...continued
Statements about who God is:
Ephesians 2:14
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…
I know the context of this verse is much broader than just what a discussion on worry would permit, but the background of the hostility between the circumcised and the uncircumcised 2000 years ago (which quite frankly continues today) is quite enough to make one cry out for peace. So the statement about God being the one who has brought peace between those two groups seems impossible until we consider the peace that exist between all people groups when God gathers us into the fold of Christ. The God who is able to accomplish that peace is surely capable of bringing peace into our stormy lives. Not that He always calms the storm, even when our prayers persist that He do so, but that His peace remains through the storm; His peace is the ship that will carry us through the tempest.
1 John 4:4
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
False teaching was plentiful in the early church and young Christians needed to be warned against it and protected from it (specifically in this passage the truth that Christ had come in the flesh), but the apostle John told us that God is greater than the spirit that leads those wolves who teach otherwise, and his readers overcame falsehood by listening to Him who is the Truth, and He remains the Truth today and is sovereign over His creation still and He remains greater than he who is in the world!
Jeremiah 23:6
In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'
The Lord Himself is our righteousness, none other can we trust,
He bore His trial so willingly and purchased life for us…
Ah, the doctrines of substitution and justification; the teachings on the atonement are as sweet as the honeysuckle; they caress the weary ear with divine harmony and sooth the wounded heart with a luscious salve. It is here I think that it is nigh impossible to separate “systematic theology” from “practical theology”. I dare say that if one who calls himself a Christian can read and meditate on these doctrines without being so moved to worship, that one calls himself a Christian wrongfully!
In the immediate context of the verse above, God calls out false teachers (shepherds who scatter His sheep) for their wickedness and Jeremiah prophecies of a the time when Christ will come and, “…gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. 5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.” And we are told that this “Anointed One” whom God will send (and has already sent from our perspective) is called “The LORD is our righteousness”, so we conclude that, in the face of wicked shepherds who scatter the sheep, God’s prophet was instructed to remind the people of the coming Christ and the righteousness He is on our behalf. Might that we would meditate on the righteousness of Christ when we fail, when we are knocked down, and when we tremble before our accusers or those who would deceive us.
Statements about who God is:
Ephesians 2:14
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility…
I know the context of this verse is much broader than just what a discussion on worry would permit, but the background of the hostility between the circumcised and the uncircumcised 2000 years ago (which quite frankly continues today) is quite enough to make one cry out for peace. So the statement about God being the one who has brought peace between those two groups seems impossible until we consider the peace that exist between all people groups when God gathers us into the fold of Christ. The God who is able to accomplish that peace is surely capable of bringing peace into our stormy lives. Not that He always calms the storm, even when our prayers persist that He do so, but that His peace remains through the storm; His peace is the ship that will carry us through the tempest.
1 John 4:4
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
False teaching was plentiful in the early church and young Christians needed to be warned against it and protected from it (specifically in this passage the truth that Christ had come in the flesh), but the apostle John told us that God is greater than the spirit that leads those wolves who teach otherwise, and his readers overcame falsehood by listening to Him who is the Truth, and He remains the Truth today and is sovereign over His creation still and He remains greater than he who is in the world!
Jeremiah 23:6
In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.'
The Lord Himself is our righteousness, none other can we trust,
He bore His trial so willingly and purchased life for us…
Ah, the doctrines of substitution and justification; the teachings on the atonement are as sweet as the honeysuckle; they caress the weary ear with divine harmony and sooth the wounded heart with a luscious salve. It is here I think that it is nigh impossible to separate “systematic theology” from “practical theology”. I dare say that if one who calls himself a Christian can read and meditate on these doctrines without being so moved to worship, that one calls himself a Christian wrongfully!
In the immediate context of the verse above, God calls out false teachers (shepherds who scatter His sheep) for their wickedness and Jeremiah prophecies of a the time when Christ will come and, “…gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. 5 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely.” And we are told that this “Anointed One” whom God will send (and has already sent from our perspective) is called “The LORD is our righteousness”, so we conclude that, in the face of wicked shepherds who scatter the sheep, God’s prophet was instructed to remind the people of the coming Christ and the righteousness He is on our behalf. Might that we would meditate on the righteousness of Christ when we fail, when we are knocked down, and when we tremble before our accusers or those who would deceive us.
Take heart dear ones: the Lord our God delivers!
to be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment