Poverty and the Gospel-Part 4: Life as Intended (continued)

My apologies on being a week since I last posted on this topic. Life has been a bit busy :). Continuing on our topic of what is really at the heart of poverty, and how it applies to the gospel, we have first established that at the heart of Jesus mission was to reclaim or restore life. He came proclaiming the good news of God's Kingdom, whereby everything that was lost in the fall would be restored. Since God came to restore us to our image bearing as God intended,  last week we asked what all does it entail to bear God's image. I broke it down into 4 relationships. In order to fully live as God's image bearers, we were created to be in a vertical relationship with our God, an internal relationship with our selves, a horizontal relationship with others, and also a relationship with creation.

So what did these 4 relationships look like before the Fall? What were they intended to look like? To see this, we will look at Genesis 1 and 2.

Let's start by looking at our vertical relationship. First, as image bearers, human beings were made to worship. This is innate inside of every human. We all worship something. In the beginning, before sin entered the world, God, our Heavenly Father and Creator was the sole object of our worship. In fact, God was so much the sole object of our worship that there wasn't even a need for a separate time for worship (like church on Sunday's) because Adam's entire life was worship. All of his days and in everything he did, Adam was worshipping God. It must have been awesome to be able to worship God in all activities in an unhindered fashion.

Something else that defined Adam's vertical relationship with his Creator was intimacy. Notice that in Genesis 1 and 2, Adam talked openly with God. There was no separation or barriers. Adam was able to stand and communicate with God with complete transparency, openness and confidence. There was complete harmony. God walked with Adam in the garden. Adam lived completely in God's presence.

Lastly, as it was intended, there was a proper Creator/creature distinction. The main reason why life was perfect before the entrance of Sin was the way in which Adam rightly lived under God's loving and righteous eternal rule. The only way life can be in order or harmony, is if we are living under our Creator's intentions. Now, at first this may seem like God is a bit like an overbearing task master who demands that we stay in line with him. To this, we must realize that God's intends for us to live under his loving and righteous rule because it is 100% good for us. He doesn't demand that we live under him because he's mad, or wants us to suffer. Rather, we suffer when we choose to be our own God. We suffer when we lose this Creator/creature distinction. When we look at the effects of the Fall, we will see this more clearly. But, it is safe to say that life as intended includes humans, as God's image bearers, living an unhindered life of worship before their Creator with constant relational intimacy between us and our God. 

What Rules Your Heart?

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts..."

Colossians 3:15

I don't know about you, but everyday there is contention as to what I let rule my heart. I often let stress, anxiety about school and work, insecurities, and false hope rule my heart. This verse was a great reminder to me this past Sunday at church that as an adopted son of God, I can now receive and live under this peace. Regardless of circumstance, whether rich or poor, busy or at ease, up or down, I can rest assured in God's boundless love and gracious care as my Heavenly Father. So today, whatever you or I have going on, let's recognize our need for this peace that we so desperately long for, and turn to our loving Father who delights to restore his children by giving them the peace only Christ can give. 

The Christian Life and the Trinity

"This doctrine of the Trinity is not an abstraction whose connection with Christian life is tenuous or even nonexistent. Rather, the doctrine of the Trinity is the gateway to understanding Christian life. A God who was completely alone would have had nothing relational to offer us in salvation; he could have offered only a right status before him or something of that sort. But because God has eternally existed as a fellowship of three persons, there is fellowship within God which we can also share."

Donald Fairbairn, Life in Trinity, 50.

These are marvelous truths with incredible implications. At the heart of the Christian faith is not simply an abstract change of status. More so, it is a completely new relationship with God. The heart of the Christian life is a sharing in the life of the Trinity. We receive new life in Christ because we are brought into this relational fellowship with God. As Christians, we can now be confident in all the benefits of salvation because they are rooted in Christ's relationship to his Father. We aren't merely forgiven of our sins as a simple declaration. Rather, we are seen as perfectly righteous. We are beloved children whom God 100% delights in. This is all because we share in the relationship that Christ has with the Father. The Father now sees us as he sees his only Son. Being a Christian is being brought into this relationship. It is sharing in this life. This is the source of the Christian life. 

The Father Waits Me There

"Christians often complain that private prayer is not what it should be.  They feel weak and sinful, the heart is cold and dark; it is as if they have so little to pray, and in that little no faith or joy.  They are discouraged and kept from prayer that they cannot come to the father as they ought or as they wish.  Child of God!  Listen to your teacher .  He tells you that when you go to private prayer your first thought must be:  the Father is in secret, the Father waits me there. 

 

Just because your heart is cold and prayerless, get you into the presence of the loving Father.  As a Father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth you.  Do not be thinking of how little you have to bring to God, but of how much he wants to give you.  Just place yourself before, and look up into, His face; think of His love, His wonderful, tender, pitying love.  Just tell Him how sinful and cold and dark it all is:  it is the Father's loving heart that will give light and warmth to yours.  O do what Jesus says:  Just shut the door and pray to thy Father which is in secret.  Is it not wonderful to be able to go alone with God, the infinite God?  And then look up and say: My Father!"

 

Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, p.19

Who Delivered Up Jesus?

From Chris Kristas:


"Who delivered up Jesus to die? Not Judas, for money; not Pilate, for fear; not the Jews, for envy; — but the Father, for love."

Christ was Forsaken For Our Acceptance

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land

until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour

Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 

'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' that is, 

'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'

Matthew 27:45-46

At the cross, for the first (and only) time in eternity, the Son experienced abandonment. Jesus called out to his Father, but got no answer. Jesus looked to his Father, but only saw his turned back. Jesus cried out to him, but received no comfort. Only absolute abandonment. The Son was forsaken. 

This is the grave, yet beautiful truth of Christ's substitution. Jesus experienced the pain of having the Father turn his back on him, so that we wouldn't have to.  Because Jesus turned to God and only saw the back of the Father, when we turn to the Father, all we experience is open arms. Whereas Jesus reached for the comfort of His father but received none, when we reach for the Father, we receive comfort. Though we were the ones who deserve absolute abandonment, Jesus' love is so great that he came to earth to experience the forsakenness we deserve, so that we would be united to Him. The Father turned his head away from Jesus so that he would never have to turn his head away from us. Jesus saw the Father's back; closed off and forsaken. We see the Father's face; open, and ready to embrace sinners who  turn to Him. 

The Knowledge of God's Providence

From the Heidelberg Catechism:

Q: How does the knowledge of God's creation and providence help us?


A: We can be patient when things go against us, 
          thankful when things go well,
          and for the future we can have good confidence
          in our faithful God and Father
          that nothing will separate us from his love.
          All creatures are so completely in his hand
          that without his will, they can neither move nor be moved.




If I'm being honest, I often fail to trust in God's providence. At times, my heart is restless rather than patient, and is marked by fear and insecurity  instead of confidence. Yet, for the Christian, we have every  reason to put our full trust in the providence and provisions of our Heavenly Father. The reason is,

"If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all,

how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

Romans 8:32

I need to be reminded of and take comfort in God's radical love. If God was willing to give his Son to rescue me, surely he will see me through until the end. Surely, I can trust him in my day to day activities. To trust in God's providence, we have to look no further than the cross. Our faithful Father will provide. He has in the past, he is now, and he will in the future. 

Our Faithful Father

From the Heidelberg Catechism, question 26.

Q. What do you believe when you say, "I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth"?

A. That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who out of nothing created heaven and earth and everything in them, who still upholds and rules them by his eternal counsel and providence, is my God and Father because of Christ his Son.

I trust him so much that I do not doubt he will provide whatever I need for body and soul, and he will turn to my good whatever adversity he send me in this sad world.

He is able to do this because he is almighty God;
He desires to do this because he is a faithful Father.

The Covenant of Redemption

"Thus in a marvelous way the doctrine of the covenant maintains God's sovereignty in the entire work of salvation. It far surpasses the covenant of works to the degree that Christ exceeds Adam. God's threefold being is manifest much more clearly in re-creation than in creation. It is the Father who conceives, plans and wills the works of salvation; it is the Son who guarantees it and effectively acquires it; it is the Spirit who implements and applies it. This entire work of salvation is God's work exclusively; nothing derives from humans, it is all pure grace and undeserved favor."

Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: Abridged in One Volume., page 402.

Dad

DAVID R. LAWRENZ

Dec. 30, 1951 - Sept. 4, 2011

Dad,
I love you. There is none who could ever replace you in my life. You were my beloved father, and mom's sweetheart of 30 yrs. More evidently, your heart was set on the things of the Lord. I know at this moment you are dancing and singing praises in the presence of your Savior, Jesus. Praise the Lord for your life here with me.
Love,
Josh

....

Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.
One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to inquire in his temple.

Psalm 27: 3-4

Centering Our Thoughts On God's Steadfast Love

"We have thought on your steadfast love,

O God,

in the midst of you temple"

Psalm 48:9

Is that something you have done today? Have you spent a period of time dwelling on how the Father has loved us. He has redeemed us from the shackles of sin, he has restored us unto himself, to know and enjoy him forever. He has adopted us into his family when we were alienated orphans. He loved us when we were loveless. Indeed,  throughout the day we should be centering our thoughts on the steadfast love of God in Christ. Re-orientating our minds and hearts on the gospel of God's love will have a transforming effect on our life. Reality is completely changed when we know and experience the steadfast love of our God. And this is the steadfast love of God, 'not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' (1 John 4:10)

Lending Generously

"I have been young, and now am old, 

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging for bread.

He is ever lending generously,

and his children become a blessing."

Psalm 37:25-26

Do I view God as a stingy task-master, who at my mistakes will withhold himself from me? Or, do I rightly view him as a loving Father, who is ever generous, and who delights to lavish his gifts upon his children out of sheer grace and benevolence? This is something that I daily struggle to understand. I tend to view God as an exacting judge, who views me based on my performance. When I'm doing well spiritually, he is happy. But when I am not doing well, he is disgusted. 

But the good news of Jesus Christ, is that Jesus lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we should have died, so that if we trust in him, and are in him, God is well pleased with us. Period. If you are indeed, God now views you with the same satisfaction as he does his own Son, Jesus. God delights in you because of what Jesus did on your behalf. 

I pray God continues to give his children a deeper awareness that He is ever generous, and that he does not leave his children begging for bread, but that He graciously lavishes Himself upon his children. He loves them, not because of their performance, but because of the performance of His Son, Jesus, in whom His children are united to. 

The God of All Comfort

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  

who comforts us in all our affliction"

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

I watched part of the West Virginia vs. Louisville basketball game today and was reminded of this incident from last season involving star player Da'Sean Butler and Coach Bob Huggins from West Virginia. This is but the slightest whisper of how great the Heavenly Father's affections are for His children. In life's most hurtful moments, in our deepest possible pain, Our Father is there. He never leaves our side. In all our afflictions, He comforts us. 

Out of the Father's Goodness

The following excerpt comes from Bryan Chapell's 'Holiness by Grace'. I think he paints a wonderful picture of how even our best obedience, and our best 'goodness', does not merit the Father's acceptance. Rather, we are accepted out of His goodness.

"One of the things my father taught all his sons was how to use a cross-cut saw. His daddy and his daddy's daddy had taught their sons, and my father was not going to let this rite of passage for rural southern manhood end with him....One brisk fall morning, we began sawing on a log that we did not know had a rotten core. When we had sawed partially through the log, it split and fell off the sawing frame. The timber hit the ground so hard that a large piece was sheared off from the rotten log. In my childhood imagination, the unusual shape of the sheared piece looked like a horse head. It so captured my imagination and I took it home from the day of sawing.

For my father's birthday, I attached a length of two-by-four to the log, attached a rope tail and stuck on some sticks to act as legs. Then I halfway hammered in a dozen or so nails to the two-by-four body of the 'horse'. I wrapped the whole thing in paper and put a bow on it.

When I gave it to my dad, he took off the wrapping, he smiled and said, 'Thank you, it's wonderful....what is it?'

'It's a tie rack', Dad, I said. 'You can put your ties on those nails going down the side of the horse's body. My father smiled again and thanked me. For years he used it as a tie rack.

Now when I first gave my father that rotten log horse tie rack, I really thought it was good. In my childish mind this creation was a work of art ready for the Metropolitan Museum. But as I matured, I realized that my work was not nearly as good as I had once thought. In fact, I understood ultimately that my father had received and used my gift not because of its goodness, but out of his goodness. In a similar way, our heavenly father receives our gifts, not so much because they deserve his love, but because he is love"