Image Bearers of the Glory

What if God's image is His holy glory?  How would the Bible read if that were the case?  Would it change the meaning drastically or does it agree with the text as we know it?

Genesis 1:26-27 - "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our [holy glory], after our likeness. ...

So God created man in his own [glory]
in the [holiness] of God he created him;
male and female he created them."

Exodus 20:4 - "You shall not make for yourself a carved [holy glory]." How can you carve glory?

Or how about the reverse:

Exodus 40:34-35 - "Then the cloud covered the ten of meeting, and the [image] of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the [image] of the Lord filled the tabernacle."

What if we were created to reflect the holy glory of God into his creation as his image bearers?  Psalm 19 says the heavens declare his glory, why shouldn't the very creatures who are in his likeness?

If "God be true and every man a liar" might we be lying about the true glory?  We seek our own glory and put that on display, and so Paul is right that we have "exchanged the glory of the immortal God for [the glory of] mortal man."

Is salvation then about rescuing us from this world of suffering torture? (And who, may I point out, is responsible for that suffering torture?)  Or is salvation more about changing us from "one degree of glory to another," about rescuing us from worshiping an imperfect and unholy glory and setting us to the right glory that we are to reflect into creation?

If God's purposes from Ezekiel 36 are to give his people a new heart and a new spirit, to place his Spirit within them so that they walk in his statutes and obey his rules, how does that connect to escaping the created order?

Salvation, then, is getting back on track, getting back to the way that brings life and not death.  The Spirit is placed within the believer so that they can reflect the holy glory of God into the created order, not so they can escape out of it.  We are saved to be the full image bearers of God that he wanted us to be all along.

Connecting Daniel to the Magi

I am finishing up a unit on the book of Daniel with my 8th graders this week, and while studying the second chapter of Daniel something occurred to me this time around.  I've taught the book twice before as part of the curriculum and never made this connection. 

Question: How did the wise men (magi) who visited Jesus (Matthew 2) know about "the one born king of the Jews"?  I'm sure there are many possible answers, but this one occurred to me while reading through Daniel 2 one more time: the wise men of Daniel's days in Babylon were intellectual ancestors of the wise men in Jesus day.

Here's how I got there.  In Daniel 2 we read about King Nebuchadnezzar having a dream that frightens him into temporary insomnia.  He summons all the magicians, wise men, and what the NIV translates as astrologers (though the ESV footnote points out the word is Chaldeans).  These men cannot perform the task requrested by the king--to tell the king what he dreamt and what it means.  After a rude awakening by the royal guards, Daniel comes before King Nebuchadnezzar and requests some time to implore the God of heaven to reveal the dream, meaning along with it.  Nebuchadnezzar grants the request.

Daniel returns the next morning to tell the king the dream.  If you'll recall, the dream involves a large statue made of various metals with feet of iron and baked clay and also a stone that rolls and smashes the statue only to become a mountain that fills the whole earth.  I will focus on the meaning of the legs/feet of iron on the statue and the rock.  Daniel tells the king that the legs of iron will be a fourth kingdom and a strong kingdom that will crush and break all the kingdoms that came before it.  We believe this is the historical kingdom of Rome.  Daniel then points out that just as the feet and toes were made of iron and baked clay (two elements that do not mix), so this kingdom (Rome) would not be fully united, having some brittle points.  I believe this refers to the region of Palestine in the first centuries B.C. and A.D. where the Jews were living at the time.  The Jews wanted nothing to do with Rome, for the most part.  They were the part of the Roman empire that did not want to mix (the baked clay).  In explanation of the rock that becomes a mountain, Daniel declares that "In the time of those kings" (referring to the kingdom of Rome and the brittle Palestinian region) "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people." (Daniel 2:44 NIV)  Naturally this refers to the establishing of the kingdom of heaven, one of Jesus' favorites topics of teaching (just read the Gospel of Matthew some time).

Recall that in the room with Daniel and the king must have been the astrologers (Chaldeans).  Also there must have been a court reporter.  Someone besides Daniel must have kept an account of the king's dream with interpretation, since this was such an extraordinary event.  And as one kingdom passed to another (Babylon to Medo-Persian to Greek), these men from the east (Chaldeans) must have studied and re-studied the record books.  Until the time when astrologers from the east notice a magnificent star in the west. 

How did they know to come to the land of the Jews?  How did they know to ask about the king of the Jews?  I believe that God used Daniel to plant a seed in the minds of the Chaldean astrologers to bring them to Bethlehem to meet the one who would establish the kingdom that would have no end. 

Perhaps this is a stretch of the imagination and not so scholarly founded.  But I've seen and read and heard about God using crazier means by which to bring about His purposes, so I think this one is a pretty good theory.

The Unchanging God

Recently was I reading from Oswald Chambers, and this one line stood out to me wrote "Unless we can look the darkest, blackest fact full in the face without damaging God's character, we do not yet know him."

This statement got me thinking--yes, about my own moments of darkness and doubt, but more about the darkest moment in human history which I believe is one of the most misunderstood moments of God's story. In Christ's cry from the cross--"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt. 27:46)--we also find the most vibrant demonstration of faith.

G.K. Chesterton once wrote "Let the atheists themselves choose a god. They will find only one divinity who ever uttered their isolation; only one religion in which God seemed for an instant to be an atheist." I once read an author (I can't recall who at the moment) who took this quote and said he agreed with Chesterton that Christ was at one time an atheist as he hung on the cross. Let it be noted that this author was taking Chesterton out of context because G.K. wrote that God seemed to be an atheist. But more importantly the author took Christ out of the entire context of his life as presented in the gospels.

Christ never once doubted the majestic and almighty presence of God. That is why Christ asks the question, "Where are you, God?" Yes, Christ was taking the full weight of our sins upon him. Yes, sin cannot exist in the presence of God for his glory would surely obliterate the evil. But all his life Christ never once had a doubt that the Father was real and that the Spirit was communicating the wisdom and love and glory of the Father to him while on earth. For example, we Jesus learns that a little girl is sick, he determines to go and heal her. But he gets sidetracked on the way by a woman who had been bleeding constantly for twelve years. Jesus stopped to assure the woman of her bodily restoration, and in the meantime word arrives that the little girl has died. Jesus is not phased by this revelation. He continues on his journey to the girl's house. Upon arriving Jesus straight-faced asks the company of mourners why they are weeping. "The child is not dead but asleep." (Mk. 5:39) Jesus did not see this instance as a challenge: "Oh, no! The child died! I failed my mission." Rather he knew exactly what the Father could do and would do through the Son.

So why would Christ doubt the existence of God (as atheism does) on the cross? Quite the opposite is Christ's question. In this one moment Christ asks his Father why he has seemingly left him all alone. One could put the question like this: "Dad, you've always been with me. Why can't I find you now? You're supposed to be here with me." I do not mean to minimize the emotional and spiritual pain and separation that Christ felt. Without it the writer of Hebrews could not truly and fully declare that we have a great high priest "who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin." (Heb. 4:15) But whereas in my moments of weakness and darkness I may doubt the very existence of God and have my temporary moment of atheism, Christ did not. In Christ's darkest moment even there he believed that God existed and should still remain with him in his darkness.

And this, it can be said, is why Jesus could say with confidence "No one knows who the Father is except the Son." (Lk. 10:22) Jesus fully knew the Father. Enter Chambers' quote that if we do not see God as perfect and holy even in our darkest moments, "we do not yet know him." But Christ knows the Father, and so he does not tarnish the glory of God even in his darkest moment.

And now the good news, for you may have read this far and thought, "Great, I don't know God like Christ does." Ah, but perhaps you do. Or at the very least you have the ability to know the Father as the Son did. Jesus continues his confidence with this: "No one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." So you see, we can know the Father fully so that in our darkest, blackest moments nothing about God is tarnish, diminished or lost. This is the assurance of faith. Even when my back is against the wall, even when it seems all is lost, even when the entire world appears to be against, I may ask the question as Christ did "My God, where are you?" The question is not atheistic in nature. The question is childlike faith in nature. "God, you said you would always be with me and never forsake me. That means you are supposed to be hear right now. I believe that. Help my unbelief."

Lord Jesus, help us to have the kind of faith that knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Father is good, the Father is full of love for us his children; that He will never leave us nor forsake us; that He is working all things for the good of those who love Him; and that nothing will ever be able to separate us from His love that is found in you. Let us stare down the darkest, blackest, bleakest moments of our life on this earth with full confidence that God has not changed, is not changed, and will not change, and that I will get through this in His Spirit. Amen.

Having a God Perspective

I'm working on lesson plans for this fall, and as I'm working my way once again through the book of Romans, I came across a phrase by Paul that enlightened me on how we often ignore God's perspective on things. We like to tell God how things are supposed to be. Take the apostle Peter as an example: 1) Peter tells Jesus that crucifixion is NOT the way Jesus is going to die (even though it is God's plan all along); 2) Peter first rejects have Jesus wash his feet and then accepts only on the stipulation that Jesus wash his entire body (Jesus tells Peter that the whole body is not necessary--only the feet need to be washed); 3) A good while later (Book of Acts) Peter is on a rooftop praying when God shows Peter a sheet filled with many kinds of animals (clean and unclean by Mosaic Law, which Peter, being a good Jew, follows very strictly). God tells Peter to take and eat of the animals. Peter tells God that he won't eat from the unclean animals. (It takes 3 more times for Peter to understand that God's perspective is that there is not such thing as "unclean".)

So Peter had a difficult time understanding God's perspective on things. Don't we all. So following I hope you will find some encouragement on how we need to seek (and find) God's perspective on things because he has a better vantage point than we do.

Romans 4:17 - "[Abraham] is our father in the sight of God, in who he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were."

I have always enjoyed that last phrase as a definition of God, especially "calls things that are not as though they were." Regularly the phrase causes me to consider Jesus standing before the tomb of Lazarus. In front of an entire crowd who is convinced that Lazarus is dead, Jesus declares otherwise. Jesus does not say, "Lazarus come back from the dead." No, Jesus says "Lazarus, come forth," as if the man is already alive and simply needs to come downstairs for dinner.

But this time around I read the verse in context--the story of Abraham. This verse--penned by Paul but inspired by the Spirit--is God's version of Abraham's story! This is a verse about God's perspective on things.

1. "God who gives life to the dead" - Paul later mentions [v.19] that Abraham considered his body as good as dead, and yet he believed that God would give him a son. Thus God gives life to Abraham's dead body. But once Abraham has the promised child, Isaac, God commands Abraham to kill Isaac as a sacrifice. And why does Abraham go through with it? Many suggestions are made (not least of which by Kierkegaard, I believe) to this end: Abraham believed God could give life to the dead. And that's just what God does. The boy is as good as dead, Abraham has the knife raised, when God calls the child back to life by delivering him.

2. "calls things that are not as though they were." - How does Abraham's story begin?

God - "Abram, pack up your belongings and leave your family."

Abram - "And where shall I be going?" (a very human inquiry)

God - "To a place that I will show you."

Abram - "Can I get a map?" (a very manly inquiry)

God - "I will lead, you can follow."

Abram - "Does the place even exist?" (a very adult inquiry)

God - "Dude, I built the place with my own Word. Trust me."

Abraham leaves. Does he actually know the place exists? Has he seen it? No. But God, knowing that the place exists, calls things that (appear) to be not as though they are.

What else? Ah, yes. God comes to Abraham and says, "You will be the father of many nations." And Abraham is thinking, "Cool, but I don't have any children and my wife and I are beyond childbearing years." But again, God (in his totally different perspective) calls things that are not as though they were.

And, of course, there are plenty more examples. But this one verse, Romans 4:17, shows us God's perspective of Abraham's story.

So how are you doing on living a God perspective? I admit that on a day-to-day basis right now I'm not doing so well. Even I need reminders of who God is and what he can do. Perhaps I will look today for something that is, even though it seems like it is not supposed to be.

The Pirates of Christ (How's That for Being P.C.?!)

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I attended Bible study as usual. This particular week we were studying (within a larger portion of scripture) Mark 3:23-29. This is a parable that Jesus tells in response to the Pharisees accusing Jesus of being Beelzebub and driving out demons (which, when you actually read it or hear it is a completely illogical accusation).

Jesus tells this parable:

"How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." (NIV)

I want to quote the middle line for you from the NASB version (which is what we used in our study) to give you a different "flavor" of Jesus' words.
"But no one can enter the strong man's house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house."

Isn't that fascinating?! When Jesus speaks of the strong man, he is, of course, referring to Satan, who, many of us can attest, is a mighty strong opponent. But Jesus is speaking of robbing and plundering the property of Satan! Yes, that's right, Jesus is endorsing piracy!

"Wait a minute!" you say. "Jesus also tells us to not steal. Isn't that a commandment?"

Yes, it is a commandment. And no, Jesus isn't being literal. It is, after all, a parable. However, I do believe Jesus' choice of words should be heeded. Three things to focus on: 1) Satan is likened to a strong man; 2) the "strong man" (Satan) can be bound/tied up; 3) we are called to "plunder/rob" (fight valiantly) for the things Satan lays claim to.

Let us first establish what it is that Satan "owns," that is, the things that Jesus is robbing and plundering. In John 12:31, 14:30, & 16:11 Jesus speaks of Satan as the "prince of this world". When Jesus was tempted, the final temptation is for Jesus to worship Satan, and in return Satan would give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. So is it the things of this world that Satan owns? Does Jesus want us to plunder Satan of money, cars, houses, status and other riches? I don't think so; that seems contrary to Jesus' own teachings to value Him above all other things. However, I do think the things of this world do need to be plunder, but we will get there.

In Ephesians 6:12, Paul instructs believers that "our struggles is not against flesh and blood, but against the...powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil...." This, then, is truly what Jesus is talking about. Satan has laid claim to souls. Any soul that does not love and treasure Christ is in the possession of Satan. Therefore this is the battle ground on which we fight. We wage war on Satan for the souls that do not yet know Christ. When Christ says that he "plunders" the things of Satan, he establishes the value of the human soul. It is treasure that is to be wanted, like valued objects in a house are the ones a thief comes for.

Now, to the binding of the strong man. No doubt about it, Satan seduces humans with all kinds of temptations. He is viciously conniving and deviously convincing when it comes to the appeal of evil. He does not show evil to be evil at all, but rather presents evil as the best option for us to choose. Many students that I teach at the Christian school have expressed their frustrations at how hard it is to live a Christian life. They know the truth that we are all imperfect and bound to make mistakes. The one thing I encourage them in (when I hear this conversation) is to not give up hope and not give up striving. Just because we are eventually going to trip up in sin is not excuse to not try in the first place.

But the fact that Jesus alludes to binding or tying up the strong man must bring us encouragement, and not just a small hint or sense of encouragement, but a full sword-bearing, sword-swinging encouragement. It is possible to bind Satan. James encouraged the first-century Christians (and us) by tell them the way to bind and tie up Satan. "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (4:7, NIV) Going back to the temptations of Jesus, we see that for every temptation Jesus responded with scripture. This, then, is how we bind and hog-tie Satan--hide away scripture in your heart and meditate upon it day and night. This is also how we will plunder the souls that Satan lays claim to. All scripture can be used to reveal the nature of God, confront the truth of sin (which Satan does not want the world to know is its prime problem), and lead people to the cross and love of Christ, the only Savior, to whom be glory forever, Amen!

So to sum up 1) Satan is to be taken seriously as a legitimate threat; 2) though Satan is strong, it is not an impossible fight when the Sword of the Spirit of Truth (the Word) is used; 3) souls are at stake--this battle is literally a matter of life and death eternal. Consider which ending you want for yourself and your loved ones. Then begin to hide God's Word away in your heart and follow Christ's commands to carry His teachings to the very ends of the earth (starting in your neighborhood, of course).

Jesus Was a Terrible [1st Century] Jew

Now that I have your attention, let me explain. I know Jesus was a Jew, biologically, racially, and religiously. In fact, he was the perfect Jew, he says so himself: "I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them." (Matt. 5:17) However, as I read Leviticus 15 this morning I realized that by the standards of the 1st century Jewish Pharisees, Jesus was a terrible Jew. Instead, he was a great God!

Leviticus 15 deals with the Mosaic regulations concerning bodily discharges. Let me cut right to Leviticus 15:25, which connects directly to Jesus.

"When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge."

Furthermore, according to Mosaic Law, if one person was unclean, then anything they touched or anyone who touched them became automatically unclean (this has to do with God's holiness, but that's a whole series of posts).

So, we jump to 1st century Palestine, region of Galilee on the outskirts of the city Capernaum. Jesus is on his way to heal the synagogue director's (Jairus) daughter who is sick. As he is walking and being jostled about by the crowd, he suddenly stops and asks, "Who touched me?" Peter, his disciple, thinks this is an absolutely ridiculous question since they are in the midst of a crowd. But Jesus persists, "This was a different touch. Power flowed out of me into someone else."

Turns out slinking amongst the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding consistently (likely internal hemorrhaging) for twelve years--obviously far longer than the typical monthly period for menstrual discharge. She had heard about this Jesus character. So when he was in town "she came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak" (Luke 8:44a).

I want to pause here and give credit to Rob Bell (and through Rob Bell to Ray VanderLaan) for teaching me something about this story. Rob teaches that all good Jewish men (and Jesus was one) would have a prayer shawl (or cloak) underneath their garments on which tassels would hang from the edges to remind them of Torah (the first five books of the Bible). The edge of the shawl/cloak was known as the kanaph (said "khan-ahf"). The tassels were called tzitzit (said "tzeet-zeet"). In Malachi 4:2 the prophet declares God's word that "For those who revere [the Name of the Lord], the sun (or Son) of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings (literally kanaph).

So, back to the woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. She knows something about Jesus that others may or may not have figured out yet. She believes that this "man" is actually the Son of righteousness. So she sneaks up behind him and touches his kanaph. Now, since she (an unclean woman) has touched Jesus, Jesus should be technically unclean by Mosaic Law standards. Instead, "Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." (Mark 5:29)

According to Leviticus 15:28-30, once the woman had been cleansed from her discharge, she was to bring two sacrifices (one a sin offering, the other a burnt offering) to the priest to "make atonement for her before the Lord". Jesus (being the perfect Jew) knew this law of Moses. But does he instruct the woman to go bring the sacrifices to the priests? Does he bother to cleanse himself and offer his own sacrifices like a good Jewish man was supposed to according to Mosaic Law?

To both questions I give a resounding "NO!"

Why not? Because the woman has already made atonement for herself before the Lord.

Check it out: in Psalm 51:16-17 David declares, "You do not delight in sacrifice [of animal].... The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit." In Isaiah 1:13, 17-18 the prophet declares God's words: "Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow." So it is not the animal sacrifices that the Lord desires and through which atonement is made. It is the faith that God will forgive and heal us that brings atonement.

The woman who was bleeding for twelve years has faith in the words spoken by Malachi and she believes that those words speak about Jesus Christ. By having faith that even Jesus' cloak (or rather the edge of his cloak, kanaph) could heal her, she made atonement for herself before her Lord and Savior right on the spot.

And as for Jesus--well, not only did he not become unclean; his perfect cleanliness (hmm, what could we better call it--oh, wait, HOLINESS!) made the "unclean" woman clean.

I echo the sentiments of Rob Bell: "I love my rabbi!"

For those of you who thought the book of Leviticus was boring, you haven't read deep enough with a mind that was ready to learn.

A Kingdom of Priests Who Do Not Worry

The other day two biblical teachings that aren't usually associated together became associated in my mind. I can only assume this was the work of the Good Counselor helping me to further understand the good news. They are Christ's command to not worry and the teaching that the body of Christ is a kingdom of priests.

Currently I am reading my way through the book of Leviticus. Why, you ask? I am seeking Christ in the Law, of course. My Lord said himself "I did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill every letter of it." Therefore I should be able to find him in every chapter of Leviticus. I'm finding him here and there, but that's not my point. While reading through Leviticus I am noticing all the ways that God provided for his priests.

• "When this goat is sacrificed, the priests are to eat the leftovers. It is their share."
• "When grain is offered, bake it into cakes. The leftover cakes are to be eaten by the priests, it is their share."
• "When a wave offering is offered, the priests are to eat the leftovers, it is their share."

The entire life of the priests who were serving involved sacrifices all day long. They didn't have time to go out to Meijer and buy groceries. They didn't have the opportunity to work a part-time job. They were hard and work from sunrise to sunset and sometimes more working for the Lord. And what did God ever do for them? Oh, how about give them food, and drink, and an income (eventually a temple tax was instituted). It was part of the Israelite community life that the priests were taken care of.

Jump to the New Testament where in Hebrews the followers of Christ are called a royal priesthood. Each one of us who follows Christ has the responsibility of being a priest in this world, interceding for the sins of the unbelievers. Working on their behalf to invite the presence of God into their lives so that the Holy Spirit might turn their hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.

And if we are priests, and we are hard at work working for the Lord, who provided for his Old Covenant priests, will he not provide for us, his New Covenant priests. The priests of the Old Covenant had plenty of food. Some of it they had to eat that very day. Sometimes they could save some for the next day, but they had to eat it on the next day or it was bad. The priests did not store away. They had to trust that God would keep them well-fed.

So, too, Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, "Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear." Did he not take care of his Old Covenant priests? Yes, he did. That's what we have the Old Testament books like Leviticus, to show us the very blessings and provision of God Almighty. So now as his new royal priesthood he will take just as much care of us and so much more.

So do not worry about tomorrow, oh, my sisters and brothers of the royal priesthood. Tomorrow will worry about itself and the Lord has planned for it in advance. Each day has enough worry of its own. My the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be with you. And may he give you his peace. Amen.