his back. Which was probably unrecognizable from the beatings that he endured. Then when they get to the cross, drive the nails through his feet and his hands/wrists, they offer him wine mixed with myrrh and he doesn’t take it. Some gloss over this detail because they don’t recognize why he was offered this drink. Just think: compounded onto the pain of the scourging, the crown of thorns, the mocking, and the cross carrying, he is now suspended in the air, forced to support himself by his suspended arms which are nailed into wood. The pain multiplies as the minutes go by. The wine and myrrh was, in essence, a pain medication. It would have dulled Jesus’ pain and probably quieted the screams of agony that other crucifixion victims would be uttering at a time like this. But Jesus was wayyyyy too hardcore for that. And he loved you way too much for that. He took the full brunt of the physical torture of crucifixion for you. Torn flesh. Splinters. Exhaustion. Excruciating pain. All for you.

            Surely this would satisfy the wrath of God. Nope. In the grand scheme of things, many people underwent this torture. Crucifixion wasn't especially uncommon in the Roman world. The spiritual agony of Jesus's death was exponentially worse. Jesus spent his entire life in closer communion with God than anyone. But in these moments on the cross, when he utters the Aramaic, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”, he has truly been forsaken. The sins of mankind that he took upon himself exposed him to the torture of hell: the torture of separation from God. After a life of devotion, these moments of abandonment were surely the most painful moments of Jesus’s life, or, for that matter, the most painful moments of any human life. He, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross and despised the shame and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) And he did it because he loves you.

            And here’s the kicker: Isaiah 53:10. This chapter of Isaiah notes a number of details about Jesus’ future life and death, but this is the interesting part.

“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief…out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

The KJV says that it pleased the LORD to bruise him. It was God’s will that Jesus suffer immeasurably so that you and the rest of His people might be saved. This is our God. A God who loves us so much that He would do this to his Son then bring him back to life so that you might be forgiven and given hope. A God who, in a sense, sent Himself to die as payment for sins against Himself, and then resurrects Himself. Theologically mind-boggling and also completely necessary, because according to the principle I noted in the last post, the only way to pay for an infinite offense is to pay an infinite penalty. The death of Jesus, the God-man, filled that void. Wow. Needless to say, our God is amazing and to say, “I can’t believe in a God like that,” may seem intellectually honest and a bit theologically pretentious, but it is ultimately irrelevant. This is the God that we’re presented with. Take it or leave it. As for me, I’ll take it and continue to seek His face.

*Excruciating – from the Latin “crux” meaning cross

Mercy in the OT: Are You Innocent? (POTW Part 1)

Let’s start at the very beginning. To set the scene, we’re in the Garden of Eden, our initial Paradise.  Our first humans, Adam and Eve, have full reign over creation, as they were commanded to do. But there was one little caveat. They were allowed to eat from every single tree in the garden except one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam was told in no uncertain terms: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” Pretty straightforward. Eat whatever you want except from this tree. Eat from this tree, on that day you die. So clear and so easy…well, apparently not really. In due time, Adam and Eve commit the first sin: usurpation of the role of God. In eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they made the statement that we all make when we disobey the Lord: “I know what’s best for me and I’m going to go out and get it.” So the consequence is clear, right? God struck them down on the spot, right? Nope.

            The curse and exile of Adam and Eve are, to put it simply, the first act of mercy in the Bible. He promised that they would die on that day. Physically, they lived. This fact, in and of itself, speaks to each and every one of us and our sin. Each and every one of our sins is worthy of the same penalty: death. And yet, if you’re reading this right now, chances are you’re alive. Why? Because of the grace and mercy of your Creator. His love for you is manifested in the fact that you are breathing right now. “Really, Malcolm? I don’t really think so. Sure, I may have lied to my friend a few minutes ago, but surely that’s not worthy of death!” Well, Ms. Interlocutor, it seems that you need a little lesson in the way that punishment for broken laws works. The principle is this: the punishment for an offense depends on the dignity of the offended.

            As a human example, if I were to, hypothetically, punch my younger brother in the face, I would face a penalty, most likely exacted by my parents if I am under their roof. If I punch a stranger on the street, I may face charges for assault. If I punch the POTUS in the face, I’ll face all kinds of legal unpleasantries, including, but not limited to, possibly being shot on sight. Why? Because the punishment for an offense depends on the dignity of the offended. That’s the way our society seems to work. Now let’s put a divine spin on this. Your lie is a disobedience of the commandment that we not bear false witness. This commandment is given by an infinitely good God. Thus, your offense is infinitely bad and therefore worthy of infinite punishment. Thus, hell. Simple, and also extreeeemmmeeely rough*. But hopefully this helps you realize just how deep and extensive the grace of God is. In the case of Adam and Eve and numerous examples in the Old Testament like David, (a man after God’s own heart, who also, interestingly, egregiously and eagerly breaks about half of the commandments in a matter of days), God’s mercy and grace are continually on their lives and He, instead of striking them down, allows them time to repent and then...forgives them! For overt defilement of His name and His decrees, He forgives them (and us) constantly. And he does this because it pleases Him to do so. As a matter of fact, according to Scripture, because of Christ, it is just for him to do it.  Forgiveness as justice. I, for one, think that’s pretty cool.

            In closing, I’ll leave you with this.  The reason that it bothers us when we see intense suffering or entire peoples wiped out in the Old Testament (please correct me if I’m wrong) is that deep down, we feel like no one deserves that. Deeper down, or perhaps closer to the surface, we believe that we ourselves would never deserve such judgment. “I’m a pretty good guy/gal”, we tell ourselves. “I haven’t done anything worthy of eternal damnation, anyways.” We see ourselves as “basically good” and so the awareness of our need for forgiveness is dulled. That’s the lie that the Enemy wants to perpetuate in our minds. Jesus did die for our sin, past, present and future, once and for all. But every Christian knows that that doesn’t mean that we stop sinning altogether in this life. The closer we get to God and His holiness, the more that we submit to His will, and the more that we study and ingest His Word, the more aware we become of the work that we and His Spirit must do. As Paul said, “For those he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29) That is the goal: that we might look more like Christ. I, like Paul, encourage you to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure.”(Philippians 2:12b-13) It is a walk where we are, in the same moment, entirely active and entirely dependent. There are things that we must do and disciplines that we must enact. But there is also a God that we must submit to and be forgiven by. The only way to truly understand it is to live it. I encourage you to do so. Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. Complacency isn't an option. 

            Next time, wrath in the New Testament, then a wrap-up. The party continues. I’m going to take a break from this daily updating over the weekend so I’ll get back to it on Monday. I’ll use this weekend to build up a reserve of future posts! Update time: 6:00 P.M. every weekday. 

            May the Lord continue to bless you and keep you!

*Note: My mentions of hell are not fear tactics. They are merely statements that I feel are backed up by Scriptural context. One does not have to come to Christ because of fear. But, needless to say, fear, especially well-placed, is a excellent motivator. After all, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and fools despise wisdom and instruction.