Saturday, December 20, 2014
New Blog Site
I've decided to migrate my blog to WordPress. You can now follow me at http://insearchofnewcreation.wordpress.com/ . Thanks to everyone who offers comments, continually encouraging and challenging me in my thinking!
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Boring Testimonies
I pray that my kids (and the kids in my youth group) will have a "boring" testimony.
The way this often plays itself out in the church is in the use of the phrase: "He has such a great testimony!"
What we mean by this is: "He has such an exciting testimony!"
It's the stuff of good novels or movies.
It's the stuff of good novels or movies.
But maybe we shouldn't consider "good" and "exciting" to be absolute synonyms in this case. I say this not because the salvation and transformation of a drug addict is not good, but because every single salvation and transformation of a human soul is good... and exciting!
Unfortunately the story of a child who was raised in the church, discipled by their parents, reborn at an early age, and faithful in their walk with God (as much as any believer ever is) does not register with our fleshly minds as exciting. It's mundane. It's every day.
But it's not! It's beautiful... and wonderful... and miraculous!
It is a gift that God would be gracious in preventing such a person from suffering the long-term consequences of foolishness and at the same time immediately plunge them into the depths of the front line fight for the affections of their heart, a battle every believer faces daily.
A "boring" testimony is no cause for boasting on the part of the believer, for all are hopeless apart from Christ, but it does seem wholly appropriate to see such Christians as examples to follow. Young Timothy seems to have had just such a testimony and been such an example (see 2 Tim. 1:5ff).
So I pray regularly that my children are drawn to salvation at an early age. This means that I pray that God would reveal to them the depths of their depravity and their desperate need for Jesus Christ. I also pray that God would help my wife and me to be faithful to disciple our children in the ways of Jesus. Finally, I pray that our children would walk faithfully with Christ, confronting their heart sins with the gospel and daily repenting and believing.
I pray that they will have "boring" testimonies.
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
The Sticky Subject of Regeneration
This post has been brewing in my mind for a while now, so in honor of our youth group's recent "Regenerate" youth weekend, I decided that now was as good a time as any to write it.
One of the foundations of evangelical Christian faith is the idea of regeneration (i.e. "being born again," "getting saved," "being changed," "becoming a new creation," and a host of other terms that we use). Regeneration is the belief that, for Christians, there is a moment in time when a person who is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1) is drawn by the Holy Spirit of God (Jn. 6:44) and spiritually resurrected (Eph 2:5), becoming spiritually alive while still having a physical body and mind which are affected by fleshly desires. There are different ways of articulating this, but this is how I've come to understand it.
Over the years I've run into many folks who have very strong convictions about the doctrine of regeneration. For various reasons, some loath the idea that Christians might somehow be capable of walking in righteousness in ways that are impossible for non-believers. On the other side of the issue, some Christians are arrogant about their supposed "moral superiority." Both of these groups forget that it is Christ's righteousness - both positionally and practically - which is the source of Christian obedience.
The stickiness of the doctrine of regeneration (as in many Christian doctrines) is found in the "already-not-yet" aspect of it. Jesus says in John 3:3 that a person must be regenerated in order to "see the kingdom of God." Paul says, as noted above, that Christians have already been raised up with Christ (Eph. 2:5), and in 2 Cor. 5:17 he famously says that we are, at the present time, "new creations." That's the already. First Cor. 15:2 states that we are in the process of being saved by the gospel, an (depending on how you take Romans 7) the apostle also envisions a great struggle between the flesh and the resurrected spirit. That's the not-yet.
One of the most central passages to the doctrine of regeneration is Ezekiel 36-37, wherein the prophet says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."
Most theologians that I've read agree that at least the majority of this passage is fulfilled at the moment of a Christian's conversion, yet the last phrase presents a practical challenge: Is God currently causing all Christians at all times to walk in His ways? We know this can't be the case, because we all still struggle with sin (see e.g. 1 Jn. 1:8-10)
There are a couple of ways we could approach answering this question. We could say that the intent of the prophecy was not to say that believers would walk perfectly in His ways but that they simply now do actually walk in His ways to some extent, whereas before regeneration this was an impossibility.
I believe, though, that since Ezekiel 36 is eschatological, and since it is written from the perspective of an OT prophet (looking forward to Christ), it is probably better to see this prophecy as being fulfilled "already-but-not-yet," beginning with the first coming of Christ and being completed with His second coming.
What does all this mean? It means that there are aspects of regeneration that occur in time and space at the moment of conversion. I think most would agree with this. Yet there are also aspects of regeneration that will not occur until we receive our resurrected bodies (i.e. walking in his ways perfectly).
So the question I am wrestling with right now is whether or not (what we call) "sanctification" is a the process by which God takes a Christian from the initial effects of regeneration to its final effects. In other words, is there any sense in which a believer can say, "I've been regenerated (at conversion). I'm being regenerated (through sanctification), and I will be regenerated (through resurrection)?"
I hope I'm not nose-diving into some heresy I've not seen before.
What do you think? Help me out here.
One of the foundations of evangelical Christian faith is the idea of regeneration (i.e. "being born again," "getting saved," "being changed," "becoming a new creation," and a host of other terms that we use). Regeneration is the belief that, for Christians, there is a moment in time when a person who is spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1) is drawn by the Holy Spirit of God (Jn. 6:44) and spiritually resurrected (Eph 2:5), becoming spiritually alive while still having a physical body and mind which are affected by fleshly desires. There are different ways of articulating this, but this is how I've come to understand it.
Over the years I've run into many folks who have very strong convictions about the doctrine of regeneration. For various reasons, some loath the idea that Christians might somehow be capable of walking in righteousness in ways that are impossible for non-believers. On the other side of the issue, some Christians are arrogant about their supposed "moral superiority." Both of these groups forget that it is Christ's righteousness - both positionally and practically - which is the source of Christian obedience.
The stickiness of the doctrine of regeneration (as in many Christian doctrines) is found in the "already-not-yet" aspect of it. Jesus says in John 3:3 that a person must be regenerated in order to "see the kingdom of God." Paul says, as noted above, that Christians have already been raised up with Christ (Eph. 2:5), and in 2 Cor. 5:17 he famously says that we are, at the present time, "new creations." That's the already. First Cor. 15:2 states that we are in the process of being saved by the gospel, an (depending on how you take Romans 7) the apostle also envisions a great struggle between the flesh and the resurrected spirit. That's the not-yet.
One of the most central passages to the doctrine of regeneration is Ezekiel 36-37, wherein the prophet says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove your heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."
Most theologians that I've read agree that at least the majority of this passage is fulfilled at the moment of a Christian's conversion, yet the last phrase presents a practical challenge: Is God currently causing all Christians at all times to walk in His ways? We know this can't be the case, because we all still struggle with sin (see e.g. 1 Jn. 1:8-10)
There are a couple of ways we could approach answering this question. We could say that the intent of the prophecy was not to say that believers would walk perfectly in His ways but that they simply now do actually walk in His ways to some extent, whereas before regeneration this was an impossibility.
I believe, though, that since Ezekiel 36 is eschatological, and since it is written from the perspective of an OT prophet (looking forward to Christ), it is probably better to see this prophecy as being fulfilled "already-but-not-yet," beginning with the first coming of Christ and being completed with His second coming.
What does all this mean? It means that there are aspects of regeneration that occur in time and space at the moment of conversion. I think most would agree with this. Yet there are also aspects of regeneration that will not occur until we receive our resurrected bodies (i.e. walking in his ways perfectly).
So the question I am wrestling with right now is whether or not (what we call) "sanctification" is a the process by which God takes a Christian from the initial effects of regeneration to its final effects. In other words, is there any sense in which a believer can say, "I've been regenerated (at conversion). I'm being regenerated (through sanctification), and I will be regenerated (through resurrection)?"
I hope I'm not nose-diving into some heresy I've not seen before.
What do you think? Help me out here.
Creation, De-creation, Re-creation
The subject of creation has been coming up a lot in my world lately, and I've sort of begun thinking about new (for me) way of telling the story of God: Creation, De-creation, and Re-creation
We learn in Genesis 1, John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1 that all three persons of the Trinity worked together to create the heavens and the earth. We learn that the Father created by means of the Son (Col. 1:16), and we read also that the Spirit was present (Gen. 1:2).
It is also obvious that from the the beginning it was the intent of Satan to dismantle the created order of God. Yahweh established the rule that "in the day that you eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17 ESV), yet Satan stated in Gen. 3:4: "You will not surely die." Satan then questioned the authority and motives of God. Whereas the very heart of creation is life, the work of Satan has always been one of death (Eph. 2:1) - i.e. de-creation.
But the good news of the gospel is that, according to Ephesians 1, the Trinity stepped back in to make a new creation, a re-creation. As in the first creation, the Son (Jesus) is the means by which the Father adopts His "reborn" children (Eph. 1:4-5), and the Holy Spirit seals our redemption (Eph. 1:13-14). "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (Jn. 3:3).
At this point in salvation history, re-creation is focused primarily on the spiritual realm. Men and women who come to faith in Christ are being "born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Pt. 1:3). Though our physical bodies are "wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day," (2 Cor. 4:16).
But this isn't the end game. The purpose of God is that humans be resurrected spiritually first, and then physically resurrected (see e.g. 1 Cor. 15 and Rev. 19-20). We will not go off to live as disembodied souls forever in heaven, floating on a cloud in some ethereal land. We are human, and to be fully human as God originally intended, we must be fully redeemed, both spiritually and physically.
Therefore, at this moment, we find ourselves caught in between the times:
God's creative order is still plainly seen (Rom. 1:19-20);
Satan's de-creative efforts are also obvious (1 Pt. 5:8);
And God's re-creative work is happening all around us as people place their faith in Christ.
"Why should this all matter to me?" you might ask. It should matter because looking at things this way helps reveal so much of the intent behind the attacks of Satan today. If you want to identify his work in our world, look for de-creation. Look for philosophies and worldviews and political agendas which seek to undermine the creative order of God; and, in particular, look for mindsets which seek to downplay the necessity and primacy of His re-creative order - i.e. that salvation is found in no other name but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
May believers stand firm these days (with grace and truth) on the creative order of God, and may we boldly proclaim His re-creative work in the gospel!
We learn in Genesis 1, John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1 that all three persons of the Trinity worked together to create the heavens and the earth. We learn that the Father created by means of the Son (Col. 1:16), and we read also that the Spirit was present (Gen. 1:2).
It is also obvious that from the the beginning it was the intent of Satan to dismantle the created order of God. Yahweh established the rule that "in the day that you eat of [the tree of the knowledge of good and evil] you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17 ESV), yet Satan stated in Gen. 3:4: "You will not surely die." Satan then questioned the authority and motives of God. Whereas the very heart of creation is life, the work of Satan has always been one of death (Eph. 2:1) - i.e. de-creation.
But the good news of the gospel is that, according to Ephesians 1, the Trinity stepped back in to make a new creation, a re-creation. As in the first creation, the Son (Jesus) is the means by which the Father adopts His "reborn" children (Eph. 1:4-5), and the Holy Spirit seals our redemption (Eph. 1:13-14). "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). "'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (Jn. 3:3).
At this point in salvation history, re-creation is focused primarily on the spiritual realm. Men and women who come to faith in Christ are being "born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Pt. 1:3). Though our physical bodies are "wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day," (2 Cor. 4:16).
But this isn't the end game. The purpose of God is that humans be resurrected spiritually first, and then physically resurrected (see e.g. 1 Cor. 15 and Rev. 19-20). We will not go off to live as disembodied souls forever in heaven, floating on a cloud in some ethereal land. We are human, and to be fully human as God originally intended, we must be fully redeemed, both spiritually and physically.
Therefore, at this moment, we find ourselves caught in between the times:
God's creative order is still plainly seen (Rom. 1:19-20);
Satan's de-creative efforts are also obvious (1 Pt. 5:8);
And God's re-creative work is happening all around us as people place their faith in Christ.
"Why should this all matter to me?" you might ask. It should matter because looking at things this way helps reveal so much of the intent behind the attacks of Satan today. If you want to identify his work in our world, look for de-creation. Look for philosophies and worldviews and political agendas which seek to undermine the creative order of God; and, in particular, look for mindsets which seek to downplay the necessity and primacy of His re-creative order - i.e. that salvation is found in no other name but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).
May believers stand firm these days (with grace and truth) on the creative order of God, and may we boldly proclaim His re-creative work in the gospel!
The Mark (part 2)
This is a follow-up to a post from July 5th of last year. You can see that post here. In that post I compared the "sign" of Deuteronomy 6 with the "mark" of Revelation 13. Over the past year, I've continued to reflect on this idea, and today I thought I might offer an update.
What was Israel to bind on their hands and have as frontlets between their eyes?
The Great Shema, or, as Jesus referred to it, the Greatest Commandment.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Dt. 6:4-5).
One thing that I failed to notice and therefore mention in my original post is that this statement is not only at the center of Jewish and Christian piety, but it is also the very heart of monotheism - particularly, the belief that the One and Only True God is Yahweh.
In other words, the Shema, the "sign" that was to mark Israel, was a worldview that centered on worshiping the One and Only True God.
And that sets us up nicely to contrast this sign with the mark in Revelation. Chapter 13, verses 16-18 describe this infamous mark, and this passage states that the mark "is the number of man, and his number is 666."
I'm not into numerology, and I also don't want to speculate about the significance of the hand and the forehead either for Israel or in the case of the Mark of the Beast, but one thing does seem clear to me:
Where as the sign of Dt. 6 is a worldview centered on worshiping the One and Only True God, the worldview of those who accept the Mark of the Beast is centered on worshiping the Beast, and the number corresponding to this Beast is "man's number."
To the point. Could it be that the Mark of the Beast is the secular humanistic (man-centered) mindset that exalt's man's reasoning, man's ability to understand the created order, man's power, and man's "morality" over and against the reasoning, explanations, power, and morality attested to by the One True God in Scripture?
What do you think?
What was Israel to bind on their hands and have as frontlets between their eyes?
The Great Shema, or, as Jesus referred to it, the Greatest Commandment.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Dt. 6:4-5).
One thing that I failed to notice and therefore mention in my original post is that this statement is not only at the center of Jewish and Christian piety, but it is also the very heart of monotheism - particularly, the belief that the One and Only True God is Yahweh.
In other words, the Shema, the "sign" that was to mark Israel, was a worldview that centered on worshiping the One and Only True God.
And that sets us up nicely to contrast this sign with the mark in Revelation. Chapter 13, verses 16-18 describe this infamous mark, and this passage states that the mark "is the number of man, and his number is 666."
I'm not into numerology, and I also don't want to speculate about the significance of the hand and the forehead either for Israel or in the case of the Mark of the Beast, but one thing does seem clear to me:
Where as the sign of Dt. 6 is a worldview centered on worshiping the One and Only True God, the worldview of those who accept the Mark of the Beast is centered on worshiping the Beast, and the number corresponding to this Beast is "man's number."
To the point. Could it be that the Mark of the Beast is the secular humanistic (man-centered) mindset that exalt's man's reasoning, man's ability to understand the created order, man's power, and man's "morality" over and against the reasoning, explanations, power, and morality attested to by the One True God in Scripture?
What do you think?
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
In a Mirror Dimly
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." - 1 Cor. 13:12 ESV
It's really quite astonishing how much of the information that's on the internet is just plain false. It reminds me of the old telephone game (where information gets distorted with each new person it's passed to) amplified a billion times over. Last night Robin Williams passed away. When I first read the news, I didn't believe it because I'm so used to seeing fake celebrity death announcements on my news feed. Social media has made me into a skeptic, and I suspect I'm not the only one.
Yet the skepticism it goes deeper than social media.
We've become skeptical of history because it has been so often revised. We've become skeptical of certain foods because, after years of eating them, we find out what's actually in them. We've become skeptical of government because of the empty promises of generations of politicians. We've become skeptical of church ministers because so many have been found to lack integrity.
The West has bred a culture of skepticism. Our motto has become: "Trust no one; trust nothing."
Now even Christians find themselves questioning whether or not they can really trust the Book (and in turn the God) on which their faith is based.
It's not my purpose today to present an apologetic for the reliability of the Bible. There are others much more equipped for that task than me; rather, I simply desire to remind Christians of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13:12: "we see as in a mirror dimly... we know in part."
When a philosopher has his moment of greatest clarity, he is still an almost deaf man hearing mere mumbles and groans of what truly is. When an astronomer discovers a new nebula, she is still a near blind woman trying to make sense of colors and shapes. And when a human being tries to systematize and measure out the infinite God, there seems to be two resulting options: frustration or religion.
I think that we all instinctively know this.
The religious man creates rules and rituals, he puts on self-defined piety along with his robe and hat. And whether it's the religion of ancient pagans or of institutionalized Christianity... or of the academy - they all still put on their self-defined piety, their robe, and their hat. There's just something inside us that seeks to justify ourselves - to claim moral and intellectual superiority.
While the religious man goes his own way, the frustrated man embraces skepticism as a way of life.
Maybe it's possible that some people try to live both religiously and skeptically at the same time... Maybe I struggle daily against becoming one of those people.
The bottom line is that Paul's words here in 1 Cor. 13 should be self-evident to anyone who's gone on the search for truth. We are looking at reality through a mirror which reflects and refracts, which disorients and distracts; and the only two responses which make any sense to us are (1) to give up searching for truth by embracing skepticism or (2) to whittle down truth to a manageable size by embracing religion.
But I think Paul is offering us a better way.
He continues in verse 13, "So now faith, hope, and love abide."
We can wallow in uncertainty, or we can have faith in the One who is sovereign.
We can give up on the future, or we can hope in the One who holds past, present, and future.
We can hold everyone and everything at arms length so as to avoid being misunderstood or belittled or hurt, or we we can love.
We can be humble enough to say that we don't have all the answers... or even many of the answers, while at the same time trusting that God's Word and Spirit has given us and will give us those answer which are necessary. We can admit when we are wrong, while holding to the truth that there is such a thing as right and wrong and that God has told us exactly what the difference is in His Word. We blind and deaf men can hold the hand of the Creator and Sustainer of our lives and trust Him to lead us in the right direction.
We all know that we are looking at reality through a fogged-up lenses.
The question we have to ask is: Will we give up on the idea that there is such a thing as clarity, or will we shrink reality down to size through human religion, or will we let go of our delusion of control and trust in the One True God?
It's really quite astonishing how much of the information that's on the internet is just plain false. It reminds me of the old telephone game (where information gets distorted with each new person it's passed to) amplified a billion times over. Last night Robin Williams passed away. When I first read the news, I didn't believe it because I'm so used to seeing fake celebrity death announcements on my news feed. Social media has made me into a skeptic, and I suspect I'm not the only one.
Yet the skepticism it goes deeper than social media.
We've become skeptical of history because it has been so often revised. We've become skeptical of certain foods because, after years of eating them, we find out what's actually in them. We've become skeptical of government because of the empty promises of generations of politicians. We've become skeptical of church ministers because so many have been found to lack integrity.
The West has bred a culture of skepticism. Our motto has become: "Trust no one; trust nothing."
Now even Christians find themselves questioning whether or not they can really trust the Book (and in turn the God) on which their faith is based.
It's not my purpose today to present an apologetic for the reliability of the Bible. There are others much more equipped for that task than me; rather, I simply desire to remind Christians of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 13:12: "we see as in a mirror dimly... we know in part."
I think that we all instinctively know this.
The religious man creates rules and rituals, he puts on self-defined piety along with his robe and hat. And whether it's the religion of ancient pagans or of institutionalized Christianity... or of the academy - they all still put on their self-defined piety, their robe, and their hat. There's just something inside us that seeks to justify ourselves - to claim moral and intellectual superiority.
While the religious man goes his own way, the frustrated man embraces skepticism as a way of life.
Maybe it's possible that some people try to live both religiously and skeptically at the same time... Maybe I struggle daily against becoming one of those people.
The bottom line is that Paul's words here in 1 Cor. 13 should be self-evident to anyone who's gone on the search for truth. We are looking at reality through a mirror which reflects and refracts, which disorients and distracts; and the only two responses which make any sense to us are (1) to give up searching for truth by embracing skepticism or (2) to whittle down truth to a manageable size by embracing religion.
But I think Paul is offering us a better way.
He continues in verse 13, "So now faith, hope, and love abide."
We can wallow in uncertainty, or we can have faith in the One who is sovereign.
We can give up on the future, or we can hope in the One who holds past, present, and future.
We can hold everyone and everything at arms length so as to avoid being misunderstood or belittled or hurt, or we we can love.
We can be humble enough to say that we don't have all the answers... or even many of the answers, while at the same time trusting that God's Word and Spirit has given us and will give us those answer which are necessary. We can admit when we are wrong, while holding to the truth that there is such a thing as right and wrong and that God has told us exactly what the difference is in His Word. We blind and deaf men can hold the hand of the Creator and Sustainer of our lives and trust Him to lead us in the right direction.
We all know that we are looking at reality through a fogged-up lenses.
The question we have to ask is: Will we give up on the idea that there is such a thing as clarity, or will we shrink reality down to size through human religion, or will we let go of our delusion of control and trust in the One True God?
Friday, July 25, 2014
Miracles and Doubt
"And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief." -Mk. 6:5 ESV
I'm excited to soon begin reading Craig Keener's Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Account. I was compelled to read it after watching these overview videos about the book.
I do believe that supernatural occurrences are happening in our world today, not least because I've experienced a few myself and have also seen others second-hand. I've seen cancer disappear, unexplainable provision in time of need, and the providential arrangement of events and conversations. I even got to rejoice last year with a dear friend whose son's eyes and heart were healed from birth defect.
I have no doubt that most (if not all) of the "miracles" we see touted on TV are fake. I also have little doubt that real supernatural occurrences are extremely rare. That's why we call them "super" natural. They don't happen in the typical pattern of things. Some people may very well go their entire lives and never witness a miracle.
But I do believe they happen, and I do believe that in this passage Mark may be giving us a hint as to why we don't see them as often in the West.
With the dawn of the "Age of Reason" (or Enlightenment) in the 17th century, philosophers and scientists jettisoned the assumptions of thousands of years of human thinking for a purely naturalistic view of the universe. Everything, they said, can eventually be explained through experimentation and human logic. This has become the foundational assumption of many (if not most) in Europe and the U.S; and as human reason has become god, the result has not been all-out atheism in most cases but, rather, skepticism and agnosticism.
Non-committal, all-things-at-arms-length... DOUBT... has become a virtue.
But according to Mark, doubt was the problem in Jesus' hometown. In the words of the Scripture, He could not do supernatural works in Nazareth because of the doubt of the people.
Now we know that God can do anything that can be done and that does not contradict His character. He certainly performed many supernatural acts in Exodus and Numbers in spite of rampant doubt.
Yet for some reason, God providentially ordered the ministry of Jesus in such a way that a faith-response from human beings was key; and we are meant to see that the lack of such faith, at least in this instance, can short-circuit the process of a supernatual work of God.
This is not an apologetic for name-it-claim-it theology... but it is a clear and direct challenge to our culture of skepticism.
I would never deny the miracles of modern medicine that God has graciously given, but at times I wonder if we've exchanged the gift for the Giver (Rom. 1:18ff) and deified our doctors. Are we placing all of our trust in chemistry and biology yet neglecting to cry out to our Maker and Sustainer? Why are we then surprised when He says to us, "Thy will be done?"
"(Jesus) marveled at their unbelief."
I wonder at times if He marvels at mine?
I'm excited to soon begin reading Craig Keener's Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Account. I was compelled to read it after watching these overview videos about the book.
I do believe that supernatural occurrences are happening in our world today, not least because I've experienced a few myself and have also seen others second-hand. I've seen cancer disappear, unexplainable provision in time of need, and the providential arrangement of events and conversations. I even got to rejoice last year with a dear friend whose son's eyes and heart were healed from birth defect.
I have no doubt that most (if not all) of the "miracles" we see touted on TV are fake. I also have little doubt that real supernatural occurrences are extremely rare. That's why we call them "super" natural. They don't happen in the typical pattern of things. Some people may very well go their entire lives and never witness a miracle.
But I do believe they happen, and I do believe that in this passage Mark may be giving us a hint as to why we don't see them as often in the West.
With the dawn of the "Age of Reason" (or Enlightenment) in the 17th century, philosophers and scientists jettisoned the assumptions of thousands of years of human thinking for a purely naturalistic view of the universe. Everything, they said, can eventually be explained through experimentation and human logic. This has become the foundational assumption of many (if not most) in Europe and the U.S; and as human reason has become god, the result has not been all-out atheism in most cases but, rather, skepticism and agnosticism.
Non-committal, all-things-at-arms-length... DOUBT... has become a virtue.
But according to Mark, doubt was the problem in Jesus' hometown. In the words of the Scripture, He could not do supernatural works in Nazareth because of the doubt of the people.
Now we know that God can do anything that can be done and that does not contradict His character. He certainly performed many supernatural acts in Exodus and Numbers in spite of rampant doubt.
Yet for some reason, God providentially ordered the ministry of Jesus in such a way that a faith-response from human beings was key; and we are meant to see that the lack of such faith, at least in this instance, can short-circuit the process of a supernatual work of God.
This is not an apologetic for name-it-claim-it theology... but it is a clear and direct challenge to our culture of skepticism.
I would never deny the miracles of modern medicine that God has graciously given, but at times I wonder if we've exchanged the gift for the Giver (Rom. 1:18ff) and deified our doctors. Are we placing all of our trust in chemistry and biology yet neglecting to cry out to our Maker and Sustainer? Why are we then surprised when He says to us, "Thy will be done?"
"(Jesus) marveled at their unbelief."
I wonder at times if He marvels at mine?
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