Magnifying God

Psalm 34:3 says, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!” Yes, how worthy God is of our worship and praise. God is worthy to be magnified for His greatness and goodness. However, how we magnify God is very important. It is the difference between idolatry and true worship.

The Idolatry of Magnifying God with a Microscope - A microscope, with its powerful magnifying lens, can make the tiniest objects clearly visible to the human eye. A microscope takes something small, really small, and makes it big to the eyes. This is good for science but it is not good when it comes to the worship of God. In some worship services or Christian events I’ve been to, the praise leader or the pastor tries to stir up the crowd (congregation) to get them engaged. It’s evident that the crowd is bored or unresponsive yet after some prodding the crowd plays along and even claps and sings loudly. When this happens, I wonder if this is truly glorifying to God. Of course God deserves our loudest praise and exaltation. Yet if we focus on God in worship but we really don’t think much of him at other times, we are merely trying to make God look big when he is really small in our lives. This, my friends, is idolatry. God is not a small thing to put under the microscope to take a closer look for an hour or so, and then he goes back to being small again in our lives. A long, long time ago in my youth group days, we use to sing a silly song that was theologically terrible. It went like this: “If I had a white little box, I put Jesus in. Take him out, kiss, kiss, kiss, and put him back again.” The song continued with punching Satan in a black box. We sang this song because someone thought it was cute, however, what a terrible vision of Jesus who is put in a little box to take out to kiss when we feel like it. Thank God that there are not too many songs like this. However, I would guess that many people treat Jesus in this very way on Sunday morning. Take Jesus out for an hour and kiss him and put him back again. Is this magnifying God? There is another way to magnify God.

Magnifying God with a Telescope – A telescope, with its powerful magnifying lens, makes more visible objects that are tiny in our sight but are in fact huge. A telescope takes something huge, really huge, but is far away, and brings it “closer” to our sight through magnification. In our analogy with worship, magnifying God like a telescope would be to bring the great and awesome God closer to us so that we can marvel at his greatness and awesomeness. There are many times God seems as far away to us as the stars in the sky. Like the stars, God seems, at times, distant and even small to us. But when we are lead in worship to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to see that Lord is God, we are called to take a closer look at the God who is BIG. See him for who he really is – our Great God, worthy of our loudest praise and wholehearted/whole-life devotion. This is to magnify God with a telescope.

How is your vision of God? Do you see God in the Word? Do you see God in Christ Jesus our Lord? Is God small in your eyes? Take a look at his Word. Read passages like Isaiah 6:1-8 where the great and merciful God manifests himself to the people. Also, as I mentioned a silly praise song before, here a good one: “My God is so BIG, so STRONG and so MIGHTY, there’s nothing my God can not do…” Yes, God is BIG, STRONG, and MIGHTY… and HOLY and MERCIFUL and GOOD. SO GOOD. God is SO good.

As Psalm 34:3 says, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!”

Can It Get Any Worse Than This? A Meditation on Lamentations

Are you in a situation that seems really bad? Does the world seem like it is falling apart?

Has something terrible happened to someone you love? What do you do when you feel like it can’t get any worse than this?

Anyone who is asking these kinds of questions don’t need pat answers, they need a caring person who will listen and they need to hear from God. And God’s word speaks to this kind of person.

In the book of Lamentations, a short book sandwiched between two huge prophetic books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, there are five chapters which are five poems. These poems are not love poems; they are laments, as the title makes clear. A lament is like a complaint but it is not the whining complaint of a spoil brat, it is an anguished expression of deep sadness and trouble lifted up to God.

The first two verses of the book begin, “How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks, among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they have become her enemies.” (Lam. 1:1-2 ESV).

This sad tale is about Israel after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. Israel has been idolatrous, like an adulterous woman, and has reaped the judgment of God. “Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the LORD inflicted on the day of his fierce anger” (Lam.1:12). “My eyes are spent with weeping, my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughters of my people, because infants and babies faint in the streets of the city” (Lam. 2:11). Can it get any worse than this? Yes it can. “Look, O LORD, and see! With whom have you dealt thus? Should women eat the fruit of their womb, the children of their tender care? Should priest and prophet be killed in the sanctuary of the Lord?” (Lam. 2:20). That’s about as bad as it gets, women eating their children (most likely those who have died due to starvation), not to mention spiritual leaders being killed in the house of worship.

Chapter 3 continues, “my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say, ‘My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD” (Lam. 3:18) All hope seems lost.

Why is this book in the Bible? Because it is an expression of the depths of human sin, depravity and suffering; but not only that, it is an expression of hope in the midst of the most tragic situation. There is a ray of light that breaks through the darkness. In Lam. 3::21-24, there is an amazing turnabout. “BUT this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, therefore I will hope in him.”

How can this be? How can someone say this in the midst of such tragedy? How can God bring hope when he has brought such suffering? How can God turn punishment into hope? Well, the promise of this book is not only looking back to what God has done for them in the past, but prophetically looking forward into the future when the suffering of an innocent person, the God-man, Jesus Christ, turns to hope for the world. Jesus Christ suffered the anguish of the wrath of God, the wrath that we deserved. The suffering Lamentations talks about is only the tip of the iceberg of suffering Jesus endured. Jesus’ suffering was not only physical but also spiritual. The expressions of being forsaken by God in Lamentations are what Jesus experienced but in a greater measure.

Lamentations points to Christ in 3:58 “You have taken up my cause, O Lord; you have redeemed my life. You have seen the wrong done to me, O LORD; judge my cause.” The wrong was done to Jesus so that he could redeem our lives for His glory. This is the great mercy and the steadfast love of God. Do you believe it? Are you hoping in it? When hopelessness bites at your heel, remember Lamentations. Remember chapter 3 verse 21 “BUT THIS I CALL TO MIND, AND THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE.”

33 - What is historic biblical Christianity?

In an online discussion with a friend I was asked the question “How would YOU define “historic biblical Christianity”?

This question can be asked as an inquirer seeking an answer (as this person does) or like a skeptic in response to a profession of faith in historic biblical Christianity, “Well, what is historic biblical Christianity?” and then walks away like Pontus Pilate (“What is truth?” John 18:38) assuming that there is no answer or that there are too many answers and none can be trusted.

Is there an answer? I believe so. Many have said it much better than I can but since I was asked, “How would YOU define…,” I will humbly attempt to give my answer.

What is historic biblical Christianity?

First, historic biblical Christianity is CHRISTianity – a belief system, a worldview, a life-view that is centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ. Who was Jesus Christ? Was he fully God? Was he fully man? What is his relationship to the Father and the Holy Spirit? What did he come to do? What did he teach? What was the significance of his death? Did he rise from the death? Where is he now? Will he come again? What is your response to the person and work of Christ? These are some of the critical questions that define Christianity. Someone will say, aren’t there different answers to these questions? Yes, and some of the contemporary answers (or re-discoveries) are really far out (like the Gnosticism of the Da Vinci Code or the Gospel of Judas). This is why there needs to be qualifying adjectives like true Christianity or biblical Christianity to set it apart from other ways of answering these questions concerning Christ.

Second, historic biblical Christianity is Biblical. The answers to the questions concerning Christ are to be drawn from the Bible – the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament. These books are not mere human works “sanctified” by the human institution of the church, it is the revelation of God through man – “The Bible is God’s Word!” The Bible is authoritative, infallible, without error, and our ultimate standard for faith and practice. The authority of the Bible comes not from the authority of the church but the authority of God. God has spoken in His Word. “Thus says the LORD” or like phrases occur over 3,000 times in the Bible. Bible authenticates itself by its message and the power of the Holy Spirit who testifies in our hearts as we read, “This is My Word.”

The Bible says that Jesus is “the Christ”- the Anointed One - the fulfillment of the Old Testament (Matthew 1:1, 5:17; Luke 24:25-27). The Bible says that Jesus came (and was sent by the Father) to save his people (Jews and Gentiles) from their sins (Matthew 1:21; John 1:29; John 3:16). The Bible says Jesus, the Word, was in the beginning with God and was God (John 1:1). Jesus was distinct from God yet equal with God in essence, power and glory. Jesus was fully God and fully man (1 Timothy 2:5, Philippians 2:5-11). The Bible says Jesus died to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15; Romans 5:8). The Bible says that we must repent of our sins and believe in Christ as Lord and Savior in order to be saved (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38, Romans 10:9). The Bible says that our repentance and faith are gifts of God by grace (Acts 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:25; Ephesians 2:8). There is much more to say concerning the Biblical faith in Christ. I have only scratched the surface.

Third, historic biblical Christianity is historic. The Bible says in Jude 3 “Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (See also Galatians 1:6-9 and 1 Corinthians 15:1-8). Notice the terms “our common salvation” and “faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” These terms express a body of belief concerning salvation that was in agreement among the early Christians, defended against early false teachers, and passed on to the future generations. This is the Biblical testimony being preserved and passed on through history. The historic creeds like the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed historically defined biblical Christianity against those who were positing beliefs that were a distortion of the Bible’s teaching. The historic controversies were not about who won and lost the theological power struggle, it was the historic struggle for the preservation of Biblical teaching. I stand with Athanasius (defender of the Trinity) and against Arius (who said Jesus was like God but not God). I stand with Augustine (who believed in original sin and salvation by God’s sovereign grace) and against Pelagius (who believed man had the moral free will to do what God commanded). I stand with the Protestant Reformation in its recovery of biblical authority and the doctrine of justification by faith alone. I stand with the Westminster Confession of Faith in its articulation of biblical Christianity. I stand with confessing evangelicals today who believe the Gospel that God saves sinners by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone according to the Scripture alone, all to the glory of God alone.

It is a shame that many who say that they are Christians today don’t know their Bibles and don’t know their history. It is somewhat understandable in light of the attack on historic biblical Christianity from the modernists and the postmodernists. The modernists, for over a century, have worked at deconstructing the Bible. Now the postmodernists are working at deconstructing the history of Christianity. What we need today is a recovery of historic biblical Christianity; for that, I will labor and stand firm

32 - The Irony of Good Friday

GRACE ABOUNDING - 32
April 14, 2006

The Irony of Good Friday
by Pastor Billy Park

If you did not know, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday. It is the day that Jesus was crucified. Have you ever wondered why they call the day that Jesus died, “Good Friday?” Why call it “good” when on this very day, the Son of God was betrayed, beaten, mocked, crucified and died? How can this day be so good when it looked so bad? The answer to this question lies in what I call “the irony of the Bible.”

Irony is defined as “a) a use of words to express the opposite of what one really means; b) a result or ending which is just the opposite of what was expected.” In the Bible you will find many uses of irony such as the following:

• A Christian is strongest when he is weak, and he is weakest when he considers himself strong (1 Corinthians 1:25, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10)
• Glory is known in suffering, and when we suffer we especially realize God’s power (Luke 24:26; Romans 8:17; Ephesians 3:13; Philippians 3:10; 2 Timothy 1:8; 1 Peter 5:1, 10)
  When we are poor we are actually rich, and when we trust in our riches we are actually poor. (Matthew 5:3; 2 Corinthians 6:10; James 2:5; Revelation 3:17)
• We have to lose our lives to find it and if we try to find our lives we lose it. (Matthew 16:24, 25)
• When we “die” to ourselves, it is then that we truly “live in Christ,” and if we “live” for ourselves, we are truly spiritually dead. (Romans 8:13)
• It is in giving that we receive the most blessing. (Acts 20:35)
• A leader must be a servant of all (Matthew 20:26; 23:11)
• If you want to be exalted, you must humble yourself (Luke 14:11, 18:14)

The first shall be last and the last shall be first. (Mark 9:35; 10:31)

As you can see, there are many ironies in the Bible. This is because God loves to turn the tables on the wisdom and power of this world so that His glory may be revealed (1 Cor. 1:27-31).

How does the irony of the Bible explain why we should call the day that Jesus died “Good Friday?” The answer is simple: because we should never look at the Friday of Jesus’ death without looking at the Sunday of Jesus’ resurrection. We should look at the crucifixion in the light of the redemptive plan of God. When we do this, we see that it is truly good that Christ our Savior died for us to save us from our sin. Good Friday is good because it is the day that Christ was offered as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Those people who saw Christ crucified thought He was defeated. They did not realize that the humiliation of the cross was actually the climax of God’s redemptive plan in history. Ironically, Jesus’ crown of thorns turned out to be a crown of glory.

Jesus’ death was all according to God’s plan. Even though the crucifixion seemed like a victory for the powers of darkness, God was still in control. In the Bible, God has a way of turning the tables on evil. Remember Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and then thrown into prison for resisting Potiphar’s wife? How would you feel if you were Joseph? Probably, you would feel abandoned by God. However, God used, even designed, Joseph’s suffering and hardship to put him in a position to save many lives. He was able to interpret pharaoh’s dream and then become prime minister of Egypt. Remember what Joseph said to his brothers who feared he would take revenge for the evil they had done to him? Joseph said, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:20 ESV).

Just as God turned Joseph’s suffering and hardship into the saving of many lives, God turned the evil of the cross into the good of saving many souls. God turned what looked like defeat into victory. It was all according to God’s perfect plan. God has a plan for all creation and it is a “good, pleasing and perfect” plan (Romans 12:2 NIV). No matter how dark the situation looks, we can trust that God is in control.

This irony of Good Friday is that the cross which was a horrible way of execution turned out to be the cherished symbol of the Christian faith. The terrible cross became the wondrous cross. The humiliation of Christ became our salvation. The shame became our glory. Let us thank God for Good Friday.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My riches gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it Lord, that I should boast
Save in the cross of Christ my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
(Isaac Watts)

31 - GUEST WRITER: Rev. David Lee

GRACE ABOUNDING - 31
By guest writer, Rev. David D. Lee
April 10, 2006



A Living God

A friend of mine had an interesting life when we were back in high school. Most of his days were spent in front of a television or playing computer games. He did not go out much. He did not interact with people much. He did not do much of anything really. Some of us might call that the dream life while others might call that no life at all.

How do you define life? Do you think of your life as exciting or fulfilling? I think one of the reasons why movies and television are so popular is because we like to escape our lives and enjoy the story of some other people’s lives instead. Though those stories and movies and shows present a very interesting and exciting life, we encounter a problem when the story or movie or show ends. We have to come back to earth and back to our normal everyday lives.

I like watching movies and sometimes I walk out wondering what would happen if that story somehow intersected with my life and became real. We look for adventure, romance, excitement, and fulfillment. But we know the stories are just stories.

But with the Bible, the stories are more than just stories. What happened in the Bible, the story of Jesus Christ who died and came back to life two thousand years ago is supposed to have a very deep and exciting impact on who we are today. There is adventure, romance, excitement, and fulfillment that we are to experience today by what we read in the Good Book. How is this possible? How can something that happened so long ago still impact us today?

Jesus Christ is alive. Because He is alive, He is still working in our lives and in this world today. He was not simply a teacher who shared some lessons long ago, leaving it up to us to find meaning in them for today and to apply them. God said: “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Hebrews 8:10 ESV). It is something that God does and is doing today. Jesus is alive, He defeated death, and through the Holy Spirit is helping us to know we are alive with Him. The question is whether or not we experience this reality daily.

I read the story of a ninety-four-year-old man who was pronounced dead at a hospital but started breathing again as he was being transported to the funeral home. They rushed him back to the hospital to check him out. Then he died again four hours later.

That story may describe what many of us experience as our life with Jesus Christ. We go to a retreat or participate in some sort of worship service to recommit ourselves to Christ, and then a few hours, days, or weeks later end up living as if that commitment never occurred.

God has much more in store for us. After Jesus came back to life, He appeared to His disciples: “To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3 ESV). It was during these days that Jesus confirmed lessons He had taught them before His death. During this time He showed them He was truly alive, so much so that Thomas and others could have touched His body had they wanted to do so.

And after He showed how truly alive He was and is, He told them to wait for the Spirit to come. The Spirit has come to us, all of us who believe in Jesus Christ. And so we come to know that we can walk in this life that God has given to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

This week, as we reflect on the last week of Jesus life before the cross, remember that Jesus suffered to pay for our sins, and He died a real death. But also remember that He was resurrected. So as we died to sin in Him, so also we are raised to a very real life in Him. He makes us really alive in Jesus Christ.