Month: December 2013

Christianity 101

/ adamrenken / Leave a comment
I hope everyone is well, and enjoyed their time with family and friends over Christmas.  There are so many voices that have already spoken into the situation regarding A&E & Duck Dynasty in far better ways than I could muster, I do not feel the need to address the main issues that have been brought up.  I wanted to step back from the surface level discussion of whether what was said was Biblical (it was) and whether or not it was said in the best way (it wasn’t) to address what I feel is a more pressing question to you as my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  The question that is sitting underneath the Duck Dynasty conversation, is what does it mean to be a Christian freed from sin?  I’m fairly focused on the gospel in my writings because whatever else I do or say, I realize the most helpful action I can take is to point people to Jesus, the cross, and put them to a decision about whether or not they believe Him, and identify themselves by faith with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection.  This isn’t a one-time thing for a new believer, this is a daily thing in the life of a Christian.

There seems to be a large push among mainstream Christianity to make Christianity less offensive and easier for more people to accept.  No matter how “loving” this may seem within our culture, this is deadly.  It is not being driven by God, but by sinful men who have rejected Galatians 1:10 and care more about the opinions of men than of God.  In Matthew 7:13-14 – Jesus tells us “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” 

I want to put a question out there for us all to consider, because we are all succeptible to sin.  If sin is serious enough that Jesus, God Himself, came down in flesh to bear the infinite wrath of God the Father in our place, why are some Christians trying so hard to make sin acceptable?  In 1 Corinthians 6:9 we are told – “do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”  I actually have heard multiple Christians say that you can’t say homosexuality is sinful from that verse because everyone would be guilty of one of those sins….  I am in awe and dismayed at these “arguments”.  Yes, we’re all guilty of those sins; that is the entire point of the gospel!  We are all sinners in need of the grace bought by the blood of Jesus.  We as Christians should not be in the business of trying to make light of sin, but we should view it as Jesus views it – wretched and deadly.  The call of Jesus is given to us in Mark 1:15 –  “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  Christians understand the weight of sin.  Christians understand that their sin is infinitely offensive to a righteous and Holy God.  The greek word for repentance, metanoia, means to change or alter one’s mind about.  Christians have changed their mind about sin and turn to Jesus in faith.  Christians do not make light of sin, that is to make light of the work of Jesus.  Christians do not embrace sin, the seek to kill it by abiding in Christ and pursuing joy in Him and working for His glory.  

Jesus loves you where you are, and His blood is sufficient to cover all your sin; past, present, and future.  Stay on guard, however, because we have an enemy in Satan that wants to rob us of our joy in fellowship with Jesus.  One of his favorite means of accomplishing this is to get you to “accept” a little sin in your life, which then grows and grows.  Would you accept a little cancer in your body?  It is the same thing, with far greater consequences.  Today is the day of salvation for us all.  Each day we choose which god we will serve.  Each day we choose to follow Christ, wherever he leads us, and it is seldom into places of comfort or ease.  Know that the surpassing glory of God that is to be revealed to us is a far greater treasure than whatever this world can offer. 
Grace and Peace,
Adam

The King and the Kingdom

/ adamrenken / Leave a comment

This message has been pressing on me for a while.  I’m not sure how it will be received, but I feel compelled to say it, because I want greater joy for us as Christians through the exaltation of the name of Jesus in the world.  I’m concerned that much of what is discussed today as “the gospel”, is not the gospel.  I’m concerned that knowledge about Jesus and the ability to recite “the right words” has been set as the bar for Christian salvation, instead of evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in power to manifest Christ to the world.  If this comes across harshly know that my goal is not for conviction that leads to despair, but the goal is joy in seeing Christ manifested through His people, the Church to a greater degree.  We should rejoice in seeing Christ through us push back darkness in the world, bringing people from death to life, and see God’s Kingdom come.

In John 8:32-33 Jesus says “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.  Jesus also said, in John 14:6 – “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.”  People today speak about their salvation and the gospel primarily as “what they believe”, but the Apostle Paul in 2nd Timothy 1:12 says “I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed”  You are not saved by a set of facts; you are saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.  The gospel message is not the gospel without Jesus, and if you do not know Him, you cannot be saved by Him.  The scariest passage in the Bible to me is not in the wrath of God shown in the Old Testament, but in Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

So the question for all of us as Christians is not merely “can we recite the gospel”, but do we know Jesus.  John the Baptist was given the Holy Spirit from birth.  His entire life and ministry was to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3 – “A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”  Yet, what does John do when Jesus appears?  He sends his disciples to Jesus to ask if He is the promised One.  Jesus responds in Matthew 11:4-6 – “Go and tell John what you hear and see:  the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.  And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Jesus tells of Who He is, He gives evidence of Himself as the Messiah, by telling of His works.  Again, when Jesus is accused by some Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of Satan, Jesus answers them, “if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” 

Jesus is known by His fruit, just as we are known as His disciples by our fruit, the work of the Holy Spirit in and through us.  Jesus was pushing back darkness and brought the Kingdom of God with Him wherever He went.  Our hope is not in facts, but in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  The work of Jesus Christ is not something separate from Him, but the full expression and overflow of who He is.  As a side apologetical note, this is also the answer to the “problem of evil” (ie. why does evil exist if God is only good).  The glory of God, His full character and nature necessitated that He be known as just, redeeming, loving, merciful – shown in the fullest measure through His conquering sin and death through His death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

In 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 the difference between knowing of Jesus and having true knowledge of Jesus is explained – “if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Notice it does not say that unbelievers do not acknowledge Christ.  Above, the persons described by Jesus in Matthew 7 acknowledged Jesus and even called him “Lord”.  True saving knowledge of Jesus is more than just knowing of Him and what He has done.  In 2 Corinthians, it says unbelievers do not have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  The difference between the gospel “knowledge” of Jesus by unbelievers is similar to the difference between a person’s knowing of someone, and a husband or wife’s knowing their spouse after 50 years of marriage.  The former might know the person’s name, some things about him, and maybe even acknowledge his work, but the latter could tell you how her husband would respond to a given situation because she knows who he is as a person.  She could finish her husband’s sentences because she knows his heart and mind.  That is the knowledge of the glory of God Christians have – we know Christ because Christ is in us, with us every moment of every day.  Further, we, as the bride of Christ, know Him now and are growing into a greater knowledge of Him as we see Him in the Word, by the work of the Holy Spirit in us.  (2 Cor 3).  One day this knowledge will be complete when our faith becomes sight, in the presence of the Lord.

Up until now we’ve addressed what it means to have saving knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  Now I want to turn and ask the question, what does this look like and what does it have to do with the Kingdom of God?  The knowledge of God is more than an intellectual agreement with the glory of God in Jesus; it is a knowledge of the heart and mind of Jesus to desire what he desires, by the Spirit of Christ in us.  There is no complicated list of to-dos given by our Lord.  He gives us the answer to His heart’s desire in Matthew 6:33 – to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”  What does it look like for a believer to have a knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus with a heart of flesh, transformed by the Holy Spirit (Ez 36:26) to desire God more than whatever this fallen world could offer?  This looks like a soldier, with marching orders towards the goal of having the Kingdom of God made manifest.  The Kingdom of God is all things as they are meant to be, in perfect harmony with the glory of God.

Consider the Lord’s model to us for our prayer in Matthew 6:9-13 – “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  1 John 3:18-19 – “let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.  By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him”   God does not need our words, he does not need our money, he does not need our sacrifice.  God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything (Acts 17:25) God desires that our love for Him would result in our seeking His glory through the manifestation of His Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.  Listen to the rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 9:13 – “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.”  Again in Matthew 23:23 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: Justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”  Again in Micah 6:8 – “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”  As believers we are called to violently pursue the Kingdom of God.  We are meant to be at war.  This Kingdom is not a matter of geography, but of a redemption of the world around us to the glory of Jesus.  This is not meant to be fought by physical weapons, but with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of our Lord.  We fight not with our own power, but in prayer seek the power of God to bring about His Kingdom.  This is not a war against sinners, but against the “god of this world” and sin.  Ephesians 6:12 – “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

I feel a burden that we as Christian believers need to redeem our pursuit of the Kingdom of God.  Our works are not separate from our faith, but give witness to God within us.  The world should see us as the Church, the bride of Christ, pursuing the Kingdom of God in this way, that it is understood that this work is not ours, but the literal manifestation of Christ in us.  This is how things should be.  This is the only way we will ever be able to be in agreement with the command of Jesus in Matthew 5:16 – “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

When was the last time someone saw your life and their response was to glory in the name of Jesus?  As a matter of conviction, I cannot remember a specific time in my own life, which gives me pause.  Something is missing.  The name of the Lord is not being lifted up by the Church as it ought to be.

To know God is more than to know the name Jesus and know about Him, it is a knowledge of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.  To have a knowledge of the Glory of God in Jesus Christ, is to have a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit to desire what God desires.  God’s desire is that we would seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.  The Kingdom of God is a redemption from darkness and evil, to be as things are in Heaven.  This is more than just preaching the gospel, but just as the glory of God in Jesus overflowed into acts of mercy, justice, and love so too should Christ in us overflow into a desire to pursue personal righteousness in a dark, evil world and to seek justice, love mercy, and work to manifest the glory of God into the world.  More than being saved by the gospel “from” sin, we were saved “to” Jesus.  We must know Him, and make Him known through the gospel message and lives lived to see the Kingdom of God manifested.  Only through this can we truly rest assured that the Holy Spirit is in us, and we are secure in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace and Peace,

Adam