As I have said before, human beings often struggle with what many call selfism. Selfism is a philosophy, teaching, or tendency that centers on man. One of the major problems with this philosophy for Christians is that they let it influence the way they think about the Gospel of God. Although the Scriptures teach that God is mindful of man (Ps. 8:4), they also teach that God creates and redeems for the sake of His name.

I was reminded of this a few days ago when reading Exodus 6-8. Numerous times, within these three chapters, the writer makes it clear that the ultimate reason God delivers His people is for His own glory (Ex. 6:6-7, 7:17, 8:1, 8:10). He says, “I will redeem you (Israel) with an outstretched arm…I will take you for my people and I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord your God (Ex. 6:6-7).

Does this mean that God is self-centered? Yes. Is this a bad thing? No. The reason being man-centered is bad is because it involves putting our interest and concern in a being who is infinitely inferior to God. God is the greatest being in existence. He is the only one who is self-existent—meaning He is dependent upon and needs nothing. He has created and is sustaining all things in existence and is infinitely greater than His greatest creation. Therefore, He alone is worthy of praise. Who else could God center on but Himself?

Another reason I believe it is good that God is self-centered is because we are to be God-centered. The Bible says that we are to be “…imitators of God” (Eph. 5:1). If God was man-centered, we would need to follow His example and be centered on ourselves.

Being God-centered, however, does not mean that man does not have any significance. Scripture is clear that God has given man worth by creating Him in His image. We should then follow His example by valuing human life, but should not make man the sole focus of our existence. Our ultimate purpose should be the same as His ultimate purpose—to glorify God.

After the story of God's deliverance of His people from Egypt, a song is recorded in Exodus 15. I thought it a fitting conclusion because in it Moses sings, “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders” (Ex. 15:11)?

"Quote" of the Week

"(God's) commitment to the cause of his people is grounded not in his people but in himself. His passion to save and to purify feeds itself not from the shallow soil of our value but from the infinite depth of his own."-John Piper, The Pleasures of God.

Leslie and I are preparing to have our second girl on Thursday, January 21 at 7:30am. The reason I know the exact day and time is because it is a scheduled Cesarean. This upcoming event has got me thinking about my role as a parent, which led me to the manuscript of an old sermon by John Piper about our calling as parents and as a church. Below is a segment of the sermon.

WHAT IS OUR CALLING AS PARENTS AND A CHURCH? Psalm 78:4–7

There are six stages in our calling that I see in these verses.

1. The Preeminence and Centrality of God

First it begins with God.

Verse 4b: "We will tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done."

All Christian parenting and Christian education begins with God. There is One ultimate, unchanging Reality, namely, God. All else in parenting and education comes from him. All else is for him. He is the first and the last and the center of parenting and education. He is the main thing in how you rear children and teach children and discipline children. It all begins with God and it all is built on God and it all is to be shaped by God. If there is one memory that our children should have of our families and our church it is this; they should remember God. God was first. God was central. There was a passion for the supremacy of God in all things.

2. A Fixed Deposit of God's Truth

The second stage in our calling as parents and as a covenant community is that there is a fixed deposit of God's truth in the world.

Verse 5: "He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel."

God has testified and God has taught. The Hebrew word translated "law" (Torah) means "teaching." God has testified and God has taught. And we have that testimony and that teaching in a book, the Bible. The Bible is the way God, the ultimate and all-important Reality, reveals himself to us with clarity and authority today. If God is more important than anything, then the Bible is more important than anything but God. The implications of this for parenting and New Covenant guardianship are staggering.

It means the Bible will be the sun in the solar system of all that we teach our children. It will not be one among many books. It will be the central book, the all-permeating book. The other books are dark planets; the Bible is the light-giving sun. All other books will be read in the light of this book. All books will be judged by this book. All books will find meaning in the worldview built by this book. Which means that this book must be known first and known better than all the other books.

The second thing it means for us that God has testified and taught in a book is that there is a fixed deposit of truth to pass on to each generation. Paul tells Timothy to "guard the good deposit that has been entrusted" to him (2 Timothy 1:14). That is the task of parents as well the covenant community as a whole: guard the sacred deposit. Preserve it and transmit it to each generation.

3. Teaching

The third stage in our calling as parents and community is teaching.

Verse 5: "He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children."

We are commanded to teach the testimony of God to our children. It is not enough to preserve the deposit of truth in a book, and tell them it is there. We are commanded to teach it. Ephesians 6:4 says, "Fathers, bring up [your children] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." Instruction! We are to instruct them in the testimony and teaching of God.

Here is a huge educational implication: Since the testimony and instruction of God is in a book, this means that we will labor to teach our children to read. In fact, among "readin', writin', and 'rithmetic" reading will be of supreme importance. And reading is no simple thing: it includes recognizing the ideas that attach to symbols. It includes understanding how those ideas fit together in an author's mind to make a message. It includes thinking about whether that message is true or not. Learning how to read never stops. There is always room for improvement in how we read. And the main incentive to grow and improve in our reading is that the infinitely glorious God who made all things and who loves us and plans our future has testified and taught in a book.

4. Children Learn and Know

The fourth stage in our calling as parents and church is that our children are to know the testimony and teaching of God—know it well enough to tell it to the next generation. From our teaching comes their knowing.
Verse 6: [We teach] "that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children."

You might think that this point is virtually the same as the one before. But they aren't the same. Teaching is not the same as learning and knowing. And the distinction is important for at least two reasons.

One is that we cannot make our children learn. We can make ourselves teach. But we cannot make them know. Knowing is a precious thing. The kind of knowing God has in mind here is more than mere memory or raw mental awareness. Knowing is seeing into the real beauty of truth and embracing it for the treasure that it is. Parents and church cannot make that happen. We can do our best in putting God in the center and loving and praying and teaching. But in the end there is a chasm between teaching and knowing that only God can carry our children across.

The other reason for stressing the difference between our task of teaching and their responsibility of knowing is that the rest of God's purposes for our children grow out of this knowing. The final two stages of our calling are the fruit of this stage of knowing.

5. Children Put Their Confidence in God

So the fifth stage in our calling is that our children put their confidence in God.

Verse 7: "That they should put their confidence in God"

God has testified and taught that there might be a deposit of reliable truth that we might teach it to our children that they might know it and embrace it—why? So that they might put their confidence in God.

The aim of all true education is to deepen and broaden confidence in God. This is what keeps learning from leading to pride—or should keep learning from leading to pride. All true learning, all true knowledge reveals that we are dependent on God and must depend on him or perish. Knowledge that leads to self-sufficiency rather than dependence on God is not true knowledge but flawed knowledge. It is like an archaeologist who finds a beautiful ancient painting, but hides it in a locked case and travels around giving lectures on how clever he was to discover it, but never bringing it out for all to admire, lest the beauty of the original treasure detract from his own achievement in finding it.

The aim of all knowledge is confidence in God. Hope in God. Trust in God. God is the beginning and the goal of all education. But there is one final stage in our calling as parents and church toward our children.

6. A Life of Obedience

Our confidence in God, rooted in knowledge of God's testimony and teaching, must lead to a life of obedience.

Verse 7: "That they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments."

When our children are confident in God, they will follow the commandments of God. Outward obedience will not be legalistic conformity to external pressures and expectations. It will be the fruit of internal confidence—not self-confidence, but God-confidence.

The reason outward obedience to God is the final goal of parenting is because it externalizes the glory of God—and that is why the universe was created. Internal states of mind, no matter how good, do not manifest or reveal or externalize the worth of God. But when we and our children are so confident in God that we gladly obey God's demands for love and justice, then the beauty and worth and wisdom and love and justice of God shine out in the world. And that is why the world was created—that the knowledge of the glory of God might fill the earth the way the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).

February 25, 1996 http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/topicindex/104_Parenting/946_Raising_Children_Who_Are_Confident_in_God/

Lesson 10: The Doctrine of the Trinity

The church has had its fair share of theological controversy. At the time of Constantine, the state had a voice in theological issues. This was a problem because the decisions concerning doctrine were left to the emperors who knew very little if anything about the Christian faith. As a result, supporters of several heresies that had surfaced sought only to convince the emperors that their beliefs were right. The major theological controversy of the fourth century was the doctrine of the Trinity.

ARIAN CONTROVERSY

Arius was a pastor from Alexandria. Although he claimed to be a Christian and believed that Jesus was the Messiah, he argued that Jesus was not co-eternal with the Father. This is what is known today as Subordinationism, which teaches that One God (Father) creates the Son and Spirit so that there is one God, but not 3 equal persons. Although Arians would say that Jesus is very important and existed before all things, they would still conclude that He is not equal with God because He is created.

COUNCIL OF NICEA (325)

Arianism spurred a debate that led Constantine to call a council together in Nicea. One person who was particularly opposed to Arianism was Athanasius. He along with others argued that Jesus is of the same substance as the Father, but is distinct in Person. The Arians, on the contrary, were making the argument that He was similar, but not the same substance. Although this council ruled against Arianism, the influence of this heretical belief system would continue to grow.

THE ORTHODOX TEACHING OF THE TRINITY
(Below are notes from Chris' lecture on the Trinity that he gave this past summer at a pastors conference in Nicaragua.)

Key Definitions:
Trinity: God exists as one essence with three persons.

Essence: That which makes up a being or thing.
God has one essence; he is undivided and unified.

We also affirm that God is 3 persons: Father, Son, and Spirit

This belief is not possible to fully comprehend because there is nothing in nature we can look at to understand this doctrine. This makes sense because God is the Creator and is distinct. Nevertheless, we can and should try to understand this as much as the Bible will allow us to.

Below is a diagram to help us formulate what the Bible teaches.

We have seen the orthodox view, now let's biblically defend it.

BIBLICAL DEFENSE

1. God is One (tri-UNITY): Bible clearly teaches this.

Deut 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Exp: The context of this passage is God preparing His people to enter the Promised Land. The surrounding countries believed in the existence of many gods. Moses reminds the people to listen to God and remain faithful to God by recalling his uniqueness and oneness. He is the God who precedes all other gods, and there are no other gods apart from Him. One of the primary themes of the Bible (especially the OT) is that there is only one God who exists and who speaks. There are not multiple gods each deserving of worship and glory. There is only one God who commands and rightfully deserves worship and glory.

2. God is Three (TRI-unity): Bible clearly teaches this.
This one God exists as 3 Persons: Father, Son, and Spirit.

A. The Father is Fully God: For the most part, this is a truth that is assumed throughout the Bible and presupposed. As a result, few have gone to great lengths to try and prove it.

B. The Son is Fully God: This is a major argument of the NT.

John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Exp: Christ was in the beginning with the Father (distinct in person), He is God (one in essence), and took on flesh and lived among us (incarnation).

Philippians 2:5-7 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Exp: Christ was willing to humbly take on flesh, even though He was fully God.

Colossians 1:15-17 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Exp: Christ has always existed and He is the agent through whom all things were created.

Col 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form.

Exp: Fullness of deity can only live in God; therefore Jesus is God.

C. The Spirit is Fully God: This is not a central argument of the Bible like the deity of Christ. There are, however, some clear teachings that the Holy Spirit is fully God.

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Exp: The Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son.

Many passages also reveal that the Father, Son, and Spirit are equal but distinct persons with different roles in creation/redemption. Ephesians 1:3-14 talks about the fact that all three persons of the Godhead are committed to the same goal of redeeming us, but play distinct roles in accomplishing that task. For example, the Father calls and sends the Son, the Son accomplishes the work, and the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to us and seals us.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THINKING RIGHTLY ABOUT THE TRINITY

1.The Mystery of the Trinity makes God worthy of worship.
We should take the biblical teachings and formulate an understanding of God as Triune and affirm what the church has affirmed. This does not mean that we have God figured out, but should cause us to marvel and worship and stand in awe of the Triune God.

2. The Trinity is a model of Unity and Diversity.
How are all the people in the church supposed to get along when they all have different personalities and gifts, etc? Our model for getting along is the Trinity: 3 distinct persons with 3 distinct roles, but all committed to the same goal.

How are you and your family supposed to get along when you all have different roles? Our model for understanding the family is the Trinity: 3 distinct persons with different roles who are perfectly unified. The Spirit submits to the Son and the Son submits to the Father, yet they are all three equal. The word "submit" is often thought of in the negative, but what one learns when studying the Trinity is that it is godly to submit to authority. We should submit to our bosses and to people whom God has placed as our leaders. We reflect the Trinity when we do this.

3. The Trinity is our example of loving community.
God is a relational God. He didn’t become relational when He created us, but has always existed in community as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When He created us, He made us like Himself as relational people. We need one another, we need friends, we need the church, etc. If community is the way of God, doesn’t it make sense that we would need community?

CONCLUSION

God wants us to truly know Him. In order for this to happen, we must allow the truth of His word to shape our thinking. Scripture is clear that God has revealed Himself as Triune. In order for us to truly know Him, we must think about Him in this way.

"Quote" of the Week

"The doctrine of the Trinity is both central and necessary for the Christian faith to be what it is. Remove the Trinity, and the whole Christian faith disintegrates." -Bruce A. Ware, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, & Relevance

Lesson 9: History is "His Story"

Many consider the emergence of Christianity, like other religious sects, to be a small occurrence when compared to the whole of human history. One can gather from simple observation, however, that Christianity has had a greater impact than that. As discussed in earlier lessons, the Christian faith has influenced every area of life from morality to politics, from art to literature, from science to philosophy, etc. Even the dates of history are influenced by the Christian faith. Today, although many are Christian in name only, one-third of the world’s population call themselves Christian.

If anyone understood that Christian History was more than a fragment of World History, it was Eusebius. He was bishop in Caesarea in Palestine and was one of the most educated Christians of the fourth century and one of the most important figures in the early church. Although his theology and opposition of orthodox Christians were suspect, his collection of work known as Church History was one of the greatest contributions made by any Christian in the early church. Historian Justo Gonzalez affirmed, “Without him, the early history of Christianity would be reduced by half” (130).

Although he was not the first Christian historian, his work was the first attempt to tell the story of the early church on a “grand, comprehensive scale” (17). The intent of his work was not simply to report the facts of early Christendom, but to demonstrate “that Christianity was the ultimate goal of human history” (132). According to Gonzalez, “(Church History) was no mere collection of data of antiquarian interest, but rather a further demonstration of the truth of Christianity, which is the culmination of human history” (133).

Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity. San Francisco: Harper Collins. 1984. 130-133
Smith, Michael. Eusebius. Eerdman's Handbook to the History of Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing CO. 1977. 17

"Quote" of the Week

"If Christianity is an historical religion, it follows that all history is God's history. The succession of the years is not merely an unravellable tangle of events without general meaning. History witnesses to a divine purpose and is moving towards a divine goal, what Charles Kingsley called 'the strategy of God'...History set in the context of a theology of 'beginnings' and 'ends' enables the Christian to see something of the true 'thickness' of events. He can see them not only in their contemporary setting, not only in their setting in human history, but in relation to 'In the beginning God', and 'I will come again'" (John Briggs, God, Time and History).