Weekends are for Worship: Mystery in Worship

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doxology, incomprehensibility, J. I. Packer, mystery, Theology, weekends are for worship, worship

God is Greater Than Our Conception of Him

Over the past few days I’ve been contemplating the element of mystery in our worship. God is far greater than we are able to comprehend. This incomprehensibility is a part of His essence, and true worship should acknowledge it.

Someone might say this is a hindrance to our worship. How can I worship what I don’t understand? But rather than a hindrance, mystery enhances our perception of God and evokes greater worship. We worship God because of the mystery, not in spite of it!

J. I. Packer writes,

“We should never forget that in any case theology is for doxology: the truest expression of trust in a great God will always be worship, and it will always be proper worship to praise God for being far greater than we can know.”

The Face of Evil

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Boston Marathon Bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, evil, face of evil, God-centered, Gospel, Paul, Romans, Tamerlan Tsarnaev

What form does evil assume? What does it look like?

Whenever an act of evil takes place, it is in our human nature to try to categorize it. Some deny its existence. Others try to identify it by external appearance or influences. Some look for commonality of race, creed, education level or economic background.

The events in Boston this past week have demonstrated that evil takes many forms. We can’t always recognize it until it happens. Friends and acquaintances of the bombers repeatedly used words like “shocked,” “unexpected,” and “surreal.” There was “nothing that stood out” about them. If you look at their pictures, you see no indication of the atrocity they would commit. They could have been one of any number of young American men.

We can’t always identify evil because it is not always externally manifested. The Bible is clear that evil resides within, in the human heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:”

As Jesus explains in Mark 7:20-23 “That which comes out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

{Boston Marathon suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev with unidentified friend}

In some of us that sin nature expresses itself in overt acts of evil. In others it is more deceptive, mingling well-disguised with self-righteousness. In all of us it is lurking beneath the surface, waiting for the right circumstances to expose itself.

This is contrary to popular thinking. Society says man is basically good and what will make him better comes from within. God says man is basically bad and what will help him must come from without.

This is the message of the gospel. It is God-centered. God planned redemption before it was needed, promised it through the Old Testament Scriptures, presented it in the person of Jesus Christ, and proclaims it to the world through His people. (Romans 1:1-7)

The Gospel is God’s antidote for the disease of sin. The “Good News” is that, through faith in Jesus Christ, God does to the evil within us what we could never do on our own.

Weekends are for Worship: Lamentation in Worship

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grief, lamentation, sorrow, weekends are for worship, worship

Powerful reminder that too often our worship can become one-dimensional.

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You might also want to read:

Can Worship and Sorrow Co-Exist?

Where is God when you need Him? 9 Things To Remember When We Ask “Why?”

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Faith, question of evil, questions, theodicy, Theology, tragedy, where is God?

This question is not ultimately about God’s location. It essentially asks the age-old question, “Why does God allow evil to happen?”

Frequently this question comes from someone who has no use for the things of God, can’t bother to obey the least of His commands, and generally live as they please. Now they act as if He owes them some sort of explanation.

That being the case, I suspect some are not genuinely seeking to understand the Scriptural truth that would answer their question – they merely are seizing this tragedy as an opportunity to justify their total disregard for the sovereign King of the universe. No answer will satisfy them because they do not want it to.

Others who are asking “Why?” are suffering and are not at the best point to receive the truth. Even if they already know it, it is not the time to remind them of nuanced explanations. The best response to them is love, compassion, care, and encouragement. There will be opportunity later to discuss with them the theological answers to their questions.

Some (including those with strong faith) are genuinely wondering, “Why does God allow evil to occur?” They have genuine doubts, wish to help others, or want to be prepared for trials of their own.

The answers to this question are not easy, nor are they complete. It is important to remember there are some things we will not know in this life.

Can we at least at this point admit that we do not know everything? God does. Since He knows all and we don’t, since He knows correctly and we can be mistaken, it is possible likely certain that He knows more and better than we do. It would be best to be careful before we start accusing God about what we don’t know. (Job 42:3)

There are, however, some things we do know:

1. Evil exists because God gave man a free-will. Man has the ability to choose, and unfortunately he chooses sin (Psalm 14:1-3). Sometimes this sin is minor in its consequences, but at other times it has tragic effect on others.

2. Our sovereign God can bring good out of the evil that man freely chooses to do as well as tragic natural events. (Romans 8:28 – this is for believers, but the principle of God’s sovereignty remains the same). This is true even when we don’t see or understand what possible good can come out of it.

3. Sometimes God allows one evil to happen in order to prevent another, worse evil. (Isaiah 57:1-2; cf. 1 Kings 14:1-13)

4. Sometimes God allows evil in order to work a great good (Genesis 6; The cross).

5. Sometimes God allows evil by simply allowing us to experience the consequences of our own foolish choices (Romans 1:24-32). Take away the restraint of accountability to God from a society, for example, and the consequences will be evil.

6. We don’t know what evil God is already restraining (Jeremiah 17:9). The amazing thing is that man is not as evil as he could be.

7. God is just (Isaiah 30:18). Though we may not ever see true justice for some on this earth, God will ultimately bring absolute righteous justice to the earth.

8. God is good (Psalm 34:8). Nothing that happens can change that. No matter what else we don’t know or understand, we can rest in this truth.

9. God is love (1 John 4:8). No evil event can separate His children from that love (Romans 8:35-39)

This is not an exhaustive evaluation of the matter. It will not satisfy some. It will not provide the “why” for all the questions. What it does is remind us that when our understanding fails, God’s faithfulness and goodness does not.

How Flawed Interpretation Can Produce False Teaching (The Importance of Rightly Dividing the Word)

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Biblical interpretation, Christianity Today, David Jang, hermeneutics, Second Coming Christ Controversy

Until reading “The Second Coming Christ Controversy: More Leaders Speak Out” from Christianity Today, I had not heard of David Jang or his organization. According to some who have left it, his followers are taught that he is the second coming of Christ. What struck me as I read this article is how the two primary fallacies alleged of the group’s teaching are based on fallacies of interpretation.

According to the CT article, this belief is based on

the two stone tablets of Moses’ commandments. Just as God created the first tablets and wrote the Ten Commandments on them, so was the first Christ, Jesus, sent by God. And just as Moses broke the tablets, Jesus’ people rejected him and killed him, the sermon says. And just as Moses had to write the second tablets with his own hand, so the second Christ will be man-made.” The couple at the center of the report say they were encouraged to profess that Jang was that “second coming of Christ.

There is no evidence in Scripture that the stone tablets represented Christ, but Jang’s church allegedly sees this in the story. This highlights the danger of allegorical interpretation. Allegorizing narrative passages opens the Scripture to the subjective whims of the interpreter. This approach makes any interpretation of Scriptural narrative equally valid – even if contradictory to clear Bible principles.

The second primary fallacy is what the group calls “righteous lying.” According to Edmond Chua,

They have a teaching in their Bible studies that Jacob is the one who deserved the blessing, rather than Esau, and that Rebekah and Jacob lying to Isaac was justified. And that’s why they are also justified in lying to folks who would challenge their birthright. … If you need to flee to escape from Satan, you can lie to do so. You shouldn’t tell the truth to Satan, because he will steal your blessing and kill your faith.

Again, this teaching is based on an interpretive fallacy. It reads narrative as prescriptive rather than descriptive. The Bible recounts actions as true (as they actually happened), but not necessarily as truth (you should go out and do likewise). Just because a Biblical character does or says something, does not mean it receives an endorsement as a model.

David Jang and his churches deny they teach he is the second Christ. (If they DO teach “righteous lying,” however, that would make difficult to take them at their word.) Though the full story remains to be told, it demonstrates the importance of careful interpretation of Scripture: a flawed hermeneutic can lead to false teaching.

Articles from Christianity Today:

The Second Coming Christ Controversy

The Second Coming Christ Controversy: More Leaders Speak Out

Response from Christian Post (Jang’s periodical):

Sources in ‘Second Coming Christ Controversy’ Face Scrutiny

Weekends are for Worship: The Glory of Christ’s Subjection

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Andrew Murray, Jesus Christ, weekends are for worship, worship

“That God may be all in all.” (1 Cor. 15.24-28)

“These last words are my text. What a mystery there is in the context! We are accustomed to speak of the two great acts of humiliation on the part of the Lord Jesus — His descending from the throne and becoming Man upon earth, a Servant among men; and of His descent, through the Cross, into the grave, the depth of humiliation under the curse. But oh! what a mystery there is here — that there is a time coming in the everlasting glory when the Son of Man shall be subjected unto the Father, and shall give the kingdom into the Father’s hands, and ‘God shall be all in all.’ I cannot understand this; it passes knowledge. But I worship Christ in the glory of His subjection to the Father.

“And here I learn one precious lesson, and that is what I want to point you to — that the whole aim of Christ’s coming, and the whole aim of redemption, and the whole aim of Christ’s work in our hearts is summed up in that one thought — ‘That God may be all in all.’“

- Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender

Weekends are for Worship: Worship and the Capability of God

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Ephesians 3:20, power of God, Prayer, weekends are for worship, worship

“Now to Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Ephesians 3.20

Have you ever contemplated the magnitude of that promise? If it only said, “Him that is able to do all we ask,” it would be amazing.

But it says He is able to do all we ask or THINK! God can accomplish anything I can think up or ask.

Yet, it doesn’t stop there. Think what a great promise it would be if it said, “He is able to do ABOVE all we ask or think.” God can do things that are beyond my imagination or expectation.

And that still isn’t the limit: “He is able to do ABUNDANTLY above all we ask or think.” Not only can God exceed the limits of my mind, He goes way beyond.

What a great promise that would be. And it still doesn’t express the full capability of our Heavenly Father. There’s still one more adjective to add: “He is able to do EXCEEDING abundantly above all that we ask or think!”

Do you grasp the full capability of the power of our God? Exceeding. Abundantly. Above. All. Ask. Think.

God is not restricted to answering our requests. But, apart from His own will, there is nothing that restricts Him from fulfilling them.