Part IX - God is Jealous for You

A God Who Pursues His People

Despite our knowledge of God’s unrelenting love, we are all too quick to offer our love and devotion to every conceivable idol that might please us for a moment, and we forsake our God.

The Lord is infinite in size, power, and holiness, yet He also sets His affections upon us. He is not indifferent or calloused to our idolatrous hearts, nor has He washed His hands of mankind. Instead, He perseveres in His love for us, and He is jealous of our affections.

Nevertheless, man has a natural inclination to flee from God — clinging to the empty pleasures and powerless idols of a fallen world. Though the Lord pursues us, He will not share our affections with petty idols — whether these idols come in the form of mythical gods, golden statues, or worldly pursuits. He alone is worthy of our praise, honor, and glory.

Atop Mount Sinai, God commanded Moses: “Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exod 34:14). Some may ask how the sovereign God of the universe could possibly experience jealousy over man’s affections.

The Scriptures reveal that God’s jealousy is compelled by both His love and holiness.

God is jealous over us, because He loves us. A truly loving husband could never callously shrug at his wife’s wayward affections. Instead, he demands that she be faithful to Him. Covenantal love requires jealousy. God’s jealousy over mankind’s affections led Him to endure the Cross.

God is also jealous over us, because of His holiness. He demands that His creation be restored to its original status, which was “very good.” We must realize that the supremacy of God above all other things is so firmly established that He has a right to demand our affection.

The jealousy of God could be compared to the gravitational pull of the sun. The earth’s survival absolutely depends upon the sun’s unrelenting gravity. No one questions the sun’s right to draw the entire solar system to itself. After all, the sun is awesome in magnitude and glorious in power. If its gravitational force ever failed, then the earth and its inhabitants would be slung off of its orbit into a perilously dark universe. Everyone and everything would quickly perish. 

The jealousy of God, which seeks to pull the hearts of men to Himself, functions in much the same way. He is awesome in magnitude and glorious in power. He jealously pursues His people and draws them into the pathway of life. But if His jealousy over mankind’s affections was ever extinguished, then we too would be lost forever into a dark and perilous fate. Thankfully, God refuses to surrender our fates to eternal darkness.

Part VIII - God is Matchless

A God without Rivals

If we are to receive the bountiful grace of God, then we must turn our devotion entirely to Him.

In the ancient world, monotheism (belief in one God) was extremely rare. Virtually all other nations besides Israel were polytheistic (belief in multiple gods), and each of these gods supposedly reigned over the various categories of life — ranging from wisdom and war to fertility and farming. However, God refuses to share the throne with such powerless idols.

One of the most important themes of Scripture is God’s unrelenting battle against idolatry in all its forms. The Bible is filled with showdowns between the God of Israel and man’s false idols.

Consider God’s campaign against the idols of Egypt. Prior to the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt with Moses, God unleashed ten plagues upon the land of Egypt. These plagues sought to prove that the various gods of Egypt were utterly powerless.

“I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt” (Exodus 12:12).

The first plague transformed the Nile River into blood. In that day, the Egyptians believed that the Nile River was the bloodstream of Osiris (the god of the afterlife). What message would the Egyptians have received when the river of blood began to stink and rot? Osiris is dead, and he cannot save you! Each of the plagues continues to prove the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods.

These plagues were not driven by cruelty, but rather God’s desire to demonstrate His power to men. As the Israelites were desperately blocked by the shores of the Red Sea, the Lord declared:

I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord (Exod 14:4).

At their core, the marvelous works of God were evangelistic — even His plagues! After the exodus, the world began to hear about the matchless power of Israel’s God. The Lord had proven Himself greater than the greatest gods of the greatest empire of the ancient world. After being delivered from the armies of Pharaoh, Moses penned a song of praise. The Lord loved this particular song so much that it will be sung in heaven for all eternity (Rev 15:3).

In this song of praise, Moses asks:

Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you — majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exod 15:11) 

Indeed, there is none like our God. He stands alone worthy of praise and adoration. He wages war against the idols of men that subvert our relationship with Him. Countless conversions to faith occur only after a person has been stripped of every worldly comfort. Often times, God uses tragedy or crisis to call His people to Himself. He is showing our idols to be powerless. Only then, when all idols are defeated, will a person surrender to the unrelenting pursuit of God.

Part VII - The Justice of God

God is Just: A God of Perfect Justice

Those who fail to achieve the standard of perfect holiness that God has demanded of us will be left to face the perfect justice of God. Without exception, the Scriptures demand that all sin must be punished, because our God is absolutely just. Scripture tells us that “the Lord is righteous” and “he loves justice” (Psalm 11:7). On the day of judgment, we are told that “the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience…” (Col 3:6).

One nationwide poll found that only 59 percent of Americans now believe in hell.[i] The Christian cannot deny the existence of hell. Jesus spoke more about hell than Heaven. He described it as an “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41) — a place where the “worm never dies” and the “fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). In describing the judgment of wicked men, Jesus spoke about the terrible sounds of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 13:50).

In the book of Revelation, John’s vision of the Apocalypse revealed that “if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15).

The idea of judgment does not sit well in today’s culture. Many people wrongly ascribe blind forgiveness to God — as if He will simply ignore the wickedness of our sinful past and nullify the requirements of His perfect justice. However, this is absolutely wrong! The Lord cannot leave the scales of His justice unbalanced. Otherwise, He would cease to be just. It would make a mockery of God’s Law if He habitually acquitted the guilty. If God is to be just, He must uphold the Law.

The Bible assures us that “He does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Exod 34:7). He cannot, because “righteousness and justice are the foundation of [His] throne” (Psalm 89:14).

The thought of God’s wrath and perfect justice is terrifying. Even Jesus quaked with fearful anguish at the prospect of drinking the cup of God’s wrath (Luke 22:42). But unlike Jesus, there are none who can claim to have lived a life of moral perfection. The Lord Almighty, who knows every evil word, thought, and deed of man, will pour forth His furious displeasure upon those who have rejected His Word and mocked His counsel.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8).

As we have seen in previous chapters, we all fail to respect the moral absolutes of God in some way. All too often, we attempt to bring God’s holy standards down to a human level, so that we can justify ourselves. When we are measured against the corruptions of our fellow human beings, many of us would indeed seem “good.” However, man is not our standard. The God of absolute moral perfection is our standard, and we are called to “be holy as God is holy."

When men stand before the throne of God, they will not be entitled to challenge God’s holy standards of justice. When a person casts aside the moral law of God as archaic or extreme, they are challenging the very holiness of God Himself — as if God has erred in His judgment. The Lord once rebuked Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? ... Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?” (Job 40:2, 8).

God is perfectly just and will not leave sin unpunished, yet He earnestly desires the salvation of His people. This creates a great dilemma, for which Jesus Christ is the only solution.

The prophet Isaiah wrote about a Messiah who would satisfy God’s justice for the sake of men.

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:5-6).

The Bible tells us that the “wages of sin in death,” and the good news of the gospel pronounces that Jesus Christ has taken our wages upon Himself. Jesus Christ endured this fierce justice of God and clothed us in His own perfect righteousness, so that we can stand holy before the Lord.

This is the measurement of God’s love for His people, but it was not cheap. The satisfaction of God’s perfect justice came at the ultimate cost — the agonizing death of His only begotten Son. He came to pay a debt that He did not owe, because we had a debt that we could not pay.

God’s forgiveness is never free; our sins are always punished. As He has promised, God will pour out His wrath in the punishment of every sin. Only one question remains: who will pay the penalties of your sin? Your sins were either paid for on the Cross, or they remain to be punished.

The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:35-36). 

Faith alone in Christ alone is the only source of hope for a desperately fallen mankind. No man is perfect, nor can we restore our own holiness. Christ alone clothes men with the holiness necessary to stand in the presence of our holy God.

Part VII - A God of Infinite Holiness

God is Holy: A God of Radical Goodness

Nature and science can provide us with a small glimpse into God’s power and magnitude. However, the size and power of God tell us little about His character. It would be a terrible thing if such power and size were in the hands of a cruel God. Thankfully, the Scriptures inform us that this omnipresent and omnipotent God is also infinite in His goodness. He is radically holy!

Holiness is perhaps God’s most important attribute. In fact, the words “holy” or “holiness” occur more than 900 times in the Bible. It is this trait that mesmerizes all who encounter the Lord. The angels of heaven are perfectly pure, yet even the angels cover their faces at God’s throne. In fact, these glorious creatures are so awestruck by God’s holiness that they forever sing to each other: “Holy, holy, holy is the God Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa 6:3).

Holiness has been defined as “purity” or being completely “set apart” from the world. However, holiness is far more than simple purity. God is most certainly pure, but it would be wrong to limit the beauty of God’s holiness to the simple absence of sin. God’s holiness is far more than that. His holiness is a penetrating and powerful force. It is infinite goodness. It is not merely the absence of sin; rather it is an all-out, unrelenting, inexhaustible desire to destroy sin and darkness.

God’s holiness is like light. Scripture even tells us that “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). It would be wrong to define light as the mere absence of darkness. It is far more than that. Light has a form. It moves. It illuminates. It creates beauty and color. It always triumphs over darkness. Darkness, on the other hand, can be defined as the absence of light. It is empty, formless, lifeless, dreadful, and stagnant. Darkness is idle; but light is radiant and active.

“From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth” (Psalm 50:2).

Jonathan Edwards, the famous preacher of the Great Awakening, once said, “A true love to God must begin with a delight in his holiness, and not with a delight in any other attribute; for no other attribute is truly lovely without this.”

It is God’s holiness that sets Him apart from the world. It makes Him different from everything else in a way that makes Him superior to everything else. He is in a class by himself. He has no threatening rivals. He is the one and only true God. He alone is holy (Rev 15:4).

A.W. Tozer, the popular Christian author of the 20^th century, explained:

We cannot grasp the true meaning of the divine holiness by thinking of someone or something very pure and then raising the concept to the highest degree we are capable of. God’s holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable… Holy is the way God is. To be holy, He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard.

It is this incomprehensible holiness that causes fear to consume the hearts of all who are confronted by the Lord, who is “a consuming fire” (Deut 4:24). The Scripture tells us that “it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God” (Heb 10:31).

God Requires Holiness from Men

If you have ever been caught red-handed in the midst of a shameful act, then you know that your shame is only magnified when the witness of your sin is a person of great holiness. Just imagine being confronted by the One who exudes infinite holiness. Even the greatest heroes of Scripture suffered dread when confronted by God’s veiled holiness. Consider the following examples:

• After the Fall, Adam hid from God and admitted that he was “afraid” of His presence.
• Upon encountering the Lord, “Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.”
• The Israelites cried out to Moses, “Let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
• God told Moses, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
• The Psalmist wrote, “My flesh trembles in fear of You...”
• Isaiah declared, “Woe is me, for I am undone…for my eyes have seen the King.”
• When Daniel’s men saw the Lord, “a great terror fell upon them…”
• Daniel said: “No strength remained in me; for my vigor was turned to frailty in me.”
• When the Lord appeared to the Bethlehem shepherds, “they were terribly frightened.”
• Peter begged Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
• When Saul was confronted by Christ, he fell to the ground “trembling and astonished."
• Peter, James, and John “fell on their faces and were greatly afraid."
• In John’s vision, he wrote, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.”

If such men were unable to withstand the veiled holiness of God without trembling in terror and shame, then it would be foolish to assume that anyone stained by sin could find peace in the presence of God’s unveiled and unrestrained holiness. Even if they were permitted to enter the presence of God, heaven would quickly become like hell for those who choose to remain in their sins. The holiness of God is simply too intense. He cannot tolerate even the slightest of sins. God “cannot tolerate wrong,” and His “eyes are too pure to look on evil” (Hab 1:12-13).

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish (Psalm 1:5-6).

Unfortunately, few people consider righteousness or holiness to be an important quality in this life. In his book Be Holy, famous biblical commentator Warren Wiersbe wrote:

Happiness, not holiness, is the chief pursuit of most people today, including many professed Christians. They want Jesus to solve their problems and carry their burdens, but they don’t want Him to control their lives and change their character. It doesn’t disturb them that eight times in the Bible, God said to His people, “Be holy, for I am holy,” and He means it. 

Holiness is not an Old Testament standard that can now be dismissed. Jesus commanded his followers in his Sermon on the Mount: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48). All of Scripture teaches that holiness is essential to the Christian life. In fact, the New Testament tells us that “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb 12:14). It is this attribute that makes the gospel both necessary and precious. You can never meet the requirements of God. But as we will see, Christ has clothed us in his perfect righteousness.

Part VI - What God's Power Means for You

Properly Defining God’s Omnipotence 

The Christian should be careful when defining God’s omnipotence. While God is powerful enough to do all things, His omnipotence is constrained by His perfect wisdom. For example, the Scriptures tell us that He cannot deny His own will; He cannot lie; He cannot sin; He cannot be deceived; and He cannot die. In other words, God’s power is channeled by His wisdom.

Some are quick to claim that such limitations disprove His omnipotence. However, it is important to realize that the exact opposite is true. If God were to yield to such petty requests, then He would cease to be omnipotent. If He died, then He would forfeit His eternal nature. If He lied, then He would no longer remain truthful. If He were to sin, then He would no longer be holy. If He were to be deceived, then He would part with His omniscience. Common sense dictates that an omnipotent God cannot surrender His omnipotence, or He ceases to be omnipotent.

Instead, God’s perfect wisdom guides Him down the path of ultimate omnipotence. He cannot fall into the snares that would render Him impotent. These self-imposed limitations do not nullify His omnipotence; they magnify it. For He always chooses the right path.

In his theological masterpiece, The City of God, Saint Augustine wrote, “He is called omnipotent on account of His doing what He wills, not on account of His suffering what He wills not; for if that should befall Him, He would by no means be omnipotent. Wherefore, He cannot do some things for the very reason that He is omnipotent."

Trusting the Omnipotent God 

If God created the heavens by the word of His mouth and maintains a precise order in all of creation — both great and small — then God was surely capable of performing the great miracles of Scripture. We can trust in God’s Word, because He is absolutely truthful. The Scriptures tell us that God “does not lie” (Tit 1:2). In fact, “it is impossible for Him to lie” (Heb 6:18). 

We should not balk at claiming that our Lord was born of a virgin; He healed the blind; He cast out demons; He turned water into wine; He walked on water; He commanded the storms; He resurrected the dead; He lived a perfect life; and ultimately He conquered sin and death!

The omnipotence of God should be a great comfort to His people. Most Christians will acknowledge that God created billions of galaxies in an instant. Sadly, many of these same people hesitate to believe that this omnipotent God is personally invested in their day-to-day lives. This same God still works miracles. He still hears our prayers, and He still comforts the afflicted.

The Psalmist declared, “Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases” (Psalm 115:3).

If God does whatever He pleases, then we should be eager to learn what pleases the Lord. The Scriptures provides us with the answers. For example, even before the creation of the world, the Lord “predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will” (Eph 1:4-5). In other words, your redemption brings great pleasure to God.

Consider the weight of this statement. You were selected by God — for His own pleasure — before the first atom of creation was spoken into existence. Our Father in Heaven set His desire to adopt you as His beloved child before He hung the stars into place! By the Lord’s own admission, your redemption is His pleasure. If we stand with confidence in God’s amazing power, then we, like the Apostle Paul, can boldly ask, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31). If the omnipotent God of the universe has promised to defend us, then whom shall we fear? 

John Piper, bestselling author and Baptist minister, once said:

The omnipotence of God means eternal, unshakable refuge in the everlasting glory of God no matter what happens on this earth. And that confidence is the power of radical obedience to the call of God. Is there anything more freeing, more thrilling, or more strengthening than the truth that God Almighty is your refuge — all day every day in all the ordinary and extraordinary experiences of life?

We can stand in the same confidence as Job, who declared, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). We need not fear the seemingly hopeless situations, because Jesus has declared that “with God all things are possible” (Matt 19:26).

The Omnipotent God Is With You

We need not be anxious, for God declares: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa 41:10). In Scripture, this all-powerful God has repeatedly promised to be with you.

When Moses was commanded to confront Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites, he feared that the mission was a death sentence. Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” God did not offer detailed explanations to calm Moses’ fears. He simply replied, “I will be with you” (Exod 3:11-12), and God was enough. 

Like Moses, Christians have been called to play a role in the liberation of God’s people from a spiritual bondage. Just as the omnipotent God promised Moses that He would be with him, Jesus promises us: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…. Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:20). Jesus Christ will be enough!

Christ: Our Example in Suffering

Throughout the course of history, one of the greatest philosophical questions has involved the ultimate cause and purpose of human suffering. Pastors are often confronted with the question: “Why do good people suffer?” In response, brilliant theologians are quick to point out that “there is none who does good, not even one” (Psalm 53:3). While this is theologically correct, the Bible also teaches that we should never assume that a person’s sufferings are God’s judgments upon a sinful life. Consider Job. God allowed him to be afflicted, precisely because of his faithfulness (Job 1:8). God even rebuked his friends for assuming that Job’s afflictions were the result of hidden transgressions.

In this week’s passage (John 9), Jesus expands upon this same powerful lesson — revealing that our sufferings are often gifts that are intended to glorify God and to reveal our need for the Savior. 

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. (John 9:1-7). 

In this passage, Jesus invokes language that clearly intends to draw our minds back to the creation narrative. At the dawn of creation, God declared, “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3), and now Jesus was declaring himself to be the life-giving “light of the world.” And just as God had created Adam from the dust of the ground, Jesus likewise scoops dirt from the ground, spits into his hands, and uses the mud to restore the man’s sight. What message was Jesus giving the crowds of Jerusalem? The Creator God was walking among the people of Israel! Tragically, his message was entirely lost upon the religious Jews.

After being healed of his blindness, the man praised Jesus, but the Jews arrogantly condemned his praise. They declared, “Give glory to God. We know that [Jesus] is a sinner” (John 9:24). In one of the most famous responses in all of Scripture, the formerly blind man responded, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).

More than seventeen centuries later, this response to the religious leaders was incorporated into the lyrics of perhaps the greatest Christian hymn ever penned — Amazing Grace! John Newton, who was once a notoriously immoral slave-trader, understood what the religious leaders failed to understand. We are all in desperate need of a Savior and a healer for our souls. Indeed, we can all sing along with this formerly blind man with the words that Newton wrote: “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

The gospel does not teach us that some people are handicapped and in need of a Savior, while others are blessed and free to go it alone. That was the great error of these religious leaders. They refused to acknowledge their need for a Redeemer, so they masked their wounds behind a veil of religious hypocrisy. Ironically, as these men hid their brokenness, they revealed a handicap far more severe than that of this blind man. They placed their confidence in themselves — opting to walk through the pains of this life on their own. Consider the cautionary words of Jesus recorded in the book of Revelation. 

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:17-19).

No one is immune to suffering and affliction. In our hearts, we all instinctively realize that our entire world is filled with brokenness. We know the pains of loneliness, rejection, fear, and despair. Each of us is plagued by a sinful nature and the ominous fate that invariably ends at the grave. We all need a Savior. In our fallen world, life is a terminal condition. In time, our sight will grow dim; our hearing will become muffled; our bones will grow brittle; our minds will begin to fail us; and our heartbeats are numbered. Without Jesus, we are doomed to an everlasting fate of blindness, deafness, disease, despair, and death! As we read John 9, we are called to recognize that we all desperately need the healing salve of our Savior!

Jesus: Our Example in Suffering

Incredibly, Jesus did not come into this world to teach us about theoretical suffering from an ivory tower. Instead, the Lord ordained a path of suffering for himself, so that he could relate to us with compassion. The book of Hebrews declares, “He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness” (Hebrews 5:2). Our God has walked the road of suffering. 

In order to atone for our sins, Jesus needed only to live a perfectly righteous life, die for our sins, and be raised from the dead. This would have satisfied the fundamental requirements for our salvation. Yet the Lord ordained a path of far greater suffering for himself than we will ever endure in this fallen world. 

Jesus could have ordained a noble birth with royal parents. Instead, his virgin birth left him to be mocked by the religious leaders as a bastard child (John 8:41). He could have entered the world in the finest of palaces with the most ornate of cribs. Instead, he was born in barnyard stall and placed in a feed trough. Just as Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh, Jesus could have ordained a childhood of luxury in the house of Caesar. Instead, he was ridiculed for his lowly origins in Nazareth (John 1:46). 

Jesus could have used his divine powers to manipulate the affections of men. Instead, he agonized through pains of their rejection (Luke 13:34). Our Lord could have basked in a constant state of glory (e.g. the Transfiguration) bringing people to their knees in reverent awe, but he chose to have “no form or majesty that we should look at him” (Isaiah 53:2). And he could have entered this world as an attractive man like King Saul, but Jesus had “no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). 

Like Herod, he could have littered the Judean hills with mountaintop mansions and fortresses. Instead, the Creator of the universe was a homeless man with “nowhere to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). He could have assembled an elite group of Roman politicians, Athenian philosophers, Alexandrian scholars, and Judean theologians for his apostles. Instead, he chose uneducated commoners (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). He could have enjoyed the greatest of feasts, yet he chose to endure hunger (Luke 4:2). He could have chosen a secluded life in a monastery to protect his righteousness, yet he chose to be tempted (Matthew 4:1). He could have turned a blind eye to our afflictions, yet he was a “man of sorrows and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3). He could have ordained his crucifixion to be a great celebration filled with fanfare, doting speeches, ceremony, and love, yet he was “despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:3). 

And Jesus chose this path of suffering, so that we can rejoice and declare:

For 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. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:15-16).

Part V - The Omnipotence of God

God is Omnipotent: A God of Perfected Power

There are more than three-hundred verses of Scripture, in which the Lord is referred to as being “almighty.” This refers to His omnipotence — meaning that God is all-powerful.

Perhaps the greatest statement of God’s immeasurable power is found in the very first ten words of Scripture: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). In only six days, God created light, seas, the atmosphere, dry land, stars, birds, fish, and animals. Each of these creations was brought forth in perfection simply by the power of God’s word. 

In the first chapter of Genesis, each instance of creation is preceded by the words “God said.” This phrase is repeated ten times during the creation narrative. Stop for a moment and truly consider the tremendous power of our God. By the power of His word alone, the grand scale of our universe — from the most ferocious of stars to the tiniest of atoms — came into being. 

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth…. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm (Psalm 33:6, 9).

The Lord declared to the prophet Isaiah:

“To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing” (Isa 40:25-26).

However, we would do our God a disservice if we only focused on the massive grandeur of our universe. Perhaps even more remarkable is the utter perfection of its order. The universe has not been chaotically strewn about without laws to guide it. Instead, it displays an immense degree of order. In recent decades, advances in technology have provided scientists with a glimpse of the unfathomable precision of our universe. Many of the laws of physics rest on a razor’s edge, and even the slightest variation in these laws would lead to the complete annihilation of all life.

These scientific discoveries seem to affirm the fact that our universe cannot be the result of blind chance. Instead, science points us toward an engineering force that has designed and regulated the laws of nature with the exact mathematical precision necessary for existence.

There are hundreds of mind-boggling perfections that make our planet uniquely qualified to sustain life. Consider just a few of the basics. Our atmosphere is thin enough to allow for light, yet it is precisely capable of blocking the dangerous radiation. Our earth is abnormally dense when compared to the other more gaseous planets — allowing for terrestrial life. Our earth revolves around the sun at precisely the perfect speed and with the exact centrifugal force necessary to maintain its orbit. Any slower and it would be drawn into the sun. Any faster and it would overtake the sun's gravitational pull. Our earth’s axis just so happens to be perfectly tilted to allow for seasons and the necessary rejuvenation of life’s cycles. Our planet is uniquely hospitable for water supplies. The earth and the moon are perfectly sized to compliment each other. Our moon, which affects our tides and provides for the cleansing our water supplies, rotates around us at the perfect distance — creating an incomprehensibly exact gravitational equilibrium with the earth that is necessary for life. And this is only scratching the surface of how wonderfully our world has been made!

From an objective standpoint, it seems that the physical properties of our universe were perfectly fine-tuned for the existence of human life. Sir Fred Hoyle, a famous English astronomer, marveled, "Such properties seem to run through the fabric of the natural world like a thread of happy coincidences. But there are so many odd coincidences essential to life that some explanation seems required to account for them."

This is not accidental good fortune. Our omnipotent God has imposed His laws upon everything in creation — from the rate at which the universe expands to the speed at which electrons circle an atom. All such properties have proven essential for the existence of life. And all of them loudly proclaim our God's love for life!

The late John O’Keefe, a Harvard-educated scientist at NASA, has been hailed as the “godfather of astrogeology.” His study into the marvels of our universe led him to conclude: 

We are by astronomical standards, a pampered, cosseted, cherished group of creatures; our Darwinian claim to have done it all ourselves is as ridiculous and as charming as a baby’s brave efforts to stand on its own feet and refuse his mother’s hand. If the universe had not been made with the most exacting precision we could have never come into existence. It is my view that these circumstances indicate the universe was created for man to live in.

Should we be surprised that man, who was created in the image of God, now appears to be a pampered creature of the cosmos? Are we surprised that countless laws of astronomy and physics have the appearance of being engineered for our wellbeing? As scientists advance in the fields of astronomy and physics, we gain a better glimpse of the omnipotent benevolence of our God.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1). 

Just as our outward exploration of the universe has led many scientists to faith, so too has the inward exploration of the microscopic realm of our existence. In fact, recent breakthroughs in cellular science have given rise to the Intelligent Design movement, which teaches that the complexity of even the simplest of cells could not have possibly been produced by chance.

For example, the mapping of the human genome has been hailed as one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in the history of the world. Dr. Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project, was once an atheist. His journey into the amazing complexities of life — even at the smallest scale — brought him to embrace faith in God. "God is the author of all truth," Collins has concluded. "You can find Him in the laboratory as well as in the cathedral. He’s the God of the Bible; He’s the God of the genome. He did it all." The Christian has no need to fear science. In fact, we should grow to love science, because it leaves us in awe of the brilliance and power of our Creator!

In the beginning, God brought forth all of creation by the power of his word alone. Today, God's Word continues to have the power to forge new beginnings. In Christ (the Word made flesh), we have become "new creations" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus is our awesome, almighty God!

Part IV - The Omniscience of God

God is Omniscient: A God Who Knows Everything

Another important attribute of God is His omniscience, meaning that He knows all things. Arthur W. Pink, in his classic The Attributes of God, wrote about God’s omniscience, explaining:

God is omniscient. He knows everything: everything possible, everything actual; all events and all creatures, of the past, the present, and the future. He is perfectly acquainted with every detail in the life of every being in heaven, in earth, and in hell….  Nothing escapes His notice, nothing can be hidden from Him, nothing is forgotten by Him…. His knowledge is perfect. He never errs, never changes, never overlooks anything.

As is the case with all of God’s attributes, we cannot comprehend a God who knows all things. We cannot fathom a God who listens to millions of prayers just as easily as He tends to one. The same God who promises to keep a running inventory of the hairs atop each person’s head does not even allow an insignificant sparrow to fall to the ground apart from his will (Luke 12:6-7).

His omniscience is beyond us. As the Psalmist declared, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it” (Psalm 139:6). 

God not only sees your deeds and hears your words; He knows your thoughts. None of your deeds are kept in secret. This attribute of omniscience typically evokes strong emotions in people. Depending upon the condition of each person’s heart, the omniscience of God may either a source of great fear or a source of great comfort.

If you are attempting to hide your sins from God, you may be haunted by the promise that “your sin will find you out” (Num 32:23). Perhaps you are fearful, because “the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Prov 15:3). 

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Heb 4:13).

On the other hand, you may be comforted by the knowledge that God cannot be surprised by your circumstances. Like King David, you may rejoice in the knowledge that “all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). You can rest in the knowledge that God knows your future, and He has promised that you need not fear. You can have peace when your heart condemns you, because Scripture says, “God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything” (1 John 3:20).

You will not find a more steadfast friend than the Lord. He has seen your most vicious deeds; He has heard your most vile slander; He has felt the arrows of your angry thoughts; and still the Lord maintains His affections for you. You repeatedly stumble, but He will not tire of lifting you up.

For I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jer 29:11).

Part III - The Eternal God

God is Eternal: A God Beyond Limits

God has no beginning, and He will have no end. In other words, our God is eternal. The Scriptures declare that “His dominion is an eternal dominion” (Dan 4:34). God is eternal, meaning that He existed prior to everything else.

Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God (Psalm 90:2).

Man is so cherished by God that, even in eternity past, God’s affections were fixed upon him. The Bible tells us that God “chose us… before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4). God is eternal, and so is His love for man. The Psalmist marveled at this fountain of eternal love:

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him (Psalm 103:15-17).

God has designed man to live and love Him forever. The Bible tells us that God has “set eternity in the hearts of men” (Eccles 3:11). Thus, our minds cannot imagine all of existence being swallowed up by nothingness. We are going to live forever; it is simply a matter of where.

In modern debates over the origins of the universe, there are three possible conclusions: (1) God must be eternal, (2) matter must be eternal, or (3) everything must have emerged from nothing. The third option can be dismissed. It would be utter absurdity to claim that nothing overcame nothingness, fashioned its own dimension in which to exist, and then evolved from nothing into everything. The basic laws of physics and common sense absolutely forbid such a conclusion. This leaves us with two possible options. Either an eternal God created all matter, or — as the skeptic would say — eternal matter evolved and “created” god. Both cannot be true.

If we conclude that matter is eternal, then we are left with no explanation for the existence of order, scientific laws, and the properties demonstrated by the material universe. Proponents of eternal matter must assume that any such laws blindly evolved without any design or guidance. This notion of eternal matter ignores one of the most basic laws of physics — the second law of thermodynamics. Simply put, this law explains that all matter exists in a constant state of decay. Dr. Isaac Asimov, professor of biochemistry at Boston University, rightly explained:

Another way of stating the second law then is: “The universe is constantly getting more disorderly!” … How difficult to maintain houses, and machinery, and our bodies in perfect working order: how easy to let them deteriorate. In fact, all we have to do is nothing, and everything deteriorates, collapses, breaks down, wears out, all by itself — and that is what the second law is all about.” 

If matter is eternal then it would have undergone an infinite degree of decay. There would be no remaining order, and the entire universe would have fallen into total disarray and utter ruins.

As astrophysicists learn more about our universe, a majority of scientists have become convinced that the universe had a beginning. Most scientists accept the theory that the universe began with a single event that hurled the galaxy outward in various directions. Upon studying the movement of the stars, scientists claim that they are expanding outwardly from a central point of origin. Therefore, if one were to rewind the progress of the universe’s outward expansion, it would eventually be condensed to a point of singular origin. In other words, it would have a beginning!

Dr. Janna Levin, professor of Physics and Astronomy at Columbia University, captured the prevailing sentiments of the scientific community when she stated very simply, “The universe had a beginning. There was once nothing and now there is something.”

If matter is not eternal, then it seems that we are left with only one plausible explanation. There must have been an intelligent Being who existed before all matter was created. It was this all-powerful Being who brought all matter into existence with precise design and everlasting purpose. Mankind will exist forever, yet our God existed even before existence! This is the God presented to us in the Scriptures. This is our “King eternal”!

Part II - The Omnipresence of God

Omnipresent: A God Too Big for Human Minds

The omnipresent God of Scripture is bigger than our minds are capable of understanding. By omnipresent, we mean that the Lord is present everywhere.

His omnipresence could be seen as a frightening thing. There is never a moment of privacy, in which we may hide our actions from the Lord. He is everywhere. The Psalmist asked:

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me (Psalm 139:7-10).

Yet to say that God is omnipresent still falls short of defining the scope of His presence. The Lord’s presence fills the entirety of creation, yet He is not bound by the limits of His own creation. He is the infinite God of our finite universe. The brilliant Saint Augustine once wrote,

Since, then, thou dost fill the heaven and earth, do they contain thee? Or, dost thou fill and overflow them, because they cannot contain thee? And where dost thou pour out what remains of thee after heaven and earth are full? For the vessels which thou dost fill do not confine thee.

The infinite God fills and overflows his own finite creation.  Take a moment and absorb this truth. If we are honest, our minds can neither understand the concept of a finite universe, nor can we imagine an infinite God. Yet Scripture declares that both are true. If a divine messenger brought us to the edge of the created universe, our minds would immediately demand to know what lies beyond the its boundaries. We cannot fathom a point of non-existence. On the other hand, if the same messenger brought us before the infinite God of the universe, our finite minds could not possibly understand a God without limits. Our minds could not chase down the boundaries of an infinite Being.

It is quite humbling to realize that human minds can neither understand the finite nor the infinite.

The scope of our universe — with its incomprehensible stars and its expansive galaxies — pales in comparison to the infinite nature of our God. The size of God is mind-boggling! Heaven and earth cannot confine Him; He fills and overflows them. The prophet Isaiah tells us that God has marked off the boundaries of the heavens with only the breadth of His hand (Isa 40:12).

Stop and think about this for a moment. Earlier, we examined the enormity of our own sun. In the scope of our galaxy and our universe, the sun is but a speck of dust.

Our sun is one of at least 200 billion stars in our galaxy, and NASA scientists estimate that there are 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Andromeda, which is the galaxy closest to our Milky Way galaxy, is 200 million light years away. One light year (the distance that light travels in one year) reaches 5.8 trillion miles long. This means that the closest of the 100 billion galaxies is 1.17 sextillion miles away. On paper this number would read: 1,173,139,200,000,000,000,000 miles away, and this is the closest of billions of galaxies — all measured in the span of God’s hand!

The children’s song, “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” is the epitome of understatement.

The study of astronomy forces mankind to contend with the truth that man is very small, and our Creator is unfathomably big. It is this magnificence of God that led the Psalmist to marvel:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4).

Perhaps even more amazing than the inexhaustible size of God is the fact that He “made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil 2:7). The uncontainable God became a microscopic human embryo in the womb of a virgin — for you!

Part I - The Majesty of God

Charles H. Spurgeon once said: “The proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father…. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity…. No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.”

Unfortunately, the modern church has failed to properly study or revere the majesty of God. Instead we have tended to imagine a god made in our image. The late biblical scholar Arthur W. Pink once wrote, “The ‘god’ of this twentieth century no more resembles the Supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than does the dim flickering of a candle in the glory of the mid-day sun.”

However, if we truly seek to develop a biblical worldview, there is no greater task than gaining a true understanding and reverence for the Lord God Almighty, whom we worship. He is our ultimate prize!

Attempting to Comprehend the Incomprehensible

Take a moment and quickly consider the reasons why you are most excited about heaven. What reasons were first to come into your mind? Are you most excited about the glorious bliss? Uninterrupted joy? Freedom from sin? A total absence of fear? Being reunited with lost loved ones? Perfected health? A life free of pain? No more death? No tears? No mourning? No sadness? Utter beauty? Golden streets? Perfected fellowship within the church?

These blessings reserved for us in heaven are absolutely priceless. Yet all these blessings pale in comparison to our ultimate prize. The greatest prize of heaven is not a gift from God, but God himself! In heaven, our most precious and satisfying inheritance will be an everlasting and intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the other collateral blessings of heaven are merely evidences of His immeasurable love, which will be poured out upon us in an everlasting relationship of mutual adoration.

Why are you interested in Jesus? In the Gospels, we see the heartbreaking reality that many of the Jews were only interested in Jesus, because of what Jesus could do for them. The crowds only wanted bread, water, healing, wisdom, comfort, and glory, but they refused to embrace the Bread of Life, the living water, the great Physician, the Comforter, and the King of Glory. Take a spiritual inventory, and ask yourself: "In my walk with the Lord, am I more interested in the Giver or his gifts?"

Unfortunately, we often fail to understand the stunning love of Jesus, because we forget that Jesus is far more than a man. He is fully God! Our God took on flesh to demonstrate His faithfulness and love to a bride who refused to return His affections. When we consider Jesus as only a man, it is far easier for us to understand his gospel pursuit. But if we are to truly treasure the gospel, we need to ask the same question asked by David: “Who is this king of glory?”

If someone asked you to describe the sun, how would you do so? Of course, you could say that the sun is the center of our solar system. Its gravitational pull holds the planets and moons in their orbits. Its circumference measures roughly 2.7 million miles. The sun has a mass of 1,989,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons — making it 330,000 times greater than the mass of earth. It is a massive ball of furiously burning plasma and gases.

Though the earth is ninety-three million miles away, the sun’s rays remain our chief source of light, heat, and energy. Without it, all life on earth would cease to exist. While the sun is good for us, we cannot get too close. Its surface temperature reaches upwards of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which pales in comparison to its core temperature of over 27 milliondegrees!

Scientists have estimated that the sun produces enough energy in one second to power the modern world’s energy needs for 500,000 years. Consider the force of the devastating atomic bomb explosion over Hiroshima during World War II. In a split second, the sun’s energy production would equate to 67 trillion atomic bomb explosions. No matter how precisely scientists may define the sun’s attributes, our imaginations cannot possibly grasp its magnitude and intensity. We cannot even gaze at the sun with the naked eye, because its brilliance would leave us blinded. And we could certainly never approach or touch the sun, or we would be consumed by its ferocious heat. The sun is simply awesome!

Ponder this… If the glorious nature of our sun leaves man dumbfounded, then just imagine the glory of the One who created our sun merely by the power of His Word. Despite its incredible power, our sun is merely an average star (i.e., a C-student) in the Milky Way galaxy, which holds at least 200 billion other stars. NASA scientists also estimate that there are 100 billion additional galaxies scattered throughout our massive universe — each of which likely holds more than one-hundred billion stars. The truth of the stars communicates two things: (1) man is inconceivably weak and small, and (2) our God is unfathomably powerful and huge.

The scope of our universe — with its incomprehensible stars and its expansive galaxies — pales in comparison to the infinite nature of our God. The size of God is mind-boggling! The God who created all things out of nothing (i.e., ex nihilo) cannot be confined by heaven and earth. In the words of Saint Augustine, “He fills and overflows them.” The prophet Isaiah tells us that our God has marked off the boundaries of the universe with only the breadth of His hand (Isa 40:12).

Just how big is our universe? Andromeda, which is the closest of 100 billion galaxies, is estimated to be 200 million light years away. One light year is the distance that light travels in one year — traveling at 186,000 miles per second. On paper this distance would read: 1,173,139,200,000,000,000,000 miles away. This is the closest of billions of galaxies — all measured in the span of God’s hand! The omnipresent God of Scripture is bigger than our minds are capable of understanding. This gives new force to David’s question: "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:3-4).

Even more amazing than the inexhaustible size of God is the fact that this God “made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil 2:7). The uncontainable God became a microscopic human embryo in the womb of a virgin — for you! Our God cloaked himself in the frailty of human flesh and walked through the towns of Galilee. The Creator of the stars willingly suffered the Cross to quench the wrath of the Father for your countless acts of rebellion and to clothe you in his own perfect righteousness. He came freely offering himself to broken people, but they only wanted his stuff. They foolishly “worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). And he loved them anyway. This, my friends, is AMAZING grace!

This same God — infinitely more powerful and glorious than the noonday sun — promises to pour His infinite love into your soul for all eternity. Heaven is only heaven, because He is there. In the words of Martin Luther, “I had rather be in hell with Christ, than be in heaven without Him.” Thankfully, we need not make this choice! Embrace Christ, and heaven is thrown in free!

The Two Advents of Christ - Part III

Elijah & Elisha

We also find baptismal types in the stories of Elijah and Elisha. Alongside Moses and Joshua, they were the only men to supernaturally part bodies of water. It is no accident that Elijah is compared to both Moses and John the Baptist — figures associated with a “first baptism.” Both Elijah and Moses participated in God’s triumph over pagan gods; both fasted for forty days; both spoke to God at Horeb; both were rejected by their people; both were fed supernaturally; both appeared at the Transfiguration; and both parted waters. Likewise, Jesus referred to John as “the Elijah who was to come” (Matt. 11:14).

After becoming disheartened, Elijah fled to Mount Horeb and cried out to the Lord. The Israelites had broken their covenant with Yahweh, destroyed his altars, and killed his prophets. Elijah mistakenly assumed that he was the only remaining faithful prophet. In response to Elijah’s cries, God instructed Elijah to anoint Hazael as king of Aram, Jehu as king of Israel, and Elisha to be his successor. These men were given one mission — to bring judgment upon Israel (1 Kgs 19:17).

Though God commanded Elijah to anoint Hazael and Jehu, Elijah left the matters of judgment to his successor. After anointing Elisha, Elijah parted the waters of the Jordan (i.e. first baptism) and ascended into heaven. Immediately afterward, Elisha returned to the banks of the Jordan, struck the waters with Elijah’s mantle, and crossed the Jordan again (i.e. second baptism). It is instructive to note that the forerunner ministries of Moses, Elijah, and John[1] concluded outside of the land, while the ministries of Joshua (Jos. 3:7), Elisha (2 Kgs. 2:14-15), and Jesus (Jn. 1:28) were launched on the eastern banks of the Jordan as they came into the land.

Elisha’s “second baptism” marked a clear transition. While Elijah sought to turn the hearts of Israel to God, Elisha brought judgment upon those who spurned Elijah’s message. After receiving Elisha’s anointing, Jehu killed Joram (2 Kgs. 9:24), Jezebel (2 Kgs. 9:33), Ahab’s relatives (2 Kgs. 10:17), and the prophets of Baal (2 Kgs. 10:25). With Elisha’s anointing, King Hazael “overpowered the Israelites” to “reduce the size of Israel” (2 Kgs. 10:32). Yet even as God judged Israel, he preserved a faithful remnant (1 Kgs. 19:18).

Baptism and Ultimate Rest

From the beginning, man has labored toward an elusive prize. Man was created and charged to transform this world into a garden — bringing shalom and finding rest from his labors. In his book Living in God’s Two Kingdoms, David VanDrunen argued that Adam’s goal was to “enter into a royal rest.”[2] Adam failed. After the Flood, the world began anew with Noah. Though his name means “rest,” Noah failed. Joshua was charged to bring “rest” to Israel (Jos. 1:13), but this rest did not endure (Heb. 4:8). As Jehu brought judgment upon Israel, the wicked repeatedly asked, “Is it peace?” Jehu responded, “How can there be peace as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft…abound?” (2 Kgs. 9:22). Apart from Christ, our pursuit of lasting shalom in a fallen world is futile. The author of Hebrews declared, “If Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God” (Heb. 4:8-9). However, only those who “remain faithful to Jesus… will rest from their labor” (Rev. 14:13).

When Jesus spoke about his crucifixion, he invoked sacramental language. He spoke of another baptism and a cup of suffering (Mk. 10:38). On the night of his betrayal, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper — sharing the cup of his blood “for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). Then he went to Gethsemane and prayed that God would take the cup of wrath from him (Matt. 26:39-44). When Christ returns, all who reject his cup will drink “the wine of God’s fury” from “the cup of his wrath.” Those who reject Christ’s baptism will be baptized and tormented with “burning sulfur.” They will find “no rest day or night” for eternity (Rev. 14:10-12).

Rest is clearly a major aim of eschatology. In Christ, we have access to this rest already, but our rest is not yet perfected until he returns. The book of Hebrews claims that our rest is patterned after God’s Sabbath rest. Interestingly, God’s work in creation also featured a two-stage pattern.[3]

In the first stage (days 1-3), God’s Word triumphed over darkness and waters — overcoming the barriers to life. On the third day, God brought forth the dry land — providing a sanctuary for life and securing Adam’s substance, the dust. This “first baptism” laid the groundwork for Adam’s creation, but the consummation remained for stage two. The first advent of Christ was similar to this first stage of creation. Jesus, the Word of God, has triumphed over the impediments to life — sin and death. He became our sanctuary for life and brought forth the substance (i.e. his blood) by which we are made new. Nevertheless, the consummation remains.

During the second stage (days 4-6), the Lord divided all creatures into their proper abodes, and he raised man from the dust. He then created a paradisiacal garden, transported the man into Eden, and dwelled with him. At the end of the second stage of creation, God performed an act reminiscent of Jesus’ “second baptism.” He put an innocent man into a deep sleep, wounded him, and fashioned a bride from his blood and substance. At the culmination of this second stage, God presided over a wedding between the raised sinless man and the bride who was fashioned from his wounds.

Once these two baptismal pictures were complete, God rested.

Once our two baptisms are complete, the church will find everlasting rest in the Lord.

---

[1] According to Josephus’ Antiquities (18.119), John was beheaded at Herod’s fortress at Machaerus, east of the Dead Sea.

[2] David VanDrunen, Living in God’s Two Kingdoms, (London: Crossway, 2010), 41.

[3] Peter J. Leithart, A House for My Name, (Moscow, Idaho: Canon Press, 2000), 44-45.

The Two Advents of Christ - Part II

Christ also underwent two baptisms. In the Jordan, Jesus became the first person to experience a baptism of both water and Spirit (Jn. 1:33). This baptism “revealed” him to Israel and launched his public ministry (Jn. 1:31-32). His second baptism occurred at the crucifixion (Mk. 10:38). While Jesus did not suffer actual flames, he became the substance behind the atoning sacrifices “made to the Lord by fire” (Lev. 23:27). His first baptism was necessary to “fulfill all righteousness” (Mt. 3:15), while his second baptism was necessary to impute this righteousness to us (2 Cor. 5:21).

When Jesus presented the eschatological sequence of his ministry, he explained that his second baptism must precede the fiery judgment. Jesus told the crowds: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division” (Lk. 12:49-51). Jesus longed to gather the righteous and to judge the wicked, but his second baptism was necessary to justify the righteous. His people could never survive the fires of their second baptism, unless he first underwent the torment of his second baptism.

Our first baptism signifies our participation in his second baptism — namely his death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:4). Before his ascension, Jesus sent his church “to the ends of the earth” to baptize the nations in preparation for the judgment (Acts 1:8).

This deferred judgment reveals God’s mercy. As Michael Horton points out:  

If the last judgment had occurred immediately in Christ’s earthly ministry, there would have been no space in history for the proclamation of the gospel to the ends of the earth. There would have been no ingathering of the remnant from the nations…No repentance, no faith, no ‘day of salvation,’ but a sudden judgment that would have led to the condemnation of Jews and Gentiles together in one heap.[1]

Creation and Flood

In an inspired defense of two-advent eschatology, Peter appealed to creation and the Flood. He warned that scoffers would come in the last days asking, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?” Peter responded, “They deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire” (2 Pet. 3:4-7). In his earlier epistle, Peter explained that “this water symbolizes baptism” (1 Pet. 3:21). Peter employed these two baptismal types to support the two advents of Christ.

The creation and the Flood are pictures of baptism. When Jesus emerged from the waters, the heavens (i.e., the waters above) were parted; the Holy Spirit descended as a dove; and God declared his pleasure over his Son (Matt. 3:16-17).

In the first three days of creation, the world was submerged beneath lifeless waters. The Spirit hovered above the waters; God separated the waters; dry land emerged as a sanctuary for life; and the Lord declared his new creation to be “good” (Gen. 1:1-13).

Likewise, in the Flood narrative, God judged the world, and it was once again submerged beneath the waters. However, one righteous man found favor with God, and Noah was commanded to build the Ark as a sanctuary through the judgment. When God parted the waters, the dove descended to Noah, heralding a new beginning for mankind.

These two baptismal types complimented each other. The first baptism was inaugural, while the second baptism judged the wicked and ushered in a new beginning for mankind. Once this circuit was completed, God promised never to flood the world with water again (Gen. 9:11).

Moses & Joshua

The next set of paired baptismal types comes with Moses and Joshua. When the Lord appeared to Moses from the burning bush on Mount Sinai, he announced a two-stage plan.

I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land… (Exod. 3:8).

God accomplished the first stage of his promise by delivering Moses and the Israelites through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Like creation, a light shone in darkness; wind (רוּחַ) came upon the waters; the waters parted; and there was a new beginning for Israel (Exod. 14:19-22). In this crossing, the Apostle Paul claims that the Israelites were “baptized into Moses” (Exod. 2:10). Michael Horton explains that this baptism “prefigures the union of believers with Christ.”[2] However, unlike Christ, Moses was unable to lead them into the Promised Land.

Joshua then led the Israelites through the parted waters of the Jordan — accomplishing a second baptism. God’s people were transformed from sojourners to residents in the Promised Land, and Joshua’s subsequent campaign foreshadowed the Second Advent. Joshua was a conquering warrior. His victory over Jericho anticipates the Lord’s victory over Babylon.[3]

Even the temperaments of Moses and Joshua are instructive for the two advents. Moses was a humble servant (Num. 12:3) who abandoned royalty and delivered his people (Heb. 11:24). He struggled with betrayal, rebellion and rejection (Num. 26:9). On the other hand, Joshua led as a conquering warrior who would not suffer dissension. He made the kings of earth into his footstool (Jos. 10:24). Both of these extremes are captured in Christ’s first and second comings. As Michael Horton wrote, “[Jesus] came first in humility and grace, but will return in glory and power.”[4]  

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[1] Michael Horton, “Risen Indeed,” White Horse Inn Blog, http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2011/04/23/risen-indeed-3/  (accessed April 27, 2012).

[2] Horton, The Christian Faith, 790.

[3] Warren A. Gage, Theological Poetics: Typology, Symbol and the Christ, (Fort Lauderdale: St. Andrews House, 2010), 36-37.

[4] Horton, The Christian Faith, 919.