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Entries in gospel (29)

Tuesday

Apr052011

Light Shining Into Darkness

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 11:03PM

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV).

Back at the very beginning of time, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light (Genesis 1:3).” From the empty darkness, God commanded the light to shine out, and the light obeyed his command. It was the first step, if we can call it that, in his creation of the universe out of nothingness.

But there’s another work of creation, too. It’s not accomplished by God calling light out of darkness; but rather, by God shining himself into darkness. He creates by shining into hearts that are dark, or, as the text said two verses earlier, into minds that are blinded (2 Corinthians 4:4). It’s a new creation that starts when God shines in to give light; not the light of daylight, but the light of knowledge. It’s the first step, if we can call it that, in the creation of spiritual life out of the nothingness of dark hearts.

What is the knowledge that arises from God shining in? It’s “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” God’s creative light discloses who Jesus is, showing that his glory is God’s glory, or to put it another way, showing that Jesus reveals God’s glory to us.

Jesus is God with a face that can be seen. No one can see the Father’s face and live (Exodus 33:17-23), but in his incarnation, the Son makes the Father known to us (John 1:18). The Son displays the Father’s glory in his healings and miracles, and especially when he is lifted up on the cross (John 12:27-28), where we see so much of who God is. It’s there that the power, wisdom, goodness, love, graciousness, mercy, justice, and holiness of God—and more—are revealed together. In the cross we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

It isn’t a surprise, then, that when we line up the parallel statement in verse 4 with this verse, we have, side by side, “the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” with “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The display of God’s glory in the death of his incarnate Son is the very center of the good news.

Do you see the the power and wisdom and love of God in Christ’s death on the cross? Do you see the beauty of Jesus? Do you see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Do you know and love the gospel? If you do, it’s because God’s new creation has begun in your heart. It’s because “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in [your] heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

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Christ's work,

centered on the cross,

gospel |

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Wednesday

Mar162011

Not As Sound As a Bell

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 10:33AM

I am, by now, sick of thinking and reading about Rob Bell’s new book, Love Wins. Last week I did a short post related to it and thought that would be it because I wasn’t all that interested and I don’t do band wagons.

But I live in the real world. I know a few lovely folks who have read Rob Bell and liked his books. (I bet you do, too, especially among the young people you know.) On Monday, someone suggested that I buy the full set of Nooma videos for the church library. As it turns out, I don’t have funds for a rather expensive single purchase, but I am willing to bet that another in a position with access to a bigger purse will be approached with the same request.

Usually my strategy is to simply promote sound authors and books and pray that people will be drawn to what is solid instead of what is squishy. But it seems that Bell’s latest book is worse than just squishy, because at it’s core, it gets the matter of first importance—the gospel—wrong. I’m afraid that some people I know and love will be influenced to likewise leave the center by an author they’ve enjoyed previously.

The gospel, Paul says, is that “Christ died for our sins,” and we know from what Paul says elsewhere that, yes, this means that “Jesus rescues us from God,” an idea that Bell seems to belittle. To put it more accurately, Paul writes that God loves us by sending his Son to save us from God’s wrath. What’s more, there is only one way to escape the wrath of God, and that’s by faith in Christ in this life. This is the gospel that saves.

Getting the gospel wrong kills. “Another gospel” gives no hope—or worse, false hope.

Since Bell’s teaching could harm people close to me (and close you, too), I’m linking to a few more articles that have been written since my last post. These pieces will help identify the issues and give reasonable talking points in any real life discussions regarding the teachings of Rob Bell.