The deity of God is evident in Jesus’s words about himself. He tells a crowd of Jews that he existed before Abraham (John 8:58). Not only that, but he used the exact terminology God gave of himself to Moses (Exod 3:14). The original hearers and readers would recognize this as a clear claim to deity. Later in the Gospel, John records Jesus proclaiming that he is one with the Father (John 10:30). So either Jesus is crazy, he is lying, or he really is who he says he is: God. Only one of those options allows him to remain “the supreme creature of the universe.” But that option contradicts the assumption that he is not divine.
Other biblical authors speak of the eternality of Christ, his pre-existence. John 1:1 distinguishes Jesus as the Word, in relationship with God and also God himself. Later in the chapter, the Evangelist writes of incarnation of the Word (John 1:14). In Paul’s Christological treatise at the beginning of his letter to the church at Colossae, he affirms Christ’s existence when the world was created and, beyond that, his agency in the creative process (Col 1:15-17). To the Philippians, he writes how Christ humbled himself by refusing to take advantage of his divinity and coming to the earth as a man (Phil 2:5-7). Pre-existence necessitates deity. So these two key apostles of the Early Church would both be flat deceived or deceitful if Jesus was not, in fact, God.
Additionally, John and the other Evangelists record Jesus in connection with the phrase “Son of God.” In Matthew, Jesus is accused before Caiaphas of making the claim to be the Son of God. His response does not explicitly affirm it, but the message is implied enough that the high priest is angered at his alleged blasphemy (Matt 26:63-65). When questioned by Mary after she and Joseph leave Jesus behind in Jerusalem, he tells them that he is doing his Father’s business (Luke 2:41-49). In Mark’s account of Christ’s baptism, a voice from heaven, presumably God’s, declares his pleasure of his beloved Son (Mark 1:9-11). In John’s Gospel, in one of the most oft-quoted verses of the Bible, Jesus is declared to be God’s only Son (John 3:16).
The term God, in and of itself, is also used of Jesus. In Paul’s discussion on God’s sovereign choice, he identifies the Israelites as the family of Christ, who he identifies as “God over all” (Rom 9:1-5). Paul also refers to Jesus as God in his letter to Titus as he discusses the hope of our Savior’s second coming (Titus 2:13). In Hebrews, God speaks of his Son as God with the words of a royal psalm (Heb 1:8). Peter distinguishes the readers of his second epistle as those found in the righteousness of “God and Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 1:1). Once again, these writers must be nuts or habitual liars if Christ is not God.
There are also biblical references to Jesus as Lord. Frequently in the New Testament, the authors quote Old Testament texts which use LORD, Yahweh, and apply those passages to Jesus. One example of this is Acts 2:36. In Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, he quotes from Joel 2:32, connecting Jesus as Savior with the prophet’s declaration that salvation is found in the name of the Lord (Acts 1:21). Later in the same sermon, he cites David in Psalms 110:1 then uses the verse to accuse his crowd of crucifying the “Lord and Christ.” Mark introduces John the Baptist with Isaiah 40:3, identifying him as the one who will prepare the way for the Lord, Jesus Christ (Mark 1:2-3). When Jesus shows Thomas his hands and side, the disciple cries out with an affirmation of Christ as both Lord and God (John 20:28).
Other passages in which Lord is used of Jesus, though not from an Old Testament quote, including Luke 2:11. Here the angel uses the term in his angelic birth announcement to the shepherds. Earlier in the birth narrative, Elizabeth is humbled to have Mary visit, declaring she is the mother of her Lord (Luke 1:43). The Pauline Epistles are saturated with references of Jesus as Lord. The Corinthians read it in his affirmation of Christ as the sustainer of all (1 Cor 8:6). In fact, the English Standard Version (ESV) translates Lord as Jesus fifteen times in the book of Romans and fifteen times in 1 Corinthians. The grand total for Paul’s letters, as translated by the ESV, is a whopping 90 uses. So Paul is clearly bonkers, and a woman and an angel must be added to the crazy liars list with him if Jesus is not truly the divine Lord.
Not only is Jesus spoken of as God, but his actions and attributes also commend him as such. He speaks of his omnipresence in his discourse on discipline and also the Great Commission (Matt 18:20, 28:20). Jesus’s ability to give the Great Commission in the first place comes from his universal authority (Matt 28:18). And, as previously mentioned, Paul describes his eternality in Colossians 1. Christ’s omniscience is seen in his knowledge of men’s thoughts, his betrayer’s identity, and his death (Matt 26:25, 34; Luke 6:8; 9:47; John 2:25; 4:18; 11:14; 16:30; 18:4; 21:17). Again, John and Paul write of Jesus as Creator and Sustainer of the world (John 1:3; Col 1:16, 17). Christ also takes the role as the Judge of man (Matt 25:31-32; John 5:22, 27; Acts 10:42; 17:31). He extends forgiveness of sins, an act the first-century Jews attributed to God alone, and offers eternal life (Mark 2:10; Luke 5:17-26; John 5:21, 10:28). The acceptance of worship and command to baptize in the name of Jesus are other acts reserved for deity (Matt 28:19; Acts 2:38; John 9:38). Either Jesus was God, or there are a great many biblical authors, writing at different places and times, who fabricated the same story about a mere man, who happens to be the supreme creature of the universe.
There are some who would offer certain Scriptural texts as contradictions to the deity of Christ (Mark 10:17-18, 13:32; John 14:28). However, a closer look at the individual contexts of these passages, and at the Bible as a whole, would reveal that these passages cannot legitimately be taken as incongruity. In the first, Christ is not contrasting himself with God at all, but challenging the ruler to consider if he realizes the full implications of his statement. The second text does not show Christ’s ignorance but his humanity. The final verse refers to either the Son’s eternal subjection to the Father or his humiliated, incarnate state before returning to the right hand of God; but neither option actually separates Father and Son by divine nature. Ultimately, Scripture leaves no room for doubt on the matter of Christ’s deity. To question it is to disregard the Bible altogether –Old Testament prophecies and New Testament fulfillment.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
On Divine Providence
Scripture is replete with passages about God’s sovereignty. In fact, the resoluteness of his ordained purpose is a major undertone of the biblical narrative, redemptive history. Yet, the Bible simultaneously affirms the responsibility of human choice, and the dynamic of man acting and God holding him to account is also a recurring theme. Paul articulates this synergy in his exhortation to the church at Philippi in Philippians 2:12b-13. In his mind, there is obviously no contradiction between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. The following compendia offer the biblical support for the sovereign control of the Lord –even over evil, the culpability of man, and the harmony of both.
The steadfast purpose of the Lord pervades Holy Writ, from Genesis to Revelation. His will cannot be thwarted. God preserves, cooperates, and governs for his glory (Col 1:16-17, Job 37:5-13, Eph 1:11, respectively). The humbled Nebuchadnezzar proclaims this truth in Daniel 4:35. Isaiah writes of God’s foreknowledge and foreordination of all that will come to pass (Is 14:24-27, 37:26, 41:22-23, 46:9-11). And, to reverse the consideration, every event aligns to God’s designed plan (Ps 139:16, Prov 16:4, 33, 19:21, Jer 10:23, Rom 8:28). The church at Ephesus reads that their spiritual inheritance is founded in God’s sovereignty (Eph 1:11). And the Lord controls specific aspects of life. This is seen in inanimate creation (Job 37:6-13, 38:32; Ps 104:14, 135:7, 148:8; Matt 5:45) and his rule over the animals (Ps 104:27-29; Matt 6:26, 10:29). The matters of nations and rulers are ordained by the Lord (Ezra 1:1, 6:22; Job 12:23; Ps 22:28; Prov 21:1; Dan 4:34-35; Acts 17:26). And the events of man’s days are formed even before his conception (Job 14:5; Ps 139:16; Jer 1:5; Gal 1:15). God directs man’s talents and abilities (Ps 18:34; 1 Cor 4:7) and even those occurrences which appear to be random (Prov 16:33).
Under the umbrella of these categories is the place of evil. Many stumble at the question of God’s sovereign control over the injury, calamity, and suffering left by the wake of the Fall. Logically, either he is not sovereign and does not cause evil, or he is not good and does cause evil. Biblically, both explanations are wrong. God is holy and does not sin (Lev 19:2). And God is also omniscient and omnipotent (Heb 4:13, 2 Chron, 20:6). Evil does not surprise him, nor is he powerless to stop it. God has control over good and evil (Isa 45:7). The salvific stories of Joseph and Jesus attest to God’s orchestration over the means of evil to accomplish his glorifying ends of good (Gen 41-50, Matt 26-28, cf. Mark 14-16, Luke 22-24, John 18-20). Bruce Ware calls this control asymmetrical in that God’s relations to good is “direct and immediate” because he is good (Ware, 102). On the other hand, his control of evil is indirect and permissive because, again, evil is antithetical to his holy nature. God’s allowance of evil is, in each instance, founded in his divine wisdom and goodness for the purpose of his glory.
In the good and the evil, man is responsible; and this doctrine is also seen in Scripture, from the beginning. Clearly God does not view himself as a mere deterministic puppet master, running the lives of men by strings, because he prohibited Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17). Were he to control their lives by acting for them, he would have no need to give them rules. The practice is antithetical. No one tells a plane passenger the rules of aviation. Most people never give a second’s thought to the stipulations necessary for the flight they board. The pilot needs and knows the rules because he controls the plane. If God controls humans in that immediate sense, rules are a moot point. People are just passengers. But he does give rules to man, so in some sense, to some degree, man must be able to choose right or wrong. And when he chooses the latter, he is held responsible for that decision. The Ten Commandments, and every other decree, exhortation, or entreatment, to the nation of Israel, the early Church, and even pagans, speaks volumes for this case.
The question, of course, is how God’s sovereignty and man’s culpable choice harmonize. God’s orchestration of every aspect of Joseph’s journey to Egypt is very evident. He intricately weaves both good and evil to accomplish his purposes in and through Joseph. The evil includes his brothers’ murderous thoughts and betrayal, the lust and lies of Potiphar’s wife, imprisonment, and the forgetfulness of the cupbearer. The good comes in the forms of Joseph’s dreams, Reuben’s protections, Potiphar’s initial favor, the prison keeper’s favor, his prison cellmates’ dreams, Pharoah’s dreams, Pharoah’s favor, and Joseph’s success under Pharoah. It may be asked how can God’s control over these events can be certain. Joseph attributes the interpretations of dreams to God (Gen 41:16), as well as the seasons of prosperity and famine (Gen 41:28, 32). He tells his brothers that it was not them who sent him to Egypt but God (Gen 45:5-8). But each situation, each person, was choosing to make the action he wanted to make. Joseph’s brothers were only thinking of their desire to get rid of Joseph when they sold him to the Ishmaelite caravan. They acted on those desires. They intended to harm Joseph, but God intended it for good to accomplish his purposes (Gen 50:20). And yet the brothers were responsible for their actions, and they knew it (Gen 50:15-21). God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 7-11) and control of Assyria (Isa 10) to exact his purposes on Israel are other biblical accounts of his hand over the good and evil actions of humans, while they remain responsible. Peter also clearly believes in this cohesion between sovereignty and human will when he accuses the Jews of killing Jesus (Acts 2:22-23). The Bible declares God’s exhaustive and meticulous sovereignty over every aspect of life. Even so, humans are free to do what their hearts desire most; thus, they remain fully responsible for their decisions.
The steadfast purpose of the Lord pervades Holy Writ, from Genesis to Revelation. His will cannot be thwarted. God preserves, cooperates, and governs for his glory (Col 1:16-17, Job 37:5-13, Eph 1:11, respectively). The humbled Nebuchadnezzar proclaims this truth in Daniel 4:35. Isaiah writes of God’s foreknowledge and foreordination of all that will come to pass (Is 14:24-27, 37:26, 41:22-23, 46:9-11). And, to reverse the consideration, every event aligns to God’s designed plan (Ps 139:16, Prov 16:4, 33, 19:21, Jer 10:23, Rom 8:28). The church at Ephesus reads that their spiritual inheritance is founded in God’s sovereignty (Eph 1:11). And the Lord controls specific aspects of life. This is seen in inanimate creation (Job 37:6-13, 38:32; Ps 104:14, 135:7, 148:8; Matt 5:45) and his rule over the animals (Ps 104:27-29; Matt 6:26, 10:29). The matters of nations and rulers are ordained by the Lord (Ezra 1:1, 6:22; Job 12:23; Ps 22:28; Prov 21:1; Dan 4:34-35; Acts 17:26). And the events of man’s days are formed even before his conception (Job 14:5; Ps 139:16; Jer 1:5; Gal 1:15). God directs man’s talents and abilities (Ps 18:34; 1 Cor 4:7) and even those occurrences which appear to be random (Prov 16:33).
Under the umbrella of these categories is the place of evil. Many stumble at the question of God’s sovereign control over the injury, calamity, and suffering left by the wake of the Fall. Logically, either he is not sovereign and does not cause evil, or he is not good and does cause evil. Biblically, both explanations are wrong. God is holy and does not sin (Lev 19:2). And God is also omniscient and omnipotent (Heb 4:13, 2 Chron, 20:6). Evil does not surprise him, nor is he powerless to stop it. God has control over good and evil (Isa 45:7). The salvific stories of Joseph and Jesus attest to God’s orchestration over the means of evil to accomplish his glorifying ends of good (Gen 41-50, Matt 26-28, cf. Mark 14-16, Luke 22-24, John 18-20). Bruce Ware calls this control asymmetrical in that God’s relations to good is “direct and immediate” because he is good (Ware, 102). On the other hand, his control of evil is indirect and permissive because, again, evil is antithetical to his holy nature. God’s allowance of evil is, in each instance, founded in his divine wisdom and goodness for the purpose of his glory.
In the good and the evil, man is responsible; and this doctrine is also seen in Scripture, from the beginning. Clearly God does not view himself as a mere deterministic puppet master, running the lives of men by strings, because he prohibited Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17). Were he to control their lives by acting for them, he would have no need to give them rules. The practice is antithetical. No one tells a plane passenger the rules of aviation. Most people never give a second’s thought to the stipulations necessary for the flight they board. The pilot needs and knows the rules because he controls the plane. If God controls humans in that immediate sense, rules are a moot point. People are just passengers. But he does give rules to man, so in some sense, to some degree, man must be able to choose right or wrong. And when he chooses the latter, he is held responsible for that decision. The Ten Commandments, and every other decree, exhortation, or entreatment, to the nation of Israel, the early Church, and even pagans, speaks volumes for this case.
The question, of course, is how God’s sovereignty and man’s culpable choice harmonize. God’s orchestration of every aspect of Joseph’s journey to Egypt is very evident. He intricately weaves both good and evil to accomplish his purposes in and through Joseph. The evil includes his brothers’ murderous thoughts and betrayal, the lust and lies of Potiphar’s wife, imprisonment, and the forgetfulness of the cupbearer. The good comes in the forms of Joseph’s dreams, Reuben’s protections, Potiphar’s initial favor, the prison keeper’s favor, his prison cellmates’ dreams, Pharoah’s dreams, Pharoah’s favor, and Joseph’s success under Pharoah. It may be asked how can God’s control over these events can be certain. Joseph attributes the interpretations of dreams to God (Gen 41:16), as well as the seasons of prosperity and famine (Gen 41:28, 32). He tells his brothers that it was not them who sent him to Egypt but God (Gen 45:5-8). But each situation, each person, was choosing to make the action he wanted to make. Joseph’s brothers were only thinking of their desire to get rid of Joseph when they sold him to the Ishmaelite caravan. They acted on those desires. They intended to harm Joseph, but God intended it for good to accomplish his purposes (Gen 50:20). And yet the brothers were responsible for their actions, and they knew it (Gen 50:15-21). God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 7-11) and control of Assyria (Isa 10) to exact his purposes on Israel are other biblical accounts of his hand over the good and evil actions of humans, while they remain responsible. Peter also clearly believes in this cohesion between sovereignty and human will when he accuses the Jews of killing Jesus (Acts 2:22-23). The Bible declares God’s exhaustive and meticulous sovereignty over every aspect of life. Even so, humans are free to do what their hearts desire most; thus, they remain fully responsible for their decisions.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
On Creation
I'm in the process of writing a paper on several of my doctrinal beliefs for my systematic theology class. I thought I would post excerpts as I complete them. Here's the first...
In Genesis 1, the beginning of time and the existence of the world is defined as God’s creation, ex nihilo, out of nothing. By his act of speech, light appeared, sky materialized, land formed, plants grew, animals walked, fish swam, and man lived. There was no matter prior to this creative Word. The psalmist proclaims this truth in Psalm 33:6, 9. The Evangelist declares it in John 1:3. The apostle affirms it in Colossians 1:16. And the authors of Acts and Hebrews also bear witness to its veracity (Acts 4:24, 14:15; Heb 11:3).
Never, in the entirety of Scripture, is the doctrine of God as Creator questioned or contradicted. Rather, this belief is maintained as a critical tenet of the faith of Yahweh’s chosen people, pervading both Old and New Testaments. In a whirlwind of majestic rhetoric, God questions Job’s knowledge by emphasizing his absence when he brought the earth into existence (Job 38-39). Moses establishes God as his refuge because the Almighty existed even before he created the earth (Ps 90:2). Wisdom speaks of her presence with the Lord “before the beginning of the earth” and while he was creating it (Prov 8:22-31). Through Isaiah, God asks Israel how they can doubt his knowledge of their ways by reminding them that he is Creator (Is 40:27-28). Jesus speaks of “the abomination of desolation” as being more difficult than any other period since God created the world (Mark 13:19). The divine creation of the world is also used to argue the preeminence of Christ (Col 1:15-20). Finally, the song of the twenty-four elders sets the worthiness of God in his creation of all things (Rev 4:11).
In Genesis 1, the beginning of time and the existence of the world is defined as God’s creation, ex nihilo, out of nothing. By his act of speech, light appeared, sky materialized, land formed, plants grew, animals walked, fish swam, and man lived. There was no matter prior to this creative Word. The psalmist proclaims this truth in Psalm 33:6, 9. The Evangelist declares it in John 1:3. The apostle affirms it in Colossians 1:16. And the authors of Acts and Hebrews also bear witness to its veracity (Acts 4:24, 14:15; Heb 11:3).
Never, in the entirety of Scripture, is the doctrine of God as Creator questioned or contradicted. Rather, this belief is maintained as a critical tenet of the faith of Yahweh’s chosen people, pervading both Old and New Testaments. In a whirlwind of majestic rhetoric, God questions Job’s knowledge by emphasizing his absence when he brought the earth into existence (Job 38-39). Moses establishes God as his refuge because the Almighty existed even before he created the earth (Ps 90:2). Wisdom speaks of her presence with the Lord “before the beginning of the earth” and while he was creating it (Prov 8:22-31). Through Isaiah, God asks Israel how they can doubt his knowledge of their ways by reminding them that he is Creator (Is 40:27-28). Jesus speaks of “the abomination of desolation” as being more difficult than any other period since God created the world (Mark 13:19). The divine creation of the world is also used to argue the preeminence of Christ (Col 1:15-20). Finally, the song of the twenty-four elders sets the worthiness of God in his creation of all things (Rev 4:11).
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Pursuit of Christ
A few years ago, I decided it was time to read C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. His spiritual allegories were just what I needed at the time to make some significant biblical truths more precious, more poignant. And in the process I fell in love with Aslan. As I watched the recently-released “Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” I was reminded again how much I love him. I love his intimate tenderness with Lucy. I love his gentle justice with Peter. His approachability with all creatures, great and small. I love his heroic sacrifice at the Stone Table. His redemption of Eustace. His strength. His authority. I still get goose-bumps when the White Witch is silenced and sat down by his roaring response to her doubt of his integrity. Despite its brave façade, evil shudders at the thought of Aslan. When Aslan comes on the scene, I get excited. Something great is going to happen. When Aslan comes on the scene, all will be made right.
But Aslan is only a fictitious shadow of the true Lion. The great King. The One whose existence established tenderness, justice, authority, and love. Without Christ, Aslan would never exist.
So you can imagine my sorrow when I realized Aslan elicited stronger emotion in my heart than Jesus. It’s a true travesty when the copy is regarded more than the type. The problem isn’t with Aslan. It’s with me.
The reason a moving story or breath-taking scene can stir my affections such is because I haven’t spent enough time engaging the real Person. Surely if I grasped a fraction of the majesty and marvel of Jesus, a mere fictitious allegory, no matter how well-written, would seem the pale comparison it is and my response would correlate to that knowledge.
So, resolved, by God’s grace: get to know Jesus better. Be intentional about studying Him in the entirety of Scripture. I start in the Old Testament. Stay tuned...
But Aslan is only a fictitious shadow of the true Lion. The great King. The One whose existence established tenderness, justice, authority, and love. Without Christ, Aslan would never exist.
So you can imagine my sorrow when I realized Aslan elicited stronger emotion in my heart than Jesus. It’s a true travesty when the copy is regarded more than the type. The problem isn’t with Aslan. It’s with me.
The reason a moving story or breath-taking scene can stir my affections such is because I haven’t spent enough time engaging the real Person. Surely if I grasped a fraction of the majesty and marvel of Jesus, a mere fictitious allegory, no matter how well-written, would seem the pale comparison it is and my response would correlate to that knowledge.
So, resolved, by God’s grace: get to know Jesus better. Be intentional about studying Him in the entirety of Scripture. I start in the Old Testament. Stay tuned...
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Christmas Letter 2010
Beloved family and friends,
In the not-so-distant past, I stood outside the terminal of a busy foreign airport, expecting to meet a man who would take my traveling companions and me to our hostel. He was nowhere to be seen, so we put our luggage in a pile and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, our bags became stools as the 18+ hours of travel took their toll. A mob of taxis and busses honked their way through the lines. People blurred in and out. Security officers paraded around with AK-47s and menacing glares. Still we waited. Turkish blared simultaneously from the PA system, the stationary vehicle patrol, and the crowd in an intimidating cacophony of loud. We did our best to tune out the roar, and I suppose it was moderately effective...until the parading men pointed their guns our way. They yelled at us in Turkish. And all we could do was stare dumbly back. Some sympathetic soul took pity and translated. The gun guys wanted to know why were lying about like a bunch of vagrants. When our plight was communicated, they seemed to be less displeased, but the glares never ceased. We waited there, helpless and exhausted, for more than 6 hours. In the end, I remember sitting down on my bag, putting my head in my hands, and telling God that I couldn’t take it anymore. I was entirely undone. Then, I looked up and, through the tears, saw an old, silver van pull up to the curb. The wait was finally over. Our knight had arrived.
In 2010, that beleaguered, head-in-the-hands feeling was a common occurrence for me. The more I reminisced about the year, the more I realized many of you -my family, friends, and colleagues- endured lots of hard trials, too. And if this year wasn’t your year, a past year was. I recently read about the afflicted life of David Brainerd. It was encouraging to relate to his struggle and watch him seek God. Countless men and women before me took heart from this godly man’s life. And that same model is seen in the Psalms and all over Christendom. Our hardships are to be sung so others can hear and praise God. So, unconventional as this topic may be for a Christmas letter, I pray you will be blessed –not because I am a great person, but because I am sustained by a great God.
The hard seasons were interspersed throughout the year, but this fall was the worst. And, sadly, it was also the most despairing moment of my walk with Jesus. Ever. For the sake of time and significance, I’ll skip the details. Essentially, I spent the first three months of the school year exhausted and overwhelmed. In times like that you are easier prey to everything –even those matters with which you are normally able to cope. So on top of the circumstances that started it all, I was beginning to feel plagued by singleness and loneliness and ineptitude as a teacher and failure as a Christian. In the past, I’d learned to combat those things with truth, namely Christ’s work on the Cross. But I was so weary I didn’t even want to try. I felt abandoned by God, and I let myself consider it was true. I knew all the churchy answers, but I'd convinced myself they didn’t work for me anymore. I wanted to quit the whole Christian thing. I was tired of trying to be obedient. I was even looking to be willfully disobedient. Eventually, I realized I was frustrated because God wasn’t changing my circumstances when I thought he should. (Sounds like a 25-year-old fit, huh?) I discovered that when I’m pressed, I rely first on my own strength, my own system. But this time it failed me. Not only that, it wore me out. I fell flat on my face, and there was no grabbing bootstraps to get back up. If God wasn’t going to help, I was finished. But, help he did. It wasn’t a flashy, blazing swords kind of help. It wasn’t even a beat-up van kind of help. There was no instant change. But God continued to quietly speak truth into my life and never let me go –even when I wanted him to. It was the Holy Spirit in action. I couldn’t make myself choose a godless life. Literally. God graciously wouldn’t let me escape the fact that as terrible as everything seemed, there was hope nowhere else. I’d seen God’s faithfulness too many times to be able to logically conclude he’d actually abandoned me. To ultimately doubt his love would’ve made me the epitome of a fool. We were created for dependence. I knew that, but I think I had to fall harder than I ever had –in ways I never had– to learn what it really meant for God to be my only hope. It’s funny how Christian clichés can seem trite until the Teacher of life schools our ignorance to regard them as precious.
So wherever you are today, in sunshine or sorrow, I pray God will “grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” [Ephesians 3:14-19]
To be truly saved from anything, we must first give up on fixing the problem ourselves. Whether it’s the eternal problem of sin, or the immediate problems of life –we need to rest entirely on the power of God and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. For those who fully rely, there is always a Knight who pulls to the curb, even if change doesn’t come right away.
May 2011 find you resting in the joy of who Jesus is!
Cristi
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the loved of 2010
—aunthood: Jack, Hallee, & Char-Char
—The Hidden Smile of God, by Piper
—Hymns remade by Page CXVI
—Dr. Betts and my Old Testament classes
—cooking with children
—Psalm 77; Isaiah 54-55; Hosea 2:14-15, 6:1-3
—Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, by Hertzberg/Francois
—traveling: Belize, Mexico, & Cali
—The Search for God and Guinness, by Mansfield
—2nd half marathon in the Rockies
—A Gospel Primer for Christians, by Vincent
—Justification & Regeneration, by Leiter
—starting an FCA chapter at Cheylin
—The Percy Jackson Series, by Riordan
—The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, by Birdsall
—www.twentytwowords.com
—writing a devotion published in Women at Southern: A Walk Through Psalms
—Creators, by Johnson
the anticipated of 2011
—aunthood: Jack, Hallee, and Char-Char
—women’s book study on Crazy Love, by Chan
—investing more in people instead of projects
—January/summer seminary classes
—possibly finishing my M.A. this year???
—Broken Down House, by Tripp
—mastering Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
—traveling: North Carolina & ???
—Zumba!!!
—Cheylin: FCA, FFA trip, teaching ESL class to faculty
—watching God’s truth take root in hearts
In the not-so-distant past, I stood outside the terminal of a busy foreign airport, expecting to meet a man who would take my traveling companions and me to our hostel. He was nowhere to be seen, so we put our luggage in a pile and waited. And waited. And waited. Eventually, our bags became stools as the 18+ hours of travel took their toll. A mob of taxis and busses honked their way through the lines. People blurred in and out. Security officers paraded around with AK-47s and menacing glares. Still we waited. Turkish blared simultaneously from the PA system, the stationary vehicle patrol, and the crowd in an intimidating cacophony of loud. We did our best to tune out the roar, and I suppose it was moderately effective...until the parading men pointed their guns our way. They yelled at us in Turkish. And all we could do was stare dumbly back. Some sympathetic soul took pity and translated. The gun guys wanted to know why were lying about like a bunch of vagrants. When our plight was communicated, they seemed to be less displeased, but the glares never ceased. We waited there, helpless and exhausted, for more than 6 hours. In the end, I remember sitting down on my bag, putting my head in my hands, and telling God that I couldn’t take it anymore. I was entirely undone. Then, I looked up and, through the tears, saw an old, silver van pull up to the curb. The wait was finally over. Our knight had arrived.
In 2010, that beleaguered, head-in-the-hands feeling was a common occurrence for me. The more I reminisced about the year, the more I realized many of you -my family, friends, and colleagues- endured lots of hard trials, too. And if this year wasn’t your year, a past year was. I recently read about the afflicted life of David Brainerd. It was encouraging to relate to his struggle and watch him seek God. Countless men and women before me took heart from this godly man’s life. And that same model is seen in the Psalms and all over Christendom. Our hardships are to be sung so others can hear and praise God. So, unconventional as this topic may be for a Christmas letter, I pray you will be blessed –not because I am a great person, but because I am sustained by a great God.
The hard seasons were interspersed throughout the year, but this fall was the worst. And, sadly, it was also the most despairing moment of my walk with Jesus. Ever. For the sake of time and significance, I’ll skip the details. Essentially, I spent the first three months of the school year exhausted and overwhelmed. In times like that you are easier prey to everything –even those matters with which you are normally able to cope. So on top of the circumstances that started it all, I was beginning to feel plagued by singleness and loneliness and ineptitude as a teacher and failure as a Christian. In the past, I’d learned to combat those things with truth, namely Christ’s work on the Cross. But I was so weary I didn’t even want to try. I felt abandoned by God, and I let myself consider it was true. I knew all the churchy answers, but I'd convinced myself they didn’t work for me anymore. I wanted to quit the whole Christian thing. I was tired of trying to be obedient. I was even looking to be willfully disobedient. Eventually, I realized I was frustrated because God wasn’t changing my circumstances when I thought he should. (Sounds like a 25-year-old fit, huh?) I discovered that when I’m pressed, I rely first on my own strength, my own system. But this time it failed me. Not only that, it wore me out. I fell flat on my face, and there was no grabbing bootstraps to get back up. If God wasn’t going to help, I was finished. But, help he did. It wasn’t a flashy, blazing swords kind of help. It wasn’t even a beat-up van kind of help. There was no instant change. But God continued to quietly speak truth into my life and never let me go –even when I wanted him to. It was the Holy Spirit in action. I couldn’t make myself choose a godless life. Literally. God graciously wouldn’t let me escape the fact that as terrible as everything seemed, there was hope nowhere else. I’d seen God’s faithfulness too many times to be able to logically conclude he’d actually abandoned me. To ultimately doubt his love would’ve made me the epitome of a fool. We were created for dependence. I knew that, but I think I had to fall harder than I ever had –in ways I never had– to learn what it really meant for God to be my only hope. It’s funny how Christian clichés can seem trite until the Teacher of life schools our ignorance to regard them as precious.
So wherever you are today, in sunshine or sorrow, I pray God will “grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” [Ephesians 3:14-19]
To be truly saved from anything, we must first give up on fixing the problem ourselves. Whether it’s the eternal problem of sin, or the immediate problems of life –we need to rest entirely on the power of God and the sufficiency of Jesus Christ. For those who fully rely, there is always a Knight who pulls to the curb, even if change doesn’t come right away.
May 2011 find you resting in the joy of who Jesus is!
Cristi
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the loved of 2010
—aunthood: Jack, Hallee, & Char-Char
—The Hidden Smile of God, by Piper
—Hymns remade by Page CXVI
—Dr. Betts and my Old Testament classes
—cooking with children
—Psalm 77; Isaiah 54-55; Hosea 2:14-15, 6:1-3
—Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, by Hertzberg/Francois
—traveling: Belize, Mexico, & Cali
—The Search for God and Guinness, by Mansfield
—2nd half marathon in the Rockies
—A Gospel Primer for Christians, by Vincent
—Justification & Regeneration, by Leiter
—starting an FCA chapter at Cheylin
—The Percy Jackson Series, by Riordan
—The Penderwicks on Gardam Street, by Birdsall
—www.twentytwowords.com
—writing a devotion published in Women at Southern: A Walk Through Psalms
—Creators, by Johnson
the anticipated of 2011
—aunthood: Jack, Hallee, and Char-Char
—women’s book study on Crazy Love, by Chan
—investing more in people instead of projects
—January/summer seminary classes
—possibly finishing my M.A. this year???
—Broken Down House, by Tripp
—mastering Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
—traveling: North Carolina & ???
—Zumba!!!
—Cheylin: FCA, FFA trip, teaching ESL class to faculty
—watching God’s truth take root in hearts
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