The Great Sacrifice
Why did God command Abraham to offer the great sacrifice of Isaac, his son, and what does it mean for God to be the One who offers the even greater sacrifice of Jesus, His only begotten Son?
Some suggest that Abraham did not believe that God would make him go through with sacrifice of Isaac, but there is nothing in the text that suggests that. Rather, Abraham seems to simply trust that God will provide. God had provided all these years. He had proven Himself faithful even when Abraham and Sarah were... Continue Reading
Of Fire Extinguishers and Temptation
Our sinful hearts want to figure out and "study arguments unduly" so that we can get as close to sin as we can without getting singed.
I have never started cooking with the thought, “How far can I go in burning my meal before I need to pull that fire extinguisher out?” Never, not even once, have I started sautéing my vegetables and thought, “I’m just going to leave these here on high, because if they go up in flames, I’ve... Continue Reading
Focus on What God Has Revealed, Not Concealed
With an eye toward the mysterious or unclear, we can wander away from the Bible’s clear teachings—even in the name of serious study.
God has truly revealed to us what we need to know, love, and serve him faithfully (2 Tim. 3:16-17). We can then be confident that what he has emphasized we should emphasize. And, what he has not, we should not. One of the hidden gems of pastoral ministry is watching God turn the lights... Continue Reading
Immutability and Pastoral Ministry
Christ makes all the theological abstractions concrete; he brings all the prodigal speculations back home.
We cannot remain in the luminous ether of God’s infinite plentitude, but we don’t need to because in the revelation of Jesus Christ all the fullness of God is pleased to dwell. When no one could see God and live, the incarnate Son made God known. Christ makes all the theological abstractions concrete; he brings... Continue Reading
Pardoned and Glorified
God sees the end from the beginning, and in His immutable decree all future events are comprehended and certain.
If we trust the One who was bruised for us, then we have already died in Him, and we are already redeemed for eternity, which is not yet a reality to us in real space and time but is nonetheless a reality to God. For those He has declared just He has also glorified (Rom. 8:28–30).... Continue Reading
The Church-State Conflict: 20 Ways Persecution Is God’s Way To Shepherd Us
For the church, without spiritual warfare, there is no daily shepherding.
The greatest benefit of the church-state conflict is our union with a Christ who himself was judged. Caesar’s focus was not whether you believed in Jesus (as they often said, “We do not care if you believe in Jesus,”) but whether you believe Jesus is “the king.” Persecution forces us to answer the world the... Continue Reading
Comfort My People
The incredible truth of the gospel is that Jesus not only bore our guilt, but He also endured our shame (Heb. 12:2).
People are filled with shame for what has been done to them and for what they have done. They’re hiding, hoping that others won’t see them. They might hide in reclusiveness, but are just as likely to hide in perfectionism, success, activism, or even brazenness. But like Adam and Eve, who after the fall tried... Continue Reading
The Controversial Birth of Jesus
Though the New Testament is replete with miracles surrounding the person of Jesus, none seems more offensive to modern man than the virgin birth.
If any law of science is established as immutable and unbreakable, it is that human reproduction is not possible without the conjoining of the male seed and the female egg. We may have developed sophisticated methods of artificial insemination and “test- tube” intrauterine implantations, but in some manner the reproduction process requires the contribution of... Continue Reading
The Miracle of the Virgin Birth
"You will hear people say, 'The early Christians believed that Christ was the son of a virgin, but we know that this is a scientific impossibility'.
‘The thing is scientifically impossible’, he would have said the same: the thing always was, and was always known to be, impossible unless the regular processes of nature were, in this particular case, being over-ruled or supplemented by something from beyond nature. When St Joseph finally accepted the view that his fiancée’s pregnancy was due not to... Continue Reading
The Whole Gospel in the Songs of Christmas
Jesus did not come to be a sweet child but as the Word made flesh, the bruised and broken sacrifice, the conqueror of death by death, and the ascended Lord at the right hand of the Father.
Sadly, when artists record popular versions of carols or when publishers add Christmas songs to hymnals and songbooks, too often they excise the core gospel message in exchange for sentimentalism. As the radio plays Christmas music 24 hours a day, it is not unusual for us to hear altered lyrics or simply the first verse... Continue Reading