Sometimes we speak about the need for teaching as if we should learn something brand new every time we open the Bible. We will learn new things, of course – I don’t deny that for a moment. But what is much more common is that we are reminded of what we know already.
Being reminded is essential. We have this horrible ability to leak truth. Having got something clear in our minds, warm in our hearts and affecting our wills, so that we know it, feel it and start to live it – that truth then gradually seeps out of us. We need to be reminded.
— Graham Beynon, Last Things First, p136
Author: Matthew (Page 6 of 11)
Mike Reeves helps explain what theology is, in the context of Judges 6:25-28 (quoted from DIY Theology):
Theology is smashing up idols – smashing up the idols in our mind and in our world. And not just smashing them up but replacing them with (v26) proper kinds of altars to the Lord our God: replacing them all with Jesus Christ. So the story here is: Gideon is surrounded by the idolatry of the Midianite regime. and he begins the revolution against it by bulldozing Baal. And that is theology! It’s not just reading books, studying languages, whatever: it is about rebelling against the world order, not just the Midianites little regime, rebelling against the whole world order as it rebels against God. Rebelling against it, bringing down the system, utterly replacing it: that is theology. Theology is the revolution.
Our culture defines faith as being irrational, worthy of ridicule, something to be hated, to be discarded so we can stop worrying and enjoy our lives, but above all as dangerous, nonsensical falsehood. This is the sermon our culture preaches to us, which we absorb unconsciously. Faced with these lies, what are we to do? We turn to the one who speaks truth with authority – the Lord Jesus. Reeves again:
Christian theology is about clearing out all the junk in our minds that we’ve accumulated through years of just listening to the world, and replacing it with truth. It’s putting on the mind of Christ and so sifting out the lies in our culture. It’s washing our brains with the Mediator, rather than being brainwashed by the media.
God is a God who speaks. Ultimately, he has spoken to us “by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he also made the universe” (Hebrews 1:1-2). Without God’s revelation of himself, we can’t know what is true. But God has revealed himself through Jesus: eternally God the Son has been making his Father known in the power of the Spirit, and he continues to do so today.
Theology is the “true research: as we re-search reality afresh in the light of how God has revealed it to be”; “It’s walking through life with a torch on. It’s refusing to drift with the zeitgeist”. The world is constantly bombarding us with its own truth, but it doesn’t describe reality. The Bible tells us what’s really real. It shapes how we look at the world, and speaks into every part of life. We see ourselves as we really are . Above all, we see who the God of the universe really is. And when we see more of him – our Truine God, always good, gracious and generous, over-flowing with love – we find our love for him grows and our lives are transformed.
It turns out that not only is theology incredibly practical, it’s incredibly exciting too.
(Read more by Mike Reeves: Fear and Loathing in Las Vagueness. Also related: Talking to yourself. Originally posted 23rd March 2009, revised and updated 7th May 2013.)
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)
Christians are those who are united to Christ. This is true in the past, present and future.
Past: “For you died”. Christians have died with Christ. In him, we have passed through the death we rightly deserve. Our sin has been dealt with once for all. “You have been raised”. Dead to ourselves, alive in Christ. New birth, new life.
Present: “Hidden with Christ”. When God looks at you, what does he see? His beloved child. “Seated at the right hand of God”. Christ is seated on the throne of the universe, and we’re there with him!
Future: “Will appear with him”. When Christ returns, we will be with him, and it will be glorious.
It’s no surprise that Paul calls us to “set [our] hearts and minds on things above”. These are amazing realities to be celebrated, rejoiced in, dwelt on, sung about. What joy to spend time warming our hearts with such wonderful truths!
However… we forget. We’re leaky. These things seep out of our minds as this world preaches an alternative message. “This life is all there is – so live for the moment. Do what feels good. Make the most of it.” This world seems so solid, its pleasures so tangible, and God begins to feel distant. “Heavenly realities? More like away with the fairies.”
With all these lies ringing in our ears, we need others to help us lift our sights to see what is real. Those of deep, strong faith to give courage to the struggling. Preachers who present Christ again, that our hearts might be captured afresh. Soaking ourselves in Scripture, individually and corporately. The world is constantly fighting for our attention; let’s help each other fight back.
So Paul writes later in Colossians:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
The word of Christ: the good news of Jesus. His death and resurrection, and our union with him.
Dwelling richly: always going deeper. Taking truths to heart, not filing them away. Longing to know more of Jesus.
Teach and admonish: lovingly speaking good news to each other, letting God’s word convict, correct and encourage.
Singing: both expressing and exciting our emotions of gratitude through singing Scriptural certainties to each other and to the Lord.
Tomorrow, as millions gather across the globe with brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s point each other to these heavenly realities. We died with him. We were raised with him. We will appear with him. Glory!
In my first year at university I used to stay up until silly-o’clock in the morning with friends, because I didn’t want to be the first person to go to bed. There was a fear (at least on my part) that if I left early, suddenly everyone else would become best friends without me. Facebook had just arrived in the UK, which provided another means of social anxiety – constantly checking it to make sure I wasn’t missing out on any invitations or conversations that might be going on.
With the arrival of smartphones, it seems that this fear of missing out has reached new heights. This isn’t an original thought (see this Huffington Post article or this infographic), but for Christians it goes beyond mere social anxiety. The world tells us constantly that we are missing out. Whether it’s in seeing friends getting smashed together on a Friday, or the housemate whose boyfriend always “stays the night”, the Christian life seems to be summed up by all of the fun we’re not having.
The world may tell us we’re missing out, but we do our best to prove them wrong. We can start to prioritise the things of this world – a good job, a nice house, finding a husband or wife – and forget God’s call to “lose our lives for Christ’s sake”. We can’t quite commit ourselves to the work of growing disciples – it all seems so fruitless. Our friends don’t become Christians. Our small group still struggle with sin. Why do we even bother?
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, there were some who were thinking similarly. They were saying that this life is all there is (1 Cor 15:12), and so following the way of the cross was foolishness. Paul agrees with the logic, saying “if just for this life we have hope, we are to be pitied!” (1 Cor 15:19).
But this life is not all there is. There is a certain hope in a resurrected life in the new creation that is guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor 15:20-23). Elsewhere Paul says that our present sufferings are “not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed” (Romans 8:18). The message is clear: it’s worth it.
Whether it’s minor anxieties around social events and cinema trips, or big-picture worries about wasting our lives, the medicine for our fear of missing out is the same: the gospel of Jesus Christ, the crucified and resurrected king. Our resurrection hope frees us from fear and liberates us into costly service of our saviour. We don’t need to worry about missing out on fun, friendships, sex or success – the Christian receives heavenly blessings without measure from a Father who never ceases to do good to his children. He knows what we need, and will abundantly provide.
So Paul can write in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”
Following on from yesterday, I was reminded earlier of this excellent article by Paul Blackham on the resurrection hope of Christians:
What kind of future are we hoping for? What kind of everlasting future does the Bible offer to us? What was Jesus Himself looking ahead to? The physical character of the Christian hope is totally different from all the human religions of the world.
Well worth a read.
The desert and parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. (Isaiah 35:1-2)
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8:19-21)
Then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory”. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54-58)
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22:1-2)
Spring speaks of resurrection. (Inspired by Glen Scrivener, Sim Jemmett and Martin Luther.)
Everything in our natural experience works against resurrection hope. Our ordinary lives teach us to believe Monty Python’s line: “Life is quite absurd and death’s the final word.” Life leads to death. That’s the trajectory of this world and of Adam its original head. Life and then death.
But Jesus came to reverse the way of Adam. He came to turn the world right-side-up. And therefore it strikes the children of Adam as utterly new and strange. On that first Easter Sunday, the women came to the tomb expecting to pay their last respects to a departed friend. They came to mark an ending. Instead they were witnesses to the one great beginning.
He is risen – and one day, we too will be raised. What grace.
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Hark, the voice of love and mercy,
Sounds aloud from Calvary!
See, it rends the rocks asunder,
Shakes the earth and veils the sky!
“It is finished, It is finished,”
Hear the dying Savior cry.
“It is finished,” O what pleasure,
Do these charming words afford.
Heavenly blessings, without measure,
Flow to us from Christ the Lord.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints the dying words record.
Finished all the types and shadows,
Of the law that went before;
Finished all that God had promised;
Death and hell no more shall awe.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints from hence your comfort draw.
Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs;
Join to sing the pleasing theme;
Saints on earth and all in heaven,
Join to praise Immanuel’s name.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glory to the bleeding Lamb!
Glen Scrivener on the grace of Gethsemane (see Matthew 26:36-46):
“Glen, who do you think you are in this story?”
I didn’t like to say but, well, surely I’m Jesus in the story. Or I’m meant to be anyway.
The leader corrected me. “Do you know who you are? You’re Peter.”
And the penny dropped. I’m not Jesus! I’m Peter. I’m weak, useless, faithless Peter. I ought to pray with Jesus, but I don’t. I fail. And as I fail, Jesus prays for me.
By the Spirit, I belong to Jesus. By the Spirit I want to follow Christ. But my flesh is from Adam. My flesh is weak. And I’m constantly falling asleep on the watch.
But Jesus prays for me.
About to be betrayed, abandoned and denied by those closest to him, Jesus prays, and resolves to go to the cross for them and for us. Amazing grace.
Come, ev’ry soul by sin oppressed; there’s mercy with the Lord,
and He will surely give you rest by trusting in His Word.
For Jesus shed His precious blood, rich blessings to bestow;
plunge now into the crimson flood that washes white as snow.
Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust him now.
He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.
Yes, Jesus is the truth, the way, that leads you into rest;
believe in Him without delay and you are fully blessed.
Come, then, and join the holy band, and on to glory go,
to dwell in that celestial land where joys immortal flow.
Only trust Him, only trust Him, only trust him now.
He will save you, He will save you, He will save you now.