Pilgrim Heart

Trinitarian Patterns in Scripture 6

"Peter, and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you." (1 Peter 1:1-2)

Here's another quite obvious trinitarian reference, but I was struck by the activity of the united Godhead in this opening blessing from Peter: it is to do with the readers' (and of course) our election.

Peter says we are elect exiles - that it our calling as God's elect, to live as exiles in this world because we belong to another. We have come to be the elect people of God because the Father foreknew us - and that means so much more that just he knew ahead of time: it means that in his great purpose for all creation he has deliberately planned for and chosen us!

We are also elect in the sanctification of the Spirit - we are brought into a process by and of the Spirit by which he is transforming us to be just like Jesus. There is something bigger here to. The Spirit has always been about sanctifying God's creation - even when all creation was "good" it was still immature and therefore in need of transformation. After the fall there was need also for the purging of sin and its effects from creation. Mankind posed such opposition to this work of the Spirit that God said, "My Spirit shall not contend with man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." And a little later, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the earth." (Gen 7:3,7). God's solution was to create a new heavens and a new earth (see 2 Peter 3) through the flood and to repopulate the world through Noah and his family.

The Spirit of God continues to work throughout history not just in sanctifying individuals but in transforming creation so the the glory of the Lord may be seen. It is into this ongoing work of the Spirit that we have been elected: the transformation and glorification of the world through the coming of the Kingdom of God.

Finally we find the why of our election it is "for obedience to Jesus Christ". It is to bring us under his rule and to form a people who will express the Kingdom of God in every aspect of life.

"May grace and peace be multiplied to you." Amen!

Who Do You Say That I Am?

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. [Matt 16:13-20]

"Who do you say I am?" is the most important question we can ever be asked. Confession releases salvation (Romans 10:10) so who we confess Jesus to be makes a profound difference in our lives. Here are some great confessions:

• Confess Jesus is Lord, and so be saved (Romans 10:9)
• Confess Jesus is the Son of God, and so abide in the Father (1 John 4:15)
• Confess Jesus is the Lamb of God, and so overcome (Revelation 11:2)
• Confess Jesus is risen, and so be free from the grip of sin (Revelation 6:5-14)
• Confess Jesus is the Healer, and so live in health (Acts 4:9-10)
• Confess Jesus is enthroned, and so live with authority (Hebrews 2:6
• Confess Jesus is coming again, and so put your life in context and live in hope (Revelation 1:7)

Trinitarian Patterns in Scripture 5

Through him [Jesus] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:18

Paul is talking about the gospel being to the Gentiles and the Jews (hence "both"). What we find here again is the synergy of the persons of the Godhead and their inseparability when it comes to the life of believers: we come to the Father through the Son and in the Spirit.

"Through Jesus" and "in the Spirit" are phrases that occur again and again in the NT particularly in the context of worship. For example we worship "in Spirit and in truth" (John 4:24) and "through him [Jesus] let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God" (Hebrews 13:15).

Our only access to the Father is through Jesus and in the Spirit. Praise God that the way that is open through Jesus will never be closed to us (Hebrews 9:8, 10:20) and so long as the Spirit of God dwells in you, you will be in the Spirit (Romans 8:9) - so our way to the Father can never be blocked!

Trinitarian Patterns in Scripture 1

I am sure that most Christians will agree that God is revealed to us through his Word. Whilst I have no time for bible codes, sometimes there are deeper layers to the revelation of Scripture, for example the significance of different numbers or the various forms of parallelism in the OT.

One of these slightly "under the surface" aspects of Scripture seems to me to be the trinitarian nature of some passages. Paul is the most obvious in this way with scriptures such as:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

Here we see the unity of the work of the Spirit, Lord (Son) and God (Father). This emphasis in the unity of work and purpose of Father, Son and Spirit are of great importance to us today when many Christians seem to have 3 Gods rather than one, where as the Bible says:

"Here O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One!" (Deut 6:4)

I plan several short posts showing some of these trinitarian passages and what they reveal about the oneness of our wonderful God!

How Would Jesus Vote?

Thinking about the previous post, and my results and those of others, got me thinking to where Jesus would have scored on that graph? On the left-right axis we know that it is a sign of God's covenantal blessing that we have the ability to create wealth Deut 8:18 yet he also repeatedly commands us to make provision for the poor (see Lev 25:35 among many others).

As to the authoritiarn-libertarian axis, Jesus has all authority Matt 28:18 and yet uses it to bring people to complete liberty John 8:36. So would Jesus be right in the middle of the chart, in fact at the cross point?

I don't know, neither do I read too much significance into the fact that I find myself roughly opposite to the governments of today see this chart!

Tomorrow I shall not be posting on politics! 

A Saturated Anointing

When Aaron was anointed as High Priest there was an extravagance in the anointing: the anointing oil (mixed with spices and perfumes) ran from his head onto his beard and even on to his collar (so much for the little dab of olive oil we often use for praying for the sick today!). The psalmist eulogised:

It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! (Psalm 133:2)

Such was the glory of a priesthood that was destined to pass away. When Jesus came there was also an anointing in his clothes:

And wherever [Jesus] came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well. (Mark 6:56)

What only reached to Aaron’s collar reached right to the edges of Jesus’ clothes! Here was an anointing that saturated all that it came in contact with; he had the Spirit without measure (see John 3:34, compare Aaron who received “some” of the anointing oil, Leviticus 8:12). This is because Jesus belongs to a different priesthood:

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:19-20)

Whilst High Priests of the order of Aaron received a measure of anointing with a measure of outward manifestation, so Jesus, the High Priest of the order of Melchizedek, received a limitless, saturating anointing, with limitless effectiveness for “as many as touch it…”

Looking for Jesus

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. (Luke 24:1-6)

And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Acts 1:10-11)

It seems that after his resurrection the disciples were always looking for Jesus in the wrong place! The angelic messangers were sent to get them to look for Jesus in the right way: not in the tomb, not even in heaven, but coming again: the focus of the disciples was always to be on his return. When John is shown the wonderful Revelation of Jesus, he prepares us for all we are to read with these words...

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. (Rev 1:7)

A continual looking forward to the return of Jesus Christ consumed the hearts of the early disciples and framed their lives: so even as many of us have been celebrating Easter and the resurrection, we should remember that we have a still more important focus: Jesus is coming again!

Jesus' Baptism

I have just read a few things about the baptism of Jesus, and I was struck by how little I had ever delved into the meaning and purpose of it! Some of the stuff I read was certainly a little whacky (the joys of the internet!) but some made me think.

Hebrews 6:2 tells us that "instruction about baptisms" is a foundation of our faith. Most of us assume that this refers simply to the believers baptism in water and the Holy Spirit. But in the NT we also find baptism in fire, baptism into Christ's body, John's baptism and Jesus' baptism which was "to fulfil all righteousness".

So, for any brave would-be theologians out there, what do you think Jesus' baptism was all about?