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Archives For Bible – 1 Peter

Jesus, Rush, and the Nature of True Humility

May 20, 2013 — 1 Comment

God made this world, and so long as you’re alive, you can’t escape the way He made it. You might have qualms with gravity, but I’m afraid you’re going to go on living with it.

And since at the center of the world is Jesus Christ, there is no life outside of Him. All things exist and cohere in Him. Therefore, all counterfeit forms of life have to borrow from Jesus. Jesus said that in order to find your life you have to lose it. The greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all. In other words, because the cross has become the center of all human history, everybody is forced to reckon with it. Everybody, even people with qualms, have to live with this fact. And this means there are really only two options. Some bow before it, in true humility, confessing their sins, receiving forgiveness and cleansing, and then they rise bearing that same cross as God works His life into and out of their lives, joyfully following their Savior. Everybody else, failing to actually bow before Christ, must pretend to have humbled themselves. They must pretend to bear a cross. They muster up some kind of limp. They wear it like a cheap toupee. Ever since Jesus came into the world, the old pagan mythos of arrogant strength has been fading away, and now all true power and strength is found in the cross, or else some kind of faux version made with aspartame and a bad aftertaste.

In other words, everybody likes the idea of humility. Ever since Jesus, humility is heroic. Everybody likes the idea of being humble, but nobody really wants to be humbled. In other words, the popular form of humility is a sort of aw-shucks-taint-nothing sort of demeanor. In the broader Christian world it consists of apologizing for everything as often as possible. It’s telling and a little more than ironic that people often describe being humbled at the very point at which they are receiving some kind of recognition, honors, praise. Continue Reading…

In Against Christianity, Bible - 1 Peter, Culture, Politics, TRC, Wisdom

The Kind of Lovely that Stays

March 25, 2013 — Leave a comment

Jesus came as the Second Adam, and this means the renewal of the human race. Last week, the exhortation was particularly aimed at men. This week the exhortation is for the women.

Ladies, the Bible teaches that your glory, your strength is found particularly in your beauty and your powers of nurturing life. This glory and power is found in those women who fear the Lord, who place their trust in the God who runs the universe, and who consequently obey His word regardless of their circumstances.

But fear is often the great crippler of women. After the first sin entered the world, God told Eve that her temptation would be to rule her husband. Peter tells wives to win over disobedient husbands without a word, to use their gentle and quiet spirits, their beauty inside and out. But women often see dangers coming, see the way things might go wrong, see how their husband or father or friends are missing something, and they wrongly think that they should talk about it. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Proverbs, Exhortations, Family, TRC

We Call It Glory

February 18, 2013 — 1 Comment

Peter says that a godly man must honor his wife as the weaker vessel (1 Pet. 3:8). The fact that many Christians would turn a light shade of pink when this verse is read out loud is an indication of just how spineless and cowardly we have become. But still worse are the consequences that necessarily flow from ignoring this verse or explaining it away with footnotes and throat clearing.

This means that a man who gets up multiple times a night with young children throughout the week and continues to get up early to go to work must not complain or be bitter when his wife happens to get up once and asks to sleep in for a bit. He may not respond by pointing out how “unfair” that is. This is to ask God to flatten out the differences between men and women. This is to dishonor a woman’s glory rather than to honor it.

Let me give you another example: This means that a wife or daughter may feel free to unload her feelings, hurts, confusions, worries, and fear to her husband or father, and that man may not unload in the same way on his wife or daughter. A man must be honest, but his duty is to be strong for his wife, to be strong for his daughter. This may seem unfair to some, but it is nothing less than the gospel in operation. Paul says that a man’s example is Jesus who loved His bride and gave Himself for her (Eph. 5:25). He bears our burdens, and men must bear the burdens of those they are responsible for. To ask a man to be “transparent” and to “share his feelings” is to ask a man to disobey Jesus. There is of course a generic way in which, all Christians “bear one anothers’ burdens,” but this is not a command at odds with the way God made the world with men and women and their respective glories. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Ephesians, Family, Manalive, Marriage Bed, Wisdom

Priest as New Creation

November 12, 2012 — 2 Comments

In Exodus 39, the priestly garments are made with the echoing refrain: “… as the Lord commanded Moses.”

It’s no accident that this refrain is repeated 7 times, mimicking the seven days of creation:

Day 1: Light & Darkness: 39:1: Holy garments for service

Day 2: Firmament: 39:2-5: Ephod

Day 3: Dry Land, Seas, Seed bearing plants: 39:6-7: Onyx stones for the shoulders w/ the names of the children of Israel

Day 4: Rulers in the Firmament: Sun, Moon, & Stars: 39:8-21: Breastplate with 12 precious stones bearing the names of the sons of Israel

Day 5: Birds & Fish: 39:22-26: Robe

Day 6: Man & land animals: 39:37-29: Coats, hats, pants, and sash of linen

Day 7: Holy Sabbath: 39:30-31: Gold crown bearing the inscription: Holiness to the Lord Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Exodus, Theology - Ecclesiology, Worship

Remaking the World: 24th Sunday in Trinity: Exodus 37-38

November 11, 2012 — 1 Comment

Introduction
As we have noted previously, the construction of the tabernacle is intended to enact the re-creation of the world (e.g. Ex. 25-31). It is to follow the “pattern” which God showed Moses on the mountain (Ex. 25:9, 40, Acts 7:44). That pattern is ultimately the presence of God on the mountain come down to dwell among the people (Ex. 33:7-9, 40:34-38). In other words, the way Moses’ face shone after being in the presence of God on the mountain is a picture of what God wants to do with all of Israel and ultimately the whole world. The pattern of the tabernacle is meant rub off on Israel. But a big part of the story in Exodus is the actual construction of the tabernacle. That work is meant to be a transformative process too.

As the Lord Commanded
Remember that Ex. 25-31 was the record of the initial instructions given by God on the mountain, the seven speeches of the “new creation” of Israel. After the fall at with the golden calf, the following description of the actual work of Bezalel in Ex. 36-39 proves that the “new covenant” is in force and that God’s word does not return void. In the first creation account, “God spoke and it was done.” Likewise, here, God has spoken and now it is being done, “all that the Lord had commanded Moses” (38:22). Another way of looking at this recapitulation of the details of the tabernacle follows the original creation pattern of Gen. 1-2. Just as Gen. 1 is the creation of the world according to God’s spoken word in six days and Gen. 2 follows the creation of man, his situation in the garden, his naming of the animals and finally the creation of the woman, so too these two accounts of the details of the tabernacle accomplish similar goals. In Gen. 2, we see Adam imitating God and following his commands in naming the animals. In Ex. 36:8-39:31 we see Bezalel leading Israel in carrying out the commands of the Lord. Likewise, if the tabernacle is to be seen in feminine terms, the completion of the tabernacle is the creation of a new Eve from the side of Israel, the new Adam-son of God (cf. Ex. 4:22). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Corinthians, Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Exodus, Bible - Matthew, Creation, Culture, Sermon Outlines, TRC, Wisdom

Glory & Beauty

July 31, 2012 — Leave a comment

9^th Sunday in Trinity: Exodus 27-28: Lessons: Ex. 28:1-30, 1 Pet. 2:1-12, Jn. 17:20-26

Introduction
We continue to work through the book of Exodus this morning and the instructions for building the tabernacle and establishing faithful worship there. Today we look particularly at God’s determination to share His glory and beauty with His people.

The Text:
The instructions for the tabernacle work their way from the inside out. So we began with the Ark (Ex. 25:10-22), worked our way out into the Holy Place (Ex. 25:23-40), and then considered the coverings and curtains of the tent enclosing the Holy Place and Most Holy Place (Ex. 26:1-26). In our text, we move outward to the bronze altar just outside the entrance to the Holy Place (Ex. 27:1-8) and then continue with the construction of the fence enclosing the Courtyard (Ex. 27:9-19). Given the overall movement outward, it seems strange to revert to instructions for the lampstand (Ex. 27:20-21), but what follows are instructions for the garments of the priests (Ex. 28) and their ordination (Ex. 29). The lampstand is tended by the priests (Ex. 28:21), and more importantly, the lampstand symbolizes the priests who are anointed with oil (Ex. 29:7, 21).

There are intricate instructions for the garments of the priests, but we should specifically note several things: First, the garments are for “glory and beauty” (Ex. 28:2, 40), and here we have the first mention of “gifted artisans” who are filled with the “spirit of wisdom” (Ex. 28:3, cf. 28:6, 15). Secondly, notice that the garments match the rest of the tabernacle (Ex. 28:5-6, 8, 15, 23-24, 26-27, 31, compare with 25:12, 26, 26:1, 31, 36). In other words, the priest is an embodied, walking tabernacle. But the symbolism goes the other way too: the tabernacle represents a human: she has sides that are literally “ribs” (Ex. 25:12,14, 26:20, 26, 27, 35, 27:7), and she is covered in “skins” (Ex. 25:5, 26:14, cf. Gen. 3:21, 27:16). Literally, each curtain is referred to as a “woman/wife” (Ex. 26:3, 5, 6, 17). The “tenons” that hold the boards together are “hands” (Ex. 26:17, 19). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Exodus, bible - John, Church, Culture, Sermon Outlines, TRC, Worship

Palm Sunday: Seventh Commandment II: Isaiah 53-54:8, 1 Pet. 2:21-3:6, Jn. 16:16-24

April 2, 2012 — Leave a comment

Introduction
Today marks the beginning of Holy Week or the week of the Passion, in which together with the saints throughout the world we remember the final events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are also continuing our study of the seventh commandment. Today we consider how Jesus is our faithful husband in a way that enables us to be faithful spouses.

Isaiah 53-54:8
The prophet says that what he has to say no one would believe or imagine (Is. 53:1). But the servant of the Lord is coming (Is. 52:13-15), and he will grow up a tender plant in the wilderness of Israel having no natural attractiveness (Is. 53:2). He is despised and rejected by men, and he knows the grief of rejection and loneliness (Is. 53:3). But He is not merely enduring a hard providence; He is carrying the grief and sorrows of those who reject Him (Is. 53:4). More than that, He was wounded for their sins, struck for their iniquities, the punishment for our peace was laid upon Him, so that the lacerations of His flogging have become our healing (Is. 53:5). This is only possible because while we were wandering, selfish sheep, He came as a lamb so that God might lay on Him our sins, and He could be slaughtered in our place (Is. 53:6-7). He was cut off from the land of the living, and buried like a criminal though nothing untrue ever passed His lips (Is. 53:8-9). This pleased God to strike His Servant because He became an offering for sin, and with this accomplished, His servant will rise up triumphant, seizing the joy of victory and the fruit of His suffering, justifying many, having borne their sins (Is. 53:10-12). Therefore the prophet instructs barren, widowed, forgotten Israel to shout aloud with songs of triumph, and build an addition on the back of the house to hold the fruitfulness about to descend, overflowing cities (Is. 54:1-3). The shame and confusion of Israel will be wiped away and forgotten (Is. 54:4). This is because God the Creator will be her husband, Yahweh of Armies, her Near Kinsman (Is. 54:5). The Lord calls her in her brokenness and mourning, and admits that He has for a moment left her alone, but assures her that with great mercies He will gather her to Himself forever because He is her Redeemer (Is. 54:8). Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Isaiah, bible - John, Marriage Bed, Sermon Outlines, Theology - Soteriology

How Pride is the Father of Depression

January 24, 2012 — 4 Comments

Pride is a promiscuous sin and begets bastard iniquities all over the landscape of any given life. But one sin fathered by pride and frequently unnoticed is depression. In a fallen world there may be numerous factors contributing to depression, darkness, deep sadness: Death, sickness, chemical imbalances, sin, guilt, broken relationships, failures, regrets, etc. I grant all of that, and this is not meant as a one-size-fits-all diagnosis for you or someone you know.

But pride is idolatry of self. Pride pretends to be sitting in a palace, on a throne. Pride imagines importance, glory, and authority. Pride is brash, pride is haughty, pride is self-assured, self-serving, self-loving, self-vindicating. Pride is self-worship.

As it turns out, fallen, sinful people are losers. Left in their sin, people are naked, exposed, ashamed, scrambling for leaves. And thus the need for lots of pretending and wild self-aggrandizing imagination. Pride is a liar and a deceiver, and tells a tall tale to cover the shame. Pride re-tells the Fall, guilt, sin, and death renaming these curses as virtues, personality traits, gifts, callings, differences. In the history of the world, the race of Adam which is at war with God and His grace is a Naked Empire. The city of man, as Augustine called it, is more than just an emperor with no clothes, it’s an entire empire full of naked, guilty people.

People are small, people are mortal, people are weak, people really are naked under all their clothes. But pride hates shame; pride hates humility. Pride is opposed to everything weak, everything small.

But pride is destined to make you sad. Pride is destined to make you despair. This is because apart from Christ people are losers. Apart from Christ, you are naked, ashamed, guilty, alone. Pride lies and tells a different story, but self-worship, self-love, self-assurance has to look in the mirror. You have to worship your image, and as many people worship the image, they become more and more empty, more and more hopeless because look at you: you are a lousy god. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - James, Grace, Pastoral Theology, Wisdom

The Greater the Service, the Greater the Glory

September 19, 2011 — 1 Comment

Proverbs says that the glory of men is their strength. But since the first sin in the Garden of Eden it has been the tendency and the temptation of men to be lazy. Adam didn’t guard his wife, didn’t protect her from sin or the serpent; he didn’t work hard at what God had put in front of him. And in the curses following the Fall, God promised that His work would be even harder. There would be thorns and weeds, and he would have to work by the sweat of his brow and death would make his body weak and eventually die. But this does not change the fact that the glory of men is their strength, and if that was true in the Old Covenant, how much more so is this true in the New Covenant after the coming of the true man, the faithful Adam, Jesus Christ. And where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. Where Adam gave in to the tempter, Jesus withstood. And then in addition to standing firm, Jesus went to the cross to display the greatest kind of strength there is, giving His life away for the world, giving His life away for His enemies. Jesus said that the greatest of all is the one who becomes the servant of all. The one who loses His life is the one who will find it. The one who seeks to save his life will lose it. But Jesus didn’t just say that, He lived it. He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made Himself of no reputation and took the form of a servant. And then He humbled Himself even to the point of death, even the shame and suffering of the cross. And that was the most glorious moment in the history of all time. That was the moment where the strength of God shone with the most glory. That was true strength, true glory because at the very moment when Jesus lost His life, He won life for the world. When Jesus became the servant of all, He was guaranteed to become the Lord of all. Continue Reading…

In Bible - 1 Peter, Bible - Philippians, Bible - Proverbs, Exhortations

The Only Way

July 5, 2011 — 5 Comments

“The only way the Holy Spirit works to regenerate lost men and women is by the Bible. Peter said, ‘you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God’ (1 Pet. 1:23).” – J.M. Boice

In Bible - 1 Peter, Books