Trouble Submitting?

Creation is an act of self-revelation on the part of God. As the apostle writes, God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made” (Romans 1:20). As God is a living person and not an inanimate thing, we should expect that creation consists of more than atoms and impersonal forces. Inherent in the reality that he has spoken into being are principles, concepts, ways of living. Of foundational importance is the principle of authority. 

Authority is woven into all that God has made and is a principle present in the Ten Commandments. At the head of the “first table” of the Commands is the authority of God: “You shall have no other gods.” At the head of the “second” is the authority of one human being over another: “Honor your father and your mother.” To not accept authority as a settled reality is to live in an alternative universe. Unfortunately, rebellion is in the heart of the human, the fruit of which is glaringly evident all around us and within us.

Despite our natural tendency to rebel, humans must learn to accept and be grateful for authority. And the place God has designed for us to grasp this foundational principle is the home. The Fifth command directs us to hold in honor our parents. John Calvin notes that, biblically, this entails reverence, obedience, and gratitude. That is, we are to deeply respect our parents, submit to their authority, and return the kindness shown to us by providing for them when the need arises.

Getting this primary human relationship right set us up for all of our human relationships. It is intended to shape us into people who will love neighbor as self. The call for godly leadership on the part of parents and ready honor on the part of children teaches, among other things, responsibility, humility, sacrifice, generosity, patience, love, justice, mercy and forgiveness. It’s not difficult to see why Moses teaches that heeding the Fifth Commandment results in long life and prosperity (Deuteronomy 5:16).

Authority is inescapable in the universe God has made. And while it’s the case that humanity’s inherent rebellion has led to some tragic parenting, resulting in wounded souls and broken hearts, we cannot afford to neglect the Commandment’s principle. To do so invites destruction, not just to families and the individuals involved, but to whole communities (see Deuteronomy 21:21). Our goal is to steward authority well so that accepting it proves a delight.

A Wise Master Builder

In the opening greeting of Paul’s letter to Titus, as a wise master builder he implicitly lays the foundation for the central issues he addresses in this short letter: authority and truth. By describing himself as “a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ,” and stating that his preaching ministry is a task “entrusted” to him “by the command of God our Savior,” he establishes the authority by which he will insist that his “child in a common faith” act with dispatch to put “what remained into order” on the island of Crete. Additionally, when he says that his calling is for “the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth” he asserts the standard by which false teachers will judged and the people of God will be protected.

Authority and truth are two inescapable realities that are hard for human beings to accept. We have challenged them from the beginning and, as a result, have been forever plagued by the fallout (see Genesis 3). That this is true for all humanity is evident from an even cursory look at history. That the church has also fallen prey is evident from the fact that falsehood always finds a hearing, creating havoc. Why should this be except that even those within the church are hesitant to accept God’s full and final authority in our lives? John Stott asks, “In the final analysis this is the big question for the church: is there such a thing as divine revelation? Do we concede that truth, having been revealed by God, ipso facto has authority over us? Are we ready to submit to it, that is, to him, in humble faith and obedience? Or are we brash enough to behave like unruly children and reject God’s authority?”

Jesus warned that “false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect” (Mark 13:22). We can appreciate, then, the wisdom of Paul to minister as boldly as he does for “the sake of the faith of the elect and their knowledge of the truth.” He knows that without embracing the twin realities of divine authority and truth the people of God leave themselves open to deception and to suffer the attendant consequences.

Fulfilling Our Assignment

The response of the woman who was “forgiven much” (Luke 7:36-50) is humbling. Her outpouring of gratitude upon Jesus places before us unabashed, unfiltered adoration -- and it is humbling. Have you ever been as free in expressing your loving service to the Savior (read the account again, just to be sure)? I don’t know that I have. But if I’m honest, I have just as much cause for untempered worship as she. This is why I need to heed the call to be “transformed by the renewal of [my] mind” (Romans 12:1-2). I need to not think of myself more highly than I ought to think, for Jesus came to save sinners, those who need to be forgiven much and those who need to be forgiven not as much (I’ll let you decide which category I fall into).

This relationship is important to establish before Paul goes on to speak of God’s intention to use every member of the church in his service. The exercise of the gifts he gives should be undertaken with gratitude and faith. And if we are clear about our lack of standing before God and the eternal peril we faced apart from his grace, whole-life service of him should not be hard to muster. 

After we’ve contemplated deeply the sacrifice that was offered on our behalf and had our hearts stirred to respond with grateful service, the next step is to utilize the gifts he assigns within the context of the local church. Though this is obvious from all that the New Testament has to say about ministering in the name of Jesus, it is too often missed by Christians. One only needs to look at the brief list in Romans 12:3-8 to understand how God intends for us to serve him by serving one another, with one another. As someone had said, “one Christian is no Christian.” Each of us is only a part of the whole and we need one another to be all that God has designed for us to be. 

Together we must prayerfully proceed in fulfilling our assignments. As we do this worshipfully and lovingly we might just “discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” That is, God will show us how we can best serve his purposes in this place, at this time. 

A Christmas Primer: Lesson 4, The Mystery and Mercy of Christmas

We know from personal experience the outrage felt when laws are wantonly disobeyed and the disobedience is met with a shrug. It roils the soul. We instinctively know that lawbreaking should not go unpunished otherwise laws would be meaningless. What is true in earthly justice, is true in the heavenly. From the beginning human beings have been breaking God’s law, and to allow such lawbreaking to go unpunished would make a mockery of the law and of the One who established it.

Though everyone from the first has been receiving the just penalty for lawbreaking, death, there is yet a day when the full force of the sentence will be carried out. When will that be? On the Day of Judgment. On that Day all lawbreaking will be brought before the Judge and dealt with according to the rule of His law. Every person will have to give an answer, to make a defense, and none will be found righteous, “no, not one” (Romans 3:10). Unless . . . unless they are found to be “in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

God has acted to provide evidence that the guilty can present to the Judge to escape condemnation. He has sent His Son to fulfill the law and allow those who place their trust in the Him to have His fulfillment of the law put on their account, therefore wiping out their record of lawbreaking (Romans 8:3). This representative accomplishment of the law’s demands is a gift of God’s mercy.

But what kind of person could this be who could actually accomplish all righteousness and so stand in our place on the Day? It would have to be one, as the Heidelberg Catechism teaches, who is “a true and righteous man and yet more powerful than all creatures, that is, one who is at the same time true God” (Q. 15). This is the mystery and mercy of Christmas. The baby born in Bethlehem had been sent to be Immanuel (God with us) so that he might be Jesus (Yahweh saves). God seeing our lost condition fully enters into our existence to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. In this, God is shown to be “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). May we give thanks this Christmas for his grace.

A Christmas Primer: Lesson 2, Who? What? Where?

In his letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul reveals what motivated God to act as he did when he sent his Son to die on the cross: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). This teaching, offered to a church that was infected with a destructive pride, has tremendous resonance with the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.

Every aspect of what took place appears to have been designed by God to undercut humanity’s bent toward pride and power. The divinely sent conqueror arrives not in a chariot but a young maiden’s womb. His palace, a stable; his throne, a manger. His first earthly messengers are shepherds, considered unclean and unscrupulous by their neighbors. His herald, a child of barrenness. His presence, a provocation to the powerful. His future, an ignominious death. 

If anything is lost in the clutter of the season, it’s this: the humble, and humbling, origins of Christmas. With the deluge of festivities, bright lights, parties, and gift-giving, these realities tend to get swamped. But they are important to bring to the surface. It’s in them that the reason why the child came, to save his people from their sins, find their first expression. In order to accomplish his task, he will have to yield to the world’s pride. He will have to become foolish, weak, despised. But by his obedience to the divine will he will bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

It all begins in Bethlehem, in the backyard of an inn, with a baby born into an unknown family from a town of ill-repute. It’s the way God works.

Willing Obedience

Obedience is ________ .

How do you fill in the blank? Difficult? Necessary? Detestable? How about enjoyable? Given our innate rebelliousness, ‘joyful’ does not likely spring to mind. We have a hard time with obedience. There’s something deep within us that does not like being told what to do, at least without an avenue of appeal.

On the one hand, the inclination to disobey can be a good thing. It helps people resist the despotic behavior of power hungry men. Shiphrah and Puah, for example, two Hebrew midwives who ignored Pharaoh’s murderous orders are rewarded by God for their disobedience (Exodus 1:15-21). And the underground resistance movements of World War 2 did much to undermine Nazi Germany’s efforts to subjugate the continent. Not obeying can be good when what is being required is immoral.

But our relationship with God’s authority is another matter. He has set the terms of our existence and it is the case that there is no avenue of appeal when it comes to God’s laws. But unlike the self-promoting and self-protecting laws of tyrants, his are given out of love. In fact, his call to obedience is a call to joy. He knows what we were made for and how we can best experience the fullness of our humanity. So, why do human beings have such a problem with yielding to God’s rule? It’s the innate rebelliousness alluded to above. Even when blessing is promised for obedience and punishment for disobedience, we are unwilling to obey.

The situation changes, however, when, by faith, we are brought into union with Christ. Our lack of obedience has been filled up with Christ’s obedience and we possess a new relationship with God. Now, the fruit of salvation is ours for the harvesting. As a bonus, we are not on our own to pursue the expected obedience. We are told that God is at work in us changing our desires to conform to his desires and supplying the power we need to walk in his will. As Paul exhorts his beloved friends in Philippi: “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (2:12-13). Perhaps this is part of what delights Paul when at the very beginning of his letter he writes,  “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (1:3-5). He knows the joy that’s in store for them as they pursue the will of God together. 

Obedience is ________. How do you fill in the blank? By God's grace you can say, 'joyful.'

A Heart for God

Israel selected Saul; the God of Israel rejected him. It’s not as if Yahweh didn’t give him a good shot at the office, however. Saul was given God’s Spirit, God’s word, and ample opportunity to prove himself a man after God’s heart. Found wanting, he was put aside for one of God’s choosing.

A part of the problem (a big part, truth be told) in this unfortunate episode was the difference in perspective between how God looks at people and how we look at people. To use Yahweh’s words, “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). From a human perspective, Saul’s outward aspect appeared to make him a suitable candidate to rule Israel. From God’s perspective, there was little to commend him. This became evident as Saul’s reign unfolded. He lacked a proper reverence for and submission to God, as well as lacking a desire to heed and not rebel against God’s word. These were the faults substantiating God’s rationale for rejecting Saul’s kingship. Yahweh was seeking a man after his own heart, and that would be a man who had a heart for him.

How can we develop a heart for God? Of primary importance is developing our ability to see as God sees. By God’s grace, this will involve our eyes being opened to at least three things: that our hearts are corrupted by sin and inherently predisposed to Saul’s failings; that Jesus is the one whom God sent to save us from the fate of Saul; and, that how people appear is not as important as who they are, the contours of their heart being more important than the contours of their body.

God rejected Saul. But he had another ready to take his place. This one would be a man of his choosing and one who would prove, despite many failings, to have a heart for him.

Do Right

Saul was told to wait until Samuel arrived so that Samuel could give him instructions as well as offer up appropriate sacrifices to the Lord. As the days drew on, and Samuel did not arrive, the pressure mounted on Saul and he buckled. He went ahead and offered the sacrifice himself. The consequences for his lack of faith were grave: the posterity of his throne would be cut off.

This is the nature of sin. It presents a way of meeting a perceived need that goes against God’s explicit command. The alternative way seems reasonable, practical, often more enjoyable, and, at times, even pious, as in the case of Saul.  But, no matter how plausible the sin seems, it is still sin. And to the extent that we choose a sinful manner of satisfying a need we express our lack of faith in God being able to meet that need.

Faith demands that we do what is right, even if doing right comes at a cost and dictates that we wait until we see God’s provision for our perceived need.