Thursday, May 22, 2008

Defeating the Powers

Defeating the Powers, Part Two

And the stone-sealed tomb was empty, on the third day he arose! Into heaven made his entry, mighty Conqueror of his foes.

When we sing those words from the second stanza of Leonard Payton’s arrangement of the Apostles Creed we affirm our faith in the truth of Christ’s victory over the powers. We need a greater grasp of this essential reality, the truth that by his cross, resurrection, and ascension Christ has secured a resounding victory over his enemies and ours. We do not yet see the final day of triumph, for ‘he must reign until all the enemies be made his footstool; the last enemy is death” (1 Corinthians 15). This future climactic deliverance in the resurrection of all is portrayed in Scripture as a certain hope because of Jesus’ defeat of the powers through his own death on the cross.

Asia Minor in the time of Christ and Paul was a place filled with multiple and competing religions, odd spiritualities, and deeply rooted superstitions, including the fear of demonic powers. Not unlike some parts of India today, many at the time simply added the name of ‘Jesus’ to their list of deities when they heard of him, hoping that he like their other ‘gods’ would aid them in their struggle with nature and those pesky powers. This mixture is known as syncretism, and a good example of it was unearthed not so long ago in Egypt, a prayer dating back to the time just after Paul’s mission in Asia Minor. “Hor, Hor, Phor, Eloei, Adonai, Iao, Sabaoth, Michael, Jesus Christ. Help us and this household. Amen.” That prayer shows someone throwing at the powers any and every name possible in hopes that someone would show up and help!

Yet we know that Jesus is not just one of the heavenly beings overseeing the ancient world, one power among many, one ‘god’ in a long chain leading to the light. Paul attacks this notion when he writes to the Colossians, “See to it that no one takes you captive through…the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.” Christ is not one god among many, one in the Gnostic ladder of divine beings, but rather God Himself in the flesh. Why flesh? Because of the necessity of the Cross. God added humanity to deity in order to die and be raised bodily to cancel sin, destroy death, and defeat the satanic powers. “And when you were dead in your transgressions…he made you alive together with him, having forgiven you all your transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us…he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them in the cross” (Colossians 2:8-15).

The incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ signal our release from the guilt and grip of sin and shame, as well as the defeat of the dark powers – what Paul also calls the ‘elementary principles’. The Christian then does not worship angels or subject himself to superstitious days and seasons (which refers at least astrological prognosticators, and certainly more), and ‘self-made religion’ that has the ‘appearance of wisdom’ because it commands the ill-treatment of the body (an old lie that such severe treatment will be the ‘key’ the liberty from our bodies). That is Platonic dualism, Gnostic to the core, Manichean, still popular, and dead wrong. We are liberated from the powers through the cross.

Thomas Smail captures beautifully the strategy of the Cross in the defeat of the powers when he writes, “Christ comes to the cross as a fireman comes to the fire, as the lifeboat comes to the sinking ship, as the rescue team comes to the wounded man in the Alpine snow. They have what it takes to help and deliver, but they must come to where the fire burns, the storm rages, the avalanche entombs, and make themselves vulnerable to the danger that such a coming entails.” Christ entered the battlefield for the souls of men and for the universe itself, like Aslan coming to the stone table possessed of a ‘stronger magic’ than the old powers dreamt possible. Through their attacks against them they found themselves ‘destroyed’.

In his commentary on Colossians, NT Wright summarizes this astonishing turn like this: “The ‘rulers’ and ‘authorities’ of Rome and Israel – the best government and the highest religion the world at that time had ever known - conspired to place Jesus on the Cross. These powers, angry at his challenge to their sovereignty, stripped him naked, held him up to public contempt, and celebrated a triumph over him.” Yet in through this act, God who is sovereign over all sovereignties, “was stripping them naked, holding them up to public contempt, and leading them in his won triumphal procession.”

That is great rhetoric, but does it match reality? After all, don’t we continue to see the enemies of Christ – the powers – at work against his people and the Gospel? Paul acknowledges this in Ephesians six when he writes that ‘our struggle is not with flesh and blood abut against the powers, the rulers of this present darkness, spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places.” How does this square with John’s assertion that ‘For this purpose Christ was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil”, or the writer of Hebrews bold announcement that “through death Christ rendered powerless him who had the power of the death, that is the devil”?

In his magisterial book ‘The Cross of Christ’, John Stott offers that the cross was the victory of Christ the King over the powers that secures the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God. In other words, the devil and the powers, like Hitler and his minions after D-Day, knew they were defeated, but their final conquest awaits the conclusion of many battles that must be fought. The ultimate outcome is certain; the present trouble is no less real. The victory of the cross in the past together with his ultimate triumph in the future make sense of the sufferings of the present as we labor in faith, hope, and love.

Stott outlines six stages in God’s conquest over the powers:

1. The conquest predicted: Genesis 3:15 and all the Old Testament
2. The conquest begun in the incarnation and ministry of Jesus
3. The conquest achieved in the death of Jesus
4. The conquest affirmed in the resurrection of Jesus
5. The conquest extended through the Church of Jesus
6. The conquest consummated by the return of Jesus

Gustav Aulen has sought to summarize the ‘warrior’ theology of the Cross in his work ‘Christus Victor, and it has strong Patristic advocates (Irenaeus), as well as being one of Luther’s emphases. Others have highlighted the ‘atonement for sin’ dimension of the labor of Christ in the cross. These include Stott (in our time), as well as Tertullian and Cyprian among the Patristics, and the great Anslem in the medieval era. But Christus Victor and Christus Crucifixus are not antithetical theologies; they are twin truths standing together, gladly telling us the Gospel: “Jesus is Lord and your sins and forgiven. Christ has died; Christ has risen; Christ will come again.” That is why at the sign of the cross the powers must bow. In Hoc Signo Vinces!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Horrible News - Please Pray for the Chapmans and their Extended Family

I just got word from friends that the 5 year old daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman and his wife Mary Beth was killed when she was accidentally struck in her own driveway by an SUV driven by her teenage brother. Here's the story.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hCX0xYfGnwKXZ56bJKPQoZGnyBKgD90QEGUG1

Please pray for these friends and gracious Christians. They have done so much for so many parents and children around the world; this is just shocking news.

Indy - And I Don't Mean Cars!

Finally - tomorrow (actually at midnight tonight in many places) the new Indiana Jones film will be out there. I can hardly wait.

Have you seen Iron Man?

Terrific stuff. Brilliant fun.

Prince Caspian?

Hmmm. Mixed reviews; some very dumb additions, but oh the graphics. And maybe someone will read the real thing.

Shyamalan has 'The Happening' coming out soon - never miss his stuff. Looks much scarrier and darker than previous releases (though Sixth Sense was just a little too creepy at times). 'Signs' is the greatest. Great Christian symbolism throughout. "Did someone save me?"

'Dark Knight' - the latest Batman film looks fantastic.

Maybe Will Smith in 'Hancock' will rescue the Super Hero genre from Hulk.

And then there is the ridiculous and dumb and inane film that I will have to see - 'Get Smart' - I confess that as a boy I had a crush on Agent 99.

Whoa! Pass the Pop Corn! What a great crop of summer movies.

Oh Man!

Manchester United defeated Chelsea for the UEFA Cup today, played in Moscow. It was an exhausting match for both sides, coming down to penalty kicks after extra time.

Congratulations to United and to Chelsea - great to see two English Premier League teams battle for the European title.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Graduations and Blogging

I won't be doing as much blogging the next couple of weeks...we're very busy with plans for Sean and Claire's graduations, as well as a family wedding back in KY. I will have another installment on 'The Powers', and maybe a comment or two on the Cubs, but that's about it. Peace to all.

I will pick back up with summer reading lists! Ah, summer reading - a great gift from the Lord who loves us.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

At the base of our cellular structure is some biological 'glue' that quite literally holds everything together. That substructure/scaffolding/glue is called Laminin.

Here's the Wikipedia entry for this remarkable part of our anatomy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminin

So what would something that holds everything together look like?

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=laminin&um=1&ie=UTF-8

Stunned? Me too. At the core of creation - at the heart of our physical being, holding us together - is the cross.

"Christ is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Colossians 1

HT to Roseanne Fiorita

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Prayer of Adoration - Trinity Sunday

Trinity Sunday Prayer of Adoration

Most holy and Triune God, you are the One who has rescued us from our ruin. Father, you have authored our redemption. Son of God, you are our Mediator and Savior. Holy Spirit, you have made known to us this great salvation and united us in the life of God, making us more cherished than the angels who behold your majesty.

We thank you most holy and gracious Lord that you

• Save us by your Grace
• Support us by your Power
• Govern us by your Providence
• Nourish us by your Goodness

Keep us always in this Faith as with all your Church we praise your excellent greatness our glorious Redeeming Lord, for you are ever One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Sermon Notes for Trinity Sunday

Living in the Blessing of the Trinity

2 Corinthians 13:11-14

Trinity Sunday

May 18, 2008



I. The Trinity and Mystery

· There is Nothing More Practical than Mystery

Mystery: “No sooner do I conceive of the One that I am illumined by the splendor of the three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the one…when I contemplate the three together I see but one torch, and cannot divide or measure out the undivided light.”

- Gregory of Nazianzen



Practicality: “I have often reflected on the rather obvious thought that when the his disciples were about to have the world collapse in on them, our Lord spent so much time in the Upper Room speaking to them about the necessity of the Trinity, if anything could underline the necessity of Trinitarianism for practical Christianity, that must surely be it.”

- Sinclair Ferguson



II. The Trinity and Peace

A. The Life of the Church: Peace

· ‘The Church is a people made one with the unity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

- St. Cyprian



B. The Communion of the Church

1. Intimacy – v.12

2. Catholicity - v.13

· our fellowship is near and far, visible and less visible

· we must kiss the Christian near us as well as treasure the Christian far from us



C. Perichoresis (choreo – graphy): the Lord of the Dance

· Mutual Indwelling and Love – Communion in the Persons

· To this Jesus will bring us by grace: John 14:20; 17:23



III. The Trinity and our Salvation

· We find in Paul’s benediction the order in which we consciously encounter the Triune God

A. The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

B. The Love of God the Father

C. The Fellowship (koinonia) of the Holy Spirit

· “The Father is God above us, the Son is God with us, and the Spirit is God in us.

- Kallistos Ware

Fault Line Comments at BH

The 'Fault Line' articles are also available over at the Biblical Horizons site -
www.biblicalhorizons.wordpress.com. There you will also find an informative string of comments from the likes of Joel Garver and Jim Jordan (among others) on both posts. Joel is in the Philadelphia Presbytery which sent up the initial overture on this issue, so his view of the matter and helpful critique of what I've written are especially important to read.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

More on the Powers

Defeating the Powers, Part One



There are a number of hymns I can recall from my childhood, not the least of which is Luther’s ‘A Mighty Fortress’. Consider the words of this magisterial anthem:



A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Great hymns are filled with great theology, and this is no exception. What lessons do we learn as we sing this together? There are many, but allow me to highlight a few with reference to our current study.

1. We have an ancient foe whose cunning and power are great.

2. Only Christ can defeat this enemy; our strength will never do.

3. One word from God – even a little word – topples this foe’s pretensions to power.

4. That word is ‘above all earthly powers’.

5. The powers will not triumph, but God’s kingdom shall fill all things.

Luther, facing the machinations of Pope Leo X and Emperor Charles V knew that his life was on the line every day. He lived in perpetual conflict, warring for the truth of the Gospel. In this he saw ‘the powers’, but he also saw ‘the word’, and trusted in God’s word to do its work in toppling the powers, whether human or demonic. Even if it is apocryphal (and perhaps it isn’t!), I love the old story of Luther hurling an ink bottle at the devil when the ‘ancient foe’ showed up in his study one day. The only thing more fitting may have been Luther chucking his pen at him along with the ink; Luther won his day through a long string of ‘little’ words, though his trust was in God’s word alone.

We should remember this when we pause now to briefly consider the powers of our own day, powers of ideology that enslave the minds of men, prisons we assault with the Gospel and prayer. Our ancient foe is strong, and we are weak. But the Lord of hosts (sabaoth) is with us; greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. What powers – powers over which God’s word triumphs - are at play in our world? Let me highlight a few.

1. Eros: the god of sexuality. We live in a sexually-obsessed culture in which human beings are demoted to mere objects of desire or means of sale. Not only are we assaulted on all sides by pornography (visually, audibly, and musically), we are also threatened with violence and derision if we refuse to capitulate the current culture’s understanding of sexual relations. Eros is a very demanding god. The Christian thanks God for the gift of gender distinction and human sexuality in the covenant of marriage.

* For an example of how eros inspires hatred for those who hold to the Biblical view of human sexuality, read this informative post: http://www.baylyblog.com/2008/05/its-long-been-d.html#more


2. Mammon: the god of greed and affluence. Mammon has always been in competition with Yahweh, and Jesus said you can’t serve both. A choice must be made. Mammon is highly seductive and destructive, causing people through the love of money and the desire to accumulate wealth to fall into a utilitarian view of life and people. The Christian views wealth as a tool to proclaim God’s word not a means to temporal pleasure and false security. The marketing of the Gospel and the Church is another example of this ‘power’ at work, subverting the very institution designed to enforce its defeat.

3. Dunamis: the god of power (and perhaps 'exousia' would be a better name). Nietzsche was not the first to suggest power as a basis for living and action, but he was no doubt its greatest exegete and prophet. One must know Nietsche to know our society, whether seeing the fascist and totalitarian governments that stretch across the sad years of the 20th century, or the smiling nihilism of the Seinfeld approach to radical self-seeking individualism. The Christian acknowledges and glories in weakness, taught by the cross to do so. We boast in weakness and find God’s power perfected there. The pursuit of power – corporately, ecclesiastically, politically, or demonically – is utterly contrary to the spirit of Christ. Hearing Milton's Lucifer say, "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven" captures the essence of this enemy. What is vital to grasp however is that this power demands earth as well as hell.

4. Violence: the god that still demands human sacrifice. Often our streets and towns are filled with the apparent madness of human violence, of people senselessly attacking others. A school shooting, a terrorist bombing, and – on the international scene – the arrogant use of power to invade and subjugate other peoples all serve this demanding demon-deity. The Christian Gospel on the other hand calls for peace-making, for loving enemies. It is utterly counter-intuitive to the ‘powers that be’, often disguised as patriotism. It shows up in ecclesiastical courts that look for scapegoats to attack, diverting attention from their inability to hold to, articulate, or defend the Truth.

5. Phobos: the god of fear and intimidation. Satan has used the ‘fear of death’ to snare people for millennia, but Christ liberated us from fear and slavery through his death and resurrection. The enemy dresses up this enslaving fear in many ways, not the least through the intimidation of the anti-theists, the ones who brandish a new and aggressive atheism that is sold as intellectual sophistication. The gods of this age do not understand the wisdom of God, and will not.



We could no doubt name others. Next week we’ll consider how the Lord of hosts has conquered these foes in his cross, and how we in weakness, using the weapons of our warfare on the right and on the left, expand the boundaries of the that triumph, just as Paul has taught us. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities…” (Ephesians 6). Until then, let us mediate on Luther’s abiding exhortation:

- And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.