A Bit of Irony From Mark

14:65 "And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, "Prophecy!" And the guards received him with blows."

The irony in this verse is that Jesus is prophesying in and through receiving these blows and mockery. It is in this moment when he is rejected by men that he becomes the cornerstone (12:10-11). It is this moment when he speaks the Word of God most clearly to the world.  No prophet has ever spoken the Word of God more clearly than Christ speaks it here precisely while he is mocked. The cross is the event where God is most clearly revealed; he is a God who loves human beings and is willing to be crucified by them, receiving the punishment for their sin, so that he could bring about forgiveness and reconciliation. Jesus is the Prophet. He is the Word.

Euthyphro and the Holy Spirit of Love

Euthyphro's dilemma goes like this: ""Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?""

This has been a problem for theists in general.

In other words, is God good because he follows a moral system of good higher than himself? Or does he not follow a moral system of good, and is therefore not good?

Euthyphro's dilemma really is a problem if your God is Allah or the Unmoved Mover. But if your God is Yahweh who is Father, Son, and Spirit, then this question reveals an incredible answer.

The Hebrew Bible reveals Yahweh as a Father who loves his children (Gen 5:1-3; Deut 32:6; Mal 2:10; etc.).

Yahweh is a good Father. He is not evil. So the second horn of the dilemma is denied by Scripture; Yahweh is good. He is not capricious. He is consistently good. He is a loving Father.

But does this mean that he submits to a law higher than himself? Are we caught on the second horn of the dilemma? If he is a loving Father, doesn't this mean that he submits to some sort of standard above himself?

The Scriptures are also clear that God is self-sufficient. It was not necessary for him to create heaven and earth or humanity for God to be God. God has been a loving Father for all eternity. God himself is the relationship between the Father and Son.

For God the Father to be God the Father he must have a Son. For a father to be a father there must be another person who qualifies him as a father, namely, his son. So God is a Father and he is a Son. These two persons are one God, yet they are distinct from one another.

But this relationship between Father and Son is a good, loving relationship. It is not an abusive or neglectful relationship. So doesn't this mean that God still appeals to a higher standard, some source outside of himself which qualifies this relationship as a good relationship?

No, because the Holy Spirit is God. The goodness of the relationship between Father and Son - this standard, this thing which qualifies the nature of their relationship - is himself God; it is not something outside of God which must exist with God for God to be God; he is a person distinct from Father and Son, and yet he is God, and God is one.

Theologians have always recognized this.

Jonathan Edwards says, "This [The Spirit] is the eternal and most perfect and essential act of the Divine nature, wherein the Godhead acts to an infinite degree and in the most perfect manner possible. The Deity becomes all act, the Divine essence itself flows out and is as it were breathed forth in love and joy. So that the Godhead therein stands forth in yet another manner of subsistence, and there proceeds the third Person in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, viz., the Deity in act, for there is no other act but the act of the will."

C.S. Lewis describes the Spirit like this in Mere Christianity: "The union between the Father and the Son is such a live concrete thing that this union itself is also a Person.  I know this is almost inconceivable, but look at it thus.  You know that among human beings, when they get together in a family, or a club, or a trade union, people talk about the ‘spirit’ of that family, club, or trade union.  The talk about its ‘spirit’ because the individual members, when they are together, do really develop particular ways of talking and behaving which they would not have if they were apart (this corporate behavior may, of course, be either better or worse than their private behavior).  It is as if a sort of communal personality came into existence.  Of course, it is not a real person: it is only rather like a person.  But that is just one of the differences between God and us.  What grows out of the joint life of the Father and Son is a real Person, this Person is in fact the Third of the three Persons who are God."

Barth says the same thing: "This relationship between Father and Son does not yet exhaust the reality, the nature of God... it is the Father and Son together who clinch the unity of God a third time in the Holy Spirit."

The three persons within the Godhead are distinct from each other and qualify each other so that God is who he is most essentially, namely, a loving Father. If these three were three different gods who just hangout together, none of them would be a self-sufficient god.

But Yahweh is self-sufficient and he is one. The Trinity is really the only possibility here.

Lies

With spectacles I see

Spring won't be what I think.

I'm less than I seem to me

An American dream

All in flux

The creation of a king

Ruthless, insecure

Cruel, unsure

It isn't me

Not who I am

Something I become

Whenever I begin

To make the mistake

Over again

And shape the world

Under my skin

The Bible in a Biblical Context

The Bible is one book. It is not an anthology of books.

The individual books within the Bible are put together in a coherent way, so that they compliment each other and develop "intratextual" themes.

When we read a letter from Paul to the Church at Rome, we need not pull this work out of the context of Scriptures and try to rebuild its historical context from archeology or extra-biblical history. The best way to understand this work is to feel it in the flow of Scripture. Scripture interprets Scripture.

When we read the Book of Psalms we need not pull individual psalms outside of their biblical context to rebuild the historical background of a "psalm of ascent," for instance. There is already a context and theme of ascension within the Bible which will help us understand the psalms of ascent:

Deuteronomy 30:11-14

11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12  It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

(Also, do a word study for the Hebrew word for "go up" or "ascend")

If we attempt to rebuild the historical context of these Psalms we miss out on precisely what the biblical author had in mind; he was intending to connect these Psalms to the biblical theme of ascension, which is fulfilled in Christ.

I am not saying there is absolutely no use for historical, extra-biblical context. I am just saying that before we try to dig up info from a culture that has been dead for 2000 years - info that is constantly changing - and before we use this info to determine the meaning of the Scriptures, let's just know our Bibles better like the biblical authors themselves did.

As Brevard Childs argues, the Bible was set up for the "future actualization of subsequent generations." In other words, the Bible was composed and arranged precisely to take original texts out of their historical context and fit them within the flow of the biblical context so that folks down the line could understand it. So to try to force these texts back into their historical context would be to go against the minds and method of the biblical authors themselves.

Trinity

I thought I would write out and share some of the info from my forum on the Trinity at ETV. His Truth is precious, especially in the midst of tragedy, confusion, and trial. Cling to Jesus. He is our joy. 

Love you all.

- Jesse.

"I wanna live, I wanna breathe, to search out your heart and all of your mysteries" - Phil Wickham

God the Father and Humanity

The God revealed in Scriptures is a Father who loves humanity, his sons and daughters (Gen 5:1-3; 6:1-6; Deut 32:6; Is 1:2; Mal 2:10, etc.).

The signicance and purpose of human beings is relationship to this Father. Humanity was created to enjoy the Father through receiving the creation in thanksgiving and joy.

This relationship between God and human beings was meant to glorify God by proclaiming his Truth. When the sons and daughters of God flourish in their relationship with their Father we are living proclamations that he is a good Father of love and holiness. That is part of what it means that we are created in his image. It means that we are testimonies, witnesses, words, messages; our lives are designed to be living sermons with one message, "God is our Father and he loves us, satisfies us, gives us joy, etc." And this is the Truth.

But humanity has indulged in pride. We have believed the lie that we could in ourselves achieve some sort of happiness outside of relationship to the Father who gives and loves. We believed that we could build a tower to heaven in our own strength rather than in the infinite strength of God the Father, the Creator of heaven and earth.

Instead of receiving creation in thankfulness so that our relationship with the Father might flourish, we have "exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen" (Rom 1:25).

Sin is relational. The significance, meaning, or purpose of rules and law is the opportunity to be in relationship with God. We must not understand sin as merely breaking rules, but as severing relationship with the Father and as finding our joy, satisfaction, or security outside of him and his will and wisdom.

We must understand the weight of our sin. When we backbite, gossip, believe the lies of our insecurity, indulge in dehumanizing activities like pornography or sex-trafficking, lie, deceive, murder, steal, etc., we are declaring "this is what God is like." 

But God is not like that. We have becoming walking lies.

That is why the Scriptures are filled with so much talk about the wrath of God.

"The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the Truth" (Rom 1:18) 

God the Son

But God's Truth still remains. He is still a loving Father.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). 

Even though his identity is wrapped up in the actions and lives of human beings who have rejected him as their Father, he still remains a Father.

In fact, he was a loving Father even before he created human beings.

When Jesus prays in John 17:24, he says, "Father... you loved me before the creation of the world."

Before God created anything, the Father and Son loved each other. The Beloved Son has always existed with the Father as the Proof, the Message, the Truth, the Word; he speaks the message, "God is a loving Father, here is the proof, here is the Beloved Son!"

When only Yahweh existed, he was still love and relationship for all eternity.

If Allah existed apart from creation he would be alone. That is why Yahweh is an entirely different God than Allah.

God the Spirit

And God is not simply a Father and a Son. There are many father-son relationships that are broken and awful.

But God the Father and the Son have eternally existed together in the Spirit of Love. God is love. That is part of his essence.

The Spirit exists as a third person, distinct from the Father and the Son. 

The Father, Son, and Spirit have forever existed in perfect love and union. If any one of these three persons did not exist, God would cease to be who he is most essentially, namely, a loving Father. Each of these three persons finds their identity in the others. If God were not a Son he would not be a Father. If God were not the Spirit of Love he would not be a Beloved Son. If God were not a loving Father he would not be a Beloved Son.

God's holiness, his faithfulness, his glory, his beauty, his compassion, his goodness, and all of his attributes are the fruit of this relationship of Love.

The Cross

Human beings become walking lies. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom 3:23). In our sin we trample on the image of God. 

But "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

The Eternal Truth of God which forever existed in the Beloved Son of God has become a human being. Now there is a human being who does uphold the Truth that God is a loving Father. He trusted in his Father. He submitted to the Father's will in obedience and endured the cross "for the joy set before him" (Heb 12:2). 

Jesus demonstrates the love of God most clearly on the cross.

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10).

Jesus' cross was not a business exchange; he did not endure the torcher and pain of the cross because we did something nice for him, or because we loved him so much, or because we offered him something in exchange for what he did; he simply did it because he loved us.

When we do something nice for another person simply because we will get something in return, this is not love. But when we love someone simply because we love them and enjoy seeing their well-being, this is love. That is what the love of God is like. And that is why the cross is the most clear, perfect demonstration of the love of God.

That is why Paul says "far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal 6:14). 

The New Testament writers were adament. They are essentially saying, "You want to know what God is like? Look to the cross of Christ, look at his love poured out for sinful human beings who have rejected him. This is the only way to know God."

The cross reveals the Truth of God. And human beings are helplessly seperated from knowledge of the True God without this revelation.

"And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:20-21).

Aristotle figured out that there was a God without the Scriptures which pointed to Christ. He figured out that everything has a cause, and every cause has a preceding cause, and since there must be a First Cause, this must be God. He called this the Unmoved Mover.

But how do we know that the Unmoved Mover is a God of Love? 

Reason cannot teach us these things. We must look to the Revelation of God at the cross of Christ to know that God is certainly the infinite God of Love.

Do not be deceived. Reject the idols. Look to Jesus. He is the True, Living God. Cling to the Scriptures because they point to Jesus. Cling to Jesus.

Sanctification

God is my Father who loves me. I believe that my sin amounts to a failure to live in the Assurance of this Truth. If at all times I believed this Truth I would be freed from my sin forever, because sin is defined by unbelief in this Truth, this Word. 

This is the Truth that human beings were designed to be as the sons and daughters of God; it is the Truth which we have stepped outside of in our sin and disbelief in the Word of God. In our failure to live in our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God we have declared that the statement that God is a loving Father is a false statement.

But this is the Truth which Jesus has redeemed as the divine Son of God who became a human being and saved the world.

This is the New Commandment, which "is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining."

The "passing away" of the darkness is the process of sanctification. It is the process of human beings learning to believe that God is their Father who loves them freely in his Son Jesus Christ. It is the process of realizing that we have totally and certainly received his righteousness. It is the process of receiving the free grace of God. It is the process of letting go of our own righteousness and holding on to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is the righteous deeds with which the saints are clothed. The righteousness of the saints is their joyful response to their righteousness in Christ, even as they are sinners. 

This is the great paradox of sanctification. When Paul says he is the chief of sinners, this is both a legitimate statement and precisely the reason he is a holy man. Paul has no confidence in himself, and that is why the man Paul was a great man. The pharisees were not great men because they thought they were great. The righteousness of God has turned the righteousness of humanity on its head.

But the layman makes a parade of the fact that he is a layman. The human heart is so deceptive that we take pride even in lowness.

But this only reinforces the truth that the love of Jesus is the only possible source of a human being's righteousness. My righteousness is only ever because Jesus loves me. 

In the moment that a human being truly says, "Yes, Jesus, you alone are my righteousness," there is a substance or fruit within him or her that is legitimate righteousness. That is the paradox. The legitimacy of our justification by faith alone produces the certainty of this sort of righteousness and fruit which pleases God. 

Those who reject the love of God in Jesus Christ can never please God. No action performed by a human being that is not a response of thankfulness to the Love of God the Father in Jesus Christ is righteous. Righteousness is defined by thankfulness. Thankfulness purifies our actions. Thankfulness is holiness. And thankfulness is an aspect of receiving. Thankfulness has nothing to do with ourselves, but everything to do with the Father who gives his Son.

The essence of faith is nothingness. Faith in Jesus is only substance in its nothingness. We look to Jesus and accept his righteousness. That is faith, and it is a reality. Yet the moment we become introspective it disappears and is nothing. It is only a reality when it is ignored. 

The righteous will live by this faith. We always become less as Jesus becomes more. Once this process becomes introspective, once the saint realizes he is effectively looking away from himself to Jesus, this faith is ruined and corrupted. But the Spirit works this corruption as yet one more reason to look away from self back to Jesus. 

The new life in Christ - the new birth - is the growing up of this nothingness, the substance that only exists when it is ignored. The indwelling Holy Spirit empowers the believer to glory in the cross and in weakness.

How does this process work itself out practically and tangibly?

It does not work out practically by Christians wallowing in foolish habits their whole life. This process is a process. The Christian who keeps looking at pornography their whole life really has no idea how unrighteous they are and how much they need Jesus. This person is a hard-hearted person who manages their sin and believes the lie that they have their life under control, that they really are no worse than many of their peers. This is nothing short of self-righteous.

This works itself out practically as the Spirit removes these blinders and gives us a true vision of the wretchedness of our sin and of Jesus' love for us in spite of that sin. Sin looks ugly in the light, but it also dies in the light, because it shows the depth of the love of Jesus as it is revealed more and more. And as it dies the light shines more, then deeper and uglier sins are revealed, and the reality of the love of Jesus increases. Here the Christian has no choice but to cling to the unconditional love of the Father in spite of their wicked sin. That is righteousness. That is faith. That glorifies the love of the Son of God.

I don't think that the resurrected body is a body with a sort of super-power ability to resist drunkenness or pornography. I don't think that will be an issue. The resurrected body is a body which belongs to a soul that has walked through death and experienced total weakness and learned total dependence and faith in Jesus, and is forever united to him in the infinite joy of faith.

I am looking forward to authentic righteousness.

The Infinite Bridge of Everything

"All things with which we deal, preach to us."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson


Awake
Awake my soul, like the morning
Like the sun
Each day
Over the horizon at dawn
Even through the rain
An angel
A light
He sings each day
Speaks each day
So up, out of my bed
Rising from death
Yes, each day
That first moment speaks
Awake, my soul,
And sing like the morning

And every morning
A baptism
Warm water, and soap
The dirt from the day before
The dirt, the earth
Coming up from the ground
From cars, sawdust, and hurt
From a summer night sleep
The sweat
Like self-righteousness
Self-love
Covered in stuff
Yes, each shower speaks
Don't forget the dirt
I need to be cleaned
Baptize my heart, mind, soul, body
All of me

Every morning
Down a dark hall with doors
Past sleeping roommates
A passageway
A little tale
From death to life
To a morning meal
Awake with the Father at the feast
A small parable
Infinitesimal to the reality
But an image to enjoy
And I prepare a meal
Each flavor hits this tongue
Each a type of your Son
He is like cinnamon
Like bacon, eggs, bread
Yes, a profound reason
I must be fed

Into a car
With a friend
Suspended on a highway
Each morning commute
A risk worth the price
Of faith, of life
No certainty
Just probability
Just like everything
The price of each movement
Of motion
Each morning commute
Each 40 minute drive
I risk my life
Just like the hundreds beside

At work I create
Like the King, I make
Cabinets, each day
Each cabinet
Many parts to a whole
Put together by a craftsman
Not as skilled as he
Who has built me
My body
A part of his body
Joining ligaments
Joining boards with fasteners
And each cabinet comes together
Many parts make up one
A pervasive principle
Giving life and love

At the end a sense of release
Fills my blood
Like when you come
A time of rest
The day of Yahweh
To take a breath
Ripped away
Freed from idolatry
From these slave-traders
My wicked gods
Freedom indeed
Release

And at home, a good meal again
Wash it down like living water

All these hints
Preachers
Warnings
Their code not cryptic
Stories
Stories with morals
With subject matter
One mosaic
One Meaning
Pictures
Paintings
But each is aging
Each is moving away
Each a note, all a chord, each day

Read, story in a story in a story
Then sleep
Into a rest again
Like his rest
After the work day

Each of these
Each a lesson -
My day speaks
Proclaims, preaches, screams
"We are not the Son of God
But, 'Behold the lamb.'"
But I am numb
I am blind
I stifle their call
I interrupt their song
It is discord to me
I am content
I am free
And I walk in my sleep