Saturday, November 10, 2012

“All In” for Each Other

Holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. (Philippians 2:16-18)
Paul concludes the appeal he began at the beginning of Philippians 2, to the Jesus believers at Philippi, that if they bore him any affection, “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind”(Philippians 2:2). He wants to see them shining as lights in the midst of a twisted and self-absorbed generation, holding forth the good news about King Jesus as a beacon in the darkness. He wants to see that he has not “run the race” and come up a loser, that all his labors among them have not been a loss. He would much prefer to see them come to maturity in their faith, following the example of the Lord Jesus, both in His humility and in His being exalted. Then he will be able to “rejoice,” to take pride in the ministry he has been given and not be ashamed on the day He stands before King Jesus. He does not want to come up short in it (nor does he expect to), rather he desires to rejoice with them, both now and when He gives account before the Lord. It was important to him that he give good and faithful to the Lord Jesus and to His body, the church.
  • “Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 7:4).
  • “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy” (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
  • “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
Paul is quite happy, then, to give everything that is in him, to be “poured out as a drink offering” for them. The image here is one of sacrifices offered to the Lord. A libation, or “drink offering” (which was usually wine), was poured out over the sacrifice, drenching it as an act of thanksgiving and consecrating it to God. To use a poker term, Paul was “all in” for their sake. Their service was their faithfulness to the Lord, their ministry to each other and bringing the message of the gospel to the world. Their sacrifice was what they endured, and would be enduring, for the sake of King Jesus and His gospel — and each other. And Paul was ready to give his life for their sake.

Paul rejoices about all of this and he wants to rejoice together with them. But he wants it to be mutual. That is, that they also see the value in it and be glad, but also that they share together with him in their rejoicing. He is “all in” for them and what he really wants is for them to be “all in” for each other. Then there will be rejoicing enough to go all around, sharing in the divine humility that leads to divine joy.

Focus Questions
  1. Can you think of a time in your life when you felt like you had run your race and labored hard to help someone else and it turned about to be all in vain? Or quite successful?
  2. Does someone have to be “all in” for you before you are willing to be “all in” for them?
  3. Who are you willing to be “all in” for?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Feed on the Faithfulness of the LORD


Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
(Psalm 37:3-5)
Did your candidates win? Mine didn’t. Almost very candidate and issue I voted for lost. Very disappointing, but no reason to be despondent. The psalm writer says, “Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish” (Psalm 146:3-4).

Anyone who was looking to Mitt Romney to lead this country out of trouble was foolish. Likewise, anyone who is trusting in Barak Obama to lead our nation into prosperity. Foolish. Do not put your trust in princes — or in presidents. They cannot help you, not even the best of them.

What, then? We find the answer many places in Scripture. I saw it again this morning in Psalm 37. “Trust in the LORD, and do good. Dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.” Regardless of whether you are a Democrat or Republican, or affiliated with a third party or no party, if you belong to the Lord, He has given you a place in this land. Dwell in it and feed on His faithfulness. I emphasize that it is His faithfulness because it is only His faithfulness that will see you through, regardless of whatever happens in our country or our economy or in the world.

Focus yourself on Him to whom you belong. Find your place in Him. Delight yourself in Him and He will fulfill the desires of your heart. No president or congress can guarantee that, no president or congress can prevent it, no president or congress can take it away. The blessing of the Lord, and His prosperity are far greater and they endure forever.
Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
(Psalm 37:5-6)
Roll everything over onto Him, look to Him for your security and He will bring it to pass. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). He will set things right for you and vindicate you.
Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret — it only causes harm.
For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.
(Psalm 37:7-9)
Relax, then, and let not your heart be troubled. Wait for Him, in quietness and patience. He will not be late. Do not be agitated when those who do what is wrong prosper — it will not last.

There are many wicked in the world, and in our own country. There are foolish and deceitful politicians and government leaders enough to go around — in all the parties and non-parties. But their plans will ultimately fail, because they cannot withstand the kingdom of God forever.

However, those who depend upon the Lord receive the kingdom of heaven, and the meek inherit the earth. In the meantime, we simply dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness.

Here is a personal confession I have adapted from Psalm 37.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Lights in the Darkness

Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. (Philippians 2:14-16)
Paul wants the Jesus believers at Philippi to “work out” their salvation, that is, to let it be demonstrated among them together as a community. What he particularly has in mind here is the expression of unity, the single-hearted, single-minded love and focus that manifests the mind of Jesus the Messiah among them.

Everything is to be done without complaining and disputing. Weymouth’s New Testament in Modern Speech has it as, “Be ever on your guard against a grudging and contentious spirit.” Other versions say:
  • “without grumbling or arguing” (Contemporary English Version)
  • “without murmurings and questionings” (Context Group Version)
  • “without grumbling or questioning” (English Standard Version) – grumbling against and questioning each other.
  • “without kvetching or arguing” (Jewish New Testament)
Wuest, in The New Testament: An Expanded Translation, is a bit wordier but brings out the nature of what Paul is addressing. He renders the key terms here as, “discontented and secret mutterings and grumblings” and “discussions which carry an undertone of suspicion or doubt.” This has everything to do with how we are to relate to one another, that we must not grumble and mutter against each other, or look upon one another with suspicion and doubt, questioning each other’s faith, motives or commitment. Instead, we should become “blameless and harmless, or as Wuest puts it, “guileless in [your] simplicity.” That is, we should be open, honest and straightforward with each other — WYSIWYG, “What You See Is What You Get.”

When we are transparent and non-toxic with each other, we will become “children of God without fault.” Paul is not implying that this is how we become children of God. We already children of God by faith in the Lord Jesus, for “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). But the point here is that we need to conduct ourselves in a way that is “without fault,” a way befitting the children of God that we are, particularly because we are “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.” Paul is drawing a sharp contrast here that alludes to Deuteronomy 32:5, a prophecy Moses gave: “They have corrupted themselves; they are not His children, because of their blemish: A perverse and crooked generation.” The believers at Philippi were living in a society that was twisted and contorted and curved in upon itself, a culture that turned away from God (much as we see today). It is precisely for this reason, then, that we must be open and honest with each other. Jesus said, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Then we will “shine as lights in the world.”
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. (Ephesians 5:8)

Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. (1 John 2:8-10)
Light shines in the darkness of the world and the world cannot overcome it. The value of light is that it enables people to see. When we live open, honest and transparent lives with each other, in love and unity, the world can see the True Light, Jesus, shining through us. When light shines in the darkness, it brings hope and life. “Holding fast the word of life,” is how Paul says it (some translations have “holding forth the word of life,” which fits the context better). We become torchbearers so that others may see.

The “word of life” is the good news of the gospel, the announcement about King Jesus. George Lamsa, working from an ancient Aramaic version of the New Testament, translates this as “For you are to them the light of life” (Translation From the Aramaic Peshitta). Paul’s overall concern is that the gospel keeps advancing and that the Lord Jesus be glorified more and more.

Focus Questions
  1. Is there anyone in your circle of relationships about (or against) whom you have secretly muttered or harbored suspicions and doubts?
  2. What can the divine humility of the Lord Jesus teach us about that?
  3. What action can you take that might help to resolve such a situation?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Monday, November 5, 2012

God Working in You

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)
The word “therefore” that begins this section connects us back to the previous sections, about the divine humility of Jesus the God-man and how He has been exalted to the place of highest glory and honor. He is our example, whose entire being displays the attitude we should have in all things. It is part of our identity, who He is in us and who we are in Him.

Paul addresses the Jesus believers at Philippi as “my beloved.” In this we see the tender affection he has for them. He has had a very strong relationship with them ever since he first arrived in Macedonia. They have supported his ministry steadily, with prayer and provision and partnership in the gospel. Though he is now under house arrest in Rome, he has every confidence that he will be with them once again, for the increase and joy of their faith. In the meantime, he wants them to continue as if he was right there with them now, and he is confident that they will be all the more diligent because of his present circumstances. What Paul desires (keeping Philippians 2:1-4 in mind) is that they would treat each other as they would him if he were now present among them, with nothing done through selfish ambition or conceit but serving one another with the humility of the Lord Jesus.

“Therefore,” Paul tells them, “work out your own salvation.” There are a couple of things to note here. First, he is not talking about their individual personal destinies. The use of “you” and “your” here are in the plural forms. He is speaking to them as the community of believers. Second, he does not mean that they are to work for their salvation, that is, in order to get saved. Salvation is a gift of God that is at work in them. To “work out” one’s salvation, rather, is to bring forth the outer expression of what is now inherent in their inner being. Salvation is not merely a theory, it produces practical results in the life of the believer. Paul is telling them to manifest outwardly what is already an inward reality, to demonstrate the life of God and the attitude of Jesus that is already at work in them. The Contemporary English Version translates this as, “discover what it really means to be saved.”

Paul adds, “with fear and trembling.” That is a combination he uses a few times elsewhere: about when he first came to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:1-5), about when Paul sent Titus to the Corinthians and how they received him (2 Corinthians 7:-1316), and about how Christian bondservants should live in regard to their earthly masters (Ephesians 6:5-8). It is not about abject fear or terror but about being circumspect, careful, diligent and respectful. J. B. Phillips translates it as having “a proper sense of awe and responsibility” (The New Testament in Modern Speech).

It all comes down to dependence upon God. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” The Holman Christian Standard Bible has this as, “It is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.” We cannot even work up the desire for these things ourselves, much less fulfill them. But God comes and creates the proper desires in us Himself. The fact that we begin to desire the things of God is evidence of His saving work in us. God enables godly desire within us and along with that gives us the divine ability to do what He desires. This is exactly what He had promised centuries earlier, through the prophet Ezekiel:
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:25-27)
The Spirit of God works in us to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). This reflects the character and attitude of the Lord Jesus that Paul wants the believers at Philippi (and indeed, everywhere) to manifest. It is God’s doing through and through, His Spirit, His life, His salvation at work in us to do what we could not otherwise do. Our part is to be diligent and attentive to allow Him to bring it forth into outward expression, in faithful obedience to the Father and self-giving service toward one another.

Focus Questions
  1. What do you think are the present benefits of salvation? How do you live them out?
  2. How do you think of the fear of the Lord? As dread, or delight?
  3. How do you think of the will of God? As something you must resign yourself to, or something that releases you into His desire and pleasure?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Friday, November 2, 2012

The Humble God-Man Exalted with the Highest Glory

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
In the previous section, Paul spoke of the humility of the Son of God who came into the world as a man and manifested the servant heart even to the point of a humiliating death on a Roman cross. Now he shows how the greatness of that divine humility has been revealed.

The world has been turned upside down, or rather, right side up. The fallen world system, under the spell of principalities and powers, delights in what it perceives to be power and greatness, yet esteems humility and love to be the exact opposite of such. But God has revealed that greatness is found in humility and power in love, and He has done this by exalting Jesus with the greatest glory. This was not in regard to His divinity, in which He has always been infinitely glorious, but in regard to His humanity, which is what God had always planned for mankind from the beginning, when He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion” (Genesis 1:26). The exaltation of Jesus in His humanity also speaks to us about our own humanity.

Paul details this exaltation in his letter to the Jesus believers at Ephesus, where he prays that they might be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation from God to know
what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:19-23)
All things in heaven and earth have now been placed under the dominion of Jesus the God-man. The principalities and powers, which were disarmed at the cross (Colossians 2:15), must yield to the authority of His name and all it signifies. Paul also tells us that, as believers in the Lord Jesus, we too have been raised up together with Him and seated together in the heavenlies in Him (Ephesians 2:6).

This news is for all the world, and all the nations are invited to come and participate in Him, to know Him in His humility and to glory in His greatness. Before He ascended to His throne in heaven at the right hand of the Father, He gathered the disciples together and said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

God has exalted Jesus so that “every knew should bow” and “every tongue should confess” that Jesus is Lord. This echoes the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah:
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.
Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
(Isaiah 45:21-23)
The Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament that was used by the early church, uses the same words about every knee bowing and every tongue confessing that Paul uses in Philippians 2:10-11. What is said of the LORD in the Old Testament, Paul applies to the exalted Lord Jesus in the New.

The language of bowing the knee is not about what is done against one’s will — and it is certainly not to be confused with an enemy having his neck under the foot of his vanquisher. Bowing the knee is honor willingly offered. Likewise, confession is not what must be pulled through one’s teeth. It is freely given, and from the heart. Paul speaks two other times about the confession that Jesus is Lord. In 1 Corinthians 12:3, he tells us that no one can say “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. In Romans 10:9, he says that those who confess “Jesus is Lord,” will be saved.

In the Roman imperial cult of Paul’s day, each Caesar upon his death was considered to have ascended to take his place in the pantheon of Roman gods. This glorification of Caesar to god-like status was called apotheosis, “divinization” or “deification.” Being a Roman citizen, Paul would have known of this belief, as would the Jesus believers at Philippi (remember that Philippi was one of the chief Roman cities in Macedonia). Paul’s words, however, fly very much in the face of it. Where the Romans said, “Caesar is Lord,” Paul boldly declared, not Caesar, but Jesus is Lord. Caesar is not the one who has been exalted to the highest place, but Jesus the Messiah is. Even Caesar himself will bow down in reverence and worship the Lord Jesus. The declaration that Jesus is Lord, which is so central to the message of the gospel, rattled the Roman cages and was one reason why Christians were persecuted as subversives and why evangelism was such a dangerous venture. But it was also a reason for great joy.

Focus Questions
  1. What does the exaltation of Jesus the God-man say about humanity as God intended it?
  2. What do you suppose it means that we are seated with Jesus on His throne in the heavenlies, at the right hand of the Father? Can you see yourself there?
  3. How does the exaltation of Jesus the Son display the glory of the Father?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Divine Humility, Divine Greatness

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)
Be “like-minded,” Paul said, and “of one mind.” But it was a particular mind he had in view — the same mindedness, the same attitude that the Messiah, Jesus, showed when He became a man and went to the cross on our behalf.

Jesus is God. He is the Word about whom John the Gospel writer said, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). That is how it always was with Him, and how it always will be. Even so, there is something important that happened that changed the world forever. As John went on to say, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

In nature, essence and form, Jesus was, and is, God. But He “did not consider it robbery.” This translation does not make very clear what Paul means. Here are a few other versions that give a better understanding:
  • “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (English Standard Version)
  • “did not consider equality with God something to be robbed {or used to advantage}” (Context Group Version)
  • “did not cling to his prerogatives as God’s equal” (J. B. Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English)
  • “did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit” (The Expanded Bible)
  • “did not after weighing the facts, consider it a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards” (Wuest, The New Testament: An Expanded Translation)
So Jesus “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant.” The Greek words literally mean that He “emptied Himself.” This does not mean that He in any way ceased to be God in essence or in attribute. It means that He did not cling to His divine prerogatives, but as Phillips says, “stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature.” Or as the Lexham English Bible puts it, He “emptied himself by taking the form of a slave, by becoming in the likeness of people.” Being God did not mean He could not be a servant, and being a servant did not take away one bit of His divinity.

He took on the form of a doulos, a bondservant, a slave. The Greek word doulos views a servant in relationship to his master. Though Jesus is equal to God in His essence, He took on the form of a doulos, to serve the Father and be obedient to Him. Jesus said, “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30). The form He took did not make one bit of difference to the essence of His being. He was free to serve and it did not rob Him of anything.

Jesus not only took on the form of a servant, He came in the “likeness” of men. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). In the LXX (the Septuagint, an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament), the word for “likeness” used there is essentially the same one Paul uses here in Philippians.

There is a beautiful symmetry at work: Man was created according to the likeness of God, and God, in the person of the Son, came in the likeness of men. The Word, who was with God in the beginning, and indeed is God, became flesh and dwelt among us. He was “found in appearance as a man,” or as Weymouth puts it, “being recognized as truly human” (New Testament in Modern Speech).

Jesus “humbled” Himself. In verse 3, Paul said, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit.” The Greek word for “conceit” is kenodoxia, literally, “empty glorying” (which is why some versions translate it as “vainglory”). Now compare that with Jesus, who “emptied” Himself (the Greek word is kenosis) and “humbled” Himself. There is no selfish ambition there, no seeking of reputation, no “empty glorying.” While some of the believers at Philippi were apparently operating in empty pride (that is, pride without cause), there was no such vanity in the Lord Jesus.

Paradoxically, by not holding onto the prerogatives of God at all costs, Jesus was actually manifesting the nature of God. Consider how Wuest translates this passage:
But himself He emptied, himself He made void, having taken the outward expression of a bondslave, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His nature [as deity], entering into a new state of existence, that of mankind. (brackets are Wuest’s)
Becoming a bondservant is not foreign to the nature of God but is representative of His true nature as deity! God is love, John tells us (1 John 4:16), and it is the nature of love to give and to serve. God so loved the world that He gave His Son; the Son so loved the world that He gave Himself. On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus revealed the secret of divine greatness to His disciples:
You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:42-45)
This is not about becoming a servant so that we may one day be promoted to greatness. No, becoming a servant is the promotion and serving one another is greatness. It is a perfect reflection of the divine nature.

Having taken the form of a bondservant (in His divinity) and humbled Himself (in His humanity) Jesus became obedient to the Father’s will, even to the point of death. Not just any death, but the most terrifying, most humiliating kind of death — death on a Roman cross. Divine greatness, not to mention divine grace, knows no bounds.

Focus Questions
  1. Does it surprise you that servanthood is greatness?
  2. Does it surprise you that servanthood is truly representative of the divine nature?
  3. How does this help you take on the attitude of being a servant for others?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Revealing the Fellowship of the Spirit

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)
Paul continues his appeal for unity among the Jesus believers at Philippi. His “if” statements are rhetorical, of course. He already knows the answers and it is Yes on all four counts. God has begun a good work in them and Paul has every confidence that He will bring them on to maturity in Jesus the Messiah. So he gently reminds them of who they are in Jesus and what that means.
  • Consolation in Christ. The Greek word for “consolation” also carries the idea of encouragement and exhortation. Paul wants to encourage and exhort them “in Christ,” that is, on the basis of who they are in the Messiah. Because it is about His purpose, and His body, the church, and it will be His ability that accomplishes whatever needs to be done.
  • Comfort of love. The Greek word for “comfort” has an aspect of both gentleness and persuasiveness. Wuest calls it “tender persuasion” (The New Testament: An Expanded Translation). Paul says of his own ministry, “for the love of Christ compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).
  • Fellowship of the Spirit. Every believer receives the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), who works in us not just as individuals but together as the people of God. He is not many but one, so He joins us all together as one body, the body of Messiah. Paul is always eager for the church to manifest the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).
  • Affection and mercy. This “affection” is not superficial. The Greek word used here literally refers to the bowels. Figuratively, and in this context, it is about deep, heart-felt emotion. The word for “mercy” speaks of compassion or sympathy. Paul’s request takes a personal turn here. “If you have any affection for me …”
Weymouth translates the four “if” statements this way: “If then I can appeal to you as the followers of Christ, if there is any persuasive power in love and any common sharing of the Spirit, or if you have any tender-heartedness and compassion …” (The New Testament in Modern Speech).

All of this is preliminary to Paul’s plea, which he now presents: “Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

“Fulfill my joy.” Paul has already expressed the thanks he gives to God, “with joy,” because of their partnership with him in the good news about King Jesus (Philippians 1:3-5). And he rejoices that Jesus is being preached, even by those who do not do it with the best motives (Philippians 1:15-18). His joy is not yet complete, however, because they are lacking in unity.

Here, then, is the meat of Paul’s appeal, the thing that will fill his joy up to the brim: That they will live and function in such a way that will reveal the true unity that they have together in King Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. That they will be “like-minded,” or of one mind. This does not mean that there will not be any diversity of thinking or even that there will not be any disagreements. But it does mean having the same purpose and the same focus. Paul also wants them to show the same love for one another, not making distinction between those with whom they agree and those with whom they disagree, but loving all equally. He wants them to be of “one accord,” literally, of one soul, so that they share the same heartbeat, the same desire, the same motivation.

Paul further elaborates on what all this means: “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Earlier, Paul mentioned some (though not by name) who were preaching the good news about King Jesus out of envy, strife, selfish ambition, and in pretense, making an outward show of it (Philippians 1:15-16). How very ironic! But Paul was thankful that, either way, “whether in pretense or in truth,” Messiah was being preached (Philippians 1:18).

Paul was being gentle then, and still is now even as he exhorts them firmly and directly. Selfish ambition, rivalry and a partisan spirit have no place among them. Nor is there any room for the outward show and empty glory of conceit. Let those be gone for good!

However, there is something that must take their place: Humility (“lowliness of mind”). Each esteeming the other better than, or ahead of, himself. Or as Paul says elsewhere with very similar words, “In honor, giving preference to one another” (Romans 12:10).

Now, this does not mean beating yourself down. And it is not about becoming a doormat and allowing others to run roughshod over you. Nor does it mean that you must ignore your own needs and concerns. But it means becoming a servant, putting others first and looking out for each other as well as for yourself. This will reveal the unity and fellowship we have in the Spirit and show that King Jesus is very real in us.

Focus Questions
  1. How do you explain the “persuasive power of love”?
  2. What is the difference between humility and being humiliated?
  3. How easy, or difficult, is it for you to put others ahead of yourself? Why do you suppose that is?



There is Always Joy!
There is Always Joy!
Paul’s Letters to the Jesus Believers at Philippi
Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Philippians
by Jeff Doles

Preview with Amazon’s “Look Inside.”

Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Parameters of God’s Millennial Kingdom

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20)
This passage at the end of the book of Matthew encapsulates the millennial reign of King Jesus the Messiah. At the cross, Jesus disarmed the principalities and powers, the demonic influences that pervert nations and cultures away from God (Colossians 2:15). Their power is now broken and cannot withstand the power and purpose of God in the world. At the resurrection, Jesus became the firstborn from the dead, the firstborn over God’s new creation (Colossians 1:18).

Then, after forty days of teaching His disciples about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3), He came to them and announced, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” This is the language of enthronement, the King receiving His kingdom. The next thing that was about to happen was His ascension to heaven, to His throne at the right hand of the Father,
far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:21-23)
The kingdom of God has come into the world and Jesus the Messiah, God’s Anointed King, has begun His reign. This is what all the Old Testament prophets pointed forward to, the time when God would change the world, rescue His people, Israel, and gather all the nations to know Him. It is the time figuratively represented in Revelation 20 as “a thousand years” (which is why it is called the millennial reign).

The millennial reign has already begun — it began with the ascension of King Jesus to His throne. It will reach its ultimate fulfillment when King Jesus returns at the end of the age. That is when all those who belong to Him will be resurrected, raised bodily from the grave, just as He was. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 15:
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)
But what happens next? Some believe that this is when the millennial reign of King Jesus begins. Others believe the newly resurrected are carried off to heaven for seven years while there is great tribulation and terror on earth, after which the resurrected ones will return to earth with King Jesus, and then the millennial reign begins. However, Paul says none of this, and what he does say leaves no room for it. What, then, happens after the return of King Jesus and the resurrection of all those who belong to Him?
Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26)
“Then comes the end.” Not seven years of tribulation. Not even the millennial reign — that will have already taken place before the resurrection. But, “the end.” At this point, the millennial kingdom will have reached its fulfillment.

What happens at the end? King Jesus delivers the kingdom to His Father. At that time, every rule and authority and power that opposes God will be completely destroyed. Even death itself will be destroyed, cast into the “lake of fire,” as Revelation 2:14 says.

But what happens in between the beginning of the millennial kingdom, when Jesus ascended to His throne in heaven, and its completion at His return? Jesus rules and reigns, bringing every enemy under His feet. How does He do this? Through His body, the church, all those who belong to Him. For God has not only put all things under His feet — given Him all authority over them — He has also given Him as head over the church, which is His body.

King Jesus has already been given all authority on earth as well as in heaven. We are His body in the world, to exercise His kingdom authority and power on earth. How do we do this? By obeying the commission He gave us: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” That is our job until the end of the age, for Jesus said, “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

These, then, are the parameters of the millennial reign of King Jesus the Messiah. It began with His ascension and all power being given to Him in heaven and on earth. It will reach its completion when He comes again. In between, we, His body, make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to follow Him in everything. When all the nations are discipled and following King Jesus, then the end of the age will come. Heaven and earth will be joined together as one (Revelation 21) and the will of God will be done on earth exactly as it is done in heaven. In the meantime, King Jesus is always with us, assuring the success of His kingdom and the commission He has given us to fulfill.

So, as a friend of mine likes to say, “Be encouraged.”

Friday, October 19, 2012

Follow the One Who Knows


On his deathbed, Mohammed confessed that he did not know where he would go or what God would do to him. On the night before He was crucified, Jesus said, “I go to My Father” and “In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

I would rather follow someone who knows where He is going than someone who does not.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

The Growing Presence of the Kingdom


Many Christians expect the kingdom of God to come in all at once, lickety split, full and complete. That was the expectation the Jews had in Jesus’ day. They were looking for Messiah to come as a king who would immediately triumphant over the nations, but He came as a suffering servant and was nailed to the cross. For them, a crucified Messiah was no messiah at all, just a contradiction in terms.

The disciples also appeared to initially have had the same expectation. After the resurrection, Jesus spent 40 days teaching them about the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3 — that would seem to be a misplaced priority if the kingdom was not mean for this present time). Then before He ascended to His throne in heaven, they asked, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). They wanted it to be full and complete and all at once.

However, look at how Jesus answered them. He did not say Yes and He did not say No. But He said, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7). In other words, the timing of kingdom completion is for the Father to know, so Jesus did not answer in terms of when it would come. Instead, I believe He answered in terms of how it would come:
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
The Holy Spirit would come upon them, and when that happened they would be taking the testimony about Jesus the Messiah into all the world. The significance of the word “Messiah” is that it identifies Jesus as God’s “Anointed” King (see Psalm 2). The Holy Spirit was part of the Old Testament expectation concerning God’s coming kingdom, and this expectation was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit came upon the them at Pentecost, and He remains on the church even today. That by itself is enough to establish that the kingdom of God has come and is now present in the world.

In Matthew’s account, Jesus came to the disciples and declared, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Then He sent them out to make disciples of all nations. The fact that Jesus has already been given all authority on earth is another thing that by itself establishes that the kingdom of God has truly begun. Couple that with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the church, and we have a very powerful combination indicating that the kingdom is now is now present in the world.

We are in the kingdom and the kingdom is in us. The kingdom is present in the world inasmuch as the Spirit-baptized church is in the world. The kingdom is now present but it has not yet come in all its fullness — that will not happen until King Jesus returns. But it has most certainly begun, and it continues to grow and advance day by day. We are presently living in between the times of its inauguration in the world (when King Jesus ascended to His throne) and its full manifestation (when King Jesus returns). That is why Paul refers to Him, even now in this present age, as Messiah and King. That is also why Peter refers to us, the Church, as a “royal” priesthood, the priests of the King.

I recently posted about the growing presence of the kingdom of God in the world, “Carrying the Kingdom.” Someone asked how I could speak of the kingdom as advancing. It did not seem to him that the kingdom is growing and things are getting better, but that things are getting worse. However, I think the world is in a much better condition since the cross, the resurrection and the ascension of King Jesus to His throne.

For example, in addition to many wonderful technical advances, which make life considerably easier for a large and growing portion of the world, there have also been tremendous advances in medicine and the healing arts — many people are living longer, healthier lives today than in the past. The world is also a much more civilized place than it was centuries ago. Though there are places where we can still find barbarity, it is not as prevalent as it used to be.

Much of this improvement has been because of the influence of Christianity, the Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ. A number of years ago, D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe wrote a book called What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? It talks about the pervasive and amazing influence the gospel has had in the world. You can preview the book a bit at Amazon. Even just perusing the chapter titles will give you an pretty good idea of how the world is a much better place because the kingdom of God has come. I also recommend a recent book by Christian sociologist Bradley R. E. Wright, Upside: Surprising GOOD NEWS About the State of Our World — the title speaks for itself.

Though there is much trouble in the Middle East with the Arab states, and has been for well over two thousand years, there have recently been hundreds of thousands of Muslims who have come to Christ there, with thousands of new churches planted in Muslim countries, many of them even in the more difficult Muslim communities. Jerry Trousdale has written a book about it called called, Miraculous Movements: How Hundreds of Thousands of Muslims Are Falling in Love with Jesus.

Evangelism is exploding in many parts of the world and among many different groups. It has been estimated that the church in China is growing by about 20,000 new believers each day. Plus another 20,000 new believers in Africa.

There is still much left to do, of course, but there is a lot that has already been accomplished that has changed the world for the better. I believe that the commission Jesus gave the disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 will not fail but will be fulfilled, that all the nations of the world will become disciples of King Jesus.

The kingdom of God has come into the world, is present today and continues to increase and advance. Be encouraged, Jesus is Lord over all and His kingdom is increasing everyday.

(See also The Gradual Kingdom)

Friday, October 12, 2012

The Gradual Kingdom


Some Christians believe that the kingdom of God is not for now but for a later time, and that when it comes, it will come suddenly. But the New Testament speaks of it in a very different way. Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15). He was announcing the good news that the kingdom of God had now come into the world. And it has never left.

Now let’s take a look at the nature of the kingdom, whether it comes suddenly, as some people think, or gradually. In keeping with the way Jesus began His ministry, the parables He taught are mostly about the kingdom of God. The parables in Matthew 13 are explicitly about the kingdom, and in them we can see something of how it comes.
The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.

So the servants of the owner came and said to him, “Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?”

He said to them, “An enemy has done this.”

The servants said to him, “Do you want us then to go and gather them up?”

But he said, “No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30)
First, notice that the kingdom is likened to a seed that is sown. That is a very good indication that the kingdom of God comes gradually because that is the nature of a seed. No one sows a seed and expects it to sprout immediately into a full-grown plant. That happens over time.

Notice also that in this parable the man sowed seed and then he slept. The day passed into night and the man went to bed. “While he slept” his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. The presence of “while” indicates the passage of time.

Then, when the grain sprouted and the crop began to come up, the tares also appeared. This did not happen immediately but gradually, as is the manner of seeds. They do not suddenly shoot up as full-grown plants. They sprout and then they continue to develop. The problem here was that the tares were also sprouting. The servants came to the master and wanted to rip the tares out of the ground. But the master did not permit them to do that because he did not want the wheat to be damaged in the process.

Now look at what the master said: “Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest, I will say to the reapers” (v. 30). There is a process of growth and a period of waiting between the time the seed sprouts and the time of harvest comes. It is not all at once but happens gradually, over time. That is exactly how it is with the kingdom of God, because this is a parable that is explicitly about the kingdom.

Another brief parable follows in Matthew 13:31-32: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

Here again, the kingdom is likened to a seed. Again notice that there is a process of growth, indicated by the words “when it is grown.” This shows the passage of time. Also, note that it “becomes” a tree. It is not sown as a tree but as a seed. However, as it grows, at some point it develops into the form of a tree, and one day becomes large enough to host the birds of the air. This is how it is with the kingdom of God. It began as a seed and has been gradually growing up into a tree that is large enough for the nations of the world to come and find a home.

A third, very brief parable follows, but this time the kingdom is likened to leaven. “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened” (v. 33). Here again, we see that the kingdom comes gradually, just as leaven gradually works its way throughout the dough until the whole lump is completely leavened. This does not happen instantly but gradually.

In Mark 4, we find another “seed” parable about the kingdom: “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

The man sows the seed, but it does not immediately sprout into a plant ready for harvest. It is the season of sowing, not of reaping. Days and nights pass. The seed sprouts and then grows (the man does not know how it happens, he just sows the seed). Note the progression — first, the blade, then the head, then after that the full grain, then the grain ripens, and then it is ready for harvest. It all happens gradually, not all at once. That is what the kingdom of God is like. It does not come suddenly but gradually: first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head, then the grain ripens and it is ready for harvest.

The kingdom of God has already been sown in the earth, and though we cannot say exactly where we are in the process, it is clear that we are not yet at harvest time — that will not come until the end of this present age when King Jesus returns. All we know is that we are living somewhere in between the season of sowing the kingdom and the season when it is fully ripened and ready for harvest. That is, we are in the season when the kingdom grows and increases. It happens gradually, not suddenly.

The seed has been sown and the kingdom has begun in the world, though it may not always seem that way to us. However, regardless of how things may appear to us at any given moment, the truth remains that it has already begun and continues to grow and increase, because that is what taught. What we observe in the world must eventually line up with the truth of the Word.

So, whatever we might read in the daily newspapers or see on CNN or Fox News, it does not at all disprove what Jesus taught in His parables. It does not mean that the “seed” of the kingdom has not yet been sown or that the “wheat” is not yet present and growing in the world. It only shows that harvest time has not yet come and that the tares are still growing along with the wheat.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

NEW BOOK! ~ The Focus of Our Faith

My new book is out, a study in Paul's letter to the Jesus believers at Colosse. It is available in paperback through our ministry and at Amazon. It is also available in Kindle, epub and PDF formats. You can preview a bit of it at the Kindle link below. The format is the same as my current series of posts on Paul's letter to the Jesus believers at Philippi.

The Focus of Our Faith: Paul’s Letter to the Jesus Believers at Colosse
(Bite-Sized Studies Through the Book of Colossians)
by Jeff Doles
Walking Barefoot Ministries
ISBN 978-0-9823536-3-9(Paperback)
Preview with Amazon's "Look Inside"
5.5 x 8.5 in., 162 pages
$9.99 USD




Also available at Amazon
eBook formats: Kindle | PDF | ePub ~ $3.99

WHEN YOU HAVE THE PROPER FOCUS, YOU CAN SEE THINGS CLEARLY

Focus is important. The better your focus, the more clearly you can see. But it is important that your focus be on the right thing because your direction will follow your focus. When your focus is clear and on the right thing, then you will be heading in the right direction.

The gospel of our faith is the good news that the kingdom of God has come and Jesus is the Messiah, God’s anointed King. He is the focus of our faith — not only the One upon whom we fix our attention but also the One through whom we view the whole world, to see more clearly and understand God’s purpose with greater wisdom. That is what Paul’s letter to the Jesus believers at Colosse is about. This book is a study of that letter. In it you will learn about:

  • The blessing and inheritance God has for you
  • The divine power trio: faith, hope and love
  • A walk that is worthy, a life that is pleasing and fruitful
  • Knowing God more and more
  • How all things hold together
  • Where all divine fullness dwells
  • The reconciliation of heaven and earth
  • The good news of God’s pleasure
  • The revelation of divine glory in you
  • Being rooted and built up in Jesus
  • The powers that have been disarmed
  • Living from a higher realm
  • The Word that qualifies us
  • Clothes for your new life
  • New life at home and in the community of faith
  • The spiral of watchful, thankful prayer
  • Walking in wisdom
 
These are “bite-size” studies to help guide you through Paul’s letter, a little at a time. At the end of each study are focus questions to help you think further about the truths Paul brings. They are open-ended questions to allow for maximum personal reflection and group discussion.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

A Kingdom Narrative of the Gospel


The Gospel According to Mark tells us that the Lord Jesus came “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God” (Mark 1:14). I believe there is only one gospel and that it is the announcement that the kingdom of God has come, and Jesus is the one God has anointed to be King. Someone asked me, then, how I would share the gospel of the kingdom of God with a 24-year old at a Starbucks.

In such a conversation, I might look for it to go somewhat along these lines: I would listen to whatever he has to say. Sooner or later, he will talk about how messed up things are. It will probably not take too long for him to get to that — he’s a 24-year-old. He is not thinking about the next life, he is thinking about how messed up this life is. That will most likely be the point of his greatest concern and lead to the point of his greatest need.

That’s when we can discuss the nature of the world, and I will point out that God did not create it for the mess that we see, but that God created the world, and us, to reflect His glory and goodness. That’s what Genesis 1 is about. In the beginning, God — who exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit — created the heavens and the earth, and it was all good. Then He said, “Let Us make man in Our image and according to Our likeness … and let them have dominion over all the earth.” We were meant to bear the image of God, to be His “icon” in the world — to show off His goodness all over creation and bring all of creation into alignment with the splendor of heaven.

However, man rebelled against God and decided to do things his own way. He disconnected from the life and goodness and glory of God, and that’s when everything hit the fan. Even creation itself got messed up, because man had dominion over it and now man was messed up himself. It affected us all, which is why the Bible says that “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

But God immediately had a plan to rescue mankind from this mess and restore creation. It began with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the book of Genesis. God created a nation from them, Israel, to bring forth this rescue into the world, to every nation and people. But even the nation God created got messed up. So God promised that He would raise up a King from out of this nation who would rescue it and all the other nations of the world. This is the Messiah, which means “Anointed One.” And this is what the Old Testament is about — God promised through His prophets that this Messiah would come and set everything right in the world. The Messiah would bring the kingdom of God into the world and would Himself be King.

This is where the New Testament begins, where the promise begins to be fulfilled. The Son of God, who created the world, came into the world. He became flesh and dwelt among us to get personal with us. His name is Jesus and He is the Messiah God promised, the one God anointed to be King.

Jesus came preaching the gospel, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come. Return to God and believe the good news.” He taught us about the kingdom. [This would be a good place to talk about the nature of the kingdom, for example, in the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, the parables of Jesus, and the healing ministry of Jesus.]

Jesus said that whoever would trust in Him would enter into “eternal life,” which is the life of God’s kingdom both now and forever. And He said that if we seek this kingdom — the rule and reign of God to set everything right — and make it our priority in everything, everything else would be taken care of.

Now, Jesus was not unopposed in this. The enemy of God, who fooled man away in the first place, was desperate to stop God’s destiny for the world. Sometimes he is called “satan,” sometimes “the devil.” And there are a number of what the Bible calls “principalities and powers,” the demonic forces and influences that stand behind every oppressive regime, government and expression of evil in the world.

But they were no match for God and no match for His Messiah. The great conflict took place at the cross, where Jesus the Messiah not only dealt with our sin and our sinfulness, He disarmed the “principalities and powers.” Through His death, He broke the power of the one who has the power of death (that is, the devil). Three days later, God raised Messiah from the dead. He is called the “firstborn from the dead” and the “firstborn over all creation.” With the principalities and powers disarmed, and Messiah raised from the dead, new creation has begun, and all who belong to Messiah, through faith in Him, are part of that new creation. Jesus’ resurrection is the guarantee that all who belong to Him will also be raised from the dead when He returns.

The kingdom of God has come to set things right in this broken world, and Jesus is the King. All authority in heaven and on earth belongs now to Him, and He sent His disciples out to tell the whole world, to teach all the nations all that Jesus taught them. But the world is still messed up in many ways because the kingdom is a work in progress. Jesus told parables about how the kingdom starts small and grows big. One day it will be here in all its fullness, when King Jesus returns. It has already begun but is not yet done, and we are living in between the times.

God’s purpose is to gather everything in heaven and on earth together as one and reconcile all things to Himself through King Jesus. And King Jesus is calling the whole world to become a part of His kingdom, to trust in Him and walk in His ways.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Gehenna, Hades and Hell


Lately I've been thinking about hell. There are two different Greek words translated as “hell” in the New Testament: gehenna and hades. Gehenna is used a dozen times in the New Testament and, with the exception of James 3:6, is found only in the Synoptic Gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark and Luke), on the lips of the Lord Jesus. It is the term that is associated with fire. For example, in Mark 9:43-44, we read this brief description (which is similarly repeated two more times in verses 45-48):
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell [gehenna], into the fire that shall never be quenched — where “Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.” (Mark 9:43-44)
Gehenna is also the term associated with destruction. In Matthew 10:28, Jesus said, “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell [gehenna].” Notice that it is not just the body that is destroyed in gehenna, but the soul as well. This is the destruction of the entire being.

At the end of the book of Isaiah, we read an interesting description of what happens at the end. It is about what happens when God’s glory has been declared to all the nations and He makes the new heavens and the new earth (Isaiah 66:22).
“All flesh shall come to worship before Me,” says the Lord. “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.” (Isaiah 66:23-24)
This portrays what will happen to the wicked dead. They are corpses. There is no life in them at all. Notice, “their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched,” the same description we read about gehenna in Mark 9. The fire cannot be quenched and the worm does not die. In other words, nothing can stop them from consuming the wicked dead completely. This is total destruction.

When Jesus uses the word gehenna, He is not talking about a literal burning, with a literal worm or a literal fire, but it conveys to us the destruction that awaits those who do evil and do not repent. They are consumed by the “fire.” That is gehenna — fire and destruction.

The other word translated as “hell” is the word hades. It is found 11 times in the New Testament. It is also found in the LXX (the Septuagint, the ancient Greek version of the Old Testament), over 60 times, where it translates sheol, the Hebrew word for “hell” and “the grave.” It speaks of the place of the dead.

That is how it is used in the New Testament. For example, when Jesus said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” It is not speaking of hell-fire and final destruction but of the grave. Not even death itself can stop the church, because there is coming a resurrection of the righteous — Jesus Himself is the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18). Speaking of Jesus’ resurrection and how it guarantees the resurrection of all who belong to Him, Paul exclaims, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

At Pentecost, when Peter stood to preach, he declared the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Quoting from Psalm 16, he said, “For You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption [decay]” (Acts 2:27). Then Peter speaks of the “prophet” (David) who wrote that, “He, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption” (Acts 2:31).

There is also this very interesting passage near the end of the book of Revelation.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:13-15)
This is the end of chapter 20. The very next thing we read, in Revelation 20:1, is this: “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.” This is very much like what we read at the end of Isaiah. God makes the new heavens and the new earth, and then we read of the destruction of the wicked — by fire.

In the end, death and hades will be thrown into the “lake of fire.” Remember that fire is associated with gehenna, not with hades. It appears, then, that this “lake of fire” corresponds to gehenna. Hades, the place of the dead, will be thrown into what we might call gehenna, where both body and soul are destroyed. As Isaiah 66:23-24 portrays for us the total destruction of the wicked, I believe that in the same way, Revelation 20:13-15 portrays for us the total destruction of death and hades as well. “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?”

Monday, October 1, 2012

All Authority to the God-Man


Someone asked how Jesus could be “given” all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). Did He not, as God, always possess that authority?

We need to remember that Jesus is fully human as well as fully divine. He is the God-man. In His divinity, He has always existed, without beginning or end, as the Son of God. But His human nature had a beginning in time and space. John writes, “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” (John 1:1-2, 14).

Now notice, in Matthew 28:18, that Jesus said that all authority “has been given” to Him in heaven and on earth. This indicates that there was a time when that was not so. That is, as the God-man, He did not always possess all authority in heaven and earth. In His divinity, Yes, but in His humanity, No.

In Philippians 2, we see something else that was given to Him. Because of the cross, and through the resurrection, Jesus the Messiah has been “given” the “name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

Paul is really saying the same thing here that Jesus said in Matthew 28:18. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him; the highest name has been given to Him, so that all in heaven and on earth must bow before Him and confess that He is Lord.

Notice also, that this is not authority yet to be given, or a name yet to be given. In both places, the word for “given” is in the aorist tense, signifying completed action, a done deal. All this fulfills a very important prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14:
I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.
Here we see the prophetic significance of the phrase by which Jesus often referred to Himself, “the Son of Man.” It does not mean merely that Jesus is human, but it identifies Him as the divinely chosen man, who was to be given full authority over the earth. Compare this passage also with how the Lord’s Prayer ends: “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”

So it is not simply as God that Jesus has been given these things. It is as the God-man, because of the great victory He won on the cross over sin and death and the principalities and powers, and by the vindication He received when God raised Him from the dead. Here is a breath-taking realization: The One who rules and reigns over heaven and earth is fully human as well as fully divine.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Carrying the Kingdom of God


As believers in King Jesus the Messiah, we bring the kingdom of God wherever we go and it addresses every part of life in every part of the world. The apostle John said, “The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). That is quite an amazing thing, especially when many Christians seem to think quite the opposite, that the darkness is getting darker and the true light is fading away. But in the overlap of the ages, the age of God’s kingdom breaking into this present evil age, it is this present age with all its darkness that is passing away and God’s kingdom with all its light that is continually increasing.

In Isaiah 9, the messianic prophecy of the Child that is born and the Son that is given, it says that “of the increase of His government and peace will be no end” (vv. 6-7). That Child has been born and that Son has been given. All authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), and His government (His kingdom) will continue to increase until it fills the whole earth.

In recent days, we have seen the disturbances in Libya, Egypt and Syria. But because the kingdom of God has come into the world we have some powerful ways to address that. For one thing, in our worship when we proclaim that Jesus is Lord over all, we are not just doing our own little thing in our own little space. We are announcing the Lordship of Jesus in the heavenlies, including to the principalities and powers (the demonic influences behind all the political, religious, cultural and economic oppressions). Paul said that God is making His manifold wisdom known to the principalities and powers — through the Church! (Ephesians 3:10).

For another thing, we have the very powerful way King Jesus taught us to pray: Kingdom of God, come! Will of God, be done on earth as it is in heaven (my paraphrase). So in this present situation, for example, my prayer is, “Kingdom of God, come into Libya, Egypt and Syria. Will of God, be done in Libya, Egypt and Syria just it is being done in heaven.” Because Jesus is Lord and King over all those. They belong to is domain, His kingdom.

I also pray that the Father will give them a revelation of the Lord Jesus, by the Holy Spirit. I keep hearing reports about an amazing thing that has been happening in Muslim countries and communities. Many Muslims have been having dreams and visions of Jesus — they are clear that it is Jesus, not Mohammed, that they are seeing — and because of this they seek out Christians to learn more about Him. Many have come to know the Lord Jesus through way. On one of my other blogs, I have curated some links to what is happening with many Muslims, how they are coming to the Lord Jesus because of dreams and visions, healings and other miracles: Muslims Come to Jesus. I pray for the Lord to continue and increase that.

We also have the Holy Spirit, to bear the fruit of the Spirit and gifts of the Spirit wherever we go. This is a manifestation that God’s kingdom has truly begun and is now present in the world.

And we have the Great Commission. The Lord Jesus announced that all authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth, and then He commissioned the disciples to go out into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them about Him and all that He taught (Matthew 28:18-20). In other words, to go out and announce that the kingdom of God has come and Jesus is the King of heaven and earth.

Within that discipleship, we bring the influence of God’s kingdom to bear in every aspect of life. Including government, religion, media, family education, business, arts and entertainment — these are the seven “mountains” of the Seven Mountain Strategy movement. The kingdom of God has something to say about all of these because it comes to redeem every part of life.

Seeing the kingdom of God at work in the world and participating with Him in that work is very exciting. I live now with great expectation of what God is going to do next. Not a dread that things will get darker and darker and that the true light will fade but a joyful anticipation of the darkness fading more and more as the light of King Jesus and His kingdom increases more and more on the earth. I’ve never been more passionate about the gospel than I am now.