Nathan and I are both fans of Matt Chandler. He is an incredibly gifted communicator and God has used him well at The Village Church and in the Acts 29 Network . On Thanksgiving morning Matt had a seizure and doctors discovered a tumor on his frontal lobe. Last Friday morning they removed the tumor and as of now it seems that he and his family are resting and waiting for the pathology results. Below is a link to a video Matt recorded before he went in for brain surgery. Please pray for Matt and his family.
From John Piper’s book Spectacular Sins (which you can read online for free here):
In Genesis 3:15, after the serpent lures Adam and Eve into sin, God pronounces judgment on the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”Notice that at first it looks like the warfare will be between two offsprings: “between your offspring and her offspring.” But in the next statement, something surprising is said: “He shall bruise your head.” Who is he? Answer: the woman’s offspring. Who is your (“he shall bruise your head”)? Answer: the serpent himself, not his offspring. That is significant.
The Crushing of Satan at the Cross
The day is coming, God says, when you, the serpent (not just your offspring), will be defeated and removed from the earth. The offspring of this woman will crush you. That’s why the Son of God became human. It was a human who would crush Satan—the seed of the woman.Hebrews 2:14 describes the connection between the humanity of Jesus and the destruction of Satan. “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.” The decisive blow was struck by the perfect offspring of the woman, Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross.
When I was little, one of my favorite stuffed animals was a sock monkey named Turner Gill (formerly the amazing Nebraska QB and current head coach at the University of Buffalo). I’m not sure if I named it, or my parents, but either way we had good taste. So, it was only fitting that Gabe would be given a sock monkey by his Husker loving grandparents. Last night, we held a naming ceremony for the sock monkey. I chose 3 finalists for the name based on their ability as football players, the coolness of their names, and the apparently decent nature of their character. The finalists were Rex Burkhead, Roy Helu Jr., and Ndamukong Suh (with Prince Amukamara coming in a distant 4th). We left the final naming to Gabe. Our method was for Katie to hold up the sock monkey and say a name. Whichever name got the greatest response from Gabe won. Without a doubt, the greatest response and the biggest smile from Gabe came when we announced “heeeeerrrrrreeee’s Ndamukong Suh!” So, the final name of Gabe’s sock monkey is Ndamukong Suh. We’ve decided to just call him “Kong” (but I’m hoping that Gabe can pronounce his full name correctly before Suh gets drafted.)
This will be the final installment of “What the Gospel is NOT” series, and then we can move on to what the Gospel is. Cheap grace is our final “thief” of the Gospel. By cheap grace, I mean the belief that goes something like this, “Well, although it may be a sin to do………..I know Jesus died for my sins and he forgives me.” It is basically a license to sin because Jesus already paid the price. I have to confess that I lived most of my life this way before the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the Gospel. Paul addresses the issue of “cheap grace” in Romans 6. Verse 1 states,
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
To this Paul replies “By no means” or “God forbid” and then proceeds to give 3 illustrations of why we should not. He says that we are now:
1. 6: 1-14 Alive to Christ, and dead to sin.(So, to put it another way, would you prefer to live with sin, that leads to death, rather than live with Christ, who wants you to have life to the full (John 10:10) God forbid! )
2. 6: 15-23 We are slaves to Christ, no longer slaves to sin. (Would you prefer to be a slave to sin, a master that will kill you, rather than a slave to Christ, who was killed for you? God forbid! )
3. 7:1-6 We are now married to Christ, no longer married to the law. (Would you prefer to be married to the law that weighs you down rather than married to Christ where the burden is light? God forbid! )
Cheap grace is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Gospel has done. To make further illustrations, lets say I’m an athlete. My coach, who loves me and wants the best for me as a player, tells me that no matter what I do he will always support me and never take me out of the game. Would my reaction then be to slack off and be lazy and not play hard? God forbid! I would give it my all and seek to honor my coach. Or, lets say my wife tells me that no matter what I do, no matter what sin I commit against her, she will always love and serve me and never leave me. Would my reaction be to then seek out other women and neglect my wife? God forbid! That is a woman I want to lay down my life for.
The Gospel tells us that Jesus Christ died on the cross because he loved us. He did this based on nothing we have done, and nothing we do in the future can separate us from that love. That is the Gospel. That is grace. It ain’t cheap.
How often do you see a songwriter tackle Christopher Columbus and the effects of the expansion into the “New World”?
Never.
But I love this song by Derek Webb off his latest album Stockholm Syndrome. ”Becoming a Slave” recounts the story of Christopher Columbus meeting the Arawak people on his first voyage in 1492. The Spaniards exposed the people to weapons (for example, the Arawak people cut themselves on the swords of the Spaniards because they simply did not know what they were or what they were for), prison, and slavery.
Not exactly the Christopher Columbus you learn about in elementary school, huh?
The songs ends a little weird for my taste. And I am not sure what the third verse is talking about (anybody got any ideas?). But I really like it, especially the phrase contained in the chorus. Very thought provoking.
I really like Derek Webb. I know that his use of controversy (i.e using “cuss” words) to promote and sell his music is a little played out. And some others have been critical of his lack of appeal for the Gospel as the answer in a few of his other songs. But can’t a gospel-driven songwriter (And Derek Webb is one) have some freedom to make a comment on a social issue or history in HIS songs from time to time?
I certainly think so.
Here are the lyrics to the song:
I admire these men
Brave and beautiful
Grabbing the blade from all the wrong sides like children
They bring skins and smoke
We bring shackles and guns
We trade with them and then we’ll take them home
‘Cause it’s simple
So simple
They’re not like us
Becoming a slave is easier than you think
Becoming a slave is easier than you think
Becoming a slave is easier than you think
Becoming a slave
There’s always a price to pay
It’s gotta hit somebody’s back
Trust me, new worlds don’t just build themselves
Progress has more than one face
Even though it’s always itself
There’s nothing you can change that doesn’t change everything else
So it’s simple
It’s so simple
If they’re not like us
Becoming a slave is easier than you think
Becoming a slave is easier than you think
Becoming a slave is easier than you think
Becoming a slave
Torn from every head
A product of every word
It’s under our feet; you know it’s over our heads
Everyone’s telling the truth
In languages that nobody speaks
You listen close you hear what you believe
To love vision
To love action
To love vision
To love action
To be what you want
To be what you want
In my first post, we looked at our unending obsession with busyness and noise, and the insight CS Lewis provided us over 60 years ago. But what about the Bible? What does it have to say about God and listening to his voice?
I would like to highlight a section of scripture in particular. It is from 1st Kings 19:11-13:
11And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.13And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
A great and strong wind. An earthquake. A fire. Each event invokes a sense of power and grandeur. Large and cataclysmic events. Where our logic might try and tell us, “In such power, we might hear and see God”.
Oh, how our minds can deceive us.
The voice of God is heard in the “low whisper”. A sense of gentleness, stillness, and control.
Let me use an illustration. My two year old son Zachary does things he is not supposed to do from time to time. When I discipline and talk to him about those things he does wrong, I can take two approaches. The first is to yell at him and arouse a big voice. Shake my finger and get upset. However, this method is almost never affective. It scares him and causes him to withdraw. He simply can’t hear and understand me.
On the contrary, when I speak softly and lower my voice, he almost always understands. When I am calm, gentle, and soften my voice is when he can listen and hear me. It is where he can respond to me (his father) and do what I would like him to do.
We are indeed created in Gods image. Like Elijah, we should tune our heart’s ear to God whisper. To his quiet voice.
As I stated earlier, in an effort to understand a concept, it is often helpful to begin by defining what it is not. So a couple of weeks ago we looked at how the Gospel is not religion. This week I want to show you how the Gospel is altogether different from moralism. By moralism I mean the practice of moral behavior. This is a bit more tricky because morals aren’t bad, in fact morality is good. God gave us His Law to instruct us both about His character and to guide our life. But, for its own sake, moralism is a failure. The reason is because morality is focused on behavior whereas the Gospel is focused on the heart.
For example, check out this lesson or this lesson from a well known organization working in schools across the country to improve morality and character(this is not a criticism of this organization, I’m sure it has been an overall positive influence in our schools). If you notice the lesson plans, they never mention the motivation, or the why of caring for others. Morality tells you to act generously, to volunteer your time, to respect others, and to be a good citizen of your country. However, moralism never addresses the wickedness of our hearts. It simply tells you to act a certain way assuming that we all have good hearts.
The Gospel, on the other hand, acknowledges our wicked hearts. Ezekiel 36:26 tells us,
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh”
Jesus, by his death on the cross, purchased us a new heart, and gives us his spirit that enables us to live morally. The problem neglected by moralism is offered a solution by the Gospel. Even more, we are able to live morally to reflect the character of God. We are not only enabled by our new heart purchased by Christ, but we are also motivated by our Father God. We can act generously because God first acted generously by giving of his life on the Cross for his enemies. We can volunteer our time because our ultimate needs of sustenance are already met by our loving Father in heaven, freeing us to give of our time and money. We respect others because we know that we have nothing to boast of in ourselves other than the grace of God, and that all people are created in his image and likeness. We can be good citizens of our country because our true citizenship is held firm in the Kingdom of God, and by that power we live to better our city, our country, and our world here on earth so as to redeem this broken world.
Altogether, moralism simply falls short, it calls us to be something we cannot be, and gives us no reason to do it. The Gospel enables us, and motivates us to fulfill true morality, all for our joy to glorify God.
We all do. And God has some insight. Honor his day of rest. His sabbath. He is keenly aware that life can bring you to a point where you need a break. Listen to his words at the end of Isaiah 58:
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