The Consequences of Ideas
Every evil act has at its root the belief in a lie. From molestation to Sex Trafficking. Stealing candy to Corporate Fraud. Bullying to Holocausts. There are many other factors but to the extent that one is absolutely certain about the nature of things involved, to that same degree they will NOT abuse things involved, no matter how much they want to. There are many causes to evil but the only sure remedy and prevention is certainty regarding the truth about things involved. This is true because everything we do is interaction with reality (the world outside or ourselves) and being certain about truth is just another way of saying “being in touch with reality”. So, to the extent that one is in touch with reality (certain about truth), that person will interact harmoniously with reality. Conversely, to the extent that one is not in touch with reality, he will interact un-harmoniously with that reality. Making it more specific; the convictions and beliefs one has (whether consciously or not) concerning those things in reality with which he interacts will have dramatic determinative consequences on his interaction with those things. We do as we think. We act as we believe. This is what Schaeffer meant in the following quote:
“People are unique in the inner life of their mind—what they are in their thought world determines how they act. This is true of their value systems and it is true of their creativity. It is true of their corporate actions, such as political decisions, and it is true of their personal lives. The results of their thought world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is true of Michelangelo’s chisel, and it is true of a dictator’s sword.”
~ FRANCIS SCHAEFFER, How Should We Then Live?
Did you catch that at the end? “The dictators sword”. Translation: “Ideas cause holocausts”. They cause everything we do. Whether good or bad. Good (or true) ideas will yield good consequence. Bad (or false) ideas will yield bad consequences.
“But wait a second- I know lots of people who believe true things but still don’t act right. And lots of people do good things without necessarily being right about everything”. That’s true. People can be inconsistent. One who “knows” the truth about something can act inconsistently and still abuse that thing. But that just goes to show that he wasn’t taking it seriously to begin with. If someone acts inconsistently with the truth they profess it is not the fault of the truth but on the contrary it is the fault of that person not fully understanding and being convinced of that truth. The converse is true of those who believe false things but do good things. They are inconsistent. They are not acting in accordance with their beliefs (which is a huge grace). This doesn’t nullify the importance of Truth. It highlights the importance of actually taking it seriously.
Let’s look at one example of a social evil in order to see the various levels on which ideas play a critical role. Keep in mind that volumes could be written about all the integrated assumptions that bleed into the actions of those on each level.
I’ll use sex trafficking for the example because I just saw a movie on it. Young girls are kidnapped, beaten, drugged, repeatedly raped, and eventually disposed of. This is going on all over the world. Every day. Stop and think about it. Think about the ideas and presuppositions that allow it to happen and to continue. The men who kidnap and sale the girls; what do they believe about who she is or what she is? What do they believe about what they deserve or can rightfully take from her? Same with the men that pay to use her. They assume that the money or pleasure involved are worth it. To some “it’s just business”. Then think about the fact that politicians and authority figures turn a blind eye to it either for money or for safety for themselves. They assume that their own safety or their families’ safety is worth letting it happen. Expand it out to the willful ignorance of those not affected (that’s where you and I come in). How often do we assume that not thinking about such things makes them go away? Or what about the assumption that it’s not my responsibility? And then there are those who desperately want to do whatever they can but are limited by finances because of economic ponzi schemes orchestrated by their countries’ evil politicians? Do you think about the connection between things like a local economy and the rescuing of girls from sex trafficking? O how much easier it would be for passionate caring people to help those around the world if the fruit of their labor wasn’t plundered and wasted by foolish bureaucratic social planning! But that is another article- perhaps another book. The main point is that at every step in the chain, there are ideas; false ideas that cause or allow the continuation of the evil acts; either directly or indirectly.
If at any point in that chain somebody- anybody- came in touch with truth regarding the reality of things involved, the evil may have been stopped. If citizens of a free country understood how economics truly works and pushed for economic freedom so that they could freely help those in need, more activists could help the young girls- more families could adopt the young girls. If people not affected began to care and spread awareness, if politicians & authorities didn’t turn a blind eye but rather risked their paycheck or safety or safety of their family in order to stand up for what was right, if the men who kidnapped or the men who raped understood and were convinced of who she was and what she was, it’s possible that it could be prevented. But all of that good action and all good action in general depends on deep conviction about truth.
Because of the extreme complexity and multitude of lies and false presuppositions which go into all such evils and atrocities, it should be obvious that the best solution is not in going to each individual at each level in an attempt to convince them of truth regarding each thing involved. That would at best stop that one individual from doing that one thing. But lies are slippery. Always morphing, adapting, and coercing. Everyone has heard the example about counterfeiting: Don’t focus on studying all the fake bills. Just know the real one thoroughly and the fakes will be evident. Similarly, people who know and love Truth intimately; who know how to think about it and how to recognize it, will be able to easily spot lies (especially in their own heads) and thus prevent the evil consequences. The only conclusion, then, is that Truth not only matters, but that those who are the most serious about preventing and stopping evil in the world will be devoted to having and spreading a Truth-intoxicated worldview. That is what is needed. Not just a few people who know a few true things. We need an army of people who know how to think; who know about the biggest truths and are therefore able to more readily discern lies regardless of the situations or details. If you love others. If war, poverty, and other social evils break your heart. If you are human and have a heart at all, then that will be your passion. If not, you are just playing games. If lies cause evil, then to the extent the Church (the “representatives” of truth) do not fight, labor and suffer to be worldview people of the biggest truths, we heap double judgment upon ourselves. Not only do we deserve judgment for failing in the “labor of love”, failing to “fight the good fight”, but also for the hypocrisy of claiming to be people of Truth. Like I’ve said before; if you don’t want to take reality seriously than the blood of this and future generations is on your hands.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Why Does it Matter? Part 1: A Personal Testimony
This is the first in a series of blogs that I have started regarding the Issue of Truth and "Why it Matters". I plan to eventually write a book on the topic (which will likely be somewhat of a compilation of these blogs). Some of these will be applicable to anyone in general (Atheists/Christian/Whatever). Some of them will be more specifically aimed at Christians. Regardless of your current worldview, I invite you to read and consider all of them for personal application.
Why Does It Matter?
Part 1: A Personal Testimony
Why does truth matter? That's the question i get from people (and especially Christians) just about every day. It may be asked a different way, it may be just a look or gesture. Regardless of the outward signs, it's obvious that deep down most of us just don't see the point to knowing whats true about the world, about God, about salvation, about the cross, about the biggest things. It breaks my heart and I long to communicate my passion for truth to others and so i'm beginning a series of blogs on different angles to why it matters. Just to clarify, I'm referring to big truths about big things. I'm not endorsing being a nazi about every small issue. I hate that (and i think God hates that) as much as anyone else. I'm talking about a passion to know the truth about the biggest realities. My first response is going to be somewhat rhetorical. Please ignore the sarcasm behind this statement and here my heart as i with tear-filled eyes I say "can you give me one reason it wouldn't matter?"
But, I will take the burden of proof upon myself and I will begin my pleas with a personal testimony:
I, in myself, am, always have been, and always will be the most disgusting & despicable person i know. There is no poetic over-exaggeration in that. Some of you may know bits and peaces of my life, my past, my inner thoughts. But no one knows them like me, so please trust me when i say that i stand in incomprehensible awe at the pervasiveness of my sin, the depth of my personal darkness, the strength of my deceitful desires, and the profound weakness of my will. I have returned to my vomit like a dog far too many times (Prov.26:11). Everyday is war. Everyday- every second- is life or death. There is not a minute that passes without my inner decay on the brink of collapse under the simultaneous weight of temptation from every side. There is truly not one thing good in me. Any good you see is a miraculous work of the Spirit bringing to life and fruition the seed of God's Word treasured in my heart. Apart from that Word- that Truth- i would not, i could not stand. My life, every second, hinges on glorious, mighty, certain, awesome truths. Truths about who God is, about what He has done, what He is doing, and what He will do. Truths about how He does what He does and why He does what He does. Truths about man (me) and His relationship and dealings with man (me). These Truths, This Theology is the very air i breathe. If it goes, I perish. I cannot say anything more true with any more weight. apart from rock solid truths about God & God's world, I will perish. If I wasn't sure about who God is in Himself apart from His creation, I could doubt that He is self-sufficient and therefore doubt that He is able to help in time of need. And so the Doctrine of God's Invincible Self-Sufficiency which is also wrapped up in His Asceity (The power of Being He has within Himself) however obscure it is to others, is my life blood. The Doctrine of the Atonement, that Christ actually absorbed ALL of the wrath of God for me so that it is impossible for God to pour out His wrath a second time on me and that because of that I am irrevocably HIS, is water for my dry dead lips. The Doctrine that God is ultimately for Himself more than He is for me and therefore will eternally satisfy me with all His infinite & glorious joy; i would die without it. And these are to just begin to scrath the tip of the iceberg! And NONE of it would be possible if i believed as the world believed; that truth is relative or irrelevant. How, o How, can anyone survive the weight of this world without banking on the rock solid assurances of truths- specific, defined, sharp, glorious, life-giving, truths about God and His creation and His relationship to He creation and His promises to His creation. How!?
The truth is that i know that no one can. I know that we are all of the same weak nature and we all live in the same dark world and so we all must love the light of truth in order to survive. I also know that it's so easy to fake it. to fake life. fake strength. fake courage. fake passion. fake obedience. that is what we humans are good at...and it's all we're good at. I have more than lived up to my name (Jacob=deceiver....faker). I also know how miserable..how truly miserable deep down it is to fake it. I'm pleading with you; there's another way. you can escape the captivity of the masks if only you are willing to love that which is most loveable and love worthy: namely, God and all the details (true things) about Him. And that is just one small reason that it matters.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Divine Crossfire
The end (goal) of life, the end of Christianity, the end of the Gospel is God. It is being in heaven which is being with God. It is knowing God as He is and loving Him as He deserves to be loved and enjoying Him as He deserves to be enjoyed...which is infinitely. Therefore, it is knowing God with the Knowledge He has of Himself, Loving God with the Love He has for Himself, and Enjoying God with the Joy He has in Himself. It is being Loved by God with the Love He has for Himself since there is nothing in me to love (and therefore His love for me must be based on His love for Himself...or His Son, who lives in me). The following is a small glimpse into a description of what this will be like. Think of The Father, The Son & The Spirit sharing and overflowing in Infinite Knowledge, Love & Joy and you being smack in the middle...
There is a Love and a Joy and a Pleasure and a Glory that is shared and emanated within the Trinity that is so powerful that absolutely nothing could endure it apart from Divine aid. It is into this Devastating Trinitarian Pleasure that you will be brought. You will not be able to take it. You will not be able to stand. You will be so magnificently overwhelmed with pleasure that you will ever be on the verge, on the very brink, of utter destruction (as though you were standing ground zero at Hiroshima) and the only reason that could be given for you not being completely obliterated will be the omnipotent power of God Almighty, barely holding you together so that you may endure just one more millisecond of the omnipotent joy that is threatening to crush your very being.
From without you are threatened with decimation from a multitude of Divine Omnipotent Pleasures while from within you are sustained (barely) with equally omnipotent grace; ever-increasing your capacities for such pleasure but never so much that these capacities are not constantly on the brink of bursting at the seams. It is as if, in Heaven, you will be that terribly exhilarating point at which the Unstoppable Force meets the Immovable Object. Where Omnipotence meets Omnipotence. Where God meets God.
And there will be no escape. Amen.
There is a Love and a Joy and a Pleasure and a Glory that is shared and emanated within the Trinity that is so powerful that absolutely nothing could endure it apart from Divine aid. It is into this Devastating Trinitarian Pleasure that you will be brought. You will not be able to take it. You will not be able to stand. You will be so magnificently overwhelmed with pleasure that you will ever be on the verge, on the very brink, of utter destruction (as though you were standing ground zero at Hiroshima) and the only reason that could be given for you not being completely obliterated will be the omnipotent power of God Almighty, barely holding you together so that you may endure just one more millisecond of the omnipotent joy that is threatening to crush your very being.
From without you are threatened with decimation from a multitude of Divine Omnipotent Pleasures while from within you are sustained (barely) with equally omnipotent grace; ever-increasing your capacities for such pleasure but never so much that these capacities are not constantly on the brink of bursting at the seams. It is as if, in Heaven, you will be that terribly exhilarating point at which the Unstoppable Force meets the Immovable Object. Where Omnipotence meets Omnipotence. Where God meets God.
And there will be no escape. Amen.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
True Love
I've posted this mainly becuase i want all my brothers & sisters to be attracted to Superior, Godly, and True Love and i want them to be repulsed by Cheap, Idolatrous, Immitations of that love.
To truly love something (anything that is not God) you must first lose that thing (hate it, count it as rubbish) and look to God as your all in all. Then, and only then can you ever truly love the thing (after you've lost it, after you've hated it, after you've died to it for God's sake). This is especially true in Marriage. In the following I first give a demonstration of what this would look like in my own heart. Then I attempt to describe the extreme and terrible dangers of any other view of marriage and likewise argue for the many and wonderful joys of this view. (Throughout I talk on a personal lever but it should be read in general thinking of a husband when I say "I" or "me" and thinking of a wife when I say "her" or "she")…
What it Looks like in the Heart:
My God, all I want is You. You are my Joy. You are, Yourself, Joy. All else is loss to me. To have anything together with You is not gain but loss, not addition but subtraction. You are my All in All. I want to have You & You alone with no distraction, with nothing else. You are my Sovereign Joy, my One Thing. You have done this, Lord. You alone have turned my sorrow into joy. You have fixed my heart on You alone and thereby caused me to walk in Your ways. Oh Your Faithfulness! And God, in this exclusive love for You which You have given to me there seems to have arisen within it –not apart from it (I pray)- a smaller love of the same essence. It is a love which (as far as I cant tell) is a love for You (as You are the only thing Loveable -even in my heart) but it encompasses another that is not You. It as though the love for You & joy in You which You have given me has breeched my capacities for such things, which You also have given to me, so that it has over-flown to bring in another. I have found in me the desire, the longing, to share this love for You (that is the overflow, not as though I'm splitting it in two) with another and to see this love and joy in You cultivated in the other and thereby to increase my love and joy in You. I think I see now more clearly Your aim in relationships and more so (or most so) in marriage.
It is not that I love her and love You. It is that I love her because I love You. I want to love her as You have loved me, that she would love You the way (and more so) that I have loved You- and that the love You have for me may become more manifest to me in my love for her that I may see more clearly and cherish more fully the love with which You've loved me.
The Downfalls of other types of love and the Wonders of this love:
Godly love is True love & Idolatrous love is a fake, twisted and dark imitation of that True love. Keeping this in mind, I think will go far in accomplishing the desired end of resisting idolatrous love & cultivating Godly love. I must remind myself that there is nothing truly lovely or loveable in the object itself and that the only loveliness or loveableness it possesses is that which it is given by God and has in relation to God's loveliness. To be with anything or anyone (including myself or my spouse) apart from God would be Hell. There is nothing in a thing, itself which can ever satisfy me. And there is nothing in me, myself which could ever satisfy anyone else. To be with her not in relation to God would lead to the heights of misery and sorrow for both of us. I would lead her nowhere but to frustration and to hell and provide nothing but darkness for her. She would drag me down to the pits of despair (where I rightly deserve to be).
But, if our love is grounded in, flowing from, directed toward and ultimately a participation in our respective love for God, oh how beautiful and happy our relation becomes! I don't need her and so I can give to her rather than try to take what is not there. I can lead rather than retreat. And what would I give to her but that which has filled my lack and overflown- I would give her God! I would lead her to God! With every word and every deed I would joyously labor to any extent and suffer any human pain in order to see her deeply, passionately, breath-takingly, beautifully, overwhelmingly happy in her Mighty & Lovely God Who loves her with an Everlasting Love to which my small acts of love are a feeble pointer. And she would rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of glory as she took in the awesome vision of her God which He has graciously displayed through me and as she contemplated the immensities of her blessings & blessedness in Him, love and joy and adoration and a conglomerate of millions of unspeakably wonderful emotions would well up inside of her and overflow in a great and soft "I love You. I love you so much" which would be directed both at her God and also at the man through which God has displayed Himself in such a lovely way to her. And (ideally) neither she nor I would be tempted to love the other apart from God because the Joyous vision of God we have through each other would be exceedingly more lovely and satisfying than the poison we would have in each other apart from our Great God. Neither would our joy in each other ever grow dim or faint or stale or stagnant in any way because it is not only a joy in each other (each being finite) but rather it is mainly joy in God who is Infinite. Because I could never plumb the depths of joy in all that God is, therefore I could never plumb the depths of godly joy which I have in her and likewise her in me. And so the idea of marriage growing old is utterly done away with when in relation to joy in God. In this manner, there is continual newness in marriage for we will continually & forever be discovering new joyous thing of our Beautiful & Infinite God through each other.
And all this only being possible provided that the origin is Love for God at the exclusion of all else (including her at first).
To truly love something (anything that is not God) you must first lose that thing (hate it, count it as rubbish) and look to God as your all in all. Then, and only then can you ever truly love the thing (after you've lost it, after you've hated it, after you've died to it for God's sake). This is especially true in Marriage. In the following I first give a demonstration of what this would look like in my own heart. Then I attempt to describe the extreme and terrible dangers of any other view of marriage and likewise argue for the many and wonderful joys of this view. (Throughout I talk on a personal lever but it should be read in general thinking of a husband when I say "I" or "me" and thinking of a wife when I say "her" or "she")…
What it Looks like in the Heart:
My God, all I want is You. You are my Joy. You are, Yourself, Joy. All else is loss to me. To have anything together with You is not gain but loss, not addition but subtraction. You are my All in All. I want to have You & You alone with no distraction, with nothing else. You are my Sovereign Joy, my One Thing. You have done this, Lord. You alone have turned my sorrow into joy. You have fixed my heart on You alone and thereby caused me to walk in Your ways. Oh Your Faithfulness! And God, in this exclusive love for You which You have given to me there seems to have arisen within it –not apart from it (I pray)- a smaller love of the same essence. It is a love which (as far as I cant tell) is a love for You (as You are the only thing Loveable -even in my heart) but it encompasses another that is not You. It as though the love for You & joy in You which You have given me has breeched my capacities for such things, which You also have given to me, so that it has over-flown to bring in another. I have found in me the desire, the longing, to share this love for You (that is the overflow, not as though I'm splitting it in two) with another and to see this love and joy in You cultivated in the other and thereby to increase my love and joy in You. I think I see now more clearly Your aim in relationships and more so (or most so) in marriage.
It is not that I love her and love You. It is that I love her because I love You. I want to love her as You have loved me, that she would love You the way (and more so) that I have loved You- and that the love You have for me may become more manifest to me in my love for her that I may see more clearly and cherish more fully the love with which You've loved me.
The Downfalls of other types of love and the Wonders of this love:
Godly love is True love & Idolatrous love is a fake, twisted and dark imitation of that True love. Keeping this in mind, I think will go far in accomplishing the desired end of resisting idolatrous love & cultivating Godly love. I must remind myself that there is nothing truly lovely or loveable in the object itself and that the only loveliness or loveableness it possesses is that which it is given by God and has in relation to God's loveliness. To be with anything or anyone (including myself or my spouse) apart from God would be Hell. There is nothing in a thing, itself which can ever satisfy me. And there is nothing in me, myself which could ever satisfy anyone else. To be with her not in relation to God would lead to the heights of misery and sorrow for both of us. I would lead her nowhere but to frustration and to hell and provide nothing but darkness for her. She would drag me down to the pits of despair (where I rightly deserve to be).
But, if our love is grounded in, flowing from, directed toward and ultimately a participation in our respective love for God, oh how beautiful and happy our relation becomes! I don't need her and so I can give to her rather than try to take what is not there. I can lead rather than retreat. And what would I give to her but that which has filled my lack and overflown- I would give her God! I would lead her to God! With every word and every deed I would joyously labor to any extent and suffer any human pain in order to see her deeply, passionately, breath-takingly, beautifully, overwhelmingly happy in her Mighty & Lovely God Who loves her with an Everlasting Love to which my small acts of love are a feeble pointer. And she would rejoice with Joy unspeakable and full of glory as she took in the awesome vision of her God which He has graciously displayed through me and as she contemplated the immensities of her blessings & blessedness in Him, love and joy and adoration and a conglomerate of millions of unspeakably wonderful emotions would well up inside of her and overflow in a great and soft "I love You. I love you so much" which would be directed both at her God and also at the man through which God has displayed Himself in such a lovely way to her. And (ideally) neither she nor I would be tempted to love the other apart from God because the Joyous vision of God we have through each other would be exceedingly more lovely and satisfying than the poison we would have in each other apart from our Great God. Neither would our joy in each other ever grow dim or faint or stale or stagnant in any way because it is not only a joy in each other (each being finite) but rather it is mainly joy in God who is Infinite. Because I could never plumb the depths of joy in all that God is, therefore I could never plumb the depths of godly joy which I have in her and likewise her in me. And so the idea of marriage growing old is utterly done away with when in relation to joy in God. In this manner, there is continual newness in marriage for we will continually & forever be discovering new joyous thing of our Beautiful & Infinite God through each other.
And all this only being possible provided that the origin is Love for God at the exclusion of all else (including her at first).
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The Man I Want to be...
6-18-07
There are many things i want to do in this life...many things i want to be. There are many things i want for my brothers and my sisters. But i think above all else (short of being with Christ, Himself) i want...i need for George Whitefields prayer to be answered; in my life specifically and in the Church as a whole.
"Oh that we shall see the Great Head of the Church once more raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in the glorious employ [Preaching]
And What Manner of Men Will They Be?
Men…
-Mighty in the Scriptures
-Their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty, and the holiness of God
-and their minds & hearts aglow with the great truths of the Doctrines of Grace
-They will be men Who have learned what it is to die to self- to human aims and personal ambitions
-Men Who are willing to be fools for Christ's sake
-Who will bear reproach and falsehood
-Who will labor and suffer
-And Whose supreme desire will be not to gain earth's accolades, but to win the Master's approbation when they shall appear before His awesome judgment seat
-They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes
-And upon who's ministries, God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit who will witness signs & wonders following in the transformation of multitudes of lives."
-Whitefield
This one thing Oh God (apart from being with You) i ask. This is what i want to be. God, make me this man. Hear the pleas of your servant Whitefield and in your abundant mercy pour out Your flames of promise upon this cold dead heart. If i am not this, God, then i am nothing. I can think of no greater joy, Lord, than to be this type of man...and so Oh God, come and work mightily in your servant. By Your Sovereign Grace, pour out You Omnipotent power (which is precisely what it will take) upon this life. Look not at me and my merits for the basis of answering my request, but look upon Your precious Son, in whom i have all the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. You Who did not spare Your own Son, but freely gave Him up for me..God, how will you not also with Him, freely grant me this thing? And Lord, not for me only, but for all my brothers...oh God....oh, to see You raise up an entire generation of men in this likeness. Father my hearts spills over in tears of joy at the mere thought of it! Do it for Your sake, for Your sake oh Lord. For how shall Your name be defamed? Your glory, oh God, You will not give to another.
There are many things i want to do in this life...many things i want to be. There are many things i want for my brothers and my sisters. But i think above all else (short of being with Christ, Himself) i want...i need for George Whitefields prayer to be answered; in my life specifically and in the Church as a whole.
"Oh that we shall see the Great Head of the Church once more raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in the glorious employ [Preaching]
And What Manner of Men Will They Be?
Men…
-Mighty in the Scriptures
-Their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty, and the holiness of God
-and their minds & hearts aglow with the great truths of the Doctrines of Grace
-They will be men Who have learned what it is to die to self- to human aims and personal ambitions
-Men Who are willing to be fools for Christ's sake
-Who will bear reproach and falsehood
-Who will labor and suffer
-And Whose supreme desire will be not to gain earth's accolades, but to win the Master's approbation when they shall appear before His awesome judgment seat
-They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes
-And upon who's ministries, God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit who will witness signs & wonders following in the transformation of multitudes of lives."
-Whitefield
This one thing Oh God (apart from being with You) i ask. This is what i want to be. God, make me this man. Hear the pleas of your servant Whitefield and in your abundant mercy pour out Your flames of promise upon this cold dead heart. If i am not this, God, then i am nothing. I can think of no greater joy, Lord, than to be this type of man...and so Oh God, come and work mightily in your servant. By Your Sovereign Grace, pour out You Omnipotent power (which is precisely what it will take) upon this life. Look not at me and my merits for the basis of answering my request, but look upon Your precious Son, in whom i have all the spiritual blessings in the heavenlies. You Who did not spare Your own Son, but freely gave Him up for me..God, how will you not also with Him, freely grant me this thing? And Lord, not for me only, but for all my brothers...oh God....oh, to see You raise up an entire generation of men in this likeness. Father my hearts spills over in tears of joy at the mere thought of it! Do it for Your sake, for Your sake oh Lord. For how shall Your name be defamed? Your glory, oh God, You will not give to another.
All I Need
5-2-07
A Confession:
I have always sinfully and idolatrously absolutely needed other people. I have been so disgustingly dependant on others for my life; viewing myself through the eyes of others, measuring myself by the standards of others, and loving or hating myself through the affection or rejection of others for me. In so doing, I became a monster. I vehemently and violently attacked, lashed out at, and hurt anyone who dared to befriend me. I am deeply sorry. I hate what I was. What I've been.
A Solution:
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forevermore" –Ps. 73:25-26.
I need Him. no one else. Just Him. Him alone. I don't need a dad. He is my Father. I don't need friends. He is my Comforter. He knows me more intimately than them all. I don't need someone to love or to be loved by. He is Love. He is the Standard. He is the Beginning. And He is the End. He alone IS. Nothing else will last. Nothing else will satisfy. All is weak and contingent upon Him alone. All else is sinking sand. He is The Rock. Where else would I go or to whom else would I turn? He alone has the Words of Life. He is my Rest. My Food. My Delight. My Joy. My Shelter. My Water. My Fortress. My Protector. My Healer. My Provider. My Savior. My Redeemer. My Immortal. My Best Friend. My Only Hope. My High Priest. My Help in time of need. My Air. My Rock. My Interceder. My Contender. My Lord. My God. My Resurrection. My Life. My All in All. He is Everything. EVERYTHING. And He is mine. He's mine. Forever. Irrevocably. Forever.
A Paradox:
We need each other.
"But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand 'I have no need of you'; or again, the head to the feet 'I have no need of you'. On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary…so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body and individually members of it" – 1 Cor. 12:20-27
"Take care brethren that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the Living God. But encourage one another day after day so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" Heb. 3: 12-13.
If we do not encourage each other, we will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and will fall away from the Living God. Without each other, we Christians will die. We will. We desperately need each other. Or, more precisely, we need CHRIST in each other.
It is still true that we need nothing and no one but Christ alone. However, Christ is with us through each other. And so it is not so much that we need others in and of themselves but rather that we need the Christ who dwells richly and uniquely in others. Christ inhabits every true believer and He is manifested in manifold ways uniquely in every individual believer so that it is very true to say that we desperately need each other; that is that we need the unique manifestation of Christ through each other.
An Exhortation:
"This is My Commandment, That you love one another, just as I have loved you" –Jn. 15:12.
Fight first with all of your might to find your all in all in Christ alone. Make Him your only Treasure. Make Him your only King, the only Goal in your life, the only Satisfaction to your weak and trembling heart. Fight for this.
Then, fight with all of your might to love and be loved by that same Christ as He dwells in your brothers and sisters. Do not despise them, for if you do, then you despise Christ- for He is in them. As you do unto them, you do unto Christ. Do not separate yourself from them (and thereby separate yourself from Christ). You need them because you need Christ inside of them. Don't withdraw and put yourself in danger of being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And likewise, they need you because they need Christ inside of you. And so, be Christ to them. Encourage them. Hold up the truth for them. If they are being deceived, help them! Open their eyes to the surpassing beauty of Christ so that you will save them. Preach the Gospel to them. We Christians desperately need to hear the Gospel every day! When they stumble, catch them. When they struggle, support them. Pray for them every day. Serve them. Love them. Love them. Love them. When it is hard, don't focus on the old and sinful nature in them, which is passing away, but rather look at the new nature- the new creation. Look for Christ in them. And love them because He is in them and He loves you. All you need is Christ. All they need is Christ. Christ is in them for you. Christ is in you for them. Love each other by being Christ for each other. Love Christ and be loved by Christ by loving them and being loved by them.
A Confession:
I have always sinfully and idolatrously absolutely needed other people. I have been so disgustingly dependant on others for my life; viewing myself through the eyes of others, measuring myself by the standards of others, and loving or hating myself through the affection or rejection of others for me. In so doing, I became a monster. I vehemently and violently attacked, lashed out at, and hurt anyone who dared to befriend me. I am deeply sorry. I hate what I was. What I've been.
A Solution:
"Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forevermore" –Ps. 73:25-26.
I need Him. no one else. Just Him. Him alone. I don't need a dad. He is my Father. I don't need friends. He is my Comforter. He knows me more intimately than them all. I don't need someone to love or to be loved by. He is Love. He is the Standard. He is the Beginning. And He is the End. He alone IS. Nothing else will last. Nothing else will satisfy. All is weak and contingent upon Him alone. All else is sinking sand. He is The Rock. Where else would I go or to whom else would I turn? He alone has the Words of Life. He is my Rest. My Food. My Delight. My Joy. My Shelter. My Water. My Fortress. My Protector. My Healer. My Provider. My Savior. My Redeemer. My Immortal. My Best Friend. My Only Hope. My High Priest. My Help in time of need. My Air. My Rock. My Interceder. My Contender. My Lord. My God. My Resurrection. My Life. My All in All. He is Everything. EVERYTHING. And He is mine. He's mine. Forever. Irrevocably. Forever.
A Paradox:
We need each other.
"But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand 'I have no need of you'; or again, the head to the feet 'I have no need of you'. On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary…so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body and individually members of it" – 1 Cor. 12:20-27
"Take care brethren that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the Living God. But encourage one another day after day so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" Heb. 3: 12-13.
If we do not encourage each other, we will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and will fall away from the Living God. Without each other, we Christians will die. We will. We desperately need each other. Or, more precisely, we need CHRIST in each other.
It is still true that we need nothing and no one but Christ alone. However, Christ is with us through each other. And so it is not so much that we need others in and of themselves but rather that we need the Christ who dwells richly and uniquely in others. Christ inhabits every true believer and He is manifested in manifold ways uniquely in every individual believer so that it is very true to say that we desperately need each other; that is that we need the unique manifestation of Christ through each other.
An Exhortation:
"This is My Commandment, That you love one another, just as I have loved you" –Jn. 15:12.
Fight first with all of your might to find your all in all in Christ alone. Make Him your only Treasure. Make Him your only King, the only Goal in your life, the only Satisfaction to your weak and trembling heart. Fight for this.
Then, fight with all of your might to love and be loved by that same Christ as He dwells in your brothers and sisters. Do not despise them, for if you do, then you despise Christ- for He is in them. As you do unto them, you do unto Christ. Do not separate yourself from them (and thereby separate yourself from Christ). You need them because you need Christ inside of them. Don't withdraw and put yourself in danger of being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And likewise, they need you because they need Christ inside of you. And so, be Christ to them. Encourage them. Hold up the truth for them. If they are being deceived, help them! Open their eyes to the surpassing beauty of Christ so that you will save them. Preach the Gospel to them. We Christians desperately need to hear the Gospel every day! When they stumble, catch them. When they struggle, support them. Pray for them every day. Serve them. Love them. Love them. Love them. When it is hard, don't focus on the old and sinful nature in them, which is passing away, but rather look at the new nature- the new creation. Look for Christ in them. And love them because He is in them and He loves you. All you need is Christ. All they need is Christ. Christ is in them for you. Christ is in you for them. Love each other by being Christ for each other. Love Christ and be loved by Christ by loving them and being loved by them.
Furhter Up & Further In!
3-16-07
I just read an article by Piper, talking about Jonathan Edwards' descriptions of Heaven and what it will be like. I'll post the article, and then share some stuff that it reminded me of. I hope this will bless all of you as much as it did me and cause all of us to always be "looking for the country which is to come"! (Heb. 11:13-16)
Jonathan Edwards knows heaven perhaps even better than hell. Which is saying a lot in view of his reputation as one who knows hell well. I have believed this for some time because of reading his sermons on heaven (for example, "The Portion of the Righteous," "The Pure in Heart Blessed," "Praise, One of the Chief Employments of Heaven"). In addition, reading Edwards' Miscellanies on heaven and reading John Gerstner's book, "Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell" (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980) show how Edwards soared in his meditations on heaven.
But only when I took up Edwards' book, The End for Which God Created the World, did I see the remarkable insight that heaven will be a never-ending, ever-increasing discovery of more and more of God's glory with greater and ever-greater joy in him.
As a child I feared heaven. Never-endingness seemed to me like frozenness. Doesn't 1 Corinthians 13:12 say, "Then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known"? And wouldn't that mean that the moment we get to heaven we will know all we are going to know, and that the rest of eternity will be never-ending sameness? Which strikes the fear of boredom into our hearts.
Edward says no. All this text must mean is that our knowledge will be accurate in heaven and no longer "through a glass darkly." It does not have to mean that we know immediately all that can be known. Rather, he reasons, God is infinite and wills to reveal himself to us for our enjoyment of his fullness forever. Yet we are finite and cannot at any time, or in any finite duration of time, comprehend the limitless, infinite fullness of God's glory. Yet God wills to lavish this fullness on us for our joy (Ephesians 2:7).
Therefore the implication is that our union with God, in the all-satisfying experience of his glory, can never be complete, but must be increasing with intimacy and intensity forever and ever. The perfection of heaven is not static. Nor do we see at once all there is to see—for the finite cannot take in all of the infinite. Our destiny is not to become God. Therefore, there will always be more for a finite creature to know and enjoy of God. The end of increasing pleasure in God will never come.
Here is the way Edwards puts it:
I suppose it will not be denied by any, that God, in glorifying the saints in heaven with eternal felicity, aims to satisfy his infinite grace or benevolence, by the bestowment of a good [which is] infinitely valuable, because eternal: and yet there never will come the moment, when it can be said, that now this infinitely valuable good has been actually bestowed (The End for Which God Created the World, ¶ 285, in God's Passion for His Glory, [Wheaton: Crossway, 1998]).
Moreover, he says, our eternal rising into more and more of God will be a
rising higher and higher through that infinite duration, and . . . not with constantly diminishing (but perhaps an increasing) [velocity] . . . [to an] infinite height; though there never will be any particular time when it can be said already to have come to such a height (¶ 279).
It will take an infinite number of ages for God to be done glorifying the wealth of his grace to us - which is to say he will never be done. And our joy will increase forever and ever. Boredom is absolutely excluded in the presence of an infinitely glorious God.
Reeling and rejoicing, Pastor John
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/1998/1109_Can_Joy_Increase_Forever/
This idea of Knowledge of God and Love for God and Joy in God increasing forever, each second better than the last, reminds me very vividly of the closing chapter of Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia". Here are a few exerpts...
"I see," she [Lucy] said at last, thoughtfully. "I see now. This garden is like the stable. It is far bigger inside than it was outside."
"Of course, Daughter of Eve," said the Faun. "The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside."
Lucy looked hard at the garden and saw that it was not really a garden but a whole world, with its own rivers and woods and sea and mountains. But they were not strange: she knew them all.
"I see," she said. "This is still Narnia, and more real and more beautiful than the Narnia down below, just as it was more real and more beautiful than the Narnia outside the stable door! I see…world within world, Narnia within Narnia…."
"…all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands- dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
"Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord" (Hosea 6:3)
Let us press on. Further up and Further in!
I just read an article by Piper, talking about Jonathan Edwards' descriptions of Heaven and what it will be like. I'll post the article, and then share some stuff that it reminded me of. I hope this will bless all of you as much as it did me and cause all of us to always be "looking for the country which is to come"! (Heb. 11:13-16)
Jonathan Edwards knows heaven perhaps even better than hell. Which is saying a lot in view of his reputation as one who knows hell well. I have believed this for some time because of reading his sermons on heaven (for example, "The Portion of the Righteous," "The Pure in Heart Blessed," "Praise, One of the Chief Employments of Heaven"). In addition, reading Edwards' Miscellanies on heaven and reading John Gerstner's book, "Jonathan Edwards on Heaven and Hell" (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980) show how Edwards soared in his meditations on heaven.
But only when I took up Edwards' book, The End for Which God Created the World, did I see the remarkable insight that heaven will be a never-ending, ever-increasing discovery of more and more of God's glory with greater and ever-greater joy in him.
As a child I feared heaven. Never-endingness seemed to me like frozenness. Doesn't 1 Corinthians 13:12 say, "Then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known"? And wouldn't that mean that the moment we get to heaven we will know all we are going to know, and that the rest of eternity will be never-ending sameness? Which strikes the fear of boredom into our hearts.
Edward says no. All this text must mean is that our knowledge will be accurate in heaven and no longer "through a glass darkly." It does not have to mean that we know immediately all that can be known. Rather, he reasons, God is infinite and wills to reveal himself to us for our enjoyment of his fullness forever. Yet we are finite and cannot at any time, or in any finite duration of time, comprehend the limitless, infinite fullness of God's glory. Yet God wills to lavish this fullness on us for our joy (Ephesians 2:7).
Therefore the implication is that our union with God, in the all-satisfying experience of his glory, can never be complete, but must be increasing with intimacy and intensity forever and ever. The perfection of heaven is not static. Nor do we see at once all there is to see—for the finite cannot take in all of the infinite. Our destiny is not to become God. Therefore, there will always be more for a finite creature to know and enjoy of God. The end of increasing pleasure in God will never come.
Here is the way Edwards puts it:
I suppose it will not be denied by any, that God, in glorifying the saints in heaven with eternal felicity, aims to satisfy his infinite grace or benevolence, by the bestowment of a good [which is] infinitely valuable, because eternal: and yet there never will come the moment, when it can be said, that now this infinitely valuable good has been actually bestowed (The End for Which God Created the World, ¶ 285, in God's Passion for His Glory, [Wheaton: Crossway, 1998]).
Moreover, he says, our eternal rising into more and more of God will be a
rising higher and higher through that infinite duration, and . . . not with constantly diminishing (but perhaps an increasing) [velocity] . . . [to an] infinite height; though there never will be any particular time when it can be said already to have come to such a height (¶ 279).
It will take an infinite number of ages for God to be done glorifying the wealth of his grace to us - which is to say he will never be done. And our joy will increase forever and ever. Boredom is absolutely excluded in the presence of an infinitely glorious God.
Reeling and rejoicing, Pastor John
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/1998/1109_Can_Joy_Increase_Forever/
This idea of Knowledge of God and Love for God and Joy in God increasing forever, each second better than the last, reminds me very vividly of the closing chapter of Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia". Here are a few exerpts...
"I see," she [Lucy] said at last, thoughtfully. "I see now. This garden is like the stable. It is far bigger inside than it was outside."
"Of course, Daughter of Eve," said the Faun. "The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside."
Lucy looked hard at the garden and saw that it was not really a garden but a whole world, with its own rivers and woods and sea and mountains. But they were not strange: she knew them all.
"I see," she said. "This is still Narnia, and more real and more beautiful than the Narnia down below, just as it was more real and more beautiful than the Narnia outside the stable door! I see…world within world, Narnia within Narnia…."
"…all of you are – as you used to call it in the Shadowlands- dead. The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
"Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord" (Hosea 6:3)
Let us press on. Further up and Further in!
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