Journey to The Journey

When my children were very young, we used to do family devotionals that were designed to illustrate biblical truths in fun and creative ways that were both engaging and impactful for kids. A few of those, that were particularly good at accomplishing that goal, are still emblazoned upon my children's memories even now many years later. One, in fact, we were just recently talking about over dinner. Here's the scenario:

If you take the time to study the teaching of Jesus that is recorded in scripture, you will inevitably encounter something that he said that will leave you scratching your head. Cody touched on one of the "hard sayings" of Jesus in this week's lesson when he referenced Jesus' teaching in Matthew chapter 10. Starting in verse 34, listen to what he says:

The justice of God is not typically a popular topic. It seems as if we, as believers, seem to almost feel as if we need to in some sense apologize for God's wrath...as if the whole idea of it is somehow offensive. In many churches, the truth of scripture has been watered-down in an effort to make church more appealing to outsiders. We often seek to accentuate the gracious and merciful aspects of God while at the same time minimizing our own sinfulness, and God's necessary hatred of it.

Discernment is the filter through which everything in life must pass. It removes the imperfections and purifies things. Everyone, regardless of who you are and what you believe, is ultimately on the pursuit of truth. In our increasingly relativized culture, truth is now in the eye of the beholder. There is no absolute truth, but rather we define our own truth autonomously. However, Christians must reject any worldview that emphasizes the subjective nature of personal experience over and above the objective reality of God and the truthfulness of his word.

Peter's vision and subsequent proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles in Acts chapter 10 marks a huge transition in redemptive history. Formerly, from the time of the patriarchs, God's covenantal promises were made to Israel, and to Israel alone. Now these promises were being extended to those who were formerly excluded. Understanding the significance of this moment is vitally important for a number of reasons.

We may not like to admit it, but the reality is, whenever there is disagreement over a doctrinal issue within the church, someone is right, and therefore someone has to be wrong. As a teacher, one must be true to their understanding of scripture...for better or for worse. In other words, I can't (or at least shouldn't) teach or preach anything that is contrary to what I believe the Bible itself is teaching. I would think it is safe to say that most of us want our teachers to, at minimum, be true to their convictions.

We see in scripture, like in the example we studied from Leviticus 10, that God takes his holiness seriously, and in turn, we need to show him the respect and reverence he is due when we interact with and worship him. At the same time, we see that our Lord is a God of grace and mercy, and that he loves and cares for us in spite of our many shortcomings. Our goal as Christians is to maintain a healthy balance of fear and respect, while at the same time resting in the freedom we have in Christ as we pursue holiness in our own lives. This may sound easy enough, but in practice, we can often struggle.

When we don't live according to our calling, we become consumers. We experience all the benefits of membership within the community of faith, but all of those benefits end with us. They don't transfer to those around us. We aren't feet that go, nor hands that serve, but rather we are like corpses. Why would Jesus pour out his blood upon the cross to save us from death in order for us to continue to "live" lifelessly?

James 4:4 teaches us that friendship with the world (that is being a worldly person) puts you at odds with God. Furthermore, Jesus teaches us in John 15:19 that the world hates his disciples because they are not of the world, but rather have been called out of worldliness through him. So to summarize these two contrasting positions, as simply as possible: God opposes worldliness and worldliness opposes God.

As Cody pointed out, the suffering that Jesus promises for Paul isn't meant as a punishment for the sins of his former life. The hope of the Gospel is that all of our sins - past, present, and future - are paid for by Christ on the cross. This means that the full wrath of God against the elect is satisfied by Jesus' sacrificial death, once and for all time. Thus, there can be no more "punishment" for us to bear. Therefore, the suffering that Jesus is talking about in the life of Paul (and in the lives of all believers) must have some different and greater purpose. Let's investigate that idea.