Kenosis

That word, I am told, means "emptying".  This is what the Lord Jesus experienced as he took on manhood in order to redeem the world.  It is such a cause for worship!  The glorious Word of God, who speaks creation into existence and upholds all of creation and life by his powerful word, set aside divine glory.

J.I. Packer explains this:  " . . a voluntary restraint of power; an acceptance of hardship, isolation, ill-treatment, malice, and misunderstanding; finally, a death which involved such agony - spiritually, even more than physical - that his mind nearly broke under the prospect of it (See Luke 12:50, and the Gethsemane story.)  It meant love to the uttermost for unlovely men, who 'through his poverty, might become rich'.

Through the Kenosis of the eternal Word of God, through this awesome service of love, I have become rich!!  I want to praise the living God for this act of mercy and grace that staggers the mind.  We know from Philippians that because of this chosen poverty God has exalted Jesus and given him the name above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!  I bow the knee this morning and with adoration in my heart I confess him as my Lord this day and always.

If I were . . .

"You who made the lion and the lamb
You who made me what I am
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan . . . if I were a wealthy man?

That was the question of Tevye to God in The Fiddler on the Roof. And if I understand some of what God is saying to us when Jesus compares the kingdom to yeast, then I think we can say that God's answer to Tevye would have been "Yes". God has a vast eternal plan in our hearts, attitudes, instinctive responses, behaviors and habits. And he still uses "ALL THINGS" to form us to the character of his son Jesus.

Let's not say "if I were . . ." and instead let's submit ourselves to God in any given situation or trial and allow him to let his nature spread in us like YEAST.

Knowing God

Started reading the book "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer.  He makes it clear at the beginning that it is not a book for the theoretical inquirer, but rather a book for travelers in the way of God.

Packer gives 4 measurable realities about those who know God:

1)  These people have GREAT ENERGY for God
2)  They also have GREAT THOUGHTS about God
3)  They have GREAT BOLDNESS for God
4)  They have GREAT CONTENTMENT in God

I feel like there is a lot to meditate upon in those statements, evaluating in quietness in the presence of the living God how far along I am in each of these.  A little clarity on #2, it isn't just meaning that we assent to the usual doctrine about God, that he is almighty and eternal, but that in our daily thoughts the great thoughts of him overwhelm the fearful and anxious thoughts such that our attitudes and behaviors are shaped.

So, that is what I will be thinking about this morning.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday so I offer a tribute to him here. Imagine how proud he must be that his son is a published writer! And just think of how much more pride it will give him if one or two people actually read this some day ;)

This Sunday I will be preaching at my parents' church on the YEAST of the kingdom of God. Jesus made a fairly surprising comparison for the kingdom when he asked himself the question: "What shall I compare the kingdom of God to?" (apparently Jesus felt fine ending a sentence with a preposition!).

His answer to himself and the crowd was to choose a small thing: a mustard seed; and a hidden thing: yeast! Of all the ways to convey the kingdom, Jesus settled on these. So, this Sunday I am going to take God's people who gather at Grace Bible Chapel through some of my thoughts on what these particular comparisons mean for us.