Before You Pull the Ripcord on Your Marriage
In the end, we have to remember that marriage is a portrait of Christ and the church—the holy bond we share with our bridegroom.
Like Hosea the prophet and his adulterous wife, Gomer, Christ pursues us, hedges us in, and showers us with his longsuffering patience and love until we repent. This is the love that should mark all Christian marriages. We live out Christ’s love for us in our marriages when we forgive when sinned against, even when... Continue Reading
God Created Family To Carry Out His Will
Genesis 1:28 shows us God’s general intention for humanity as it pertains to family.
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’” As God created humanity, he assigned a huge two-part... Continue Reading
3 Reasons to Not Follow Your Heart
We don’t HAVE to follow our hearts, because we have something more stable, more trustworthy, and infinitely more reliable to follow.
As a parent, you want to see many of the above things happen in the lives of your children. You want to see them achieve their potential, chase after their dreams, and for them to be happy. But beyond that, you want them to find the joy and freedom of living under the lordship of... Continue Reading
The Irrelevance of Hell
Within a culture of entertainment, not very much is going to be said about hell.
Even when people die who weren’t religious and didn’t have a life committed to Christ—it’s common to hear their close friends and family reassuring everyone that their loved one is in a better place now. Heaven is real, but hell has been relegated to a mythological land fit for the story books. The culture that... Continue Reading
Embracing God’s Rest
Entering God’s Rest isn’t a historical survey of Sabbath interpretation.
Ceremonial laws were given to Old Testament Israel as a system of types and shadows pointing to New Testament fulfillment (Acts 10; Heb. 10:1–10). Judicial laws supported the theocracy of the Old Testament that expired with the Israelite state (Ex. 21:1–23:19). Moral laws were rooted in creation, summarized in the Ten Commandments, and continue as... Continue Reading
Where Did Family Come From?
God created people and God created family.
The mission God assigned to human beings could not be accomplished by male alone. Just as God’s image was only fully displayed in male and female, God’s will could only be fully completed by male and female. Moses, who wrote Genesis, left us a little editorial note here to explain what happened when the two came... Continue Reading
The Crucial Difference Between Law and Gospel for the Christian Life
Salvation comes not by doing certain things but by hearing certain things and embracing them by faith.
In Romans 3:21-26, Paul announces that law-logic can only announce the righteousness that God is and which therefore condemns us who have failed to conform to it. Then we arrive at chapter 4. The question that throws law and promise into a sharp contrast is this: How does one obtain the inheritance of the heavenly... Continue Reading
Tried with Fire: Suffering and Glory
God rules over our afflictions. He permits them for good reason. He is doing something with them.
During the present, God uses sufferings to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom 8:29). In anticipation of the future, God uses sufferings to prepare us for glory; indeed, He uses present sufferings to increase future glory. This exchange of suffering for glory is near the heart of Paul’s perspective on afflictions during... Continue Reading
Inexpressible Joy
Our joy can be inexpressible even as the tears of our grief flow.
While we do not see Jesus right now, we will see him in that day of his revelation. Right now, we do not see him, but we believe in him. Perhaps, Peter has in mind here the words of Jesus in John 20:29 “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” ... Continue Reading
How Expository Preaching Should Engage Cultural Concerns (Part II)
The ultimate point of every sermon is Christ’s saving work, and the most profound points of application for pressing cultural concerns are found in him.
Remember, the ultimate points of application are found in Christ. Run to Christ at the end of the text and as the solution to crisis and need. As you run to Christ, you can point out the many signs of fallenness and the need for the gospel. After all, so many of our pressing cultural... Continue Reading