Another Wedding Sermon

Samuel & Danielle’s Wedding

Passage: Genesis 1:27, 2:18, 23

Good morning, shall we pray:

Well, it is an honour to be here. I am very privileged to be invited by Sam and Danielle to speak at their wedding day. My wife, Chene and I only wish we had a bit more time to spend together.

Sam and I didn’t use to be very close although we grew up in this very church. I guess where we really began to know one another a bit better was back in 2005, when I had organized a little Bible study on Genesis 1-3. I didn’t actually know if anyone would turn up at all, but Samuel did. That’s the reason we decided on these verses that we just read.

Let me read you a bit of his own testimony from 3 years ago:

“The study of Genesis 1-3 changed my perception of God. I saw that God was a personal God through His Son Jesus Christ, who is the light that was there from the beginning, who shone into a world of darkness.”

That changed life is the reason Sam is standing here with Danielle now. So what was it Sam saw, that changed his life? Well let’s take a look at Genesis 1:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27, KJV).

We, the human race, were made in the image of God, and after we were made, He said that it was good. What does that mean, what are we supposed to be like? Well one of the things you’d notice straight away, is that He created mankind both male and female. You see the God of the Bible, the Creator God is not some solitary Person. Otherwise all He’d have made is one other person when He made the earth. No the God of the Bible tells us that He is Three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit that have had a fantastically loving relationship with one another since eternity. And so it is not surprising that when this community-based God creates humanity in His image, He creates a race that is completely based on being in relationships with one another – and that is destined to multiply and to grow those relationships - to fill the earth with His goodness.

We see that idea again, in the next chapter Genesis 2, where after God came down to form the first man Adam out of the very dust of the earth, He takes a look at what He has made, then says this about him:

... "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." (Genesis 2:18, ESV)

There was something not quite right when Adam was made – no, he wasn’t made with any flaws - he didn’t have anything wrong with his body, or his mind, or his soul. No what was wrong was not what was inside him, what was wrong was that he was lacking a helper – a companion who would be completely suitable for him, much like a key to a lock – she would fit him perfectly. She would quite literally turn him on – it’s no wonder when God makes the first woman, Eve from Adam’s own body – he says to her – Wow!

“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." (Genesis 2:23, ESV)

This is awesome – Woman! Then and only then after putting Adam and Eve together, the Lord God said – it was very good!

That is what it means to be made in the image of the Living God, where the Father and the Son love one another so completely so wonderfully, through the Holy Spirit.  We were made to be in this kind of relationships – and not only in these relationships with one another, but in the same kind of engaging, compatible, forever relationship with God – through His Son Jesus Christ. Isn’t that a wonderful plan for humanity?

Yet Adam and Eve, well they didn’t believe that. They didn’t trust Him, that He already loved them, and wanted to be in relationship with them. They thought that they needed to prove how good they were as human beings - to prove that they were smarter than one another, or stronger, or richer, or more beautiful or even more religious - to even prove to God Himself that they were worth His time and effort. They did not believe that they would only find out who they were meant to be when they became the helpers, the servants and the lovers of God and of each other.

Sam has had a taste of that in his own life. Again this is from his testimony:

In 2005, I was asked to lead in my church’s youth camp. I took the plunge to discover to my horror that all these years, I thought I had led a pretty good Christian life, I went to church, I prayed, I gave tithes, I sang praise songs, I lived in a church, even taught in a Sunday school class and did all the things a “good” Christian should do... I asked myself, how much can I keep on going living a lie.

Sam, like many of us thought, that what He needed to do was to prove to God and others that he was a good person. Yet, as he found out through that one week of Genesis studies: “I realise my gauge of goodness as a Christian was a pathetic picture of my pride and sinfulness...“

He was trying so hard to fit into what he thought he should do. After all he is a pastor’s son! Yet he didn’t realise that all he should ‘do’, is let Jesus love him, and when he realised that: “This was when I embraced Jesus as someone whom I could have a relationship with, who understood our every need, weakness and temptation.” Sam finally understood that the very reason he was made in God’s image was that he was made to be loved and to love – and that would make him very good indeed.

Danielle felt that in her own life too – as she was sharing with me. She had a difficult time growing up, she felt that to be accepted among her peers, she had to depend on her appearance, as we all can see - she’s very pretty. She thought that people would only love her if she looked good. And so she had some pretty bad experiences, some of which were her fault, and a number was the fault of others – I can’t give you any details here, but I’m sure if you asked her – she might tell you. But in her own words she said, “I ended up being disillusioned in my appearance – I felt my body just became a tool” – she felt she was not being loved, but being used. That’s what sin does to us all, as we reject God’s love, we no longer feel loved. As much as we try to prove ourselves, we end up feeling like tools, to be used by others.

But thank God, she met some Christian friends at a camp, who began to love her a little bit, and she felt accepted and wanted to meet personally with the God who enabled them to love. She joined the OM ships - that’s where she met Sam – because she was that desperate to meet with this God Who was spreading out, multiplying this goodness, through His beloved people.

That is where our handsome bridegroom, Sam, stepped into her life. They met as they were doing Bible study together on board the ship, and after about 8 or 9 months as friends. Sam, being the techie he is, sent her an email with 2 questions:

“Do you love Jesus above all else & do you want to make our journey official?” Now if that seems a bit strange, perhaps what was stranger – is that Danielle didn’t sleep for 2 weeks after she read that – not because of Sam’s proposal – but because of the first part of that question. “Do you love Jesus above all else?”

Their relationship got off to a rough start, Danielle told him that she was a mess as a person, and she was independent and never wanted to get married – but deep down it was because she was so afraid of being used again, she thought it would be better to be left alone.

Sam initially tried to fix Danielle, to make things right with suggestions on what to do. But after a while he stopped – nothing was working. And he remembered, what really needed to change was the knowledge that Jesus loved her. So instead of fixing her himself, he starting waiting patiently, and praying for her – that Jesus would show His love to her. Danielle responded, “I put him down time and time again, but he didn’t leave, he was so patient, so nice, just encouraging and praying”. Then she thought, if Sam is like this, then what must Jesus be like?

Sam by doing that you have shown to all of us - God’s answer to our rejection of His loving relationship. That is the good news of the Christian faith. God so loved the world – his children – that He sent His Son Jesus, to come along-side us – to be that helper-companion that we always needed. To wait lovingly with open arms, to a people who would put Him down and reject Him time and time again – to people who would even kill Him. Danielle – we thank you that you didn’t end up killing Sam.

The answer to sin, to rejection of love – is the offer of love given in marriage, by the great bridegroom of the universe – Jesus Christ. Jesus came and to a bruised and broken world in darkness, shone like a brilliant warm light, just like He did way back in the beginning, in Genesis 1 – and said to us – will you marry me?

Sam finally proposed when they left the ship – why he waited till then is because you’re not really allowed to marry when you are serving on that ship, it’s a special rule they have. But the minute they got off onto terra firma – in a secret plot with her sister – he brought Danielle to her favourite childhood place in Northern Ireland, Rathlin Island – and proposed, this time not by email, but face-to-face. And in response, that was the first time Danielle said “I love you”. And they told me that day – there was a ray of sunshine, and 6 rainbows.

What a story eh? And it’s true, and it’s even more true than you think. Why? Because that is the story of reality itself. As we know from every love story ever told – we want to be loved – that is what we were made for – to be loved. And so often, we waste our lives trying to prove both to God and to others that they should love us because we are smart, or hardworking, or we vote for PAP, or we are rich or beautiful. And where does that bring us? Nowhere – people only end up liking us because of those things, not because of who we are. The only One who can love us for who we really are is the One who made us and the one who died for us – Jesus. Once Sam knew Jesus loved him, He could spread that goodness to love Danielle. The only reason you and I exist is to be loved by Him – that is why He made us in His image.

Sam and Danielle, as I finish, this is the calling for your marriage. I know both of you are in media, they take photos and make movies, but this time you are the media. You are now a picture, an image, a movie to be watched by a world of cynical critics! People will look at you to find out the meaning of their lives. But you need to watch out, the same sin that turned you away from God in the beginning, will still be at work in your marriage. Sam that sin will make you want to overpower Danielle, I know she has a little height advantage, but you will want to clench your fist at her and make her listen to you to prove your worth. And Danielle, when you want him to listen to you will try by your looks or emotions to seduce Sam, to force him to do things that you want. To say, I’m worth your love. But the minute you do that – that emptiness, that feeling of being used – will set in again, it will eat away what you’ve worked so hard to build today. Don’t let it. Love one another, serve one another, submit to one another – be each other’s helper-companion – just as Jesus is loving, serving and leading you.

And as you love one another, you will do what God commanded us to do in the first place – to multiply – to fill the whole earth. Yes, one way is that you could have that many children, but no, it also means that as you love one another – that love, like the love that God the Father has with His Son, will overflow – it will be a spreading goodness. It will spill into the lives of others and help us remember what we were made for.

Do you here today with us remember what you were made for? You were designed to be loved by Jesus – it’s something we so quickly forget...  and our lives become hollow and empty. So now I invite you all to look at them, the happy couple, and remember this is what we were made for – this kind of love, this kind of married life with Jesus Christ. And that is very good.

Let us pray. 

Good News in the Garden

Here's my second article for our parish magazine:


For years, I had unhelpfully divided the Christian life into those things that appear to be “spiritual” and those that are “not-so-spiritual.” You might be able to identify with this. For example, I saw prayer, the reading of Scriptures, communion, Christian work, fasting and so on, as more spiritual than say, eating, shopping, washing up or going to the toilet –mundane things that had to be done, but that really aren’t… very spiritual.

Something that the apostle Paul says has helped to dismantle this dividing wall. He wrote, “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31) implying that everything can be spiritual because God can be glorified in everything.

But did Paul really mean this? What about something as mundane as eating some cereal for breakfast? Or munching on some fruit? Or carrying out work in our gardens or allotments this spring? How in the world do we eat Weetabix to the glory of God? Do the 5-a-day have spiritual as well as physical benefits? Can we really enjoy fellowship with God through gardening? According to Paul and the rest of Scriptures, yes!

Well, before you think I’m mad, let me just explain where I’m coming from – or rather, whose footsteps I’ve been following! Firstly, John Wesley said, “God has written a sermon in everything”. And secondly, John Calvin says the Bible is like a pair of glasses through which we look at the world to see what it’s saying about the Living God.

So by looking at creation through the lenses of Scriptures, our eyes are opened to a new horizon of spirituality where without exception, all our actions become small occasions of fellowship with God.

So let’s use cereal, fruit and a harvest as our case study. The LORD made sure that Israel, His ancient church, thought about and celebrated their significance in a big way at least twice a year. Two of their seven annual feasts revolve around harvest time – the Feast of Firstfruits and the Feast of Weeks.

We may not celebrate these two feasts in the same way today. But, we can still think of what our breakfast cereals, fruit or gardens are preaching. The Apostle Paul tells us exactly what we’re to think about – the death and resurrection of Jesus and our glorious future with Him.

In talking about the resurrection, Paul calls Jesus “the firstfruits of them that are raised from the dead.” So just as the firstfruits from any harvest are a sign of the rest of the harvest to come, the resurrection of Jesus is a guarantee of our resurrection. Just as Jesus has been resurrected into a new, sinless and imperishable body, we will be like Him when He returns.

Just before He died, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24). And so after His death, like a seed, Jesus’ body was ‘planted’ in a garden (John 19:41) only to burst forth from it as the Tree of Life.

I don’t know what your cereal of choice or favourite fruit is, but whenever you eat them, think of the Divine Seed who was sown to bear the fruit of eternal life for all. Or when you’re working on your allotments, as you sow seed and anticipate the plants coming up from the ground, remember the good news in that garden from which Jesus rose from the dead, and look forward to our own resurrections which He has guaranteed.

Recently, as I was officiating an interment of ashes at Western Mill Cemetery, I was reminded of how Christians in the past used to see cemeteries as harvest fields. One day, at the final harvest, like seeds that have been sown, we will all burst forth from the grave: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: [yet] some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt (Daniel 12:2)”. The wheat will be separated from the weeds and chaff, and all of us who belong to Jesus will be gathered to Him to be with Him, and His Father and the Holy Spirit, to enjoy the fullness of life forever.

In the meantime, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field (Matthew 9:37-38)”. Let us do what Jesus asks us to do; let’s pray for our parish, city, country and world. But let us also consider how we ourselves have been commissioned to be workers in His field and pray that the Lord will lead us to tell others the good news of our beloved Jesus and the future we have with Him.

The 'Sound' of the Spirit

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

A reference to hearing the Word of God that comes from heaven and goes back to heaven??

A Memorial Sermon

A sermon I did at the first year memorial service for my grandmother (Ammachi):

Today we are commemorating the first year since the passing and home-going of my Ammachi to the Lord Jesus. I have not been to many funerals or memorials, but from what I know – at a funeral, we weep for those that have left us, we are often too filled with sadness and perhaps other conflicting emotions for us to be able to think or reflect, as we commit the person into the loving hands of our Lord.

Though here, at this memorial, we have had time. We have had time to think, to reflect, and to process what has happened – and so now is the time we can remember. This is the time to hear stories of Ammachi’s life, to hear testimonies of her service, to see pictures of her legacy in her family that she has left behind – and perhaps to even learn lessons that we can use in our own lives.

There is a question I had to think about – how should I remember my Ammachi? To be honest, I actually did not know her that well as a person. I knew she was kind, and gentle, meek, hardworking, always hospitable – but I did not really know her personally. When I came back from the UK, I thought maybe - that would be a good time to start, and even perhaps to dare to try to learn Malayalam for once – but I’m afraid I was too late. She already had the stroke and was not in any condition to be able to share her life with me and my new family. All I know from her personally is what she had written in her testimony – and what stands out is that though her life was very tough, she trusted in – as I read her own words “the God who provided for Elijah in the desert, had provided for us too and kept us alive all during the war”, “the God who guided Moses and the people of Israel by pillars of clouds and pillars of fire came to the protection of us” – as she managed to get back to Singapore, “the wonderful Lord who protected me” – from illness during surgery, “The one who promised me that He will never leave me or forsake me was faithful”. Indeed the theme verse for her testimony – indeed for my Ammachi’s life – was Psalm 37:5  - “Commit your way to the Lord! Trust in Him, and He will act”.

But how should I feel? Should I then be filled with regret and guilt that I did not make the extra effort to know her before she went home? Should I simply move on with my life as though nothing actually happened?

How should we, any of us, remember anyone who has physically left us? Well let us turn to the Words of Jesus for some help.

Matthew 22:31-32   31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:  32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."

            Jesus was talking about death, He was in the middle of a debate with this group of Jewish religious leaders called the Sadducees. As they read the the Law of Moses, they had come to the conclusion that there was no such thing as an afterlife, or anything beyond the physical – there was nothing spiritual. As some of the Rabbis wrote – they believed that the souls died with the bodies – and that was it, the end of life. And so it was not surprising that many of the Sadducees were very rich and powerful – since this life was all they had, they had to make the most of it. Because of this they asked Jesus an insulting question that they had thought would make an obvious mockery of any idea of some sort of ‘life after death’.

            Yet Jesus, in response, rebuked them twice – saying that they did not understand both the power of God, and the way they read their Bibles was terrible. They did not see from that this life was only temporary, and that it would lead to something eternal and permanent in the life with the Living God Himself. He quoted a verse from the book of Exodus chapter 3, where the visible Lord came down to meet with Moses himself and told him, that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – He is not the God of the dead, but the Living.

            Jesus strongly told off these religious leaders that the Father in heaven does not have any dead followers – for Jesus Himself declared that He is the resurrection and the life, and all who know Jesus, already have life eternal in Him. You see in the Bible, as I’m sure you all well know, to be dead is not strictly speaking to be in the grave. To be dead – means to be cut off from a relationship with the God who is life and who gives life. Anyone who does not know the Father of life, whose life is given in the Son, through life-giving Spirit – is already dead, as far as the Living God is concerned. It is like a flower, which has been cut-off from a branch – it may look alive, but actually it is dead, and slowly that death will become a reality in its appearance, the flower will wither and fade away.

            Yet to anyone who trusts in the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection, will be re-joined to the tree of life, that is Christ, and life of God will flow into them. Any of us who by faith is joined with the Living God, is now alive in Him, and we have His life giving Spirit. And this is such a strong and profound reality – that Jesus said ”Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" To the Christian united with Christ, death is merely falling into a deep sleep, crossing a deep river, only to wake up in the presence of the loving arms of Jesus Christ.

            Therefore, Jesus can also say right now, “I am the God of Ammachi”. She is alive right now, in Him. Yes her body may have decayed, but her spirit is right now in paradise with the Living God, enjoying His very presence. And that is God’s promise, and indeed her own great hope fulfilled – as she knew in this life the Lord who protected, guided, and was present with her. She now knows this in its fullest reality. She is with Jesus. Do you believe this – she is alive with Him.

            So back to my question, what does that mean when I try to remember her? Well firstly, it means, I don’t have to bring her back. You know those greeting cards that say ‘those whom we really love never really go away’ – well that’s not true. Ammachi has gone away, and I need to accept that – but I the way I accept that is with great hope. Many people try to re-create the presence of their loved ones because they miss them so much, and while that is understandable – it is also hints that there may be a lack of that future hope. In Jesus, I have a future hope – I will go to meet Ammachi, as sure as I will go to meet Jesus. I don’t have to ascend into heaven to bring her down, I don’t have to conjure her up from the grave, neither do I have to imagine that she is somehow around – because she’s not – she’s with Him – isn’t that glorious! And so as much as some of us miss her – we can rejoice, because of Jesus – we are going to see her – soon, very soon. That is our great hope in Christ. And once we can accept this, once we can believe Him – our faith will be all the stronger because of it – we won’t have to live this very sad-you-see life.

            Having a Living God, who has conquered death and sin also means I don’t have to remember a fake Ammachi. Very often in memorials and eulogies, we think we have to say only what is good about a person – we make them up to be some sort of angel, because we think that’s the best way to remember them. Now I attended another wake a couple of months ago, where I heard the most honest testimony by someone of their father - the good things, and the bad things too – and it was so much more powerful and helpful than simply filtering out the bad bits. If we are Christians, we all acknowledge that we are full of sin, we are not good people – yes our faith should produce good fruit – but we’re not perfect. Having a resurrected God who has conquered sin means I can acknowledge both the faithful things in Ammachi’s life, and even the things that caused me pain, or sorrow, or anger. She was not perfect – and I don’t think she would say that about herself either. I don’t think that’s how she wants to be remembered. If we want to remember a person truly, then we have to remember the real person. If I try to only think about the good things –one day that ‘false memory bubble’ I’ve created will burst – and all I will be left with is feelings of resentment, anger, or even guilt. At all the issues we did not resolve, at all the things we did not say to one another, of all the wrongs she may have done to me and I to her. Jesus has dealt with sin on the cross – and that means, we can be honest about my Ammachi – we can acknowledge both her failings, and her fruit. That is how we will remember her in a way that is both honoring to her, and in away we can learn from her life – it will not be in vain.

So let us then sit down and talk about my Ammachi, indeed any of our fellow saints that have gone before us. But let us learn from her in the light of Jesus. So we can talk about the good things, things that we can imagine – “wow she was so hardworking for her family – I’m sure Jesus works harder for us” – can we copy those? And the failings – “perhaps she was lacking in this area, maybe we should watch ourselves so we don’t do the same”. I think she would love that. Don’t you? Well I’m sure Jesus would love that. And there is one overriding lesson that she definitely would tell us today if we could hear from her – now that she has seen the ascended and reigning Christ. And I know this because that’s what it says in the Bible – she would want us to spend more of our time serving Him and His people – because she can see first-hand now, all the fruit of her labours, and all the things that were lacking. She wants to know that now is the time to turn to Christ, and to keep turning to Him to serve Him in His kingdom – proclaiming God’s love to the nations.

            Finally to conclude, because I have a Living God that has conquered sin and come through death and is now alive forevermore. Despite the fact that I did not get a chance to know my Ammachi that well in this life - I will have all eternity to know her. We will know my Ammachi, and one another in the resurrection – and in fact we will know one another in a way more personally and more intimately than whatever we have here and now – how that will work out is a mystery to me – but it is a promise. And the way we will know one another is: we will be without sin – that is the great hope of the future new creation – there will be no more sin. That means, all those things I may have not liked about Ammachi, will be gone. She will be recognizably my Ammachi – I’ll know her instantly when I see her – but but a perfect sinless, absolutely Christ-like Ammachi – and I will so enjoy spending eternity getting to know her so well – with all the rest of the saints.

            So as we today remember Ammachi, let us remember her through Jesus, our Living God – “I am the God of Ammachi”. May we spend some time talking about her life and faith, acknowledging her mistakes and failings – and learning how we too can be brought closer into a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, so that we can do better in our relationships with one other, here and now. One day, those of us who know Christ, will stand upon the earth, in new bodies, together with my Ammachi and my Jesus, and my Father.

            To God be the glory –great things He has done. 

A Wedding Sermon

Here is the first wedding sermon I've ever done - thanks especially to Glen's Trinitarian marriage heresies!

Good morning, shall we pray:

Well, it is an honour to be here. I am very privileged to be invited by Clarence and Joanne to speak at their wedding day. I knew Clarence when he came up to study in London, we ended up in the same church over there, and even on the same student Bible study table – in fact we spent quite a lot of time together, for almost 5 years I think – though strangely, we hardly knew one another all the years we’d been here in Zion Serangoon. And now look, here we are at his and Joanne’s big day! Wonderful.

What a wedding this is isn’t it, we have musicians, a trumpeter, an organ, wonderful decorations, a whole entourage of people: I almost wondered if we were back in London for the Royal Wedding – I’m sure from a certain angle Clarence could pass off as Prince William. But there is something majestic about a wedding isn’t there? It doesn’t matter how grand or small a ceremony it is, there’s just something about getting married – that is quite special. And it doesn’t really matter what culture or country you are from, the wedding ceremony, and the marriage that follows – is always a big deal – even if you insist on a weird scuba-diving or skiing wedding, or a tiny ceremony of your 5 closest friends – it’s still a big deal – you make a lot out of it anyway.

Now why is that? Why is it all of us, as much as some of us try so hard to resist it, seem to always get caught up in all these weddings and marriages? Well if you look at the text we read today from the Bible, it says there in verses 31-32:

Ephesians 5:31-32 (KJV) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

A marriage, is a great or profound mystery. You know Clarence was telling me that he chose these verses as his marriage verses because they are very special to him – it was how he began to see his life, his relationship with Joanne very differently.

So what is it? What is this great mystery? Well, as the verses tell us, it is that marriage, gives us a picture of the great marriage of Christ and His Church – that is the good news of the Christian Faith. Isn’t that really strange? As I, in a minute watch Clarence and Joanne, very normal people, ok they are quite special - say those love-filled vows to one another, and as they take their first steps into married life, till death do them part, I am supposed to see something quite different. A picture of Jesus Christ, the great Bridegroom of the whole universe, and His Bride, the church – not this building – but the whole people of God that accept His great engagement proposal at the cross. That is why every marriage is so profound, and so captivating, even when we try to ignore it.

God the Father, the Creator of the entire universe, created everything that we see around us, so that it would tell us this one great truth: That He wanted His Son to have a bride for all eternity. And He built that great truth into the fabric of reality itself – into every one of us: that every time we see this: a union of 2 individuals into one flesh, even from the very first marriage of Adam and Eve – we would be reminded, that that is the great plan where all of reality is heading towards – the final marriage of Christ and His people. We see, as we look at them today, something much bigger than ourselves – something that all of us, if we say ‘I do’ to Jesus – can look forward to with a great expectation.

The whole of creation is looking forward to that Day when Christ will become One with His Bride, as much as Clarence is looking forward to becoming one with Joanne right here and now. And that is what they have written for us to read on their wedding invitations (show card).

Yet permit me to take a while to describe how that one-ness, that one flesh, as the Bible describes, should look like. What should we see when we see the ideal marriage? What is the challenge for our young couple here? Well if we read this letter that the couple is quoting from, we will realise that the Oneness of a marriage is for life. Christ claims His bride the church for all eternity – and the great promise of the Bible is that He will never let her go, no matter what she does to Him, that is what He has promised. And so wanting to imitate that, Clarence and Joanne want to have a marriage that is truly based on the vows, the promises that they are to love one another – whether in sickness or in health, whether in times of plenty or hardship, whether Clarence loses his British accent or Joanne puts on a few more pounds if she eventually gets pregnant (God-willing). They are to never let each other go no matter what.

Now in today’s culture that sounds like some romantic ideal – but that is what it really is the romantic ideal – which you Clarence and Joanne are called to carry out. You are not saying to each other, ‘with this ring I thee wed’ until we have some irreconcilable differences. No, you are about to be locked in, bound to one another till you die – and that is good news, not a threat- but good news. Because it is in your oneness, your union to one another – that you will more and more become the persons that God wants you to be. Here is my challenge to you, never ever consider even for one second, that this relationship has a possibility of ending before one of you dies – and then you will find, that through the struggles, arguments, disagreements – that nothing is irreconcilable, you will learn to forgive, you will learn to love, you will learn to change, you will be transformed into people that can love in a way you never thought you could do before – as nice as both of you are right now. You are One Flesh, no longer two individuals.

You are no longer entitled to live separate lives from today onwards. In some sense, you must die to your individual selves – you cannot, from this day onwards have your own individual plans, goals, dreams, ideals... no now you cannot live the Clarence Ding life, or the Joanne Lee life, but now you must discern and ask of the Lord – what is the Mr and Mrs (or Doctor) Ding life that He calls you to live. The more you try to keep your individual selves alive, the more this marriage will feel a burden to both of you – the more you learn to put that old life to death and accept that there is a new life to live in a new family, the more you will have greater joy in and with one another.

Clarence knows what this means in a very real way already. You see as I was saying earlier, these verses made a profound impact over Clarence’s life many years ago when he and I were doing some Bible study on this letter to the Ephesians. He realised that as a Christian, his life is no longer supposed to be about him, but about Christ, and that would affect every area of his life – and most importantly would profoundly affect his relationships – including the one he had with Joanne when they had just started to go out. In his own words he said ‘I realised it wasn’t just all about me’, and ‘relationships were not something people get into just because of what they could get out of it’- the Christian life is to reflect Christ and His great wedding plan, those verses ‘stayed with him ever since’. You see in they spent a lot of time in their early relationship being in different countries, and by the 3^rd year, things got even more difficult – Clarence was doing well in his law studies, and prospects in London were looking good, and he absolutely loved living there – I know this first hand – after all – listen to his accent, and maybe during the wedding dinner they’ll show you his old extremely British ‘mullet’ hairstyle. It was his dream to remain in London, however Joanne had a long term bond to repay to the Singapore government –  she wasn’t going anywhere. The choice came down very hard – to pursue his individual dreams, or to have a new life with someone else who loved him. After much prayer and incessant pestering from guys like me and some of his groomsmen, some good old fashioned positive Christian peer pressure – he finally made the obvious choice – to give up London, for the one he loved – because of what he had learned from Christ in these very verses. Isn’t that what romantic idealism is all about – thank you Jesus! But there are many more hard decisions for the both of you to make as you embark on this life together... and you’ll need to keep turning to Jesus’ Word again and again to help you keep making those ‘right decisions’.

Yet this does not mean that you are to lose yourselves in each other – to merge together like some amorphous blob – some sort of Clar-anne Ding-Lee. No, you are to die to yourselves, but only to become who you were always meant to be. As Jesus says as He proposes to us, He said if we lose our lives in Him, we will gain or find our lives in Him. And similarly, you will find out more about who you are and what it is that God has called you to do, the more you begin to live this One flesh life together.

Neither does it mean that one of you should be lesser than the other. No Christ has called us all to be equals in Him – He has told you both that you are loved by God equally, and are both children of your heavenly Father. Yet, this kind of equality is not like some sort of strange democracy. Yes, you are one, you are equal, but there are distinct roles for you to play in this union, this oneness. As we see in those verses, 22 and 25, Wives you are to submit to your husbands, and Husbands you are to love your wives – but like Christ and the church. That is how you will be truly One.

Clarence, you are called to love Joanne – that is to lead her by serving her – as Christ showed us as He washed His followers’ feet. You will continuously be tempted to overpower her, either by your strength or intellect or emotional resolve and make her feel like she doesn’t deserve your love, so she has to earn it. She may even give in to that, and being demure and patient, feed in to those temptations – don’t let her. Don’t ever let her feel she needs to earn your love. You are to love her no matter what, never threaten her that you will let her go. You are to make her completely secure in the decision she is now making in front of all of us. And you will need to learn how to do that one day at a time – with God’s guidance, and the help of every Christian brother and sister right here.

Joanne, you are called to submit to Clarence – that is your role – he is about to be your husband. You are to let him be the head of the family. And that is so hard to do. You are equal to him, yet you allow him to lead, to serve you. You need to trust that every decision he makes now is for your true benefit – even when you disagree with him. That is what you will need help to learn, again, one day at a time. Let me tell you a secret, the more you trust him, the more he will acknowledge his leadership and take his responsibility more seriously – because He loves Jesus. You will be tempted to prove yourself to him, but all this will do is tempt him to slacken in his love for you. Don’t let him, give yourself to him whole-heartedly – and he will become the lover God calls him to be.

Clarence and Joanne, you have a high calling – the calling of marriage that will publically display that great cosmic Wedding.

So as I conclude, could you allow me to remind you once again of two of things I’ve already mentioned briefly. First of all, as we said, all kinds of situations will arise in your union, including difficult times, and you will not know how to deal with them – it’s not natural. That is why you must keep close to God through His Word, through Christ and the Holy Spirit who will affirm His Words in your spirit. And don’t just speak His Word to each other in those situations, sing His Word together – It’s no secret that the couple are highly musically inclined – I bet some of you don’t know Clarence is a qualified bagpipe player – he’s not only in love with the English, but the Scottish too – let music with God’s Word be a foundational part of your time that you spend with one another.

The second reminder is again - please discern the will of the Lord for your family. Previously you asked what God wanted you to do with your lives as individuals, now you must ask Him again, what He wants you to do as a family. He will have a new calling for your 3^rd way of life. As you work in your separate jobs, you are no longer working for your own bank accounts. Work together for a common purpose, a common mission – God will tell you what that is, and it will involve both of you, as well as any children God may bless you with. Spend much time asking Him – I’m pleading with you don’t just jump back into life as it was before this day – let this wedding day be remembered – let it make a more profound impact on your lives than simply living under one roof.

Clarence and Joanne, as you say your vows, as you are enjoying today’s unrivalled attention, as you enter into each other’s lives and bodies, as you go for your honeymoon together, please enjoy each other’s presence as thoroughly as you know how. As you begin to understand this oneness of Christ and His Bride reflected in your own union; as you begin to die to yourselves, and to put the other’s needs greater than your own; as you begin to learn to love each other in service and to submit to one another as to Christ, as you begin to find out and fulfil your common mission together to the rest of the world – you will be filled with joy in the Spirit of God. Your marriage will generate light for all to see.

As you sense the joy of each other, you will begin to look forward to the joy of the eternal honeymoon, where you will be with all the saints and Christ forever and ever in the great family home He is right now, at this very moment preparing for all those who trust in Him. And this is true for all of us here today, witnesses to this event – we are here because we have been called to keep them loving each other, and as we do so we ourselves will find that we too are looking forward to our great wedding day with Christ.

What a great and profound mystery a marriage is – let us all pray and give thanks to the Living God, who calls us all to come to His wonderful loving Son, even this day.

Nehemiah Overview

Here's a summary of Nehemiah at the conclusion of the series:

http://www.zionbishan.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2011-05-22-Remember-Me-O-Lord-Dr-Dev-Menon.mp3

Voting & Politics

Singapore is having elections - and for once people seem interested

here's a whole series of articles on voting & elections on my 'public church blog' =)

http://zbyam.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/voting-to-the-glory-of-god/

Ex Vetere

Very interesting from Leithart quoting Douglas Farrow - any comments?

Along the way, Farrow insists that, if the ascension is bodily, and if Jesus ascends with all His creaturehood intact, then the ascension must be to a place: “It in the resurrection Jesus is already transfigured and transformed . . . in the ascension he is also translated or relocated.  That is, he is taken up and placed by God he properly belongs, just as God once took Adam and put him in Eden.”  But where is said place?  The answer must be “stubbornly independent of any merely natural cosmology or anthropology,” but must just as stubbornly resist the Origenist temptation to mentalize and psychologize.

Where then?  Farrow suggests that eschatology answers: “the entry of which we are speaking does not entail admission to an already existing place but the creation of a new one.  . . . it entails the creation of a new time and place and mode of life, and that not ex nihilo . . . but ex vetere.”  It is “not somewhere in this world” nor “an ‘outside’ to which one escapes.”  Rather, “it exists by virtue of the transformation of reconstitution of this world in the Spirit.”  This “time and place which Jesus occupies are those in which, and by way of which, God’s sovereign act of recreation is extended through him to all times and places.”

Being vs Doing

There's always a problem between being and doing

we know ultimately we need to be both being and doing

yet how does one 'be'?

some have said - allow the doing to filter into becoming
here's Luther's response to that taken from here: http://the48files.blogspot.com/2011/04/out-inside-out.html

Now, our Scholastics and papists have taught an external piety; they would command the eyes not to see, and the ears not to hear, and would put piety into our hearts from the outside. Ah, how far this is from the truth! But it comes in this way: When the heart and conscience cling to the Word in faith, they overflow in works, so that when the heart is holy, all the members become holy, and good works follow naturally.


yet Luther was not opposed to doing either
and Glen too comments on the value of 'doing': http://christthetruth.wordpress.com/2010/02/08/in-praise-of-going-through-the-motions/


But there’s another danger.  We can react the other way and disdain anything ‘external’.  We say to the  world: “I reject ‘works’, I’m all about the inward life.”  And so we’re constantly taking our spiritual temperatures.  We neglect ritual (as though it always leads to ritualism).  And we start to think of faith as a thing – the one really meritorious work!


I think the primary difference is that the 'doing' that comes before being is that the 'doing' is 'done' by someone else - i.e. someone administers sacraments to us, or preaches a sermon to us - i am invited to join in someone else's doing that arises from his supposed being


so it is therefore the church (body of Christ) that does, and invites others to join them in doing, so that eventually others may be and therefore do for others


it is basically parenting.... =)

Help needed on historical biblical interpretation

Ok what I really need now...

other than a new body..

is someone who can summarize for me all the different 'categories' of interpretation throughout the age?

e.g. Allegorical, Moral, Literal, etc..

and give short definitions, and perhaps an example from 1 passage in both NT and OT

any takers???

Meeting Jesus in Leviticus

Here are the sermons on Leviticus that I preached on recently. Sorry I don't know know how to do a direct link thingy. Must say that there is nothing new under the sun here and that I have plagiarised heavily from other wiser folk, not least Paul Blackham, Mike Reeves, etc...

Building Blocks http://www.emmanuelplymouth.co.uk/?page_id=146&sermon_id=101

Our Sufficient Sacrifice http://www.emmanuelplymouth.co.uk/?page_id=146&sermon_id=103

Our Great High Priest http://www.emmanuelplymouth.co.uk/?page_id=146&sermon_id=104

Our Man in Heaven http://www.emmanuelplymouth.co.uk/?page_id=146&sermon_id=106

Easter in Advance http://www.emmanuelplymouth.co.uk/?page_id=146&sermon_id=108

Love before the dawn of time

How are we loved before we are created?

God foreknew person X would come to be and loved him?

or is a more appropriate answer is corporate and relational
i.e. God loves Christ
and loves anyone in Christ and through Christ
- which works for both those in the image of the image (humanity), and in the image (Christians)

why does my father love my son? because my son is his grandson
where does his love for his grandson lie before my son is born?
in me

this is true 'corporate' thinking.... and does not take anything away from persons

End Game

Time for some major heresy by myself:

Some people put that atonement is the be-all and end-all of theology - i.e. penal substitution
therefore in the later reformed ideas - the debate is that if the eternal decree of God is to atone,
then surely we cannot have a limit to His decreed atonement - and instead we have a decreed limited atonement

The early church put 'deification' as the end point
the goal of everything - especially via the incarnation - is to become 'sons of God'
i think that's a bit better  - since it's more relational and familial rather than legal
yet - not everyone is 'deified' - so how does that fit with the eternal plan / will / decree of God?

What about this:
The end game - is Revelation
i.e. the display of God's glory
more specifically put - the Trinitarian display of God's glory

Therefore the eternal decree (which indeed is eternal)
js that God the Father will glorify (perfect) God the Son
And God the Son will reveal the perfect glory of His Father
and this is most primarily achieved through the cross (to agree with Luther's focus)
yet of course also achieved in every other work of Christ (from eternity, to pre-incarnate, incarnate, resurrected, eternity)

Therefore God achieves His end game - for at the end - everyone knows the Son - one way or another
and at the end, everyone sees the glory of God - one way or another

First Covenant

In the Westminster Confession there is reference to the covenant of works

I don't know if they meant it
but could we say that the Sinai covenant (i.e. the covenant NOT like the Abrahamic covenant)

is also a covenant of works - not so much to keep a moral law
but to bind 'god's people' into sin that they may see Christ and the true covenant

so then that covenant of works is the first covenant - cf Heb - and the old (meant to pass away) covenant

the always renewed covenant is then in Christ - is called the 2nd covenant
why? because He is the 2nd Adam - in which is covenant is based

the first covenant was only the 'scaffolding' to get us to the 2nd
the 2nd was eternal - based not so much on the works of the Son fulfilling a 'moral law'
but based on the Son Himself, who always is loved by the Father, and loves in return by laying down His life

Bobby puts it nicely here:

I think that the problem that the CoW introduces is one that finds its source in what it must presuppose about God, and his relation to nature by grace. The Covenant of Works presupposes that God is by nature (metaphysically, ontologically) a God who inter-relates amongst Himself through Law-keeping. I say this based upon an inference made by taking the imago Dei,and the imago Christi with upmost seriousness! If in fact man’s relation to God is based upon how the Son relates to the Father (and thus our union with Christ by the Spirit), based upon our creation and recreation in the imago Dei/Christi; then according to this premise, the way that the Son relates to the Father is not based on a mutual coinhering love amongst the God-head (Monarchia), but instead it would be based upon a Covenant of Works wherein the Son (as our vicarious mediator/Priest) only is able to find favor with the Father by His obedience to a morality that flows from the Father as thearche or ingenerate source of the “God-head.” In other words, if God is a God of “Law” prior to being shaped by “Love,” then there is introduced, necessarily, a subordinationist stream within the God-head that bases the identities of the persons within the God-head upon an impersonal Law-keeping and not of mutual love for the other that flows from the One Being of God that is consubtantial and coinhering by the inter-relations of the Three Persons. If this is the case, what this would explain, is how it is that the works of God (energies) are broken away from the being of God; so that how God works in creation can somehow be separated from who He is in His being as God. So that Jesus can be seen as the ‘instrument’ and ‘work’ of God in the incarnation who relates humanity to God by meeting the demands of the “Law.” In this scenario, Jesus becomes a non-necessary aspect of God’s One Being, and collapsed into the creation as the “Law-keeper” who meets the demands of a “Law-giving-demanding-god.”

Who is responsible?

In the case of evil (i.e. some form of bad happening)

who is the ultimate responsible cause?

The reformers and puritans say it has to be God (as of course Augustine)

God is the first cause, yet not the author or the agent (second cause) of the evil

let's put this relationally:

Let's say my son loves to touch things he shouldn't
So first I tell him not to
Then after a while, I stop telling him, since I've told him 100x before
then I see him going to pull at a chair
I know completely what is going to happen
He will pull the chair, it will fall on him, he will get slightly hurt and cry

Now, who pulls the chair? - my son
who causes the evil - me of course - because in this scenario 'i am sovereign'

in legal cases - it's the one who is 'in-charge' of a situation
who is equally at fault if he knows what his subordinates have done, and has not stopped them
they are both tried and found guilty of the same crime

Yet of course in causing evil (which God admits several times),
His ultimate purpose is good - just like any parent
why must there be evil?
because we are naive children

what is the mystery of the entrance of evil into the world?
i like this one:

Sigh...

Vaughan Roberts just came to Singapore to do a small 2-day conference on preaching biblical theology..

i.e. the big picture

found out that many of the young pastors in Singapore now study in Moore College, Sydney, Australia

conversation with one of them after a talk:

me: "Oh you studied in London, me too, were you at All Souls"
guy: "Yes, at All Souls - then I went to study at Moore... learned from a guy called Goldsworthy"
guy: "Good thing I found out that Blackham guy was a bit dodgy in his OT stuff"
me: "...."

Glen - i consider this your country's fault!!


on a side note..
is it just me...
or is all this 'big picture' stuff more about 'God's plan' rather than the Person of Christ?
or am I just being pedantic?

Beyond the Veil

Love this little observation by Leithart:

When John first turns to see Jesus, he first sees lampstands, then the garments of Jesus, and finally the face and body of Jesus.

He moves from the lampstands of the holy place, to the veiling garments that cover the Son of Man, beyond the veil to the Son of Man Himself

Why is Hell Forever?

I wonder if I could say that the reason that hell is forever is not so much that 'sin deserves it'

but so that Christ has total victory - and can give everything back to the Father as He was 'sent out' to do

in that sense Christ never fails - regardless whether people accept His salvation - since He has 'redeemed' the flesh...

Humility vs Pride

Philippians 2:1-11

Pride goes before a fall! It’s a familiar saying and like many other familiar sayings in the English language, this one also comes from the Bible. Proverbs 16:18 – “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Yet these familiar words are not simply a wise saying or merely good advice. More than that, these words are a profound reminder to us about the seriousness of pride! For it was pride that brought about the Fall – of Satan, humanity and all of creation! It was the pride of Satan and humanity in Adam and Eve that plunged what was once God’s very good creation into death! I’m sure we all know that pride is kinda bad… but have you ever thought about pride as being deadly? Out of the so-called seven deadly sins, pride is the deadliest! It was pride that brought death to us!

And pride has its roots in Satan. But he wasn’t always evil or wicked. According to Ezekiel 28, Satan was an awesome creature – created by God. Ezekiel 28v12 – You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. vv13-14 – he was dressed in beautiful jewels and was appointed to be a guardian cherub in the garden of Eden. The LORD continues in v15 – You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. And v17 – Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour.

Isaiah 14 tells us a bit more. Isaiah 14 from v12 – How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

Satan was not content to be the most awesome of all God’s creatures. It was not enough for him to serve his Creator. It was too demeaning for him to merely be a guardian angel, watching over Adam and Eve in Eden. No… surely one who is full of wisdom and perfect in beauty deserved more… much more… Surely he deserved to be ‘god’! Pride took over and led to Satan’s downfall!

And it’s the same pride that took hold of Adam and Eve! In Genesis 3, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the very same twisted logic of a proud heart – Put yourself first – your own desires, your own interests. You deserve more! You should think of yourself a bit more! Forget about serving God… be gods yourself! Don’t listen to God, decide for yourself! You will not surely die from eating the fruit. The LORD’s doesn’t want you to eat it because he knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God!

Well, the rest is history! Being like God sounded great to them! Adam and Eve rejected the true and Living God, and took the first step in enthroning themselves as god of their own lives… they will decided for themselves what is right or wrong, good or evil! They ate that which was forbidden, and along with Satan and the rest of creation, came under the curse of death!

Since then, like a hereditary disease, we've all inherited a massive dose pride and have all too readily embraced this Satanic and deadly way of life. Humble-pie hardly appeals to anyone’s taste. Fallen humanity has always preferred self-love, self-satisfaction, self-promotion, self-importance. Me, myself and I! In our pride, we’ve always made sure that we put ourselves first! Our default position is to be served rather than to serve! So much so that even when Paul writes to the Philippian church, he says in 2v21 that everyone looks out for his [or her] own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

It’s sad to read about how personal egos have caused problems for the church then. Philippians 1v15-17 – there are people who preach Christ out of envy and rivalry… out of selfish ambition. And then in chapter 4vv2-3 we read about two women, Euodia and Syntyche – who used to contend for the gospel alongside each other with Paul, no longer get along. How does our pride manifest itself here at Emmanuel? Is there something that’s too demeaning for us to do for the sake of others? Are there those whom we don’t get along with because we think we are better than them? Is there a limit as to how much time, money and energy we are willing to spend for the sake of Jesus and others? Would we willing to meet the needs of others and ensure their well-being even if it has a detrimental effect on our social status, health and wealth?

It’s pride that stops us from putting others first because we think that fundamentally we’ve got to look after ourselves before looking after others. One popular song tells us learning to love yourself the greatest love of all. And we’re told again and again… you’ve got to stand up for your rights! The world’s assumption is that we have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and we’re never gonna give up these so-called unalienable rights without a fight!

Yet… Jesus never paid much attention to such assumptions. In Philippians 2vv6-11, Paul reminds us of Jesus’ way of life. He bears witness to Jesus Christ, the one man who never ever succumbed to a life of selfish pride; who’s never embraced Satan’s way of thinking, who despite the most severe of temptations to do so never ever sought to exalt Himself or put His own interests above that of others.

v6 – Jesus, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

This is the awesome truth about Christmas. We’re not merely celebrating the birthday of some founder of religion. Jesus is the founder of the universe. He is the eternal Son of God. He’s the divine Word of God who was with God and was God in the beginning. He’s the one by whom and for whom everything was created.

This is a profound mystery but Christmas is about celebrating the real and physical union between God and humanity! Christmas remembers His birth as one of us, but you know how we sing Lo He abhors not the virgin’s womb? Well, Jesus had very humble beginnings as one of us as He left the majestic glory of heaven to make Himself nothing. The Light of the World began life as one of us by spending 40 weeks in the darkness of His mother’s womb.

He who has no beginning began life as one of us growing cell by cell in one of the most dangerous of environments, and then he went through the trauma of being born… and he wasn’t exactly born in the most comfortable of surrounding! Perhaps suitably so, the Lamb of God was born in a manger amongst those who would be slaughtered to sustain the lives of others! And the first noise the Divine Word of God made as one of us was the incomprehensible, needy and helpless cry of a baby. And then the Lord of the universe’s fledgling life was immediately under threat by the murderous earthly ruler, Herod.

And as He grew up, He had no glorious occupation – the Divine Craftsman of the universe used His hands to make furniture for others! And then what happens when He began His ministry? He served people – healing them, teaching them, feeding them… time and time again He put the needs of others above His own. And of course He was only practicing what He preached – The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve… and ultimately to give His life as a ransom for many.

And we must not imagine that this was easy for Jesus. He was tempted by Satan time and time again to think of His own desires and interests first, to use all the powers available to Him for His own glory… after all, Aren’t you the Son of God? You deserve much better, don’t you? And surely, you don’t deserve to suffer!

And the temptations to think of His own interests as more important than others only intensified as His death approached. In the Garden of Gethsemane, the battle was so intense that Jesus was sweating blood. The obedient Son of God so feared for His life and so wished that His Father might have a different way that three times He fell to His knees and asked if there was a way out. Yet each time, Jesus uttered these famous words – Yet not my will but yours be done! He who was equal with the Father, who’s been with the Father and loved by the Father from eternity never demanded any royal treatment but humbled Himself before His Father’s will.

And so Jesus was arrested, mocked, beaten, spat on, made fun off, stripped naked and nailed to the Cross. People mocked – Save yourself if you are the Son of God. Come down from the Cross and we will trust in you! And all the while, Jesus had the power to do so. He was the commander of the mightiest army in all creation. Hundreds of thousands of angels under His command, waiting for His word, ready to come and help their divine commander and decimate His enemies and yet, He never gave that command or cry for rescue.

But He did cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It was a cry of anguish, the agonizing cry of a man who died a cursed death under God’s full fury against sin. v8 – Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!

Why? Why in the world would the divine and eternal Son of God who has the freedom to do anything at all choose to humble Himself so completely? Precisely because He is God! You know how when we are really under pressure and stress that what we really are like becomes clear? Well, here when under the most intense pressure, we see what the Living God really is like. Free from any sin, free from pride, free from Satan’s ways, free to serve and love! Because he considered us as more important than Himself, He did not look to His own interests but to our interests. He didn’t save Himself so that He can save us. He didn’t come down from the cross so that we will never have to face God’s wrath. He laid down His life so that we can have life! He humbled Himself in order to exalt us!

And this is the only way of life that has any real and lasting significance. Pride versus humility – the verdict has been declared! Satan’s way of life that is so full of pride and selfish ambition is passing away. Those who continue to follow him are only heading towards an eternal destruction. But, as Jesus Himself preached, and demonstrated by putting His own teaching into practice, true life and glory and fulfillment are found only as we completely forget ourselves and are caught up in the life and will of the living God. In losing His life in accordance with His Father’s will and laying down His life for our sake, Jesus has gained life forever. He has been raised from the dead and restored to His rightful place.

vv9-10 – Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is the glory of our Triune God. Jesus is exalted because He humbled Himself so completely, and the Father is glorified because He gave up His One and Only Beloved Son. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are worthy of all honour and worship precisely because of their humble self-sacrifice, service and love.

At the beginning we saw that Satanic and human pride brought about the Fall and death of all, yet the humility of God redeemed us from that curse and brought us new, exalted and eternal life.

Remember how Adam and Eve wanted to be like God and in their pride tried to grab divinity for themselves? They didn’t need to try and ascend to the place of the Most High God on their own! It was always part of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s plans to bring humanity fully into their life. The Father sent His only Son to be like us in order to make us like Him. Or as 2 Peter 1v4 puts it, the Father sent Jesus that we may participate in nothing less than the divine nature.

United to Jesus, His exaltation is our exaltation. And right now, it is a man who sits in the throneroom of the universe, ruling over all things for the sake of His Church. More precious than anything else, as bothers and sisters of Jesus, united to Him by the Spirit, we share the very same relationship that He shares with His Father and the Spirit. Our Father in heaven knows what we need and we never have to fight for anything on our own. And we never have to make a name for ourselves or make sure are respected by society because we have already been given dignity and honour by being children of God and co-heirs with Christ. Like Jesus we can empty ourselves for the sake of others because of the sure and secure promises that we have in Jesus!

Perhaps for some of you here today – maybe you’ve been coming to church for a long time but have not really experienced the joy or reality of a relationship with Jesus and fellowship with the Spirit. If you’ve been moved and affected by the humility of Jesus, and want to humble yourself before Him, don’t put that off. Speak to Him in your own words. Tell Him you want to leave your old way of life and follow Him. Call out to Him and He will only be all too willing to answer.

As for the rest of us vv1-3 – If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others as better [or more important] than yourselves.

And v4 – this is a watered down translation – Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Some have claimed that this verse tells us to look after our own interests so long as we also look out for others. It makes it easier to swallow, doesn’t it, when we can also look after our own interests alongside those of others. But… in line with v3’s call to humbly consider others as more important than ourselves, and in view of God’s demonstration of humility in Jesus, v4 is more literally and accurately translated as – Each of you should look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.

v5 – our attitudes should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…

Is this difficult? Of course it is! Do we fail? All the time! The solution and remedy to when we are proud and unable to put others first is to look again to Jesus, to beg for the help of the Holy Spirit, and cry as Jesus did, not my will but yours be done, to the glory of God the Father. Amen.

Evolving into what?

Coming back to the subject of evolution:

Usually the debate is between creationists and atheists..
one saying there is intelligent design (whatever that means)
and the other saying... well... not much by way of explanation really... more like the 'how' rather than the 'why'

Again, in terms of the argument - creationists usually offer up things like microevolution verses macro..
i.e. there are small changes (which Darwin recorded) and not huge jumps

But I wonder if we can think of it in another way

Let's acknowledge a process of change, micro and macro

but according to Darwin, change leads to the survival of the fittest in the changing environment
i.e. Finches have tougher beaks during drought conditions, etc..

So then, instead of looking at the evolution itself, let's look at the context of the universe
Where is the entire creation heading?

Well we know it had been subject to futility - i.e. from dust, it will ultimately return to dust
(however glamorous you may build your sandcastle in the interim)

Therefore evolution must be the adaptation of creation to a futile universe
We evolve to better 'fit in' with the status quo
(i'm pretty sure no one will deny that)

So then, each species must be evolving to better survive in a sin-filled world
So in terms of the human race, we can see this evolution taking place even in front of our eyes
(inclusive of sociological, psychological, physiological, etc evolution)

For example, I live in a society of theives that will take my belongings at every instance
thus I will evolve into a paranoid, untrusting person, changing not only my mindset, but my behaviour, my direct environment, and even perhaps the way I choose friends,
even my physical body may begin to adapt to my new lifestyle
now if my progeny continue to enter into this environment, they too will adapt in increasing measure to handle it

therefore, the evolution of this universe, especially the human race, is very real
we transform even, into new species
yet it is another expression of 'hardening of the heart'
we evolve to make ourselves comfortable and adapted into a sinful society - thinking it is the norm

Christ therefore introduces a new paradigm
He gives us a 'bigger context'
Now our evolution is in Him - we are transformed from glory into glory
While selfish Finches continue to try to gain an advantage over their long beaked counterparts
The Christian Finch continues to evolve with a longer beak - because he no longer has to forage on the ground for hard nuts, but is now evolving to drink nectar from the higher flowers

What a glorious thing therefore Christ has done - let us therefore, not continue to evolve into the monkeys we are becoming...

Media

This is our promo video for the church camp

what do you think?



btw... that's my son at 2:35-36
=)