God With Us

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Have you ever wondered why the experiences of those we read about in the Bible are important? How do they relate to us today in the twenty-first century? What can we learn from God appearing to Adam, Eve, Moses, Abraham, or Jacob? Justin Holcomb answers these questions in his post “The Ultimate Theophany.”

Holcomb writes:

The topic of theophany is often neglected in biblical and theological studies, though it is very important. Theophanies are instances of divine self-revelation in which God manifests himself to humans (the word “theophany,” which means “appearance of God,” comes from the Greek roots theo [God] and phaino [to appear]). While theophanies occur in different forms in Scripture, the content of a theophany is always the same. Theophanies consistently show God graciously revealing himself and his covenantal promises to his people.

Types of Theophanies

Mosaic Theophanies: No figure in Scripture had as many encounters with God through theophanies as Moses. God appeared to Moses in the fire of a burning bush (Ex. 3:1-6), causing Moses to hide his face. At Mt. Sinai, Moses went up to the mountaintop to worship God. He saw God at a distance and was invited into God’s presence, remaining there for 40 days. Later, Moses met “face to face” with God (Ex. 33:11; cf. Num. 14:14; Deut. 34:10). This expression hints at the intimate nature of theophanies. Even though Moses experienced a special and intimate relationship with God, he did not experience full revelation. Moses asked God to reveal his full glory to him, but God refused, telling Moses that no one could see God’s face and live (Ex. 33:20). So God passed by Moses, allowing him to see his back (Ex. 33:21-23).

Judgment Theophanies: Many scholars consider Genesis 3:8 to be the first theophany in Scripture. Adam and Eve heard the Lord walking in the garden and hid themselves from his presence. Gordon-Conwell professor Jeffrey Niehaus translates the phrase “cool of the day” as “in the wind of the storm,” based on a rare use of a specific Hebrew word. God often appeared in a threatening form when he was coming to bring judgment. After Adam and Eve sinned, God’s presence was dreadful, declaring judgment for their wrongdoing. Similarly, God revealed himself as a warrior before the Israelites overtook Jericho (Josh. 5:13-15). As Tremper Longman writes, a judgment theophany, “though always threatening, brings both curse and fear to God’s enemies and blessing and comfort to God’s people (Na. 1:1-9).”

Covenant Theophanies: God’s appearances to individuals in the Old Testament were frequently connected to his covenantal dealings with them. Specifically, God revealed himself in theophanies to provide assurance that he would maintain his end of the covenant (Gen. 26:24; 28:12-13; 35:1, 9; 48:3). For example, after Abraham arrived at Canaan, God appeared to him, promising that Abraham’s offspring would inherit the land (Gen. 12:7) in accordance with God’s covenant promises. God appeared to Abraham in human form before Isaac’s birth, assuring Abraham and Sarah that they would conceive a child in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Additionally, God manifested himself in human form to wrestle Jacob in order to get him to embrace his covenant blessing (Gen. 32:24). By the end of the narration, Jacob is certain that he had met God “face to face” (Gen. 32:30).

The Ultimate Theophany

God’s self-revelation culminates in the incarnation of Jesus, making him the ultimate theophany. Those who saw the face of Jesus saw the Father (John 14:9), experiencing a much more profound theophany than Moses did. Moses asked to see God’s glory, and those who lived with Jesus received what Moses had asked for (John 1:18). Carl Henry writes in God, Revelation, Authority:

The New Testament channels all interest in the theophanies of God into the divine manifestation in Jesus Christ; the Old Testament (Septuagint) term for theophanic appearances is, in fact, used of the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ (ōphthē, 1 Cor. 15:5-8).

Jesus is also the ultimate “judgment theophany.” He declares judgment on those who reject him (John 3:18) yet provides comfort and blessing for those who would come to him and receive the mercy of God. Jesus brings judgment by revealing the high demands of God’s righteousness (Matt. 5:48) and the depths our desperate condition under sin; his substitutionary death reveals the weight of the curse, which could only be lifted through the death of the Son of God: “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8:3). This is the ultimate judgment theophany, one that leads to hope and salvation.

Again, Jesus is the ultimate “covenant theophany.” Jesus, as God, ushered in the final covenant in “in his blood” (Matt 26:28), the new covenant. In Jesus, God himself looked into the eyes of his disciples and promised to be true to his word. Jesus reveals the ultimate, eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20) between God and his people.

Why Do Theophanies Matter?

1. God is with us. Theophanies remind us of the famous words of Francis Schaeffer: “He is there and he is not silent.” God has not and will not leave his people to suffer in isolation. He will “descend far beneath his loftiness,” as John Calvin said, and reassure us that he will do as he promised. “I will be their God and they will be my people” (Jer. 24:7) summarizes the covenant promise that runs all through the Bible, and theophanies point to this comforting reality.

2. God is holy, awesome, and majestic. Theophanies should humble us. Our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). All the various pictures of Yahweh in the Old Testament highlight this truth. Theophanies, according to Walter Elwell and Barry Beitzel, “conveyed a sense of the awesome majesty and power of God who is to be approached only with reverence and humility according to divinely prescribed procedures.” Ultimately, God’s holiness is most clearly seen in his wrath against sin, revealed and satisfied at the cross of Jesus.

3. God condescends to us. Theophanies point to God’s gracious condescension to our weakness. Theophanies are visual—they give tangible and physical proof of God. In a sense, they are God “writing it in the sky” for us. Though God wants us to trust him even when we can’t see him (“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” John 20:29), theophanies offer a glimpse into the heart of our God who graciously condescends to help and comfort those who join Thomas in unbelief.

Finish the Race

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This morning I was reading Maggie Hendricks article on Lopez Lomong. Lomong is a 1,500 meter champion runner, but is trying to qualify for the 5,000 meters in the summer Olympics.

Hendricks writes:

Lopez Lomong is the U.S. champion at 1500m, but is trying out the 5000m. Since he’s still getting used to the event, he had an embarrassing moment in the race at Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational.

With two laps to go, Lomong accelerated and broke away from the pack of runners. He easily outpaced them, and with one lap to go, slowed down to celebrate. The crowd at Stanford and track officials waved frantically for Lomong to keep going. He took off, and still easily won the race with a time of 13:11.63, plus earned the Olympic A standard qualifying time.

He was surprised by the mishap.

“When somebody said you got one more lap to go, I was like, huh?” Lomong told Race Results Weekly.

It happens, Lopez. Much better that this happens before the Olympics, right?

I think Lopez would have been humiliated if after gaining so great a lead he would lose the race because he literally quit running thinking he had finished the race.

As Christians we are called to run the race:

  • We run to win the prize (1 Corinthians 9.24)
  • We run the race unhindered (Hebrews 12.1)
  • We run the race with endurance (Hebrews 12.1)
  • We run to finish the race (2 Timothy 4.7)

We cannot allow ourselves to be so distracted that we celebrate our accomplishments before the race is finished. The race doesn’t end with salvation, it isn’t celebrated halfway through, and it isn’t finished until we have breathed our last breath. We must focus on the task at hand—running the race.

We do not just stop running whenever we feel like it. We are called by Christ to follow His example and run this race to the finish. The course that we must traverse is filled with obstacles—doubt, discouragement, difficulty, distress, discomfort, dismay, dread, despair, and even death. There will be times of loneliness and longing for the race to end; nevertheless, we must keep running. We must run in such a way as to not disqualify ourselves. We must run with the sole purpose of finishing the race.

The Christian life is not glamorous, its successes are not recognized, we are mocked, belittled, put-down, and shunned; yet still we are to press on and finish the race. Our human flesh may grow weary and want to sit on the sidelines watching as others race; however, the One who has called us has also equipped us to press on and finish the race.

As Christians we can learn a lot from John Stephen Akhwari.

While competing in the marathon in Mexico City, Akhwari fell, badly cutting his knee and dislocating the joint. He continued running, finishing last among the 57 competitors who completed the race (75 had started). The winner of the marathon, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia, finished in 2:20:26. Akhwari finished in 3:25:27,when there were only a few thousand people left in the stadium, and the sun had set.

As he finally crossed the finish line a cheer came from the small crowd. When interviewed later and asked why he continued running, he said, “My country did not send me 10,000 miles just to start the race; they sent me to finish the race” (Wikipedia).

In heaven there is a cloud of witnesses cheering us on to finish the race. Regardless of how difficult your course or how tired you may feel, please finish the race!

The Apostle John

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by: Pastor Mark Driscoll on Apr 24, 2012

The Apostle John is a towering figure in the Bible.

As one of Jesus’ closest friends, the Bible describes John as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7; 21:20). He is one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, among the three who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration (Mark 9:2–13, Matt. 17:1–13), and the author of the Gospel of John, and 1, 2, and 3 John, and the book of Revelation, whose first three chapters we’re studying in our sermon series the Seven.

Prior to preaching through the Gospel of John nearly 12 years ago, I took time to introduce the church to the man John. Taking the time then and now to reflect upon his life and ministry has influenced me greatly.

After spending so much time studying the life of John, in which he tirelessly served and led the early church, was boiled alive in oil (and survived!), and finally banished to the island of Patmos, where he wrote Revelation, the following are four lessons I’ve come away with from observing his life.

1. Humility: The True Path Greatness

As a young man, John was a zealous individual. He wanted power and longed for authority. Along with his brother James, Jesus nicknamed him Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). What this name suggests about John’s personality is that he was “loud” and even “hot-tempered.” You don’t have to look far and wide throughout the Bible for examples either.

From ticking off the other disciples by asking Jesus for a privileged seat in his kingdom (Mark 10:35–37, 41), asking to pray for fire to descend from heaven to destroy a town (Luke 9:51–55), to even attempting to stop someone casting out demons in the name of Jesus because that person wasn’t a part of their group (Luke 9:49–50), it’s clear that John wasn’t a meek and mild young man.

Amazingly enough, Jesus didn’t squash John’s zeal. Instead, he lovingly redirected it through teaching and modeling humble service (Mark 19:42-45). As I’ve said before, there’s nothing wrong with pursuing greatness, but the reason why you crave it or the way in which you go about attaining it can be sinful.

As John matured in Christ, he became a loving and humble leader, who wrote toward the end of his life, “By this we know love, that [Jesus] laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. . . . Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:16–18).

2. Build Your Identity on Jesus’ Love for You

John loved Jesus, and Jesus loved John. Jesus’ love for John was the foundation for John’s identity.

Even though John could have easily built his identity upon his ability to write, preach, or even the fact that he was considered a “pillar” of the church (Gal. 2:9), it was Jesus’ love for him that served as the foundation for who he was. John says as much in 1 John, writing:

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.

Do you find that your identity—your value and worth as a human being—is based upon how well you do at work, how good your grades are, or how well you perform in athletics? Does the size of your bank account, the newness of your car, or possessing the latest gadgets give you a sense of self-worth?  To build your life on anything other than Jesus and his love for you is like building a house on sand.

The things of this world are fading sources of hope and satisfaction. Like John, trust in and love Jesus. He will never leave you or forsake you (Heb. 13:5).

3. Love God and Others

When you read through John’s writings, you’ll easily see that he had a tremendous pastor’s heart. He writes often about God’s love, encouraging others to love one another and to love God. He writes so much about love that many even call him the “apostle of love.”

Even when writing to a church that was struggling against false teaching, John tempered his love for the truth with his love of Jesus and others. He addressed the recipients of his second letter as those he loves “in truth” (2 John 1:1), and even commends them to love each other by walking “according to his commandments” (2 John 1:5–6). Notice that John didn’t come out swinging with a verbal barrage, but rather a loving and affirmative tone.

When discussing right doctrine with people, we can learn much from John. He was the type of person who was more interested in making a difference in the lives of others than in making a point and winning an argument.  What type of person are you? Are you the type of person that simply wants to make a point or a difference? Or are you a person who wants to make a difference in others’ lives because you love them and want them to love Jesus?

In your zeal for truth, be sure that you don’t win an argument at the sake of losing the person. Our zeal for truth should be softened by our love for God and people.

4. Eagerly Follow Jesus

John eagerly followed Jesus, with his life at Jesus’ call.

From leaving his family and financial livelihood behind (Mark 1:19–20), to taking in Jesus’ mother Mary (John 19:25–27), to suffering greatly for the sake of the gospel, John was willing to follow Jesus and trust Jesus with his life. 

I encourage you to also follow Jesus with your life. Don’t leave anything on the table. Give your all to following his call and commands upon your life. In doing so, the level of joy you experience in life will be great and complete—and nothing else will be able to compare (John 15:11).

Are You Peculiar?

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My wife sent me this devotion from worshipfilms.com entitled “Are We Peculiar at All?”

In Titus, it says that God sent Jesus to “purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” The word for peculiar in the Greek literally means His own possession. What is being communicated is that we are peculiar, and we act peculiarly because God owns us, we belong to Him. So, the question for us to consider is: are we actually peculiar? As a Christian, does my life stand in significant contrast to the rest of the world? And in what ways should we be peculiar?

Let me give you 5:

 1. Our love for one another.You might say “There are people at church that I am close to and love, I would do just about anything for them.” That is awesome. But it’s not peculiar. You could go to a Jewish synagogue or a Muslim mosque or an Elks Lodge and probably find people that would say those same words.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:46, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?”

What IS peculiar is when you can be around that person in the church that has talked bad about you behind your back, and love them the same as you do your close friend. It gets peculiar when you can love the brother that has done you wrong in a business deal that way. It’s peculiar when you genuinely love and spend time with that person that everyone thinks is really hard to be around, or the person that’s boring, or the person that smells bad.

2. Our ability to forgive. A forgiving spirit is not something that we get naturally. It does not come from our human nature. The ability to truly forgive people on a consistent basis for wrongs they have done is peculiar, and it is one evidence that God owns us, that we are His possession.

Forgiving people is not easy. It is the grace of God that enables us to do it. But we have to do it. Jesus said in Matthew 6: “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” That’s one of those verses that we like to water down, but Jesus meant what He said. Personally, I have found that it is a lot easier to forgive people that have hurt me, than it is to forgive people that have hurt my kids or my wife. But we don’t get a free pass on any of it. We have to lean into God’s grace until we get there and fully forgive.

How do we know we have really forgiven? I heard Joy Dawson say one time that we know we have forgiven when we no longer feel the need to tell someone else about the wrong done to us.

3. The way we spend our money. You might say “I give some money to the church, and if a friend of mine is really hurting, I try to help them out when I can.” Great, but it’s not peculiar. The Jewish guy gives to his synagogue, the atheist gives to United Way. Is there are sharp contrast between the way we allocate our resources and the way our non-Christian neighbors allocate theirs?

You might be thinking, “You are focusing on an external thing. Stuff like that has to come as a fruit of our internal relationship with God.” And that is absolutely true. But it is also true that we have a tendency to ignore the whispers of the Holy Spirit when it involves things that cost us something. The Holy Spirit is not going to force His way. You can resist and He will leave you alone. A lot of times we use logic and our own reasoning to talk ourselves out of being obedient to God. And when we do that, we miss out on the chance to be peculiar, to act in a way that demonstrates God’s ownership over our lives.

4. The way we use our time. Think through your calendar for a typical week. Then take a best guess at what one of your non-Christian neighbor’s calendars looks like. If the main difference is that we go to church while they go to the Moose lodge, and we go to life group while they go to book club, and we play church league ball while they play city league, and everything else is pretty much the same, that is not peculiar.

There should be a major lifestyle difference between us because our lives are focused on those things that God says are important to Him. Of course, we have to provide for our families. Of course, we have to invest time in our children and each other. But let me say this clearly: if we have been a Christian for years, and our lifestyle is completely focused on our family unit and getting our needs and wants met, something is wrong – that is not New Testament Christianity.

Donald Miller said, “The most difficult lie I have ever contended with is this: life is a story about me.” We should be living a lifestyle that spends a substantial amount of time reaching out to others. Maybe that takes the form of taking time to have coffee or lunch with a friend who doesn’t know Jesus. Maybe it takes the form of investing time and energy to raise money so that someone you have never met can have a place to live. Maybe it means investing time in kids that don’t have a dad or mom in their life. God may call you in any number of things. But the bottom line is that our calendars should look peculiar, they should be in sharp contrast to those of unbelievers. It’s like the old saying “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”

5. The way we handle adversity. These are tough times for most people. And I believe that it is God’s desire that we be a source of strength, steadiness, and encouragement to our non-Christian neighbors. If we can lean into God ourselves, and draw on the strength and peace He gives us, then we will be peculiar in a time when people are overwhelmed and lost.

Let’s live our lives in such a way that without any words, everyone around us knows that we are God’s peculiar possession, that He owns us.

God’s Timing

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For most of us, when we are trying to make a difficult decision we immediately go to the Lord in prayer. We want to know His plan for our life as well as His timing. I could give you several examples of my impatience rushing ahead of God to do what I thought was best. If I had just waited until I had a fresh word, assignment, and direction from Jesus the end result would have been much more satisfying.

Here is today’s In Touch devotional encouraging us to “Follow God’s Schedule.”

Read Romans 11:33-36

Most of us enjoy feeling in control of our own schedule and grow  frustrated when things  don’t go according to plan. Yet if we truly desire to walk in the center of  God’s perfect will, we must become willing to cooperate with His time frame.

Consider how you pray about situations in your life. Without  realizing it, you may be demanding that God follow the schedule you’ve  constructed according to your very limited human wisdom. Yet if we believe He  is who He says He is, how can surrendering to His way not be to our benefit?  Think about His unique, praiseworthy qualities:

  • His all-encompassing knowledge. Unlike us,  the Lord has complete awareness about our world and the details of every  individual life–past, present, and future.
  • His complete wisdom. God understands man’s every motive, whereas  none of us are able to  accurately discern people’s intentions. We make choices based on partial  information, whereas He has the wisdom to take action based on truth.
  • His unconditional love. Our Creator is always  motivated by love and constantly has our best in mind. Unless we trust His  heart, our view of reality will be distorted.
  • His perfect sufficiency. At just the right time, God will  provide us with everything we need to carry out His plan.

Submitting to God’s timetable requires faith and courage. Believe in the  goodness of His heart and His plans–and determine to wait until He gives the  signal to move forward. Then, as you follow His schedule, you’ll experience the  joy of watching Him make all things beautiful in His timing.