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Minister's Food

MF-Gleanings in Christology

REASONS TO STUDY CHRISTOLOGY

The health of our lives and churches depends on how we understand and follow Christ. Christianity stands or falls with its Christology. Here are four reasons for a deeper knowledge of Jesus.

 

First, there are depths to the doctrine that we have not discovered. A full account about Jesus is inexhaustible (John 21:25).

 

Second, our spiritual well-being depends on being reshaped by biblical teaching. The corrective for unhealthy habits that misshape our lives is the wisdom found in Christ.

 

Third, while biblical truth never changes (Ephesians 4:14; Hebrew 13:9; Jude 3), the circumstances of our lives do. We must  come afresh to God’s Word for the wisdom of Christ that meets our daily needs.

 

Finally, the study of Christ is for God’s glory and our good. The Father is pleased when much is made of His Son. It is amazing, but through the proper knowledge of Christ, we can come to participate, not only in salvation, but in God’s very life (2 Peter 1:3-4).

 

CHRIST, THE MESSIAH

In Jesus’ day the messianic puzzle lay in pieces. God promised that Eve’s
descendent would crush Satan’s head (Gen ‪3:15). This seed was through Abraham
(Gen 17:19) and associated with David (Psalm 2:7). Added were promises about various
anointed figures (priests, prophets, and kings). Messiah would be a human servant (Isaiah 42:1). Other texts pointed to a heavenly being (Daniel 7:13). How would this come together?

 

Some sought a king to free them from Rome. Some focused on a ruling priestly messiah. Turning from politics, others looked for a righteous teacher. Each justified their picture from the Old Testament.

 

Peter’s confession was a breakthrough: “You are the Messiah, Son of the living God” (Matt ‪16:16). Jesus became a magnet, drawing the pieces together. Messiah would be king and priest (Psalm 110:1, 4; Hebrews 7). Messiah would be suffering servant (Isa 53; Phil 2:4-8) and glorious Son of God (Phil 2:9-11; John 1:4, 18). He would be a human being and the divine Savior.

 

The puzzle is now complete and perfectly meets our need.

 

CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD
How is Jesus God’s “only Son”? The Apostle’s Creed says, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in his only Son Jesus, our Lord.”

 

In the Bible, Adam is God’s son (Luke 3:38), Israel is God’s son (Exodus 4:23), Solomon is God’s son (Psalm 72:1), and peacemakers are sons of God (Matt 5:9).
Jesus must be God’s Son in a special way to be called His “only” son.

 

The creedal designations that follow (“Jesus, our Lord”) help explain. Christ is both God’s Son in his humanity, for his name is “Jesus” – the perfect Adam, the new Israel, the promised Davidic King, and the true peacemaker. But Christ is also the Son of God in his deity. He is “our Lord.” As applied to Jesus, “Lord” often comes from the Old Testament name Yahweh (e.g., Hebrews 1:10). This means that Jesus as “God’s only Son” is fully man and fully God.

 

Let’s confess our faith in such a Savior, “God’s only Son.”

Ministries, Monthly, Uncategorized

It Takes One to Make One

The last command of our Lord Jesus was “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19 ESV). It was given to His eleven men, His disciples, and not to the multitudes. Why? Because it takes a disciple to make a disciple. If we are going to see strong, devoted disciples of Christ raised up under our leadership and discipleship, we ourselves must be a strong devoted disciple of Christ. It’s that simple.
 
One of the primary goals of Christian leaders and disciplers is the deepening of the spiritual lives of those they lead. Their followers must grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ, developing in their effectiveness for Him and deepening their devotion. It is God’s desire that they demonstrate Christlike qualities in everyday life. The Bible is alive with examples of this. Under David’s leadership the men around him won battle after battle, defending the kingdom against the enemies of God. But the greatest accomplishments were in the lives of the men themselves. How were these men described when they came to David? “All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him” (1 Samuel 22:2 NIV).  
 
Later after association with David, these men became strong, dedicated, mighty men of valor. Scripture describes one of them, Eleazer, as … “one of the three mighty men…with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle…. He stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazer, but only to strip the dead” (2 Samuel 23:9-10 NIV).
 
The influence of leaders and disciplers on their followers is interesting to observe in the Bible. For example, how many giant killers were in Saul’s army? None. When Goliath defied the armies of God, they shook with fear (1 Samuel 17:11). David, who came to bring food to his brothers, sized up the situation, went out in faith, and killed the giant. After David, the giant killer, became king, how many giant killers arose in Israel? Many. They were almost common in David’s army. 
 
“At that time Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaites, and the Philistines were subjugated. 
 
In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. 
 
In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. 
 
These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men” (1 Chronicles 20:4-8 NIV).
 
Why were there no giant killers in Saul’s army? One reason is that Saul himself was not one. However, under David’s leadership there were many. Why? Because David was one. This illustrates a powerful principle of leadership and discipleship which runs throughout the Bible. *It takes one to make one.*
 
Here are some questions for thoughtful prayer:
 
1. How would we feel if the Lord called us to shepherd a church of four hundred people like those described in 1 Samuel 22:2?
 
2. How do we react to this principle of leadership and discipleship: “It takes one to make one.” Are we encouraged, frightened, challenged, or? Why?
 
3. What signs do we look for to see if a person is ready to make disciples, either one-on-one or in a group setting? 
 
4. Read 2 Timothy 2:2. Does this pattern work with any age? Is it different with men and women? How about a parent to a child? 
 
Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11-14 (ESV) what our primary work is as pastors, missionaries, evangelists and teachers. It says “And he (the Spirit) gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes”. 
 
Amen.  
 
Monthly, Resources

Going Together: The Great Commandments

In Mark 12:28-31 Jesus responded to a question from a scribe. The question was “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus’ answer was “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandant. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these (NKJV).” Wow! These commandments are the bottomline of our everyday life in Christ with our brethren. 
 
As followers of Jesus we are commanded to love God with all that we are. Coupled with our love for God we are to love our neighbor. Loving God and people go together and *cannot* be separated. Sometimes those of us in ministry think we love ministry but it is the people we cannot stand. Some eople we serve in our churches, specialized ministries, communities, schools, our coworkers and even our family members can be really difficult to love. People are messy. This is why George Verwer calls missiology “messy-ology”. Before Jesus ascended to the right hand of His Father He gave the so-called great commission to His twelve disciples. They were a motley bunch and He had no backup plan. They turned the world upside-down as they scattered among the nations with the gospel. The same is true of us today. We are imperfect and messy but living according to the commandments, by the grace of God, are required of us too. Let us learn to say from the heart when we offend people or make life difficult for others “I am sorry. Please forgive me.” If we truly disagree with someone let us disagree with an agreeable attitude. Let us not be disagreeable ornery people. Ministry will always be messy because people are messy. At best we are cracked pots but the treasure we contain is the gospel. As we go in the gospel let’s love people as we love the One who is sending us.      
Monthly, Resources

November

I have a simple assumption which is this: I hope that all servant-leaders want to finish well with our integrity intact. However, I predict one thing will hold true for current leaders and future leaders as it did for leaders before us. It is: *Many will start, but few will finish strong.* History is the story of good and bad leaders who have moved the world in directions both good and bad. We live in trying times in which we need great new servant-leaders to stand up and push aside self-centered leadership. Paul, one of the great leaders of the early church movement, affirms our desire, as disciples of Christ, to be a servant-leader in our generation, in his letter to his apprentice Timothy: “This is a trustworthy saying: ‘If someone aspires to be an elder (or overseer) he desires an honorable position’” (1 Timothy 3:1 NLT). 
 
Servant-leaders, especially young ones, lead others with a vision filled with passion and enthusiasm.  The reality is, though, that many servant-leaders quit leading in their forties and fifties and give up their dreams of influence. Servant-leaders make things happen, but people try to stop them. Servant-leaders not only fight our internal struggles, but we also bear the frustrations of others who can wear us down with unrealistic expectations. Many times servant-leaders give up on the battle of expectations and finally give up on trying to win the battle of expectations. It seems to me that discouragement in one of Satan’s strongest weapons he uses as he tries to take us out of ministry. Pastors of local churches are a unique type of servant-leader facing many challenges. According to  a book written by Dean R. Hoge and Jacqueline E. Wenger called “Pastors in Transition” (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 2005), on page 37 they cite six main reasons why pastors leave the ministry. They all relate servant-leadership of any kind. They are:
 
1. I felt drained by the demands on me. (58% of respondents listed as “great importance” or “somewhat important”)
 
2. I felt lonely or isolated. (51%)
 
3. I felt bored or constrained in the position. (43%)
 
4. I was not supported by denominational officials. (43%)
 
5. I found a better job outside of pastoral ministry. (38%)
 
6. I had marital or personal relationship problems. (27%)
 
Have you ever met someone who has given up on their calling to serve God? I have met men and women who gave up on their calling and I see a person filled with disappointment. The term *calling* is old school but it is vital to persevering through the ups and downs and twists and turns of ministry. Calling is  following a higher purpose in life. It is listening to and obeying God’s still small voice. It is following the most compelling of many options regardless of the cost. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation of strong servant-leadership but moments to destroy it. For many who quit, however, it is not moral failure that got the best of them, but discouragement over a long period of time. Thomas Edison was a leader who refused to give up. He said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” True. True. True.
 
Servsnt-leadership at times is enjoyable and at other times it is a burden. Getting bogged down is a natural part of servant-leadership but the key is to get up, get unstuck, and keep going. We will be judged not by how times we fall but by how well we get up. This requires good old fashioned *diligence*. Diligence means “conscientiousness in paying proper attention to a task, persevering determination to perform a task” (www.thefreedictionary.com/diligence). We need to take seriously Paul’s admonition on servant-leadership in Romans 12:8 (NLT). He writes “If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take it seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” This challenge says to us today, if we are servant-leaders with God-given capacities and responsibilities, then we need to diligently keep growing, improving and sharpening our gifts and skills. We need to keep moving forward by God’s grace.
 
Brethren, soon all the organizations that older servant-leaders lead will be handed over to a new generation of servant-leaders. We are in the season of life and ministry when we need to have a succession plan for our replacement. Whether we are leading a church, a business, a local government or a nonprofit, the changing of the guard is at hand. I am excited what I see on the horizon. I see God raising up a new generation of servant-leaders so we need to lead with our leaving in view. This is not about clinging to a position but all about paving the way for future leaders. Our generation of leaders has a baton to pass to those following us. Let us do it well so we finish strong.  
Monthly, Resources

October

When I was baptized, after turning (repenting) from my sin and trusting Jesus Christ only as my personal Savior and Lord, I quoted Luke 9:62 while giving my testimony to the congregation of Edina Baptist Church (today Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota). It says in the Christian Standard Bible “But Jesus said to him, ’No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” Jesus said this to three potential followers as He journeyed to Jerusalem. 
 
It is interesting to note that at times nobody appeared to come to Christ as a result of His teaching. At other times, however, we read that many desired to be among Jesus’ disciples after He taught but some did not continue following Him. Why? Because they were not of the right kind. In Luke 9:57-61 Luke  cited three instances that are typical of many who seemed to be true followers of Christ but did not continue with Him because they were not truly converted to Him. Among the New Oxford American Dictionary’s definitions of the word *convert* it says “cause to change in form, character or function. In the sense of to turn around and send in a different direction.” I think these three instances are written by Luke for the encouragement of those who preach and teach the Gospel today. That is, when we are disappointed when people who appeared to truly trust Christ and then fall away, we can know we are not worse off than our Lord Jesus was. It is tempting to become discouraged and lose heart in ministry when people we thought were genuine followers of Christ do not continue with Him. We need to realize that this happened in Jesus’ ministry and it happens, or will, in ours. 
 
Another thing to note from this text is that the three men do not appear to have any personal sense of sin. Nothing is said about repentance or their need for the Savior. It is a fact that some people who respond to our preaching have not turned from their sin (repented) and trusted Jesus Christ only as their personal Savior and Lord. They jump in and out of their *religion* because they do not have a *relationship* with Christ. They were not converted. If they were genuinely converted they would not again live as those who are unconverted. 
 
To my fellow preachers and teachers of the Gospel, we are not preaching and teaching in order to have converts to our way of thinking or to join our church or so we have a good reputation. We are preaching and teaching the Gospel for the genuine conversion of our hearers and students so they will become lifelong followers of Christ for His glory. Let us continue preaching and teaching the Gospel in the power of the Spirit. Remember we desire genuine followers of Christ not glowing reports and Facebook posts.