Beauty in the Christian Life: Diversity and Unity

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Have you ever had a song from childhood waft through your mind, surprising you with its evocative power? I recently heard an evangelist describe the profound influence his grandmother had on his life by singing hymns to him as a child. As an adult, when he was struggling with depression and alcohol abuse, he would phone her to sing those songs. This brought the music buried in his heart to the surface to set him upright. God used musical memory to deliver him. Through the words of Christ’s love sung by his grandmother, the Lord brought this man back to love and serve him in evangelistic music ministry. 

A Distant Memory: Recovering the Language of Beauty

This story has its corollary in what has happened with the language of beauty in the West. We might say that there is a song from our distant past that wafts through our minds, evoking memories of a time when our civilization had the vocabulary of beauty. Today, we have trouble describing why something is beautiful with clarity. We struggle to describe beauty in terms other than our own subjective experience. We might say, “I like that music or painting,” but we can’t explain why. The song of beauty has become muted by relativism in our time. We may even struggle to explain why the Lord is beautiful. But there are notes from the past that we can recover to express an understanding of beauty in a deeper way and, therefore, increase our knowledge and love for the beauty of God.

Recovering the language of beauty is important because God is the source of beauty, just as he is the source of goodness and truth. In a prior post, I described some of the various notes within the song of beauty. That article followed harmony, which has been considered a norm of beauty since classical antiquity. In this series of articles, I will explore other dimensions of beauty in order to trace their origins in God and how they are manifested in his world, his church, and in the Christian life. Our goal is to find encouragement to imitate the pattern of God’s beauty in everything we say, think, and do.

The Vocabulary of Beauty: Diversity and Unity

Not surprisingly, there is an integrity to the norms of beauty because they are grounded in the nature of God, who is perfect in his integrity. In addition to harmony, another norm of beauty that has been recognized since ancient times is diversity and unity. Although all the dimensions overlap, it is helpful to examine each one carefully.

Harmony connotes symmetry and a fitting together of parts. In music, harmony is achieved when there is a “just proportion of sound or consonance.” The word harmony conveys “concord or agreement” as when different parts come together to form a whole that has “a kind of symmetry of style and character” (Webster Dictionary). Harmony is pleasant to hear in music, to see in the arts, and to read in literature and poetry. It is also pleasant when people live in harmony. It is good when “peace and friendship” are cultivated among us: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Ps. 133:1).

Diversity and unity also convey concord and agreement. These words, however, communicate an important emphasis on how elements varying in degree or likeness are one. Attending closely to diversity and unity in the Godhead, in nature, and in the church helps us stand in awe and wonder before our Triune God and his work in creation and redemption.

Diversity and Unity in the Godhead: The Beauty of the Trinity

The foundation for our understanding of how diversity and unity are standards of beauty lies in the beauty of the Trinity. The Bible clearly teaches that God is one in three. Every time we recite the Apostles’ Creed, we proclaim our belief in the Triune God.

Confessional statements that summarize what the Bible teaches about the Trinity are helpful for meditating on diversity and unity in the Godhead.

“In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.” (Westminster Confession of Faith, II.3)

“…we believe in one God, who is one single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties—namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” (Belgic Confession, Article 8)

The Holy Spirit “is the third person of the Trinity—of one and the same essence, and majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son. He is true and eternal God, as the Holy Scriptures teach us.” (Belgic Confession, Article 11)

Note the words used to describe God: unity; single essence; one substance; three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct. This is the lexicon of beauty because it is the lexicon of God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

Diversity and Unity in Creation: The Beauty of God’s World

Many churches pray the Gloria Patri in worship:

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

This prayer is profoundly helpful in grounding our minds and hearts in Trinitarian reality. It is so comprehensive in terms of time, that we rise from our knees to see diversity and unity in all of creation and in the new creation. 

Scripture teaches that from the beginning God reveals himself to all men through creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). As the original artist, the Creator, who is invisible, reveals himself through the visible medium of the created order (Romans 1). With beauty grounded in the nature and character of the Triune God, we would expect to observe the facets of beauty in the natural world he created.

My home state of Oregon is diverse in its landscapes, but there is also a unity of scale or proportion that can be described as grand. The Columbia River Gorge is a natural wonder, full of diversity of light and atmospheric mystery while maintaining an integrated whole. In exploring the Columbia Gorge, one experiences seemingly infinite variety across the seasons. Even hourly, the cloud and light patterns can shift dramatically to cast shadow and color on the dense forests and waterfalls framing the great Columbia River. This is just one example of how creation evidences God’s beauty in its diversity and its unity—its harmony of the parts into a glorious entity.

The diversity and unity of creation reflect God’s Triune glory. In the hymn of doxology to the glory of Jesus Christ as Creator and Redeemer found in Colossians 1:15-20, Paul speaks of Christ’s supremacy in creation.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:15-17)

Christ is preeminent over his diverse creation. He is also the one who sustains creation, unifying it by his power.

Diversity and Unity in the New Creation: The Beauty of the Church

Having defeated sin and death at the cross, Christ is creating a new humanity, of which he is the head. (Colossians 1:18.) The church is to be both diverse and united to reflect the beauty of the Trinity.

God’s original design for humanity shows diversity and unity.  In Genesis we learn that God created humanity to bear his image, uniting both male and female in the dignity of divine image-bearing.

So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27) 

In redeeming mankind, Christ is building his church to be his beautiful bride (see Psalm 45). The new humanity in Christ is called to reflect the image of the Divine in all his beauty as God conforms us to the image of his Son. 

In his book The Beautiful Community, Irwyn L. Ince Jr. applies how we are to imitate the Trinity in the church:

As his people, when we are mutually glorifying, speaking, and acting in ways that enhance the reputations of one another, striving to bring praise and honor to others, exhibiting a mutual deference, a willingness to serve one another, and submit to one another—especially across lines of difference—we are imaging God’s beauty. (p. 55)

Another work on the topic of diversity and unity in the church is an address entitled “Membership” by C.S. Lewis. In this essay, Lewis counters both individualism and collective uniformity as standards for church membership. Instead, he advances the Pauline doctrine of the church. The New Testament teaches that “members” mean organs, not items or units in a homogenous class (Weight of Glory and Other Essays, p. 110.)  Lewis distinguishes the definition of our membership in the church from membership in a club, or a military institution, or any group that consists of “members of a class.” As members of a church, the apostle Paul uses the term in the sense of organs, “things essentially different from, and complementary to, one another…”  Lewis advances the thesis that “the Christian is called not to individualism but to membership in the mystical body” (p. 110), adding that “those who are members of one another become as diverse as the hand and the ear” (p. 113).

Diversity and Unity: Imitating the Beauty of God

Often in church cultures, there is a pressure to be conformed to one another instead of to Christ. We may ask ourselves, “Is it okay to be different in my church, either by disposition or station in life? For example, can an introvert thrive in our fellowship just as much as an extrovert? Can a single person fit in just as well as married couples?” Pondering God’s design for diversity and unity is helpful in answering these common questions. The goal of church membership is not conformity to one another but instead to the perfect divine image-bearer, Jesus Christ. C.S. Lewis notes that, “A row of identically dressed and identically trained soldiers set side by side…are not members of anything in a Pauline sense” (p. 110.)  

Perhaps in applying the norms of beauty to our Christian lives, we might seek to support fellow church members in their unique gifts and dispositions. By deferring to others and helping them to serve, we can imitate God. We can mortify pride while also being confident that God has done a marvelous work in making and redeeming each one of us (see Psalm 139). Having been freed by Christ from sin and punishment, we can experience freedom to be ourselves to Christ’s glory. There is no need to adopt the “preferred personality type,” or to try to fit into the group for the sake of acceptance.

Holy living according to biblical standards takes a variety of expressions based on where God has placed us. Each of us passes through a variety of stations in life over the course of our earthly pilgrimage. Service in each stage may look quite different based on where God has ordained that we serve in his world and in his church. Again, the goal is not uniformity to one another. The goal is to glorify Christ through loving obedience.

By recovering the language of beauty, we can work to bring back the music that awakens our sensibilities to the beauty of God, his world, and his church. In reflecting on diversity and unity in the Godhead, ask yourself, “How can I magnify the beauty of God in my life by this standard?” In so doing, you may begin to hear the music of the new creation.

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Salvation in Christ Alone: What Is "The Great Exchange"?

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Because of God’s holiness and righteousness, sin must be punished. As humans, we tend to take a lenient view of sin, but God can’t do that. He has set his laws in place and revealed them to us. When they are broken, the transgressor must be punished. Christians know Christ paid their debt on the cross, but he did even more for every believer.

God regards sin as cosmic rebellion.

God’s first “law” was given to Adam, and he was warned that on the day he disobeyed he would die. From the start, the Bible tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), and that message does not change throughout Scripture (see Gen. 2:17; Deut. 24:16; Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 5:12; 6:23). When we sin, we have earned “wages” as it were, and God must pay what is due if he is to be just; and just he must be. We may minimize our sin or attempt to justify our sinful actions, but God regards sin as cosmic rebellion, punishable by death for the rebel. He has clearly stated the punishment for sin is the “shedding of blood,” for life is in the blood (Lev. 17:14). 

But an early shadow of God’s grace came immediately through the animal coverings God made for Adam and Eve after that first sin (Gen. 3:21). A clearer shadow of God’s final means of redemption for sin followed later in the Passover Lamb sacrifice that began in Exodus 12:11. A spotless lamb foreshadowed the sinless man Jesus Christ as the Passover continued throughout the history of Israel.

“The wages of sin is death.”

The sacrifice and several other elements of the Passover celebration were for Israel a vivid reminder of the “wages” of sin and the “cost” of redemption. God does not need the blood of bulls and goats; God’s people needed to see life drain away as a visual picture of the punishment God requires for sin (Isa. 1:11; Heb. 10:4). Thus, the sacrificial system served, for those who offered the sacrifices in faith, to point to the coming Messiah, Christ Jesus (Heb. 8-10). 

God’s first and final plan, however, was that he would pay the price for sin, because sin is an offense against an infinite being and only the infinite could bear the cost. So in eternity past, before the foundation of the world, the Son committed to glorify his Father and the Spirit by being the voluntary sacrifice for the sins of every person who, by faith, would believe (Gen. 3:15; Eph. 1:3-14).

Animal sacrifices could never secure forgiveness. 

We must also recognize that the Old Testament sacrifice of the shed blood of an animal substitute for the sinner could only cover sin. Apart from faith in Christ Jesus, whom the sacrificial system pointed to, the sacrifices in themselves could not secure forgiveness. The solution to our problem could only be God in the flesh, who alone was born sinless, lived a sinless human life, and was therefore qualified and able to bear the punishment required for sin.  

So God the eternal Son (the word “begotten” used in our English translations is a Greek word that means “to bring forth” or “to produce,” not created) left heaven and, by agreement with the Father and Spirit, veiled his deity as he took on flesh. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin and did not inherit the sin of Adam (Luke 1:35). 

Jesus faced greater temptations than the first Adam.

Jesus, the man, continued sinless throughout his life as God required in his original covenant with Adam (Gen. 2:15-17). As a man, Jesus faced even greater temptations than what was set before Adam. Where Adam was commanded to obey God in a lush garden, Jesus obeyed God in a fallen world. Where Adam was tempted in that lush garden/temple, Jesus was tempted in a barren wilderness (Luke 4:1-2). In constant contact with his Father in heaven through prayer and depending on the power of the Spirit, Jesus lived a sinless life and was obedient to the very end, even to death on the cross (Ps. 2:7; Isa. 42:1; Eph. 1:3; Phil. 2:6-10). 

Jesus is the “last Adam” who earned life for all who trust in him.

In his humanity, Jesus is the “last Adam.” He was born under the law, kept it perfectly, and was qualified as the perfect Adam (man) to save God’s people (Rom. 5:15-19). The apostle Paul makes it abundantly clear in Romans, chapter 5, that Jesus succeeded where Adam failed, and as death came to all through Adam, righteousness and life come to those who are in Christ Jesus by faith. 

But it’s not just the forgiveness of sins that came on the cross. Because Christ Jesus lived a perfectly obedient life, God the Father imputes (that is, credits) Christ’s perfect righteousness to his people by faith in Christ alone. Martin Luther called this “the great exchange,” where our sin is credited to Jesus and the earned righteousness of Jesus is credited to all who call upon the name of the Lord (Rom. 10:9, 13; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8-9; 2 Tim. 1:9). Where Adam brought death through his rebellion, Christ earned eternal life for all believers.

In the great exchange Christ’s righteousness is credited to us, and our sin is credited to Christ.

It was God the Father who put all the sins of believers—past, present, and future—on Jesus, who had no sin. The Son took those sins freely and died to redeem all who would believe—that is, all whom the Father had eternally given to him as his “bride” (Heb. 12:2; John 6:37; 10:29; 17:6, 9, 24; see also Ps. 23:5; Isa. 54:5; 61:10; John 17:2; 18:9; Eph. 1:5; Heb. 2:13). The agony of the Father turning from the Son who was made sin then turned to joy as the Father raised him from the grave and seated him at his right hand. And the joy continues as the Spirit gives life through the Son as the Father determined before time began.   

The redeeming plan of the Triune God set in place before the creation is an act of love and grace that is beyond human imagining. When we allow these truths to settle in our hearts, we find the necessary gratitude for continuing to live to please God with the help of the indwelling Spirit until the day our Savior returns. Then we will each hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

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This article was originally published on Beautiful Christian Life on June 14, 2019.

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Are You Trusting in Scripture or Yourself?

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

When my first son finally spoke, joy burst in my new, mothering heart. For two years I communicated with my little boy through grunts, sounds, and actions. One mealtime, he sat at the table crying to us, “Hee-haa!” in hot tears of frustration because neither my husband nor I understood him. While I knew much about my son simply through his non-verbal ways, I was excited to get to know him in another way: through his words. 

Piece by piece, he learned to verbalize his feelings, thoughts, questions, perceptions, and even jokes. I loved hearing his little voice tell stories to me and pose inquiries about the world around him. I adored hearing names such as Mommy, Daddy, Immy (Grammy), Ohpo (Grandpère), and Nan.

We can’t live in a way that’s pleasing to God without being grounded in his Word.

Our relationships are founded on communication of some kind. I’ve developed a relationship with my twins, who don’t speak yet, through their own wordless messaging such as different cries for anger, sadness, and fear. If I never paid attention to them or listened to their unique form of communication, I wouldn’t have a closer bond with them. The same goes for my husband, my mother, my in-laws, and my friends. We all communicate and process in similar and unique ways through our body language, voice alterations, and expressions. Listening to and watching this kind of non-verbal communication is necessary for any relationship to succeed.

Yet in the Christian world, we can lose this basic understanding of relationships when it comes to God. We believe that we can know God and live in a way that’s pleasing to him without being grounded in his Word, which is his communication with us. Here is just a handful of the statements I’ve read or heard concerning the Bible recently:

“That’s just Paul’s opinion.”

“Sola Scriptura isn’t even in the Bible.”

“The Bible will not last for eternity … It is not the Bible that saves us or sanctifies us.”[1]

“It is important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority … And what exactly is that authority? We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience and the experience thousands of others have witnessed to.”[2]

Dear reader, if you follow Jesus and claim to love him, you cannot neglect his Scriptures. Let’s analyze these claims and create a defense for our own hearts.

Scripture sanctifies us because it is the life-giving breath of God.

Peter didn’t think Scripture was just Paul’s opinion:

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. (2 Pet. 3:15–16) 

Peter thought Paul’s words were Scripture. But what does God say about the authority of his Word?

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16–17)

Jesus likewise prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Scripture sanctifies us because it is the life-giving breath of God.

When we don’t like what the Bible says, we brush it off as the work of fallible men.

Every word of the Bible comes from God, and he declares that every word of it equips our faith. What about experience? What about wisdom from others? God upholds the wisdom he grants to his people and calls us to seek it; however, he gives us this reminder:

All flesh is grass,
    and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades
    when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
    surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
    but the word of our God will stand forever. (Isaiah 40:6b–8)

When people don’t like what the Bible says, they sometimes brush it off as the work of fallible men riddled with their own cultural problems, or they look to their own experiences that seem to declare another easier and “better” truth to them.

At the end of the day we are either placing our hope in Scripture or we’re placing it in ourselves. If we want to argue that the authors of the Bible were fallible men, we need to acknowledge that we’re trusting in our own fallible self or the fallible words of another that are also filled with cultural problems as well.

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Notes:

[1] Lore Ferguson Wilbert, @lorewilbert Instagram post, May 12, 2022.

[2] Luke Timothy Johnson, “Homosexuality and the Church,” Commonweal Magazine, June 11, 2007.

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7 Brilliant Reasons to Shamelessly Applaud Jesus — Revelation 1:5-8

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The big faux pas at any classical music concert is to applaud between movements. You must wait until the end of the work, and the person who accidentally claps too soon pretty much draws the frowns of the entire concert hall upon themselves as a musical ignoramus and philistine. 

So it was very refreshing to hear a maestro explain, back in the 90s, that when the concertos of Hayden and Mozart were first performed, it was normal for people to clap not only between movements, but even mid-movement after hearing bits that they liked. 

The book of Revelation is full of these moments of spontaneous applause, moments where the glory of Jesus Christ is unveiled by some tremendous statement or scene, and where the author or the angels or both burst into acclamations of praise. In Revelation 1:5-8 we see the first of these ebullient eruptions of applause by John. Within it we hear and learn seven brilliant things about Jesus Christ.

1. How Jesus looks at us: “To him who loves us” (Rev. 1:5a).

Everyone yearns for love, for someone to like us, care for us, protect us, and even live for us. Parents more or less fail in their love. Husbands and wives are regularly defeated by their own selfishness. Friends can fade and vanish.

But Jesus loves you perfectly. He is committed to you. He wants the best for you, delights in you, wants to be with you, and rejoices in your well-being and improvement. He is grieved when you make bad decisions. He wants to protect you and is angered by those who harm you. He gladly sacrificed his own good for your benefit.

Jesus loves you personally, perfectly, and permanently. And this leads to the next point.

2. What Jesus has done for us: “[He] has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1:5b).

By refusing to do what God commands, and by insisting on doing what he has forbidden, we are chained. When we steal and lie, for example, we self-mutilate the image of God that we bear. We demean our humanity by possessing things, and a reputation, that do not belong to us. We deny others their rightful property and true perspective. Our sin chains us to guilt and God’s eternal wrath in the Lake of Fire. 

On the cross at Golgotha Jesus freed us from these heavy black chains of guilt “by his blood.” “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Our sins were imputed to him and borne by him. He suffered the wrath of God in our place. His blood frees us to look at our death and eternity with perfect peace, and even longing and joy.

3. What Jesus has made us: “A kingdom, priests to his God and Father” (Rev. 1:6a).

By freeing us from our sins, God’s Son brought us into his kingdom. We are the subjects of King Jesus, living under his rule, provision, and protection in a kingdom that transcends this world (John 18:36). 

The eighteenth-century Huguenots lived under the absolute rule of Louis XV and cruel laws that outlawed Protestant worship. Huguenot men were punished by rowing the king’s galleys until death. Huguenot women were locked into dungeons and forgotten. Huguenot pastors were hanged, or worse. How vital to know that although they were subjects of a cruel and anti-Christian earthly kingdom, they were first and foremost subjects of King Jesus. They had peace, knowing that King Jesus would in time banish unjust earthly rule and complete his good and perfect Kingdom. 

And we are a kingdom of priests, as Peter said,

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Pet. 2:9)

In the Old Testament only the priests could draw near to the presence of God in the Tabernacle. It was death for anyone else. Even then, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies once a year with blood, with evidence that their sin had been atoned for. Jesus has made us all to be like those priests. We have been cleansed by his blood and live by the Spirit of God 24/7 in the true Holy of Holies, the very presence of God:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. (1 Cor. 6:19)

4. What we owe Jesus: “To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:6b).

For all that Christ has done, we ascribe to him “glory and dominion.” Glory refers to weightiness, heaviness, importance. God’s glory is the manifestation of his weighty presence and attributes. His Tabernacle was thus filled with “the glory cloud,” a visible manifestation of his presence. In response to God’s glory, we glorify him. 

We glorify Jesus by praising his love, wisdom, holiness, eternity, and omniscience (he knows all). We also acknowledge that he is the strong and all-powerful one, that all power in the universe comes from him. We have been freed from our sin to praise and delight in God’s superb and infinitely glorious Son, Jesus Christ.

5. What Jesus is doing and is going to do: “Behold, he is coming with the clouds” (Rev. 1:7a).

Here John is referring to a Mount Everest peak of the Bible, Daniel 7:13-14. The prophet Daniel had sweated through the nightmare vision of four beasts emerging from the sea, representing cruel and powerful world empires. Think of them as the Babylonian army that swept into Judea and destroyed the temple along with Jerusalem, or the Medes and Persians who conquered the Babylonians and most of the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean, or as the Greek military empire of Alexander.

Then, like the sun breaking through a dismal tempest, 

I saw in the night visions,

   and behold, with the clouds of heaven

        there came one like a son of man,

    and he came to the Ancient of Days

        and was presented before him.

   And to him was given dominion

        and glory and a kingdom,

    that all peoples, nations, and languages

        should serve him;

    his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

        which shall not pass away,

    and his kingdom one

        that shall not be destroyed. (Dan. 7:13-14)

Unlike the beasts, this figure is human and humane, “one like a Son of Man.” He comes with the clouds, signifying the glorious presence of God. He is both human and divine and is crowned with complete, universal, and eternal rule. Revelation shows that Jesus is Daniel’s God-man and universal and eternal king, coming with the clouds to sweep away cruel and bestial empires that scourge the earth. 

Note the present tense, not “He will come,” but “He comes.” In 1836 the one hundred forlorn Texan defenders of the Alamo, besieged by 1,500 Mexican troops, held out for thirteen days for the promised relief. It never came. Christ’s people, however, can know in their suffering that he is breaking right now into history for their help and for his glory.

What a tremendous vision for those living under the fearsome shadow of Rome and her cruel and implacable persecutions. “See him coming on the clouds of heaven!” 

6. What will happen as a result: “Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him” (Rev. 1:7b).

When Jesus returns everyone will recognize his glory. Even those who pierced, that is, crucified him. 

The restaurant waiter snarls at the disheveled old customer in the worn greatcoat, not realizing that he is the owner, the man who pays his living. The White Witch plunges her cruel blade into Aslan’s heart, forgetting that he is Narnia’s King and Sustainer.

Robert Mounce rightly says that “those who pierced him” “extends to all those of every age whose careless indifference to Jesus is typified in the act of piercing.”[1] The soldiers who drove nails through Jesus’ hands and feet will see him in all his divine glory. Caiaphas, Herod, and Pontius Pilate will see him in the clouds. The crowds that screeched “Crucify Him!” will see him on the throne of glory. And every person on the earth today who dismisses or derides or attempts to ignore Jesus Christ will see him crowned and regaled with universal dignity and power.

And what sound will we hear from them?  

7. How they will respond: “All tribes of the earth will wail on account of him” (Rev. 1:7b).

“Tribes” refers to all nations and people. Although Daniel had said, “all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him” (Dan. 7:14), Revelation emphasizes the sound of mourning. This picks up Zechariah 12:10,

When they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Revelation combines Daniel and Zechariah because John saw something that Daniel didn’t—that the Divine Son of Man would return in glory only afterhe had been crucified. So the world will not delight to see him but be appalled by the titanic enormity of their arrogant blunder. They will face the awful recognition that they had nailed, condemned, mocked, and rejected God’s Son and Eternal and Universal King. 

When the Son of Man returns, the credulous unbelief of the atheist, which he clutches like Gollum’s Precious, will be shown for the errant nonsense that it is. The agnostic will not seem cautiously wise, but cosmically idiotic. The stupidity of those who procrastinated to repent and believe will gnaw at them for eternity, as “the worm that never dies.” The Christ-less will wail. 

Then they will call for the mountains and hills to come crashing down upon them. Better that than to face justice for high treason against their own Creator and Sovereign. 

“Yes! Amen!” says John in acclamation, for the thrilling vindication of the “Divine Crucified One,” the Son of Man.

What does the Son himself say? “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God.” This is the Son speaking, for he speaks almost the very same words in verse 17, “I am the first and the last,” and in 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Alpha and Omega refers to the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and the other twenty-two letters that lie between: α β γ δ ε ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω. Jesus is present before, after, and during universal history.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8).

Thus, Jesus’ title, “the Almighty.” It is pantokratōr (all-strong) in Greek and omnipotent in Latin. Revelation treasures this title for Jesus; nine out of ten of the New Testament occurrences of pantokratōr appear herein.

Though Christians then and since and now and in the future face powerful earthly hostility, and even violence, there can be only one Almighty, and he is the good, holy, just, loving, and divine Son of Man. 

Don’t be ashamed. Let us applaud mid-movement with John and the angels, “To him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”

Related Articles:

• 8 Symbols That Give Us a Portrait of Jesus—Revelation 1:9-17

• You Must Be Ready for Jesus' Return!

• Attributes of God We Encounter at the Cross

• Why Is Jesus Taking So Long to Return?

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Notes:

[1] Robert Mounce, The Book of Revelation, NICNT, vol. 27, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998 ), 51.

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Christ Jesus: The Source of True Rest

Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Our concept of rest is varied and broad. Is it sleep or a long midday nap? Is it stopping work or exercise, taking a break from our normal exertions of life? Or is it ultimate, a resting from all the strivings, turmoil, and cycles of this life?

Rest gives us a chance to think and take to heart things that too often spin around in our minds.

Surely we can all agree that rest is desirable and necessary. Rest is necessary for any living being in this creation because we were not made to do constant work. Our bodies simply cannot go on forever. Rest is also desirable since it gives us a chance to recharge and to enjoy the fruits of our work. Rest gives us a chance to think and take to heart things that too often spin around in our minds like small, unsettling storms. Rest is peaceful. It is, as the prophet Isaiah wrote, "peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places" (Isa. 32:18).

The question is, from where does this peacefulness come and is it possible to even get there when there is so much trouble all around us? In the Netflix series Maid, Sharon Van Etten's "Every Time the Sun Comes Up I'm in Trouble" hauntingly plays in the background as the main character Alex faces yet again another setback, another obstacle, another challenge, another tragedy. Every day brings trouble and there seems to be no rest. No doubt we can all identify with Alex, not necessarily to the same extent, but it is a rare person who has not had days of turmoil—days when we cry out for respite and a break from our troubles.

Only God can give us true rest that is everlasting, safe, and secure.

Isaiah gives us hope. The pouring out of God's spirit will bring the restful peace we all long for (Isa. 32:15) as a result of righteousness (Isa. 32:17). And its effect? Calm and confidence, peaceful homes and places of rest (Isa. 32:17-18). The righteousness will come by means of the only perfectly righteous person to walk the earth, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the Messiah who suffered and died on behalf of God's people, completing his work on earth.

Jesus' resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven leads to the pouring out of his Spirit to all who are united to Christ Jesus by faith. This pouring out brings rest—rest from our own weak and failing works as we try to save ourselves. It brings rest from the enmity and division between God and humanity and between one another, reconciling us to God and to each other with the love of God given so that we may love others. This is true rest. It is an everlasting rest that is safe and secure and untroubled as we look forward to our peaceful heavenly home, securely dwelling in righteousness with God forever.

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This article is adapted from “The Source of True Rest” in BCL’s March 2022 monthly newsletter “Rest.”

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How to Have Deeper Conversations Today

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We all engage in conversations on various levels. We know the light and airy conversations of the weather, the funny antics our children did last week, the novel we just started reading, and brainstorming new meals to feed our families.

In some relationships, we easily sink into deeper conversations. I think of my sister-in-law, my friend Michelle, and a pastor’s wife I know. Within a few visits together, we swim through the surface-level conversations of dirty diapers and streaky floors and, without noticing, we tread into the deeper and sometimes murkier places of life. We move from giggling about the silly things our husbands did on our first dates to the arguments from the previous night. We may start by rolling our eyes at the unreal number of dishes we wash each day to sharing the fearful thoughts for our children that come to mind as we washed those dishes yesterday.

There are some women I sit down with whose kind eyes and gentle questions seem to uncork my heart and lead me to pour out my honest questions, past hardships, and current struggles with sin. Others, though I still enjoy their presence, stay within unspoken boundary lines of wall colors, water bottle choices, and tips on how to hide vegetables in our children’s food.

What makes these conversations so different? How can we dive beyond the surface of our relationships and encourage deeper conversations?

They were willing to initiate.

Few people want to be the first one to share. I like to wait and listen to how others respond and then gauge how I should frame my response. I often do the same in conversations. If they discuss the recent snowfall, I’ll reply with how my son and I share a distaste for the cold weather. But if they share about how postpartum depression nearly debilitates them in the winter months, I may feel the nudge to tell them how my depression is likewise worse when snowstorms and snowbanks keep me trapped inside.

Those who engage us in deeper conversations are willing to go first and share their pain. They don’t over-share for sake of gasps—they want to go beyond the shallow end. They want to know us. They want friendship, a companion to shoulder suffering with. They want to know they aren’t alone. And they in turn are willing to take the risk of vulnerability so we won’t feel alone either.

Being proactive: What are some ways we can steward our stories well? Who is going through a similar experience as you that you could share your story with to encourage them? 

They asked better questions.

Those who have engaged in deeper conversations with me didn’t allow the hard question to stew in the silence. They asked them with tender, focused eyes, slightly perched forward and ready to listen. 

“How are you doing, Lara? How is your grief since the miscarriage?”

“How has your postpartum depression been since we last talked?” 

“What does a hard day look like for you? What does your grief feel like?”

“How can I pray for you this week?” 

These women weren’t satisfied with my usual response of, “I’m not too bad!” They asked pointed questions to reach my heart. They weren’t prying to ease a nosy itch. Rather, they wanted to make sure that beyond my smiles I was well—and if not, find a way to support me.

Being proactive: How can we engage one another with better questions? How can we press beyond the usual, “I’m good, you?” questions and answers?

They welcomed the hard conversations and listened.

Sometimes when we share with others, we’re shut down. The subject abruptly changes. Perhaps they make light of our hard topics to avoid the awkwardness of it. The shutters of their heart slam together in our faces and fasten tight.

Meanwhile, others welcome these difficult conversations. While I’ve felt the abrupt ending of my attempt to start conversations on difficult subjects, I’ve likewise felt the warm, opening arms towards me and my pain. I’ll never forget these words written on a card after our miscarriages: “I’m so sorry for your loss, Lara. I too know this private pain. If you ever want to talk, I would love to be a listening ear.”

These people often don’t come with promises of fixing our pain. They probably can’t. Yet, they welcome the conversation with words of acknowledgement and questions to prompt our own thoughts. They aren’t seeking to serve their own curiosity. They are willing to back away from raw wounds if we are hesitant to share, while assuring us they will be a listening ear if we ever want it. They don’t flinch at the painful conversations, nor do they express an air of awkwardness around them. Instead, they grieve with us and listen to us.

Being proactive: How can we become better listeners? How can we push past the awkwardness of another’s tears? How can we ignore the pressing desire to just fix it and instead simply listen?

We need to strive for a helpful balance when it comes to having deeper conversations.

The surface-level conversations about fashion, housekeeping, weather, diapers, and the like are still good. They encourage friendship as we share interests, experiences, and laugh together. We shouldn’t exhaust ourselves by feeling like we must always produce deep and meaty conversations. Sometimes we can simply laugh about the silly stories the children in our Sunday school class told us. 

It becomes unbalanced when we always remain in the shallow end. It’s important that we go beyond those conversations every now and again to truly seek to know the person across the table—and to open ourselves up for them to know our hearts. Friendship isn’t formed only on these surface-level conversations but instead on the weightier ones of life, hardship, anger, battles, confessions, and questions. We’ll never be able to minister to one another in our fights with sin and suffering if we never answer truthfully, “How are you today?” It’s impossible to bear one another’s burdens without first reaching the heart and earning trust.

Not every relationship will be worthy of deeper conversations. Some people have proven themselves to be unreliable and untrustworthy in providing safe spaces to share our hearts. Others might still be in the growing process, on their way to becoming a person who can engage in deeper conversations. If we persevere in both being better listeners and better sharers, we are likely to find relationships where deeper conversations can flourish. 

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2 Things You Need to Know about the Exclusivity of Christ

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

As you share the gospel with your friends, family members, classmates, and business colleagues, you may find that they tolerate much of your worldview until you press the point that Jesus is the one true Savior and the only one who can deliver them from eternal judgment and bring them into right relationship with God. In other words, your spiritual conversations may coast rather smoothly until you land on the exclusivity of Christ.

To speak of the exclusivity of Christ is just a way of saying, along with the apostles, that “There is no other name given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). It is simply an affirmation of Jesus’ own words when he spoke to his disciples in the upper room just before his execution: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Here are two things you need to know about the exclusivity of Christ.

1. The exclusivity of Christ is narrow, but not in the way you may think it is.

People usually don’t take well to these claims because they believe they are far too narrow. And we would be dishonest if we didn’t agree that these claims are, in fact, narrow. Yet, the exclusivity of Christ is not narrow in the sense that it is offered only to those who meet certain conditions, like an elite members club.

In her article for CNN travel, “10 of the world’s most exclusive members clubs” Michelle Koh Morollo quotes Vincent Lai, a managing director of an elite concierge service: “Those who are invited fulfill certain requirements, they usually have economic capital but most importantly they carry a lot of social clout.” These certainly are exclusive clubs, and they are narrow in the sense that only a few select people in the world qualify for entrance. Invitations, therefore, are only directed to those who meet the initial qualifications.

But this is not what we mean when we say the exclusivity of Christ is narrow. It is not restrictive in its invitation like these private clubs. Indeed, the gospel is antithetical to such a spirit: Jesus’ disciples are to “go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame” (Luke 14:21).

Rather, we would say that the exclusivity of Christ is narrow in location but broad in invitation. There are no restrictions based on a person’s economic status, religious background, relative morality, geographical location, or family circumstances, for all are called to come to Christ (Matt. 11:27-30; John 3:16; Rom. 3:22). There is only one place to find salvation (narrow in location) but all people are invited to come to Christ for salvation (broad in invitation).

2. To speak of the narrowness of salvation in Christ alone is true kindness.

Still, some might object and say that pressing the exclusivity of Christ upon non-Christians is unkind. How can you tell others that their religion or worldview is wrong? That’s just plain mean. Live and let live!

Yet, the exact opposite is true. The exclusivity of Christ is a compassionate and humble doctrine, for it guards people from seeking salvation in a place where it cannot be found. Think of it this way.

Let’s say we find ourselves in the midst of post-nuclear war fallout, and there is one and only one source in the entire world where people can acquire clean, drinkable water. All other sources, though similar to the genuine source in their appearance, are actually poisoned and non-potable. We certainly wouldn’t fault the claim that drinkable water can only be found at this one source; nor would we say that such a claim is unkind or arrogant. Actually, we would be thankful for this knowledge because it would keep us from making a fatal choice of drinking clean-looking but deadly water at a counterfeit location.

To hold up Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation among all other religions and religious leaders is not unkind; it is the most loving thing you can do. The “humble” person who doesn’t have a strong conviction on where to find clean water (even though they may have seen the source several times) is neither loving nor humble. Such a person is hateful and selfish, no matter how soft-spoken and deferential they appear.

So, my brothers and sisters, continue to boldly proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. Teach and preach and share with a soft heart and tender love toward others, and remember that love does not preclude clarity on the exclusivity of Christ. Love demands it.

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• If God Is Loving, Why Doesn’t He Just Forgive People?

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• 5 Reasons Every Christian Should Seek Assurance of Salvation

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Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith by Douglas Groothuis

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This article is adapted from “The Exclusivity of Christ: A Compassionate and Humble Doctrine” at fromthestudy.com.

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