Defining marks of a Christian?

"There are always two things present in the Christian: 1) A sense of personal unworthiness, 2) A sense of the worthiness of Christ. Both are essential. The absence of either means that we are not Christians. But in practice it is the relative position of the two in conscious experience that determines what we do..." - D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

in David Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The Fight of Faith 1939-1981 by Iain H. Murray

Rest according to Genesis - Rest #2

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

We find in Gen 2:2-3 (above) the first mention of “rest” in the Biblical record. Clearly God didn’t need to rest, but what does the fact that God rested, say about our God and His creation (us)?

Commentator Walter Brueggemann offers 2 answers to the above question(s):
1) The 7th day (or Sabbath as it is also called) says something about God… in contrast to the “gods” of nations surrounding Israel, “this God is not anxious about his creation but is at ease with the well-being of his rule.”
2) The Sabbath says something about our world… “the world is safely in God’s hands. The world will not disintegrate if we stop our efforts. The world relies on God’s promises and not on our efforts.

Think about the implications in your own life. From the beginning of creation a pattern of regular rest has been in place. Rest is an important and good thing. Importantly, God is not anxious about His creation. He’s not anxious about your life – even the most intimate details. His rule is supreme, and all things are under His loving control. The 7th day reminds us of this delightful truth. Obviously then it is not our efforts that keep the world spinning. We need to hear that again and again. We need not let this be an excuse for laziness, and that may be a struggle for some. But for many in our quick-paced, high-pressure, anxiousness-riddled culture we have different struggles. We go go go all of the time. We’ve got E-mails to answer, kids to get to bed, a service project to get done, a T.V. show to watch, and it goes on and on. To what end to we sprint through life? Many of us pridefully work to arrange our own ‘kingdoms’ just how we want them, when God is sovereignly king over all. Many of us need to stop trying to run our own world, and slow down a bit. Many of us need to take a nap, go for a walk with our kids (when the weather warms up), slowly share quiet cup of coffee with a struggling church member, spend extended time in prayer, read a good Christian book, visit an ailing shut-in, or just get to bed earlier. The work will get done. The E-mails will get answered. The T.V show can wait. Taking time to rest confesses that our God is Lord of all. Go on. Do it. Declare that God is Lord of your life. Rest.

Owen on Communion

I've just begun to read an abridged version of John Owen's Communion with God put out by Banner of Truth. At the end of the first chapter, I came across this quote:

"Our communion with God lies in his giving himself to us and our giving ourselves and all that he requires to him. This communion with God flows from that union which is in Christ Jesus. This communion will be perfect and complete when we enter into the full enjoyment of Christ's glory. Then we shall totally give up ourselves to him, resting in him as the utmost fulfilment of all our desires. This communion is now only partial because we presently only enjoy the first-fruits and dawnings of that future perfection. It is with regard to this initial communion that I intend to speak and to show that mutual giving and receiving between God and the saints as they walk together in holy and spiritual peace. This covenant of peace is brought about by the blood of Jesus. But first I pray that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has, by the riches of his grace, brought us from a state of enmity into this glorious fellowship with himself, may give you such a taste of his sweetness and excellence in this communion as to be stirred up to a greater longing for that eternal enjoyment of him in eternal glory."

There is a lot of truth packed into this paragraph, but a few points stand out:
1) Through Christ, we have been brought into communion or fellowship with God (1 Peter 3:18). This is an amazing thing when you think about what we've done (Romans 3:10-12), and what we deserve (Matthew 25:41).
2) Our communion with God now is only partial, and it will remain so until Christ returns or God calls us home. I'm looking forward to hearing more from Owen as he masterfully investigates what God's Word has to say on our present, "initial" communion with God.
3) This "initial" communion is sweet (and thinking about it is the point of this book), but it is peanuts compared to what Owen calls "eternal enjoyment of him in eternal glory." We ought to desperately long for that day.
4) Our communion with God can and should impact our every moment. Christians aren't independent beings. We constantly live in communion with our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord. This truth is tremendously encouraging when we face trials and tribulations (like a snide word from a friend or co-worker, an unfavorable diagnosis, or the loss of a job). God dwells in constant communion with His children. He's there, He's active, and He is working for our good. This truth regarding our communion with God should also prompt us to strive after holiness. Our God communes with us. We ought to strive for personal holiness and purity. He's there, He's active, and He desires that we become more like His Son to the glory of His name. As Owen has described it so far, this communion with God is the most satisfying thing we can experience this side of heaven.

Spurs

Yesterday Spurs took an important win against Fulham at White Hart Lane.

Watch a splendid highlight here:

Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham
by galafifa2010

Rest according to Isaiah - Rest #1

Rest. It is an ever-elusive thing. It always seems to be just out of our reach. It’s not too big of stretch to say this – We are a tired people. We often find ourselves physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually… “drained.” We go all the time, and what are the biological and psychological results? Fatigue. We need rest. We crave rest. Can true rest be found? Does finding rest require an extended vacation, a quiet night at home, an easy-going boss or an unhurried schedule? All good questions, but there is a better question…

What does the Bible have to say about rest?

What we find, if we take a fresh look, is that the Bible has much to say about rest. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a few short looks at the Biblical view of rest. The answer of the Bible is clear: rest can be found and it is more satisfying than we can even imagine.

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Our Biblical search for rest begins in the book of Isaiah. This OT prophet has much to say about rest. This is fascinating because of the chaos that surrounded the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah in Isaiah’s time. In a time of craziness for Israel, rest seems to be a much-discussed topic. Significance? I think so. We need to listen again to Isaiah. Below is a sampling:

Is 30:15 - This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

Israel had rejected her God. They’d sought safety and comfort from the gods of the nations surrounding them. What they’d missed was that rest was to be found in turning from trying to live life their way and submitting to God’s rule. Repentance and rest (in God) is salvation. Quietness and trust in Him is their true strength, but they rejected Him.

Is 57:20 – But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.

So God allowed them to experience this. Their life was like the tossing sea. They were like waves cast to and fro.

Is 11:10 - In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

Hope was still held out for God’s people. There was a promise of a glorious rest to come. This promised rest would come in the form of a person – the root of Jesse. People from all nations will rally to Him, and the rest He offers is glorious.

Is 57:1-2 – The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.

Whereas, those who rebel against God experience torment and anguish (like the tossing waves), God promised the righteous eternal rest upon death. Their bodies may “lie” in death, but somehow they can “walk” into peace. The implication here is that there is life after death for the righteous, and it is filled with peace and rest.

For many of us, rest is a physical thing. We just need to get more sleep. We need to quit striving and take a nap every once and awhile. For many of us though, rest goes much deeper than our circumstances or even our physical well-being. Rest is not found in striving after the “comfortable life.” Rest is not found in a satisfied boss, more money, perfectly obedient kids, that extended vacation (with a nap), or even a light schedule. Israel thought physical protection in the gods of the surrounding nations would bring rest, and they were terribly mistaken.

The lesson for us in Isaiah, is that many of need to repent of the false “gods” we are striving after – the praise of men, possession, comfortable circumstances, etc. Maybe, just maybe, God has allowed us to experience the chaos of life (fatigue) to drive us from our idols back to Him. What we see in Isaiah is that rest is only to be found in a person: rest is found only as we treasure Jesus (the root of Jesse) above all. When we begin to see Him as supremely worthy of our attention, affections, and energies; when we begin to put our desires and goals behind God’s desires for our life; when we begin to humble ourselves and strive to conform our lives to Christ’s commands; when we begin to grapple with our identity as great sinners saved by a gracious savior – then and only then will we find rest. Glorious rest in this life and the life to come.