Well, it has been almost two weeks since the Va. Tech Massacre. I have been thinking a lot about the shooter, the victims, and the Sovereignty of God. I have read some articles and watched some interviews. Also, I have been reading about God's Sovereignty over all things. If you throw all this into a blender along with the words of Christ, you get a pretty good idea about why things happen, including this horrible incident. In light of such an event, I think that is the question most people ask. "Why did this happen? What caused this young man to murder so many people?" The answer is found in the words of Christ. He explains this so explicitly that a person would have to work hard to misunderstand it. The answer is found in Mark 7:20-23:
"And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.""
Christ states specifically that the source of evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds is the heart. When a person has an evil heart, evil results. All thoughts, words, and deeds are evil, reflecting the heart. There is no mention of choice or free will in Christ's words. Undoubtedly, the person who commits such evil actions is choosing to do it. But we must realize that the choosing or willingness to sin in such evil ways comes between the evil heart (which is the beginning or source of the problem) and the evil thought, word, or deed (which is the end or result of the problem).
In other words, we do not first choose sin, then get an evil heart, and then perform evil thoughts, words, and deeds. We have the evil heart first which effects our choices. The significance of this evil, corrupt, God-hating heart is that it identifies our loves. The evil heart loves evil and is a slave to it. The evil heart knows nothing of pleasing God because all of its loves are consumed with pleasing itself. We can see that the evil heart is selfish and the antithesis of love. It is the enemy of God!
So why did the Va. Tech Massacre happen? Simply put, the murderer had an evil heart and his evil heart spewed forth some heinous thoughts. Those thoughts gave birth to the horrific event we will always remember. It was not society's fault. It was not the school's fault. It was not the fault of the student body. They did not pull the trigger. We cannot even place the blame on the guns he used. The shooter is the one to blame. His actions were simply an overflow of his evil heart.
God holds us responsible for our hearts. God holds this young man responsible for his own heart. Recompense will be justly paid because God is the judge and always judges righteously. Though we mourn all who are effected, and though we pray for the Hokie nation, we rest assured of the Sovereignty of God, knowing that He prevented this from being as bad as it could have been as well as rightly repaying the evil that has been achieved.
Praise be to His Holy Name, for He alone could provide such comfort in light of such tragedy!
4.27.2007
4.24.2007
Bread
Here is an appetizer for those of you reading through the OT:
While it is not manna from heaven, it does supply some food for thought, giving you something to chew on. If anyone expresses a 'spelt need' to see some 'spelt' bread, I can supply a picture of a loaf of that too! This is not to be confused with the Bread of Life, but is to be consumed with much thanksgiving. Plus, it tastes pretty good!
While it is not manna from heaven, it does supply some food for thought, giving you something to chew on. If anyone expresses a 'spelt need' to see some 'spelt' bread, I can supply a picture of a loaf of that too! This is not to be confused with the Bread of Life, but is to be consumed with much thanksgiving. Plus, it tastes pretty good!
4.10.2007
The Fruit reveals the Soil
This morning I read from Mark 4:1-20. In this passage, Jesus gives the parable of the sower. I noticed something this morning that I had missed before. When describing the seed that fell on rocky ground, Jesus says that the seed
The difference between an unbeliever who appears to be saved and a believer who is actually saved is their response to the persecution that the word of God brings! In other words, we do not know what kind of soil the seed landed on until we see the produce of the plant -- that is, until we see the fruit! How we respond to negative responses to the word of God reveals what kind of soil we were planted in -- that is, affliction and persecution because of the word of God reveal our hearts love! The soil is the type of heart we have.
May God grant us affliction and persecution because of His word so that He might bring forth fruit from the seed He has sown!
"did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away."Notice the similarities between this seed and the seed sown on good soil. The seed sown on rocky soil springs up and appears to grow! In the beginning the seed sown on rocky soil looks like it will last, persevere, endure. It looks just like the good seed! Jesus goes on to unveil the deception for us. He says that it withers when scorched by the sun because it has no root. In His explanation of the parable, Jesus specifically states that this seed refers to the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy -- this seed immediately springs up. However when the scorching sun arrives -- that is when affliction or persecution come -- because of the word, they fall away.
The difference between an unbeliever who appears to be saved and a believer who is actually saved is their response to the persecution that the word of God brings! In other words, we do not know what kind of soil the seed landed on until we see the produce of the plant -- that is, until we see the fruit! How we respond to negative responses to the word of God reveals what kind of soil we were planted in -- that is, affliction and persecution because of the word of God reveal our hearts love! The soil is the type of heart we have.
May God grant us affliction and persecution because of His word so that He might bring forth fruit from the seed He has sown!
4.06.2007
Good Friday and the Sovereignty of God
I have not posted in a week and a half. I feel as though I am about to burst! I have been listening to sermons on Christ's Righteousness this week. Combining those things with the celebration of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, I must attempt to communicate what is on my heart.
2 Corinthians 5:21 is my favorite verse in Scripture. It has all the elements of greatness: God's Sovereignty, Christ's Death and Resurrection, the benefactors of His grace, Justification by faith alone in Christ alone, the Imputation of Christ's Atoning work. I am sure there are even more elements to this verse. I cannot conceive packing more punch with one verse. Meditating on this verse this morning, the morning of Crucifixion Friday, has brought me great joy.
Have you ever contemplated the extent of Christ's death? He died so that every person who believes in Him will not have to die a spiritual death! His death paid the price of sin, the price which God demands, for all believers. He did not pay the penalty for unbelievers. If Christ paid for the sin of unbelievers and then they paid for their own sin in hell, God would be requiring two payments for their sin. Christ's payment would not have been sufficient for their sin because they are still in hell paying for their sin. We know that no human can adequately pay the price for their sin. For this reason unbelievers must suffer in hell for all eternity. Why would Christ's death be sufficient for believers and not for unbelievers? The only reason is that His death was for believers alone, in order to purchase and obtain salvation for the elect! The temporal and finite cannot never satisfy the eternal and infinite. Only Christ can satisfy God's requirement for sin. In fact, He did for believers in a few hours what will take all the unbelievers in history all of eternity to do -- pay for their sins! Only God in human flesh could accomplish such great things!
I alluded to this in the previous paragraph: "...to be sin on our behalf..." God made Christ to be sin on our behalf. That is, God imputed or transferred our sin to Christ and transferred His righteousness to us! Christ did not become a sinner on the cross, but bore the penalty for all the sins of all who believe! He did this so that we might become "the righteousness of God in Him." To paraphrase John MacArthur, God treated Christ as if He had committed all of the sin of all who would ever believe, so that He might treat all believers as though they lived the righteous life of Christ. Justification by imputation is the heart of the gospel! It is the goal of the Atonement! The perfect Lamb of God is the Sufficient Satisfying Sacrifice for sins!
Perhaps an even more mind boggling phrase of 2 Corinthians 5:21 is the one at the beginning, "He made Him..." Paul is saying that God made Christ to be sin on our behalf. God was the one inflicting Christ, through the hands of sinful men. The Crucifixion did not catch God by surprise and it was not even plan B. Rather, as Acts 2:23 states, the Crucifixion was predetermined and planned by God! God had planned to subject His own Son to this painful death! Isaiah 53:10 states that "The Lord was pleased to crush Him..."(NASB) God ultimately found pleasure in the death of His Son. The Crucifixion was a means to bring more glory to God, showing off His endless love, grace, mercy...showing off His Holy Name! All of God is glorified in the cross of Christ!
So today we remember His death! I imagine tomorrow will be a thunderstorm of emotion. There will be much sorrow over Christ's Death, yet much joy looking forward to His Resurrection! In fact, the Resurrection takes the sting out of death, even to some extent the Death of Christ! Knowing that His Death was for God's glory and our good does provide some comfort to the gnawing emptiness in my stomach. Yet I cannot wait for the celebration of His Resurrection this Sunday. Sunday is the day we proclaim, "He is not here! He is risen!"
May the God of grace be glorified in the celebration of His Cross and His Resurrection! May the glory of God shame anyone who seeks to refocus or denounce this celebration, storing up wrath against them for the day of His judgment.
2 Corinthians 5:21 is my favorite verse in Scripture. It has all the elements of greatness: God's Sovereignty, Christ's Death and Resurrection, the benefactors of His grace, Justification by faith alone in Christ alone, the Imputation of Christ's Atoning work. I am sure there are even more elements to this verse. I cannot conceive packing more punch with one verse. Meditating on this verse this morning, the morning of Crucifixion Friday, has brought me great joy.
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."The point I would like to begin with is: "...Him who knew no sin..." Christ knew no sin! He is not a sinner like we are. He is perfect, pure, whole, complete. He is sinless, unsoiled, unstained, spotless. He is holy! He was 100% human, but his human nature was not sinful. The only comparison we can make to this is Adam and Eve before the fall. Adam and Eve were 100% human without a sinful nature. Likewise Christ was completely human, but with a holy nature. In fact, there was no possibility of Him sinning, whatsoever! He could not sin because His nature was holy. A created human with a perfect nature may have the ability to sin. But God incarnated in human flesh has a holy nature and cannot sin. A holy nature cannot be tempted by evil. This is not to say He did not experience the heat of temptation. To paraphrase Phil Johnson, pure gold heated to a white hot flame does not change the gold. However, the purity of the gold does not diminish the heat of the flame. The gold still feels the white hot heat, but cannot be changed into anything else because it is pure. Christ felt the entire burden of sin's temptation, but never succumbed to it. He was truly tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin! What a great High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses!
Have you ever contemplated the extent of Christ's death? He died so that every person who believes in Him will not have to die a spiritual death! His death paid the price of sin, the price which God demands, for all believers. He did not pay the penalty for unbelievers. If Christ paid for the sin of unbelievers and then they paid for their own sin in hell, God would be requiring two payments for their sin. Christ's payment would not have been sufficient for their sin because they are still in hell paying for their sin. We know that no human can adequately pay the price for their sin. For this reason unbelievers must suffer in hell for all eternity. Why would Christ's death be sufficient for believers and not for unbelievers? The only reason is that His death was for believers alone, in order to purchase and obtain salvation for the elect! The temporal and finite cannot never satisfy the eternal and infinite. Only Christ can satisfy God's requirement for sin. In fact, He did for believers in a few hours what will take all the unbelievers in history all of eternity to do -- pay for their sins! Only God in human flesh could accomplish such great things!
I alluded to this in the previous paragraph: "...to be sin on our behalf..." God made Christ to be sin on our behalf. That is, God imputed or transferred our sin to Christ and transferred His righteousness to us! Christ did not become a sinner on the cross, but bore the penalty for all the sins of all who believe! He did this so that we might become "the righteousness of God in Him." To paraphrase John MacArthur, God treated Christ as if He had committed all of the sin of all who would ever believe, so that He might treat all believers as though they lived the righteous life of Christ. Justification by imputation is the heart of the gospel! It is the goal of the Atonement! The perfect Lamb of God is the Sufficient Satisfying Sacrifice for sins!
Perhaps an even more mind boggling phrase of 2 Corinthians 5:21 is the one at the beginning, "He made Him..." Paul is saying that God made Christ to be sin on our behalf. God was the one inflicting Christ, through the hands of sinful men. The Crucifixion did not catch God by surprise and it was not even plan B. Rather, as Acts 2:23 states, the Crucifixion was predetermined and planned by God! God had planned to subject His own Son to this painful death! Isaiah 53:10 states that "The Lord was pleased to crush Him..."(NASB) God ultimately found pleasure in the death of His Son. The Crucifixion was a means to bring more glory to God, showing off His endless love, grace, mercy...showing off His Holy Name! All of God is glorified in the cross of Christ!
So today we remember His death! I imagine tomorrow will be a thunderstorm of emotion. There will be much sorrow over Christ's Death, yet much joy looking forward to His Resurrection! In fact, the Resurrection takes the sting out of death, even to some extent the Death of Christ! Knowing that His Death was for God's glory and our good does provide some comfort to the gnawing emptiness in my stomach. Yet I cannot wait for the celebration of His Resurrection this Sunday. Sunday is the day we proclaim, "He is not here! He is risen!"
May the God of grace be glorified in the celebration of His Cross and His Resurrection! May the glory of God shame anyone who seeks to refocus or denounce this celebration, storing up wrath against them for the day of His judgment.
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