A Thought for Worship

Clement of Rome wrote the following in a conclusion to one of his works (Paidagogos). A wonderful thought as we go to worship our risen and soon returning Lord:

King of Saints, almighty Word
of the Father, highest Lord;
Wisdom's head and chief;
Assuagement of all grief;
Lord of all time and space,
Jesus, Saviour of our race.

Similarly, Paul writes, "To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen" (1 Tim 1:17).

May His name be praised and honored in us both today and forever.

J

A Throne and a Cross

In recent reading I came across a helpful illustration of the self-centeredness of sin:

William Whiting (Bill) Borden (1887–1913), the young missionary preparing to work among Muslims in China who died en route in Cairo of cerebral meningitis, had written in his notebook while a freshman at Yale University: "In every man's heart there is a throne and a cross. If Christ is on the throne, self is on the cross; and if self, even a little bit, is on the throne, Jesus is on the cross in that man's heart." (Garrett, Systematic Theology, 1:602)

I struggle daily with putting myself on Christ's throne. My way, my wants, my desires are given first place. I crucify the will of Christ and enthrone my own. What a tragic reversal. The way to which Jesus calls is much different than the one I want to (and often) walk:

"And [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23; cf. Mk 8:34).

I pray that Christ will be exalted in our lives as Lord and that we, by His grace, will take up our crosses daily and follow Him.

Grace & Peace,

J

Implications of the Incarnation for Evangelism

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made....And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-3, 14).

Christ's becoming man (His enfleshment or incarnation) has implications for the way in which we minister to others in the world. In particular, it has implications for the way in which we share the gospel (the good news of what God has done for us in Christ). John Stott has stated this very clearly in a passage I read last night.

“In all evangelism there is also a cultural gulf to bridge. This is obvious when Christian people move as messengers of the gospel from one country or continent to another. But even if we remain in our own country, Christians and non-Christians are often widely separated from one another by social sub-cultures and lifestyles as well as by different values, beliefs and moral standards. Only an incarnation can span these divides, for an incarnation means entering other people’s worlds, their thought-world, and the worlds of their alienation, loneliness and pain. Moreover, the incarnation led to the cross. Jesus first took our flesh, then bore our sin. This was a depth of penetration into our world in order to reach us, in comparison with which our little attempts to reach people seem amateur and shallow. The cross calls us to a much more radical and costly kind of evangelism than most churches have begun to consider, let alone experience” (John Stott, The Cross of Christ, 291).

Father, help us to consider the radical way in which you entered our world and live in light of it. May we not exalt ourselves above our master, Christ Jesus. Help us to love You more than our own safety or comfort or ambitions. You are our only hope and the only hope of the world. Let Your kingdom come.