Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
The blog is moving...
...to gospeldots.com.
It's true. This site will still be here for the foreseeable future, but I will no longer be updating it as of this week.
Please update your rss feed if you subscribe. The new feed is: gospeldots.com/feed/
Everyone say bye to blogger!
It's true. This site will still be here for the foreseeable future, but I will no longer be updating it as of this week.
Please update your rss feed if you subscribe. The new feed is: gospeldots.com/feed/
Everyone say bye to blogger!
March 21: Genesis 20
Today's reading.
Here goes Abraham again. This is the second time in the book of Genesis that we've seen him pass his wife off as his sister. The man who "believed God," can't seem to trust him.
Which is why what God says to Abimelech is crazy: "return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live" (20:7). How embarrassing for the Lord! Abe is his prophet, one who is supposed to speak God's words, but he can't even tell the truth about his marital status. "You know the guy who just moved here with his 'sister'? Yeah, he was lying. She's his wife. But you'd better give her back now, or else. He's one of my guys."
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on Abraham's team after reading this chapter. If I were Abimelech, I'd be tempted to think God didn't know what he was doing.
That is the brilliant thing about God's plan: Abraham's work has nothing to do with it. God accomplishes his purposes in spite of him.
Abe is supposed to be a blessing to all nations, but here he has brought threats and curses on the house of another man. How many times have we as Christians brought shame to our Lord and curses to those around us? Yet, God's purposes in Christ carry on.
The gospel enlists weak, sinful people in the service of the Almighty. God uses weak people like us to prove that whatever good we do do gets attributed to him and not to us. Abe was a prophet (clearly!) not because he was such a good, moral guy. He was the originator of the wife swap.
No, he was a prophet because of God's call. That's it, and that's all. Likewise, we aren't Christians because we are so good. It's because of God's call, his choice. No matter how good we look or embarrassingly we may behave, we are Christ's because of what he has done, not what we could do.
Here goes Abraham again. This is the second time in the book of Genesis that we've seen him pass his wife off as his sister. The man who "believed God," can't seem to trust him.
Which is why what God says to Abimelech is crazy: "return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live" (20:7). How embarrassing for the Lord! Abe is his prophet, one who is supposed to speak God's words, but he can't even tell the truth about his marital status. "You know the guy who just moved here with his 'sister'? Yeah, he was lying. She's his wife. But you'd better give her back now, or else. He's one of my guys."
I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on Abraham's team after reading this chapter. If I were Abimelech, I'd be tempted to think God didn't know what he was doing.
That is the brilliant thing about God's plan: Abraham's work has nothing to do with it. God accomplishes his purposes in spite of him.
Abe is supposed to be a blessing to all nations, but here he has brought threats and curses on the house of another man. How many times have we as Christians brought shame to our Lord and curses to those around us? Yet, God's purposes in Christ carry on.
The gospel enlists weak, sinful people in the service of the Almighty. God uses weak people like us to prove that whatever good we do do gets attributed to him and not to us. Abe was a prophet (clearly!) not because he was such a good, moral guy. He was the originator of the wife swap.
No, he was a prophet because of God's call. That's it, and that's all. Likewise, we aren't Christians because we are so good. It's because of God's call, his choice. No matter how good we look or embarrassingly we may behave, we are Christ's because of what he has done, not what we could do.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
March 19: Genesis 19
Today's reading.
This is a judgment passage, and therefore inherently controversial. In other times and places it would not be so; Sodom's injustice and depravity in this passage are grotesque enough for most anyone to be scandalized. But in our day, God's actions are what strike us as the most grotesque aspect of this chapter.
The text is pretty clear on the extent of Sodom's sin. When the angelic visitors enter Lot's house, "the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded" it (19:4). And if you understand the cultural situation in which men were understood to be the representative heads of their households, every man standing outside Lot's door meant that the entire city was standing there. Demanding. Yelling. Threatening Lot. Itching to gang rape two defenseless sojourners.
The text doesn't say why they wanted to gang rape the two angelic foreigners. But it seems like it's happened before. There is an urgency to Lot's plea that they stay with him (19:3). This instance of depravity is not the reason God sends judgment on Sodom. It is merely confirmation that judgment is required (18:20-21).
If you had the power to stop a defenseless person from being brutally raped and murdered, would you? If you had the authority to punish a person who had a pattern of committing such heinous crimes against humanity, would you? Would you do all in your power to ensure that that person could never again do such evil to the defenseless?
Frequently in the Psalms and elsewhere in the OT, the biblical authors rejoice in God's judgment. They don't do so because they are Neanderthal masochists who hate anyone who isn't them. They do so because it is divine judgment that stops evil and sets things right again in the world.
God's judgment isn't about mere punishment. It is about restoring justice to an unjust world. It is about rescuing a helpless world from the forces of sin and evil. God's people rejoice in his judgment because we "hunger and thirst for justice" (Matt. 5:6), and we know that God alone can exercise it.
And exercise it he did at the cross. God may have overthrown Sodom, but even Sodom did not bear the full brunt of God's judgment. Christ did. He stood in the place of rapists and (his own) murderers, and cried out for their forgiveness. He took justice on himself so that God's grace and mercy could be the inheritance of all sinners. Even the men of Sodom.
We can stand back and scoff, write off the idea of a God who judges. Or we can stand amazed at God's mercy to judge Jesus in our place. It's a choice between rebellion and obedience; between wallowing in the misery of a fallen world and being rescued; between calling rape and murder no big deal, and standing on the side of Justice. May God teach us to hunger and thirst for his justice.
This is a judgment passage, and therefore inherently controversial. In other times and places it would not be so; Sodom's injustice and depravity in this passage are grotesque enough for most anyone to be scandalized. But in our day, God's actions are what strike us as the most grotesque aspect of this chapter.
The text is pretty clear on the extent of Sodom's sin. When the angelic visitors enter Lot's house, "the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded" it (19:4). And if you understand the cultural situation in which men were understood to be the representative heads of their households, every man standing outside Lot's door meant that the entire city was standing there. Demanding. Yelling. Threatening Lot. Itching to gang rape two defenseless sojourners.
The text doesn't say why they wanted to gang rape the two angelic foreigners. But it seems like it's happened before. There is an urgency to Lot's plea that they stay with him (19:3). This instance of depravity is not the reason God sends judgment on Sodom. It is merely confirmation that judgment is required (18:20-21).
If you had the power to stop a defenseless person from being brutally raped and murdered, would you? If you had the authority to punish a person who had a pattern of committing such heinous crimes against humanity, would you? Would you do all in your power to ensure that that person could never again do such evil to the defenseless?
Frequently in the Psalms and elsewhere in the OT, the biblical authors rejoice in God's judgment. They don't do so because they are Neanderthal masochists who hate anyone who isn't them. They do so because it is divine judgment that stops evil and sets things right again in the world.
God's judgment isn't about mere punishment. It is about restoring justice to an unjust world. It is about rescuing a helpless world from the forces of sin and evil. God's people rejoice in his judgment because we "hunger and thirst for justice" (Matt. 5:6), and we know that God alone can exercise it.
And exercise it he did at the cross. God may have overthrown Sodom, but even Sodom did not bear the full brunt of God's judgment. Christ did. He stood in the place of rapists and (his own) murderers, and cried out for their forgiveness. He took justice on himself so that God's grace and mercy could be the inheritance of all sinners. Even the men of Sodom.
We can stand back and scoff, write off the idea of a God who judges. Or we can stand amazed at God's mercy to judge Jesus in our place. It's a choice between rebellion and obedience; between wallowing in the misery of a fallen world and being rescued; between calling rape and murder no big deal, and standing on the side of Justice. May God teach us to hunger and thirst for his justice.
Friday, March 18, 2011
March 18: Psalm 29
Today's reading.
"Ascribe!" That's not an exclamation we use much. Ascribe means to give, to credit, to attribute. We credit to God "the glory due his name" (29:2) because he has it, he deserves it, and we want to get on the glory train.
God doesn't need our worship. He graciously invites us to join in the cosmic party that happens in the midst of "the splendor of his holiness" (29:2). "The LORD sits enthroned as king forever" (29:10), and we just want to be part of the intergalactic shout of "Glory!" (29:9). We want to join in his worship because we've heard his voice.
We never see God in this psalm. "The voice of the LORD" is all we get to "see" of him. But his voice is all we need. His voice is the most powerful force in all the universe. His voice thunders, shakes the earth, flashes flames, breaks cedars and strips the forest bare. His voice is all the convincing we need to know that he is God.
God tells us of himself with words, not images. He forbade his people making images in their worship of him (Ex. 20:4) because he had given them all they needed to know of him with his own voice. His Word comes to us from outside us and calls us to believe and do things we otherwise would not believe or do. God's voice, his Word, breaks trees like toothpicks and melts sinful hearts like wax in a fire.
John says, "No one has ever seen God" (John 1:18), but God's Word has made him known. It was no mistake when John referred to Jesus Christ as "the Word" of God (John 1:1, 14). Christ is the revelation of God (John 14:9).
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" (Heb. 1:1-2). All the awe-striking power that Psalm 29 says belongs to God's voice comes to us now in the person and work of Christ Jesus who even now "upholds the universe by the word of his power" (Heb. 1:3).
We may not have cathedrals or temples to house our deity. We may not have shrines or relics to visit and conjure the divine. But we have God's voice, his Word. And his voice is all we need to hear to respond with a shout of "Glory!"
"Ascribe!" That's not an exclamation we use much. Ascribe means to give, to credit, to attribute. We credit to God "the glory due his name" (29:2) because he has it, he deserves it, and we want to get on the glory train.
God doesn't need our worship. He graciously invites us to join in the cosmic party that happens in the midst of "the splendor of his holiness" (29:2). "The LORD sits enthroned as king forever" (29:10), and we just want to be part of the intergalactic shout of "Glory!" (29:9). We want to join in his worship because we've heard his voice.
We never see God in this psalm. "The voice of the LORD" is all we get to "see" of him. But his voice is all we need. His voice is the most powerful force in all the universe. His voice thunders, shakes the earth, flashes flames, breaks cedars and strips the forest bare. His voice is all the convincing we need to know that he is God.
God tells us of himself with words, not images. He forbade his people making images in their worship of him (Ex. 20:4) because he had given them all they needed to know of him with his own voice. His Word comes to us from outside us and calls us to believe and do things we otherwise would not believe or do. God's voice, his Word, breaks trees like toothpicks and melts sinful hearts like wax in a fire.
John says, "No one has ever seen God" (John 1:18), but God's Word has made him known. It was no mistake when John referred to Jesus Christ as "the Word" of God (John 1:1, 14). Christ is the revelation of God (John 14:9).
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world" (Heb. 1:1-2). All the awe-striking power that Psalm 29 says belongs to God's voice comes to us now in the person and work of Christ Jesus who even now "upholds the universe by the word of his power" (Heb. 1:3).
We may not have cathedrals or temples to house our deity. We may not have shrines or relics to visit and conjure the divine. But we have God's voice, his Word. And his voice is all we need to hear to respond with a shout of "Glory!"
Thursday, March 17, 2011
March 17: Genesis 18
Today's reading.
In the first half of the chapter, God visits Abraham again to reaffirm his promises. This visit, however, seems to be more for Sarah's sake than her husband's. We learn that, "the way of women had ceased to be" with her; perhaps a bit too much information about a biblical figure, but the audacity of the promise comes through all the more in light of that detail. Jesus's great-great-great-grandmother was postmenopausal when she had her first baby. Almost makes a virgin birth not implausible. Indeed, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" (18:14).
Sarah clearly needed the reminder of the promise. She laughs in disbelief at the thought that she could be a mother (18:12). Maybe it just sounded too good to be true, and she didn't want to be taken for a sucker.
God's pursuit of his people—even barren, messed up Sarah—is astonishing. He descends with two angels to speak to the wife of a guy who lives in the desert. She laughs at God for his kindness and love. And he still pursues her (18:14-15)!
How often are we tempted to disbelieve God's promises because they are too good to be true? We don't want to expose ourselves to disappointment, so we believe halfway. God's grace forgives my sin, but I'll do enough good works to hedge my bets just in case the gospel lets me down.
God pursues us even in our half-belief. He won't rest until we joyfully receive "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:4). Every one of them is ours in the gospel. If we are tempted to ask Sarah's skeptical question in 18:12 ("shall I have pleasure?"), God will not quit until we believe his resounding "Yes!" to us in Christ.
In the first half of the chapter, God visits Abraham again to reaffirm his promises. This visit, however, seems to be more for Sarah's sake than her husband's. We learn that, "the way of women had ceased to be" with her; perhaps a bit too much information about a biblical figure, but the audacity of the promise comes through all the more in light of that detail. Jesus's great-great-great-grandmother was postmenopausal when she had her first baby. Almost makes a virgin birth not implausible. Indeed, "Is anything too hard for the LORD?" (18:14).
Sarah clearly needed the reminder of the promise. She laughs in disbelief at the thought that she could be a mother (18:12). Maybe it just sounded too good to be true, and she didn't want to be taken for a sucker.
God's pursuit of his people—even barren, messed up Sarah—is astonishing. He descends with two angels to speak to the wife of a guy who lives in the desert. She laughs at God for his kindness and love. And he still pursues her (18:14-15)!
How often are we tempted to disbelieve God's promises because they are too good to be true? We don't want to expose ourselves to disappointment, so we believe halfway. God's grace forgives my sin, but I'll do enough good works to hedge my bets just in case the gospel lets me down.
God pursues us even in our half-belief. He won't rest until we joyfully receive "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (Eph. 1:4). Every one of them is ours in the gospel. If we are tempted to ask Sarah's skeptical question in 18:12 ("shall I have pleasure?"), God will not quit until we believe his resounding "Yes!" to us in Christ.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
March 16: Genesis 17
Today's reading.
This chapter makes me wonder what went through the mind of slaves in the ancient slave market when Abraham walked up to acquire more servants for his household. I just picture them faking injuries and muttering under their breath, "don't pick me, don't pick me, don't pick me." Abe was the guy whom God told, "Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised" (17:12-13). I can't think of a worse job than one for which you had to go under that knife before your first day of work.
God keeps promising and promising and promising, but Abraham tells God he's got it covered. Abe wasn't sure if God would be able to do this whole "many nations" thing with just infertile Sarah as his wife, so he helped God out and knocked up Hagar. Ishmael is about thirteen at this point, but God comes back promising, promising, promising again about babies and nations. Abe is convinced God has this wrong: "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, 'Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?' And Abraham said to God, 'Oh that Ishmael might live before you!'" (17:17-18). God just says "no" and then tells him what his son is going to be named. Abe doesn't believe, but God is already naming his yet-to-be-conceived child. Talk about jinxing something. He didn't even knock on wood when he said it.
Abraham responds in faith. It takes faith to let yourself be snipped at age ninety-nine. Abraham believed God, and so underwent significant personal sacrifice for the sake of the God who would one day give him everything.
God told Abraham that he would "establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year" (17:21). Abe wanted God to endorse his plan of salvation in Ishmael, but God is not into putting a rubber stamp on the plans we make for our own lives. God would establish his covenant with Isaac. The promised one who would crush the serpent's head (3:15), who would bring blessing to all the nations, would come through a child yet to be born to parents who were as good as dead so non-functioning were their ancient bodies. God would bring life where was death, fruit where there was only barrenness. God would bring redemption where sin reigned, salvation where judgment was certain, and he would do that through Christ.
The promise of Christ coming one day was so precious to Abraham, that he was willing to be circumcised in his old age. We've seen Christ, seen the promise fulfilled. What are we willing to do?
This chapter makes me wonder what went through the mind of slaves in the ancient slave market when Abraham walked up to acquire more servants for his household. I just picture them faking injuries and muttering under their breath, "don't pick me, don't pick me, don't pick me." Abe was the guy whom God told, "Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised" (17:12-13). I can't think of a worse job than one for which you had to go under that knife before your first day of work.
God keeps promising and promising and promising, but Abraham tells God he's got it covered. Abe wasn't sure if God would be able to do this whole "many nations" thing with just infertile Sarah as his wife, so he helped God out and knocked up Hagar. Ishmael is about thirteen at this point, but God comes back promising, promising, promising again about babies and nations. Abe is convinced God has this wrong: "Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, 'Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?' And Abraham said to God, 'Oh that Ishmael might live before you!'" (17:17-18). God just says "no" and then tells him what his son is going to be named. Abe doesn't believe, but God is already naming his yet-to-be-conceived child. Talk about jinxing something. He didn't even knock on wood when he said it.
Abraham responds in faith. It takes faith to let yourself be snipped at age ninety-nine. Abraham believed God, and so underwent significant personal sacrifice for the sake of the God who would one day give him everything.
God told Abraham that he would "establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year" (17:21). Abe wanted God to endorse his plan of salvation in Ishmael, but God is not into putting a rubber stamp on the plans we make for our own lives. God would establish his covenant with Isaac. The promised one who would crush the serpent's head (3:15), who would bring blessing to all the nations, would come through a child yet to be born to parents who were as good as dead so non-functioning were their ancient bodies. God would bring life where was death, fruit where there was only barrenness. God would bring redemption where sin reigned, salvation where judgment was certain, and he would do that through Christ.
The promise of Christ coming one day was so precious to Abraham, that he was willing to be circumcised in his old age. We've seen Christ, seen the promise fulfilled. What are we willing to do?
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