wordofgod

Sunday, August 11, 2024

10 Facts about Sarah from the Book of Genesis That Will Encourage Your Faith

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.

Sarah had to wait until she was in her nineties to give birth to her son, Isaac. We can learn much from Sarah (formerly called Sarai) in the book of Genesis regarding what walking in faith in the promises of God looks like in real life.

1. In Genesis 11 we learn that Sarai is barren.

Because Sarai is barren, she is unable to participate in the promise of Genesis 3:15 that God would provide the seed that would crush the head of the serpent. In the culture in which Sarai lived, her husband Abram possibly could have divorced her on grounds of barrenness.

And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. (Gen. 11:29-30)

2. Sarah is not mentioned in Genesis 12-15 as the mother of the promised child of Abraham.

In God’s promise to Abram in Genesis 12 and 15, there is no mention of Sarai:

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:1-3)

And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own sonshall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:3-6)

3. In Genesis 16 Sarai tries to participate in the promise of Genesis 3:15 through her servant Hagar.

Because she is advanced in years (in her 90s) and hasn’t provided Abram with an heir yet, Sarai gives Hagar to Abram as a wife in Genesis 16. Since nothing was mentioned in God’s promise about the heir coming through Sarai in Genesis 12 and 15, Abraham maybe thought taking Hagar as a wife was a reasonable “plan B.”

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain childrenby her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. (Gen. 16:1-3)

4. Sarai is acting out of faith, but she does the wrong thing.

In Galatians 4, Paul makes the point that Abraham and Sarai were trying to assist God in bringing his promise to fulfillment, adding a human ingredient in redemption, but God doesn’t need our help.

Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. (Gal. 4:21-23)

5. It is not until Genesis 17:5-21 that God tells Abraham about Sarai’s future role.

In Genesis 17, God changes Sarai’s name to Sarah, which means “princess” in Hebrew. He changes her name because he is going to bless Sarah, making her part of the foundation of the covenant of grace (see Gal. 3:13-18). Regarding Sarah’s name change, the Anchor Yale Dictionary notes,

In Gen. 17:15, the Priestly version of God’s covenant with Abraham, Sarai’s name is changed to Sarah, just as Abram’s name becomes Abraham. Name changes signify a new reality. Thus, the barren Sarah is brought into God’s covenantal promise as the mother of many nations and kings (17:16). Over and against Hagar and Ishmael, she is the lawful wife who will bear the son through whom God’s promises to Abraham will be realized. [1]

This was God’s promise to Eve and then to Abraham—she is royalty in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham learns that Sarah would indeed be the mother of the promised child:

And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarahshall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” (Gen. 17:15-16)

6. God’s promise that Sarah would bear a son is delayed.

Even though God promises Abraham (this promise is not declared to Sarah directly) that Sarah would bear the heir to the promise—namely, Isaac— the fulfillment of this promise is delayed for another year:

The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. (Gen. 18:10)

7. Sarah laughs with joy that her faith has borne fruit.

Sarah has left her family for a man who lived in tents. This is like leaving Beverly Hills for a guy living in a broken-down camper. Twice her husband tells her to lie; she puts up with it because she is committed to Abraham and to his God. Persevering in the faith is what defines believers:

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.” (Gen. 18:11-15)

8. By divine promise Sarah eventually conceives.

God delighted to bring forth a child in Sarah’s old age so everyone would know it was the Lord’s doing. He did it to glorify his name:

The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” (Gen. 21:1-7)

9. Scripture’s judgment of Sarah is one of charity, and we should do the same.

Even though she made a mistake, God had a judgment of charity for Sarah. Hebrews 11 commends her faith:

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. (Heb. 11:11-12)

Hebrews 11 helps us know how to read the Old Testament. God’s promise is not earthly in its total fulfillment. If the Old Testament saints heard the promises of God as an earthly inheritance, they could have gone back to their old land. We know their faith by what they said and what they did, and that part is the same for us today. The Old Testament saints were looking for the same eternal homeland we are (Heb. 11:13-16). By faith, they waited for it.

10. The Lord has that same judgment of charity toward us all.

We too can say, “Lord, please bless this mess I made.” Sarah had her bad moments—don’t we all? Perhaps you have been hurt by the church or individual Christians in some way. It is good to have a judgment of charity in the church as much as possible, just as God had for Sarah. The Lord has a city that he has prepared for every believer, and one day all of God’s saints shall arrive there safely in glory:

And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. (Heb. 11:39-40)

This article was originally published on May 11, 2019.

Thursday, August 8, 2024

10 Words Every Christian Should Know (and Be Able to Explain)

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.

Here are 10 words every Christian should know—and be able to explain—in order to "be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have" (1 Peter 3:15).

1. Faith

Saving faith is not, as is commonly believed, a blind faith. There are three aspects of saving faith:

knowledge of Christ and his salvific work;
agreement that the claims of Christianity are true;
hearty trust in Christ alone for our salvation.

Faith is the instrument through which, by God’s grace, Christ’s perfect righteousness and atoning sacrifice are credited to us. It is God’s gift, not a work of any kind (Eph. 2:8-9). For more on the definition of faith, please click here.

2. Grace

Grace is one of God’s attributes. According to theologian Louis Berkhof, the grace of God in our redemption in Christ

is God's free, sovereign undeserved favor or love to man, in his state of sin and guilt, which manifests itself in the forgiveness of sin and deliverance from His justice. (Systematic Theology, p. 427).

There is nothing we have done or could ever do to merit God’s grace. We receive it by God’s sovereign choice alone (Rom. 11:5-6).

3. Peace

There are two aspects to peace—objective and subjective. Just as two countries have a status of peace with each other through official agreements, so Christians are declared at peace with God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1). This means that we still have the status of peace with God regardless of how we feel or how well we keep his commands at any given time.

It is normal for Christians to still feel anxious in this troubled world and to feel a lack of peace from the sin in their lives. These feelings should spur us on to trust in God, repent of our sins, and seek to live in such a manner that honors our Lord. Christians should always be exceedingly thankful and find unfathomable comfort in the fact that the blood of Christ sufficiently atones for all their guilt and sin.

4. Cross

God in his perfection must uphold all his attributes. We cannot separate God’s love from his holiness, or his mercy from his justice. God must be true to all his attributes, because to do otherwise would be to deny his own self.

As theologian Michael Horton so aptly states in his book The Christian Faith, “God would not be God if he did not possess all his attributes in the simplicity and perfection of his essence” (229). Jesus was born in the flesh so he could fulfill the whole law and be the perfect sacrifice on behalf of all who put their faith in him (Heb. 10:11-14).

At the cross Jesus offered up his life as the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice for all who trust in him for salvation (e.g. John 10:14, 15). According to Horton we observe, "the clearest evidence of the complete consistency between God's goodness and his sovereignty, justice, wrath, and righteousness in Christ's cross" (p. 266). At the cross we see God's “righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).

5. Law

According to theologian R. C. Sproul, the law is like a mirror: it shows us our sin, but it can do nothing to save us. In fact, the law condemns everyone who is not in Christ. Jesus was born in the flesh in order to be the perfect Son whom God had promised since the fall of Adam in the garden (Gen. 3:15).

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3-4)

Jesus kept the law perfectly on behalf of all who trust in him for salvation, and they are counted righteous in God’s sight through faith alone by God’s grace alone.

The law also serves the purposes of restraining evil and showing us what is pleasing to God. Christians should also strive to keep God's law in joyfully thanksgiving for all God has done for them in Christ, although they will do so imperfectly in this life. For more on the "three-fold use" of the law, click here.

6. Gospel

The Gospel is the good news of what Jesus did to redeem his people (his birth, life, death, and resurrection) and inaugurate the kingdom of God and the new creation (1 Cor. 15). It is good news because we are unable to save ourselves, as all our works are tainted by sin and we are all guilty in Adam (Rom. 5:12-21).

Without Christ being born in the flesh, keeping the law perfectly, and being the perfect once-for-all sacrifice for sin (Heb. 10:11-12), we would be without hope. Because of God’s love for the world in sending his Son, there is a way to peace with God: it is the narrow gate that is through faith in Christ alone:

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matt. 7:13-14)

There is salvation in no other name, because only the God-man could save us from ourselves (Acts 4:12).

7. Justification

Without understanding how they are justified in Christ, Christians may wrongly think their own works, good or bad, could keep them in or out of God’s kingdom. The Bible says that we are declared righteous in Christ—this is a legal verdict and not something that God sees inside of us:

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Rom. 5:8-9)

Christ has taken upon himself the punishment we deserve, and he has earned life for us by his perfect obedience to God’s law.

Believers will never have to face God’s just sentence for their sins and spend eternity in hell separated from God. Think of someone in a courtroom who is guilty of a horrible crime and deserving of the severest punishment, but is instead declared innocent because someone else paid the penalty for them—and even made them coheirs with him, sharing in his vast wealth. This is the joyful justification every believer has in Christ.

8. Sanctification

Not only do Christians have the benefit of being justified in Christ, they also have the benefit of sanctification. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer and is at work conforming them to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29). According to the Heidelberg Catechism, sanctification in Christ consists of two parts:

the dying of the old self (mortification), which consists of a "heartfelt sorrow that we have offended God by our sin, and more and more to hate it and flee from it" (Q. 89);
and living unto God (vivification), which consists of "a heartfelt joy in God through Christ, and a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works" (Q. 90).

Christians should be diligent to grow in godliness and be confident, as the apostle Paul writes, “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6).

Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church has turned around the teaching of justification and sanctification, erroneously teaching that our justification comes some day in the undetermined future, after we have completed the process of sanctification via the sacraments of Rome and purgatory. The truth is that all believers are coheirs with Christ, and sanctification is God’s gift to all his children. As the apostle John declares,

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2)

9. Imputation

The doctrine of imputation is one of the most under-taught teachings in the church today, and every Christian needs to know it. God credits to us the righteousness of Christ, and this comes through faith alone, which is also God’s gift to us in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). Additionally, our sin is credited to Christ, who, though he knew no sin, was punished for the sins of all who trust in him for salvation (2 Cor. 5:21).

Martin Luther called this the Great Exchange: Christ’s righteousness counted (credited) to us, and our sin counted (credited) to Christ. You can also think of this double imputation as a balance sheet, with Christ’s assets on one side and our liabilities on the other side. God doesn’t look at our hearts and judge us as righteous based on our holiness; rather, we are judged as righteous because of the perfect work of Christ that is imputed to us. We don’t have to be punished for our sin either, because God imputed the punishment we deserve to Christ who bore it in full at the cross.

10. Resurrection

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is our greatest hope, since it showed that our Savior conquered sin, death, and the devil at the cross, and the grave could not hold him. We can also take great comfort in knowing that we, too, will have resurrected bodies like Christ one day. We won’t always be separated from our physical bodies but will one day be reunited with them, and we won’t be able to sin anymore! Praise God!

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Cor. 15:20-22)

One day suffering, pain, evil, and death will be no more, and all believers will behold the beauty of their Savior at last and for always:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev. 21:4-5).

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

The Savior Wounds Us, Then Heals Us — Genesis 42-44

*Joseph Recognized by His Brothers* (1788) by Jean-Charles Tardieu; image from Wikimedia Commons.

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.

An old friend of mine has been telling me about her granddaughter, who is only ten years old and loves to play sport.

She fell off of a trampoline last year and shattered her ankle. The surgery was difficult, and her bones didn’t heal properly. Fearing that her leg might not develop properly, her medical providers re-operated and re-broke and re-splinted the bone. They are still not sure whether the bone is properly healing, so she faces the possibility of yet another re-break and re-splint.

My friend grieves for her little granddaughter’s suffering. She wouldn’t hesitate to take her place, to suffer in her place if only she could.

We understand why the orthopedic specialists do this. They must bring short-term distress and suffering for her long-term benefit—so that in years to come she might run and play sports again with her friends.

We see Joseph doing just this to his brothers in Genesis chapters 42 to 44. He wounds them and brings them to their knees, so that he can heal and lift them up to full health. It is a picture of what Jesus does time and again with his beloved.

Desperation brings us to the Savior.

“When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, ‘Why do you look at one another?’” (Gen. 42:1).

The predicted seven-year famine threatened to destroy the region, including the covenant family—the sons of Jacob from whom God would raise up a blessed people to be a blessing to the nations. We see their pasturelands desiccating, herds emaciating, silos diminishing, wells turning first to mud, then to dust. Anxious Jacob sends his anxious sons to Egypt. “Behold, I have heard that there is grain for sale in Egypt. Go down and buy grain for us there, that we may live and not die” (Gen. 42:2).

This is how the journey to Christian faith often begins.

A financial crisis, a terrible accident, or a deadly sickness cripples us. A broken marriage or family crisis brings us to our knees. A great life disappointment slays us. Or we commit a great sin: something that shatters our idea of who we think we are. Sometimes all of these at once.

You look around for help, but the deluge has swept away every earthly support and hope. You are forced to look beyond: “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt.” “I have heard of the one they call Jesus.”

God had revealed to Jacob’s family his special plan for Joseph: that one day they would bow before him to receive his sustenance. The dreams made them jealous; they dismissed them as hubris. When the opportunity came, they plotted to murder Joseph, tossed him into a pit, and then sold him into foreign slavery.

Now in their hour of distress God forced them back to the one they tried to destroy, the only one who could help them.

President Eisenhower said that “there are no atheists in the foxholes…. In times of test and trial, we instinctively turn to God for new courage and peace of mind.” There is nothing wrong with this. This is no less sensible than dialing 911 in an emergency, or firing a distress flare from the life raft.

The Savior may harshly test us.

His brothers were prostrate before Joseph, pleading for his help. Yet, Joseph did not immediately throw his arms around his brothers with shouts of comfort and joy.

He recognized them but pretended to be a stranger and spoke harshly to them. “Where do you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied, “to buy food.” “You are spies,” he replied, “You have come to see the nakedness of the land” (“nakedness of the land” meaning “where our land is unprotected”; Gen. 42:7–9).

So Joseph initiated a long and difficult trial for his brothers. Why?

When last he saw his brothers, Joseph was in distress and pleading for his life (42:21). They cruelly ignored his pleas and sold him as a slave, never to see his home or family again.

Joseph needed to know: Had they changed? Were they still petty and jealous egoists with hearts full of malice and murder, or had they learned to love? Were they living in an opium cloud of self-righteousness, or had they confessed their crimes to God and sought his mercy and forgiveness?

“You are spies!” Spies were impaled. How would they react? Would they cut a deal and betray one another to find freedom?

Joseph threw them in a dungeon for three days, as they had once thrown him into the cistern. He forced them to acknowledge their guilt. Later, he hid their silver, their payment for Egyptian supplies, back in their baggage. Would they be honest? Then he put Benjamin’s life in the balance. Would they let Benjamin die, or free him by taking his place?

Jesus works hard on us because he loves us.

When a person comes to Christ, the Savior tests their heart and motives. Have they confessed their sin? Are they truly sorry for their sin, or are they sorrier for its consequences? Do they want to be freed and transformed from rebellion, or just freed from immediate pain?

Jesus pressed the distressed Peter—who had denied him three times—to re-profess his love three times over. Jesus left Saul blind for three days before descaling his eyes. He worked on David for three-hundred days after his murder and adultery, until his “bones wasted away” (Ps. 32:3), “for day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer” (Ps. 32:4). Jesus works hard on us.

Joel Beeke condemns “the false invitation of decisionism” where people say a prayer “but remain enemies of God” (Reformed Systematic Theology, 2024). Martin Luther learned to fear God in the thunderstorm in 1505, but he was not converted until after a further ten years of trials and study. At the age of 23, John Newton cried out to the Lord from a violent ocean storm, but it was only after many more years of pain and wretched sinning that he came to full repentance and faith.

It is, however, only after becoming Christians that the Lord really begins his terrific—I use this adjective intentionally—work of affliction.

We must not harden our hearts against the startling ferocity of the Lord’s merciful discipline.

Every day he breaks and tears down strongholds of rebellion, willfulness, egoism, self-reliance, and hope and comfort in earthly people and things—anything and everything that hinders us from trusting and loving him in our totality.

Eliphaz knew this, and knew also the temptation to resent the Lord’s sanctifying discipline:

“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal. (Job 5:17–18)

Isaiah encourages us to look beyond the pain, to see that heaven will shine even brighter after such earthly trials:

Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow. (Isa. 30:26)

James urges the same:

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

Hosea pleads that we do not harden our hearts against the startling ferocity of the Lord’s merciful discipline:

“Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.” (Hos. 6:1)

The Lord’s harsh discipline gives us the deep comfort of knowing that we are God’s beloved children:

My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights. (Prov. 3:11–12)

Hebrews draws from these verses the lesson that an absence of discipline should alarm us to the possibility that we are not in fact God’s children:

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. (Heb. 12:7–8)

We must store up rich silos of faith for the coming years of trial.

Our dear old friend Max, who has learned to be a Christian through long years of “dangers, toils, and snares,” recently urged us in our evening service to prepare for such suffering, through the knowledge of how God works in his children through trials. Max is right! If we don’t understand these things beforehand, it may be too late when the suffering comes. Joseph laid up a store of sustenance for the lean years, and we must store up rich silos of faith for the coming years of trial.

Joseph tested his brothers with tears in his eyes. He tested out of love, not vengeance. Nor did he stand above their suffering. He knew suffering, knew how to help them, and shared in it. Likewise,

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Heb. 4:15)

Our Lord’s love for us is relentless; he will sanctify us at all costs: He will tear us to pieces, but he will heal us; he will injure us, but he will bind up our wounds.

In trials be patient and praise him for his wisdom and love.

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Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Asking For a Friend: How Do You Love a Jerk?

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.

It isn’t easy to love a jerk. Someone who’s quiet, meek, and kind—no problem. But the person who annoys us, whether through habit or personality? The person who pushes all our buttons, perhaps even intentionally? The selfish and insensitive clod?

Yet the Lord commands us to love our neighbor as we do ourselves (Matt. 22:39). That Christian love is “not irritable or resentful” (1 Cor. 13:5). Instead, it “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7). This is the love that leads us to “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10).

Most people would be unworthy of our love if they were judged according to merit.

But how do we do that with someone we might think to be unworthy of our love and good deeds? How do you love a jerk? You might say, “Take a look in the mirror.” Humbly realizing that we’re all unworthy jerks could indeed be a good place to start. However, in his epic Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin explored this practical issue in the Christian life from a different angle. His advice, drawn on sound biblical teaching, is worth a listen. If you want to look it up and read the whole section for yourself, it’s in Institutes 3.7.6. I’ll be quoting from the Lewis-Battles edition.

Calvin begins by acknowledging that most people would be unworthy of our love if they were judged according to merit. But that isn’t how Christians are to think. Says Calvin,

But here Scripture helps in the best way when it teaches that we are not to consider that men merit of themselves but to look upon the image of God in all men, to which we owe all honor and love.

What remains of the image of God after the fall is itself reason enough to show love to all by doing good.

He goes on to affirm that with members of the household of faith this obligation is intensified by virtue of the fact that God’s image has been renewed and restored in them by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, what remains of the image of God after the fall into sin and before regeneration is itself reason enough to show love to all by doing good. Calvin concludes,

Therefore, whatever man you meet who needs your aid, you have no reason to refuse to help him.

Calvin then anticipates a series of objections. Someone might say, “But he’s a stranger!” to which Calvin would reply that this is irrelevant. With the image of God, you have something in common that instantly binds you together. Or someone might say, “But he’s loathsome and a good-for-nothing!” Calvin replies,

…but the Lord shows him to be one whom he has deigned to give the beauty of his image.

You might say that this person doesn’t deserve any of your effort. But, says Calvin,

The image of God, which recommends him to you, is worthy of your giving yourself and all your possessions.

Then, last of all, what if the other person is a jerk? You’re thinking that he does deserve something from you, but it’s definitely not a demonstration of love. Calvin says,

Yet what has the Lord deserved? While he bids you forgive this man for all sins he has committed against you, he would truly have them charged against himself.

When it comes to loving our neighbor we have to look to God.

The connection with Calvin’s answers to what precedes has to do with the fact that he is telling us that when it comes to loving our neighbor we have to look to God. If we focus all our attention on people and who they are and what they do or don’t deserve, we’ll never love our neighbor. True Christian love is only possible as we think about our existence before the face of God and the grace we have received from him through Christ.

At the end of this section, Calvin circles back to the image of God. This is brilliant:

Assuredly there is but one way in which to achieve what is not merely difficult but utterly against human nature: to love those who hate us, to repay their evil deeds with benefits, to return blessings for reproaches. It is that we remember not to consider men’s evil intention but to look upon the image of God in them, which cancels and effaces their transgressions, and with its beauty and dignity allures us to love and embrace them.

I remind you that Calvin is speaking here not only about the image of God as it exists restored in Christians, but even the image as it exists spoiled by sin in unbelievers.

Image-bearing is what leads God to love and it is also what should lead us to love.

Essentially, what Calvin is saying is that we ought to love all people on the same basis that God does. Earlier in the Institutes (2.16.3) Calvin states that God’s hatred finds a deserving object in each one of us because of our sin. But then Calvin says something surprising:

But because the Lord wills not to lose what is his in us, out of his own kindness he still finds something to love.

No matter what sin we have committed, we remain his creatures. As his creatures, we bear his image. According to Calvin, image-bearing is what leads God to love and it is also what should lead us to love.

That has implications, and not only for dealing with garden-variety jerks. In our current climate where the church is facing so much hostility from the world, we need this teaching more than ever. If we would only look around us and see all other people as God’s image-bearers, we would find something to love.

Perhaps better said: at least we would know that there is something to love even if we can’t readily see it. As Calvin notes, this is utterly against our human nature. Our hearts resist it. Yet remember how God is sovereign over our hearts. We can and should pray for him to keep changing our hearts so they become more like his, reflecting the image of him and his wondrous love.

Monday, August 5, 2024

6 Amazing Parallels Between Exodus and the Gospel of John

*The Crossing of the Red Sea* by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665); image from Wikimedia Commons, .

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.

The word “amazing” is often overused nowadays but not when it comes to the parallels between the book of Exodus and the Gospel of John in God's masterful, inspired Word. Here are six events from God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt that point us to our ultimate deliverance in Jesus Christ:

1. Exodus 12-13 records the Passover. In John 6:4-15, the multitudes come to Jesus on the Passover. Jesus feeds them, demonstrating that he is our Passover.

In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. (Exod. 12:11)

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do….Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:4-6, 10-14)

2. Exodus 14-15 records the deliverance of the Red Sea Crossing as the Angel of the Lord comes to them and brings them to the other side. In John 6:16-21, the disciples struggle to cross the sea.

Jesus walks to them, declares that he is I AM, and, as the one who is greater than Moses, he doesn't just part the sea but actually walks on it and delivers them by "immediately" bringing them to the other side. All the people recognize this.

Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (Exod. 14:19-22)

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. (John 6:16-21)

3. In Exodus 16 Israel is tested with the provision of daily bread in the desert, thinking Moses provided it. In John 6:22-40 Jesus claims to be the true bread come down from heaven to give life to the world.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” (Exod. 16:4-5)

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:32-35)

4. In Exodus 16:7-8 Israel complains about the bread. In John 6:41-58, they complain against Jesus, who then says the only way anyone is to be saved is if they eat him.

“And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we, that you grumble against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord.” (Exod. 16:7-8)

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day….So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:41-44, 53-54)

5. In Exodus 17 Israel quarrels with the Lord over water, desiring to return to Egypt. In John 6:60-71 the people quarrel with Jesus, and many "turn back" from following him. Yet, he will call people to come to him and "drink" (John 7:37).

Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” (Exod. 17:2-4)

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?”….After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:60-61, 66-69)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” (John 7:37)

6. In Exodus 19-20 the law of God is given. In John 7:19 Jesus gives the grand indictment that none of them keeps the law.

“‘Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exod. 19:5-6)

“Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?” (John 7:19)

What is the main point of these parallels?

Believe in Jesus for eternal life. To reject him is to miss what the whole Bible is about, especially Israel's deliverance from Egypt as recorded in Exodus, which the entire Old Testament celebrated. Jesus is salvation sent from heaven—our bread, our water, our life, our law-keeper, our everything—there is no other name given by which people can be saved. Believe in him and you will be saved.

Sunday, August 4, 2024

Can I Date an Unbeliever?

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.

Ever since my first ministry post as a middle school ministry director in 2003, I’ve dealt regularly with Christian folks who want to know if it is acceptable for them to date an unbeliever. Often (but not always), those who are pondering this question readily acknowledge that the Bible says a Christian cannot marry a non-Christian. Nevertheless, they believe they can move down this path because (1) the Bible does not forbid dating an unbeliever; (2) their romantic relationship can serve as a means of evangelism to the unbelieving boyfriend or girlfriend; (3) their situation is unique; or (4) a combination exists of some or all of the above.

Is Dating in the Bible?

In answering the question whether a Christian can date a non-Christian, it is important to first note that the Bible, strictly speaking, does not forbid Christians from dating non-Christians. That last statement might cause a few biblically-minded Christians to stumble. But we need to be precise at this point, so that we do not attempt to protect a clear commandment (you cannot marry an unbeliever; see 1 Cor. 7:39) with an extra-biblical rule (you cannot date an unbeliever). What God has spoken he has spoken, and his Word is sufficient.

Nevertheless, we also must consider the fact that during the time that Scripture was penned (approximately 1400 B.C. to A.D. 90), there was no such thing as modern “dating.” There were marriages, betrothals (similar to, but not the same as, modern-day engagements), and singleness. In recent times, “dating” has come to refer, at best, to a process by which a young man and a young woman spend exclusive time together with a view toward marriage.

This intentional movement toward marriage doesn’t characterize many dating relationships today, however, even though couples often engage in marital privileges like sexual intimacy and living together while in these relationships. When the dating relationship ends, the “break up” is like a miniature divorce, because the couple has “acted” like a married couple during the course of their dating relationship.

Dating for Marriage

For the Christian, romantic relationships can only be pursued for the purpose of moving toward marriage. Why? Because God has created men and women to come together in physical, emotional, and spiritual union in marriage (Gen. 2:24). To engage in a romantic relationship is, by design, intended to lead to this union.

This does not mean that a Christian must marry the first person they date. Nor does it mean that you must be convinced you want to marry someone before you start dating them. Indeed, the dating process helps confirm or discourage your desire to marry a particular person. But it does mean that you must protect the physical, emotional, and spiritual purity of the one you are dating during the entire course of your relationship. To engage in physical intimacy before marriage is to defraud each other sexually, and to cultivate romantic feelings toward each other without the express purpose of marriage is to defraud one another emotionally and spiritually (see 1 Thess. 4:3-8).

If dating is meant to lead to marriage, therefore, it would seem that dating an unbeliever is, if not directly disobedient, at least incredibly foolish. But we might be getting a little ahead of ourselves here. In order to answer the question not directly addressed in Scripture (can a believer date an unbeliever?), it is always best to answer any related questions that are directly addressed in Scripture. By examining why a Christian cannot marry a non-Christian, it will become increasingly clear, I believe, why dating an unbeliever is not only unwise but probably an act of disobedience, even if Scripture never specifically forbids it.

Let’s consider why a Christian cannot marry a non-Christian.

The New Testament Commands

The first reason why believers cannot marry unbelievers is that the Bible forbids it. There are two primary New Testament texts that speak to the issue of marriage between a believer and an unbeliever. In his first letter to the Corinthian church, Paul says, after a detailed discussion of marriage and singleness, that a woman whose husband has died “is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:39; emphasis added). The principle in this text is that where legitimate marriage can occur—the believer has never married, or they are released from their previous marriage by the death of a spouse—it can only occur between two believers.

The second text that offers clarity on this issue is 2 Corinthians 6:14 where Paul says, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” The phrase “unequally yoked” uses farming imagery to illustrate how counterproductive it is to link oneself intimately with an unbeliever. Like coupling two animals who are incompatible in strength, size, weight, and plowing skill, there will be constant friction, frustration, and futility for two people who enter into marriage with foundational spiritual differences.

But Paul is also interested in underscoring the folly of this kind of partnership. With a blistering volley of rhetorical questions, the apostle undermines any hope that genuine intimacy—the kind of intimacy that married couples are intended to share—can exist between a believer and unbeliever. Paul asks,

For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? (2 Cor. 6:14-16)

The answer to each question is obvious. There can be, by definition, no partnership, fellowship, or portion between righteousness and lawlessness, light and darkness, Christ and Belial, a believer and unbeliever. Of course, Paul does not mean that believers are to have no relationship whatsoever with unbelievers. For the sake of the gospel and out of love for our neighbor we must have relationships with those who do not know Christ (see especially 1 Cor. 5:9-10).

The phrase “unequally yoked” refers to a close, intimate partnership—like marriage—where each person is meant to be “plowing” in the same direction, at the same speed, with the same purpose. Such a scenario can never occur for the Christian and the non-Christian. For a Christian to enter into marriage with an unbeliever, therefore, is not only an act of disobedience against their Lord, but it is also foolish.

The Folly of Being “Unequally Yoked”

Christianity is not a “religion” like any other that one can “choose” or “decline.” Christianity is the truth (John 14:6; 17:17; 1 Tim. 3:15), and to believe in Christ is to believe in one who is real and true, and to come into relationship with the Creator of the universe (John 17:3; Gal. 4:8-9). When a person becomes a Christian, they actually become a new person, and an ontological, irreversible change occurs at the deepest level of who they are (2 Cor. 5:21). Consider how this change affects every area of the Christian’s life and what basic differences now exist between you and your unbelieving boyfriend or girlfriend:

You have opposing masters (Matt. 6:24; Eph. 2:2).
You have opposing worldviews (Col. 2:2-8).
You have opposing sources of wisdom (Prov. 1:7).
You have opposing aims in life (1 Cor. 10:31).
You have opposite eternal destinies (Matt. 25:31-46).
You are in the Spirit; they are in the flesh (Rom. 8:6-9).
You are a slave to righteousness; they are a slave to sin (Rom. 6:20-23).
You are led by the Spirit; they are led by the god of this world (Rom. 8:14; 2 Cor. 4:1-6).
You are alive in Christ; they are dead in sin (Eph. 2:1-10).

None of these spiritual realities can be a cause for boasting (see Luke 18:9-14), for you did not achieve these things by your will power or intelligence. You are a Christian by sheer grace (1 Cor. 4:7). Nevertheless, the fact remains that you are, at a basic level, different from each other and therefore unable to share true intimacy in marriage. Furthermore, there are countless testimonies of men and women who have married unbelievers who, after years of struggle, say that it was an unwise decision. They are both “sadder and wiser” now, and we should listen to them.

Why, then, would you ponder the possibility of dating an unbeliever? If you are like many I’ve known who try to work around these clear biblical principles, you are left with two objections. Let’s consider each of these.

Objection #1: My situation is unique.

You may think the circumstances of how you met, or your boyfriend or girlfriend’s spiritual “sensitivity,” or your love for each other despite your differences qualifies your relationship as different from those who are or who have been in a similar situation. Yes, you understand that Scripture forbids marrying an unbeliever, and yes, you know that most of the time the unbeliever doesn’t eventually believe in Christ (or if he does, it’s out of a desire to preserve the relationship so that his “faith” fizzles after a few months or years); but your situation is unique.

The question we often fail to ask is, unique to what? Unique in the sense that things will turn out different? That cannot be guaranteed, nor is it, given the testimony of others, a probable outcome. Unique in the sense that somehow you are exempt from obedience in this case? Any assumption that connects exemption from obedience to particular circumstances is usually a sign that you are in the throes of self-deception. Unique in the sense that no one has ever been faced with this kind of decision? No, this temptation, like all others, is one that is common to man (1 Cor. 10:13). The truth is that your situation is not unique at all.

Objection #2: If we break up, my boyfriend or girlfriend may never have another Christian influence in their life.

Let me be clear: Your desire to see the salvation of your unbelieving boyfriend or girlfriend is a good desire. But you must remember that God has not pitted his commandments against each other. In other words, the instruction is clear: you cannot marry an unbeliever. And this commandment will always work in harmony with God’s other commandment to evangelize the lost and make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:18-20). You must learn to obey the Lord, trust that his commandments are good and harmonious, and that he is sovereign over your boyfriend or girlfriend. It is not ultimately up to you whether your boyfriend or girlfriend is saved. And you don’t need to date or marry them in order to evangelize them. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Matt. 9:38).

Conclusion

So, is it wrong to date an unbeliever? In light of the above principles, I find it difficult to see how a believer can enter into a dating relationship with an unbeliever—a relationship that is romantic by nature and designed to lead to marriage—in faith. Although the Bible does not address the dating question specifically, it does tell us that everything we do in the Christian life must be done in faith; that is, everything we do must be carried out with a good conscience and be something for which we can thank God. Whatever is not of faith, Paul reminds us, is sin (Rom. 14:23).

You may fear loneliness and the potential of never being married. I get that. But a good conscience and a happy walk with Christ is infinitely better than what grasping at romance will get us. Let’s trust the Lord and his plans for us, for “no good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11).

This article was originally published at fromthestudy.com.

Thursday, August 1, 2024

3 Essential Aspects of Godly Manhood

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.

On a weekend in early February, I had the privilege of speaking to about sixty men at a men’s retreat in Mendocino County, California. We all enjoyed encouraging fellowship, ate some excellent food, and worshipped the living God together. Some of us even found time to shoot guns, hike the nearby trails, and smack the golf ball around. It was a wonderful time.

I spoke to the men about the essential aspects of godly manhood. In relation to women, God has created men and recreated men in Christ to lead, protect, and provide for those under their care. These responsibilities are not a mere cultural hangover from a patriarchal era of history. No, God established these responsibilities for men at the beginning of creation.

God made men to lead.

For example, the very fact that man was created before the woman indicates that he bears the unique responsibility to lead in relation to her (see Gen. 2:7; cf. 1:26-27). In his first letter to Timothy, Paul restricts the authoritative teaching role in the church only to men, grounding his statements in this order of creation. “I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve” (1 Tim. 2:12-13; emphasis added). When God created Adam, he was signaling to the universe that he had vested man, by virtue of his manhood, with the responsibility of leadership in relation to the woman (see also 1 Cor. 11:6-8).

God made men to provide.

But we also see in the Genesis narrative that God tasked the man with providing for the woman. Immediately after God created Adam he placed him in the Garden of Eden to “work it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15). Adam’s “work” would have included cultivation of the garden and many other aspects related to exercising dominion (see Gen. 1:26-31). Work and the responsibility to provide material sustenance for his family would be a fundamental aspect of the man’s existence. This truth is re-affirmed throughout Scripture (see below).

God made men to protect.

The word translated “keep” is used in the Old Testament to refer to protecting others. For example, after David crept undetected into and out of Saul’s camp, he rebuked Abner (the soldier charged with protecting Saul) for allowing a breach in the perimeter. David uses the word translated “keep” in Genesis 2:15 twice in his admonition to Abner.

Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. This thing that you have done is not good. As the LORD lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the LORD’S anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was at his head.” (1 Sam. 26:13-16; emphasis added)

Abner was worthy of death because he failed to “keep watch” over Saul; David could have killed Saul had he wanted to. Similarly, God tasked Adam to “keep” the garden. This means Adam was to guard the garden from intruders. This protection would be physical, of course, but it would also be spiritual. Even before God brought Eve into existence, God entrusted Adam with divine revelation (Gen. 2:15-16). The expectation was that Adam would teach his wife the Word of God and make sure that no one undermined the truth of what God had spoken.

Sadly, Adam soon fails in all three aspects of manhood. Even as the serpent slithers up to Eve and misrepresents God’s Word (“Did God really say?”; Gen. 3:1) and then flatly contradicts it (“You will not surely die!”; Gen. 3:4), Adam neglects to step in and offer physical and spiritual protection for his wife. Rather than leading Eve in righteousness, he followed her into unrighteousness (Gen. 3:6). Instead of providing her with the divinely-sanctioned sustenance (see Gen. 2:9), he let her supply herself with forbidden goods (Gen. 3:6).

God reaffirmed Adam’s role as leader and protector by the way he subsequently addressed the couple’s sin. Although Eve had eaten of the fruit before her husband and led him into disobedience, God goes to Adam first (Gen. 3:8-9). Adam may have eaten the fruit after his wife, but he was still fully responsible for allowing the sin to occur.

God also affirms Adam’s calling as provider by the way he disciplines Adam and Eve for their rebellion. Specifically, God would curse each of his children according to their respective callings. Eve would bear the curse in her calling to bring forth children from her womb (Gen. 3:16). Adam would bear the curse in his calling to bring forth bread from the ground (Gen. 3:17-18).

The man’s calling in relationship to the woman is reaffirmed throughout redemptive history. Man is tasked in Scripture with spiritual and institutional leadership (Lev. 4:22; Judg. 11:6; 2 Sam. 23:2-4; 1 Kings 14:7; 1 Chron. 15:27; Neh. 11:17; Eph. 5:23; 1 Tim. 2:12-14; 3:1-8; Titus 1:5-9), as the physical and spiritual protector (2 Chron. 17:13; Jer. 41:16; Eph. 5:25-27; Philem. 2; 2 Tim. 4:1-2), and provider (Prov. 10:4; 12:24; 21:5 [Proverbs are addressed to Solomon’s son]; 1 Tim. 5:8; 2 Thess. 3:6-12).

Sadly, however, these essential qualities of godly manhood are under direct assault today from both outside and inside the church. It shouldn’t surprise us that many in our contemporary society reject the idea that men are inherently and uniquely tasked with the responsibility to lead, protect, and provide in relation to women. But it is especially grievous when professing Christians join in the assault by questioning the legitimacy of the vision of manhood I’ve offered above—a vision that flows directly from the pages of Scripture.

Rejecting biblical manhood hurts men and women.

But the downgrading of biblical manhood is not good for men or women. It’s not good for men because it undermines our God-given calling and design which will always lead to frustration and confusion. If you’ve been uniquely made and tasked by God to lead, protect, and provide in relation to women, then you will experience constant cognitive dissonance, dissatisfaction, and even resentment as these fundamental aspects of your manhood are subverted. Many men today experience this frustration as they find their inner-drive to lead, protect, and provide questioned and even impugned by many in our society.

But undermining a man’s calling to lead, protect, and provide is also not good for the woman because it places upon her burdens that God never intended her to bear. It’s no coincidence that Satan sought to overturn created order when he launched his attack against God’s image-bearers, first going to the woman and loading her with the responsibility of spiritual leadership, protection, and provision. Not equipped to bear such responsibilities, she was soon deceived into disobeying her Creator (1 see Gen. 3:6; cf. 1 Tim. 2:12-14).

In the end, however, all of God’s people miss out on blessing when men are discouraged from exercising their God-given calling to lead, protect, and provide for the people under their care. Consider how David describes the blessing that befalls a people when they are led by a godly man:

The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me;
his word is on my tongue.
The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. (2 Sam. 23:2-4)

When a man fears the Lord and exercises his calling—at home, in the church, in the workplace, in the public square—the people under his leadership, protection, and provision experience significant blessing. Like warm sun and pleasant life-giving rain, a godly man’s leadership produces life, comfort, and fruitfulness for those under his care.

Conclusion

Men, if the cultural onslaught against your manhood has started to dampen your ambition to lead, protect, and provide for the people under your care, let Scripture renew your desire to fulfill this glorious calling. Remember, this calling is not a right to claim, but a burden to bear for the benefit of others. We don’t wield it for our exaltation, but for the good of the women and children in our lives. The cultivation of godly manhood is hard, and it requires great courage and sacrifice, so we must regularly go to Christ for fresh reserves of grace. But godly manhood is vital for the health of our homes, churches, and our nation, and God will grant us great joy and satisfaction as we pursue this calling.

This article was originally published under the title: “A Few Essential Truths about Manhood” at withallwisdom.com.

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Sunday, August 11, 2024

1. In Genesis 11 we learn that Sarai is barren.

2. Sarah is not mentioned in Genesis 12-15 as the mother of the promised child of Abraham.

3. In Genesis 16 Sarai tries to participate in the promise of Genesis 3:15 through her servant Hagar.

4. Sarai is acting out of faith, but she does the wrong thing.

5. It is not until Genesis 17:5-21 that God tells Abraham about Sarai’s future role.

6. God’s promise that Sarah would bear a son is delayed.

7. Sarah laughs with joy that her faith has borne fruit.

8. By divine promise Sarah eventually conceives.

9. Scripture’s judgment of Sarah is one of charity, and we should do the same.

10. The Lord has that same judgment of charity toward us all.

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Thursday, August 8, 2024

1. Faith

2. Grace

3. Peace

4. Cross

5. Law

6. Gospel

7. Justification

8. Sanctification

9. Imputation

10. Resurrection

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Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Desperation brings us to the Savior.

The Savior may harshly test us.

Jesus works hard on us because he loves us.

We must not harden our hearts against the startling ferocity of the Lord’s merciful discipline.

We must store up rich silos of faith for the coming years of trial.

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Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Most people would be unworthy of our love if they were judged according to merit.

What remains of the image of God after the fall is itself reason enough to show love to all by doing good.

When it comes to loving our neighbor we have to look to God.

Image-bearing is what leads God to love and it is also what should lead us to love.

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Monday, August 5, 2024

1. Exodus 12-13 records the Passover. In John 6:4-15, the multitudes come to Jesus on the Passover. Jesus feeds them, demonstrating that he is our Passover.

2. Exodus 14-15 records the deliverance of the Red Sea Crossing as the Angel of the Lord comes to them and brings them to the other side. In John 6:16-21, the disciples struggle to cross the sea.

3. In Exodus 16 Israel is tested with the provision of daily bread in the desert, thinking Moses provided it. In John 6:22-40 Jesus claims to be the true bread come down from heaven to give life to the world.

4. In Exodus 16:7-8 Israel complains about the bread. In John 6:41-58, they complain against Jesus, who then says the only way anyone is to be saved is if they eat him.

5. In Exodus 17 Israel quarrels with the Lord over water, desiring to return to Egypt. In John 6:60-71 the people quarrel with Jesus, and many "turn back" from following him. Yet, he will call people to come to him and "drink" (John 7:37).

6. In Exodus 19-20 the law of God is given. In John 7:19 Jesus gives the grand indictment that none of them keeps the law.

What is the main point of these parallels?

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Sunday, August 4, 2024

Is Dating in the Bible?

Dating for Marriage

The New Testament Commands

The Folly of Being “Unequally Yoked”

Objection #1: My situation is unique.

Objection #2: If we break up, my boyfriend or girlfriend may never have another Christian influence in their life.

Conclusion

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Thursday, August 1, 2024

God made men to lead.

God made men to provide.

God made men to protect.

Rejecting biblical manhood hurts men and women.

Conclusion

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