Bookends in John - Glory of God and Belief in God

The Gospel of John is perhaps the simplest book of the New Testament in terms of grammar and writing style. It does not contain many flashy turns of phrase, subordinating clauses, or strings of synonyms like in Luke or Paul. It can be read and understood on a grammatical level by the youngest of readers - no wonder it is often the first book read by novice Greek students!

Yet, on a theological level, John is the deepest in the whole Bible. It is often called the "Spiritual Gospel" in contrast with the synoptics (which are not spiritual?!). Some of Paul's letters like Romans can be studied and digested paragraph by paragraph as a logical argument pieced together, but it is often said of John that the individual parts cannot be understood unless the whole Gospel is understood. Today I want to look at two key verses in John's Gospel, one at the beginning and another at the end, and hopefully help us dive more clearly into this great Gospel.

 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14

This is not an unfamiliar verse to many. In the 13 verses that precede it, we see the cosmic beginnings of the universe: all things were created through this grand Word that was with God and strangely, was actually God. Now in our verse we are told that this Word is the person of Jesus Christ who, though being God, became man and became the manifestation of God's glory. Matthew calls him Immanuel, God with us. John calls him the dwelling place of glory, which can only remind the Israelites of the Temple, the place where God's Holiness was most highly displayed. For example, in Exodus 40:35, we are told that the cloud, which was God's physical guiding presence for Israel, dwelled over the tent, and God's glory filled the tabernacle. The very word for tabernacle means "dwelling place," and the same Hebrew root is borrowed by John for the incarnation of the Word. So many have suggested we could better translate Christ as having "become flesh and tabernacled among us," to remind us of the way he resided among us just like the various places in the Old Testament where God resided with Israel: the ark of the covenant, the tabernacle, and the temple (it is also convenient to not confuse this word with the more common word in John, "abide" or "remain," a theme beyond the scope of this post!). The Son of God came down from heaven, became fully man, full of grace, full of truth, and showed his glory to the world.

 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. - John 20:31

This verse, near the end of the Gospel, is also very well-known. Our response to John's Gospel is simple and brief: believe. Believe in Jesus as who he says he is, the anointed Messiah fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies (including the Temple, as well as providing the New Covenant, the grand Prophet of Moses, the full embodiment of Wisdom, our High Priest, our King, our Redeemer, our Savior and Lord), the divine Son of God who was sending the Holy Spirit after him. Believe in this Christ, put your trust in him, put your full dependence upon him. For no one else grants life, nothing else can grant life except Jesus Christ. Without Christ we are dead (Eph 2:1), we are in darkness, blind, we are unclean and wicked before God, ignorant of the Truth, unable to know the Word.

John 1:14 serves well as the topic statement for the rest of the Gospel. All of the signs display the glory of God in the miraculous and yet human workings of Jesus. The discourses spread throughout the book proclaim the grace of God in full truth, that Christ calls all to himself. John 20:31 serves as the corresponding purpose statement. Through 20 chapters, John is nearly done with his presentation of Jesus' interaction with the disciples, and the call which heretofore has been indirectly given in the story is now directly given to us, the audience: believe in this glorious Christ. Will we answer as Nathanael, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" and receive life from Jesus? Or will we rest in our own knowledge and assumptions as the Pharisees, and remain in our guilt (John 9:41)?

The Value of Scripture Memory

"What if I offered you $1000 for every verse you could memorize in the next seven days? Do you think your attitude toward Scripture memory and your ability to memorize would improve? Any financial reward would be minimal when compared to the accumulating value of the treasure of God's Word deposited within your mind."

Donald Whitney introduces the section on Scripture Memory in his now standard book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, with this financial illustration to encourage Christians to memorize Scripture. I think Whitney could have used the same illustration for nearly every other Christian practice and discipline, but it works especially well for Scripture memory because I can think of very few "bad" ways to memorize a verse, other than objectively not memorizing a phrase correctly or by memorizing a verse with the wrong attitude and motive, but those are topics for another time. I started to address the topic of improper, or rather, inadequate memory habits earlier on this site and perhaps will get back to that soon. Fortunately, in a few weeks I am set to give a short seminar at my church's youth retreat on Scripture Memory, so you may be seeing several more posts here about it!

For today, I want to summarize the main benefits that Whitney proposes for memorizing God's Word. I have organized his points into three categories: our vertical relationship with God, our horizontal relationship with others, and our inner relationship with the devil and our sinful flesh.

Memorization Helps our Relationship with God
Knowing Scripture can strengthen our faith. When we come upon times of struggle or weakness, we should turn to God and his promises of faithfulness. More often than not, we do not have a concordance or a John MacArthur standing next to us who can point us directly to the verse we need (and we may not even have a Bible readily accessible). "Memorizing Scripture strengthens your faith because it repeatedly reinforces the truth, often just when you need to hear it again."

In the same light, knowing the Bible in our hearts can push toward meditation and further study of the Word. Like a tune that gets stuck in your head, if you have memorized Scripture then you will be continually be reminded of these verses and they will force you to consider and apply their Truth.

Memorization Helps our Relationship with Others
The most tangible use of Scripture is in witnessing or counseling to those around us. If we claim to be followers and disciples of Christ, then we should always be telling others about God's very Word, and perhaps the most effective way to do so is by having it memorized. It is always a joy for me to be in casual conversation with someone else, and to be able to interject Scripture that comes to mind. The fewer portions of Scripture I know, then obviously the fewer I can talk about!

Memorization Helps our Inner Battle
One of the interesting things we learn from Matthew 4 is that Satan uses God's Word in a superficial and twisted way to deceive (see also: Genesis 3, Job 1), while Christ battles and defeats Satan with God's Word correctly (sidebar: there's a bigger point to this passage about Christ's victory on behalf of us, but that's another blog series!). Meanwhile, over in Ephesians 6, Paul tells us to put on God's armor, including Scripture, so that we may be equipped to stand against spiritual battles. 2 Timothy 3:16 says point-blank that the Bible tells us about doctrine and trains us in righteousness. To escape from sin, we must flee to the words found in Scripture.

One benefit Whitney mentions that may overlap between these categories is that memorization can help to guide us. The Holy Spirit is promised to be a Counselor and an Advocate for us, but how does that happen? John 14:26 tells us: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Jesus is specifically talking about the creation of the books of the New Testament, but I think he is also making an application for us, that the Holy Spirit will work to impress upon us passages from Scripture as a Helper for us.


The benefits of memorizing Scripture are about as numerous as the amount of methods published on how to memorize Scripture. I have only given a few of the points here, and they are a tiny introduction. Hopefully we will be able to elaborate on these categories of why we memorize. But for now, I pray this encourages you to get in God's Word, to know Christ and the power of His resurrection more intimately. Take to heart the words of Proverbs 22:17-19:

    Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
        and apply your heart to my knowledge,
    for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
        if all of them are ready on your lips.
    That your trust may be in the LORD,
        I have made them known to you today, even to you.

Is Christ the Lord, or is He your Manager?

The LORD is my manager;
I’m equipped with what I need to be successful.
He makes sure I have enough to eat and drink,
And that I’m not too stressed out.
He gives me what I need to get by;
He communicates good advice
so I can keep him satisfied with my progress.

I came across this excellently-written "Semi-Psalm 23," and the ironic realities gripped me. I go through life doing nearly everything on my own. I'm pretty smart, I have decent means to get through life. I give lip-service to what Christ provides for me but little more.

But when the darkness closes in and I feel half-dead,
I’m frightened by all the pain that grips me,
Because you seem so far away from me,
And your distant management of my life leaves me alone and afraid.


I have not known any real hardship. I have tried hard to rest content with what I have, and I really have never been in a place where I didn't know how I was going to eat or whether or not I would be provided for. Yet, somehow I still let the pressures, the stress, the distraction of this life overtake my inner emotions and I let Christ become a fading distance. Sometimes out of guilt or shame, sometimes out of fear, I run into myself instead of to the riches of Christ.

You do let me help myself to the leftovers from your table,
Which I suppose is better than what my enemies get.
You acknowledge my presence at dinner,
And you let me pour a little wine into my cup.
I guess I have an adequate and decent life most of the time,
And I can always stay at the LORD’s house for a few days if I ever feel the need.

Obviously the writer of this poem was making a satire off Psalm 23, where God is our great Shepherd leading us where we need to go even in times of suffering. I think another passage in the Bible can unlock the truth of how Christ relates to us. Instead of the lackadaisical approach to Christ portrayed here, consider the precious words of Colossians:

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

…The riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Our local church is just beginning a study into this wonderful book about Christ and his Lordship over us. I am excited to study again the greatness of who Christ is and what He has accomplished in my life. I pray it is a time of renewal and revived focus on making great the name of Jesus and no longer trying to rely on our own strength.


    If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Memory Verses, Part 1: Journey to Learning

I wrote earlier about how, since I was barely a teenager, God blessed me with a large and every growing appreciation for Scripture and its power in my life. When I was probably in about 9th grade, basically the same time as my first (almost literal) run through the whole Bible, our church youth group also embarked on a short season of guided devotionals and encouraged journaling. We used a little booklet that accompanied DNow-type materials that I have even taught out of a couple times as a college leader at DNows. In the middle of the booklet of daily snippets and challenges was a page of perforated Bible verses, one for each week of the study. It had blank places for us to add more verses, and even had a little carrying case that would slip easily into pants pockets or be kept in my wallet, which I eagerly did for many years. 

Being a nerd and at times intellectually pretty smart, I made great haste at memorizing the whole set and a few subsequent sets that we did over the course of my high school years. I happily testify that many of the verses I took to heart were great encouragers, ranging from great promises of faith like 2 Chron 7:14 (but if my people!), meditation starters like Ps 46:10 ("be still and know I am God") and Ps 42:2 ("when can I meet with God?"), and exhortations to steadfastness like Galatians 1:10 ("if I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ!"). I will likely always remember the very first week's verse in our cards, and I still think it is possibly the most succinct while practical summary of our response to the gospel, Ephesians 4:32, in the grand NIV which all conservative youth curriculum use, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you."

Certainly in our youth group we were given much motivation and opportunity to know and treasure God's Word as Psalm 119:11 tells us (another in the list!). Yet all this memorization seems so run-and-gun now. Maybe this would be more an indictment of a lack of 'biblical theology' and instruction in salvation history from our teachers and leaders at the church, or more perhaps (very likely, indeed) that I simply was not paying attention most of the time, but as I aged I became increasingly frustrated in my biblical study that I did not have any kind of functional literacy in my Bible reading. I had all these cool sounding phrases in my head, and yes most of them were great truths and had both good doctrinal concepts and good personal application, but when I read three verses in front of and after Ephesians 4:32 I could not really tell you what was going on. In fact I was frustrated that I had no idea what was going on in any of the epistles at all, just that they were these great collections of exhortations and Christ exaltations with all these personal references to Epaphrodites, Timothy, and Junia mixed in. When I read the Gospels I recognized the familiar parables and narratives of Jesus, but I could 5 chapters in a row and probably could not tell you if what I read was from the pen of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The Old Testament was a little easier since all the VBS stories were pretty much distinct in their own eras, and a psalm was definitely different than a proverb was different than a prophet.

In spite of my discouragement, I did get ambitious a few times. 1 John was a letter that, probably because it was very repetitious, I did study and memorize at least all the individual verses one summer, though not all together at one time; I also noticed once that Matt 5-7 was the most red letters in a row with no stops, and it seemed to be a great section of Jesus' teachings, so I went through the Sermon on the Mount another summer as well, though again not retaining all of it at once. However, it was not until my first year in college, with the help of a front and back 1 page laminated copy, that I studied and became intimately familiar with Paul's letter to the Philippians, the first extended book "study" I had done and my first major experience with connecting and applying the context within a book to gain greater understanding of it and its application to our faith today.

Next time I will hope to discuss maybe some principles for memorization in the Church. For now, a simple word of praise and prayer: May God continue to show how His Word has infinite depth and infinite resource into knowing His character, and may we pursue the Holy Spirit deeply to make it real in our lives, proclaiming God's good news to the world.

Technological distractions

John Piper is famous for, among other things, not owning a TV. He's written a little bit on it, and the trend seems to be catching on. One of the Cathy brothers, bringers of the Chick-Fil-A, aka heaven on earth, wrote a nice post that is probably better said than anything I could ever hope to say: 


http://www.cathyfamily.com/BlogPost.aspx?post=746


"We have all been given the same amount of time in every day: 24 hours. That's 168 hours each week. Nobody gets more or less. The only difference we all have is how we choose to use it. Ephesians 5:15-17 states: "Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

I would never try to tell anyone what God's will for their life is, but I have to believe that our potential to impact the world for Him greatly increases when we're not being couch potatoes!"

I did a short study on that phrase Ephesians uses "making the best use." It turns out what the ESV turns into a phrase (and probably rightly so) is a single word in Greek, ex-agorazw. You probably heard about the Greek Agora in history class, it was just the marketplace in the city, where you bought things. So to "ex"-buy something is literally to buy back; someone took it from you and you are going to go and re-buy it. 

You may already see where this word study is going: the normal word to express physical or spiritual redemption has to do with a loosening or an untying (Jeremiah 15:20 tells us that God will loose/redeem Israel from the grasp of the ruthless); however, in Galatians 3 and 4 Paul instead uses this word ex-agorazw of Jesus' taking us out from the curse of the law. When the law was given, the Hebrews were trapped in it, serving the law. Jesus came and bought us out from the law; instead of being mastered by the rituals, we are now adopted as sons, heirs to God's throne (Galatians 4:3-5).

Ephesians 5 turns a similar phrase to how we as believers and sons of God should operate with time. The days are evil, the devil still has dominion over nearly everything around us (Eph 2:1-3), but we have been bought out from this world into God's kingdom and we are now on His time. We should be focusing on giving light to the world, not becoming partners with the darkness.

Does this mean we are sinning when we watch TV, when we daddle on blogs (even blogs that talk about the Bible!), or when we just lounge around? I don't think so, but it does mean I am going to aim to be much more intentional with my time, to buy it back from the world's desires and instead seek to use it for good and God's glory. Even while in seminary, where it seems most of my free time (if I want to pass my courses and move on) is devoted to theological education that I know is so good for me, I realize it is still so easy to waste the precious resources I have been given. Time is a very valuable gift from God - may I always make the best use of it as the Lord wills.

A Revolution

My soul clings to dust; give me life according to your word! ... Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. Psalm 119:25,27

I apparently wrote this in a private email with a friend in 2007, referring to the time in my life when I was first getting serious about becoming a disciple of Christ:

Oh you mean 1 Corinthians 7? Yeah there's some intense stuff in there.
Basically what Paul is saying is that there's a lot of distractions
that come with being married and growing a family and whatnot. I think
the general principle to get out of that is that you're not ready to
date or anything until you're willing to stay single. On the side, I
remember that verse pretty well from the first time I read through the
Bible [in 2002, between 8th and 9th grades],
because I pointed it out to [other friend] as this revolutionary verse that
could change the way people think about relationships.

Who knew God's Word had such amazing advice? As a 14/15 naive, nerdy kid I hoped for such, but I had no idea the riches contained in the Bible. Now 8 years later, and it still amazes me every time I open it.

Parallel structure in Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:1-10 had long been a nice "power" passage for me, but it wasn't until about the 95th read through/study of it a few months ago that I noticed a nice parallelism in Paul's writing (also, I have a hard time remembering how to spell words with a mix match of single and double consonants. parralel? paralell? parrallell? accomodate? accooomadayteee?).

In verses 1-3, we have these indictments of we used to be before Christ:

• Dead through trespasses and sins. The word for dead is νεκρος - you are spiritually without a pulse. Grammatically I like to point out that this verse still applies even if you throw out half the Bible and don't believe in original sin; it's because of our individual sins we are dead, not because we are dead, therefore we sin. The law indicts us all.
• Following the course of this world, the prince of the air, ie, the devil. Notice Paul says this is an indictment of "all", even himself.
• Children of wrath. This is pretty intense, we were born dead, and into the family of wrath.

But then in one of Paul's usual epic, divine contrasts, "but God" steps in verse 4 and flips everything:

• Even while we were dead, God made us alive. I call grace the "spiritual defibrillator." You can't yell "clear" and throw on the pads yourself when your heart's stopped, God did that for you.
• Raised up with Christ and seated in the heavenlies - this is an interesting phrase which we can ponder the meaning of, but it stands directly opposite our previous position; instead of following this world and the prince of the "air," we now follow Christ who is in the heavenly places.
• We will be shown the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness, no longer bearing God's wrath. Praise Him who gives such grace to those who do not deserve it!

After a transitional statement about our workmanship and our purpose in God (v8-10), Paul presents another amazing study in contrast about the Gentiles place in Christ. He does not the inclusive "we" in this section since he was born into Judaism, but I think it's safe in most theological circles to assume that Jews post-Christ, unless they make a personal decision for Jesus, are no longer in the family (even if the Israelite nation is one day brought back to prominence in God's kingdom, its members will all be Christian), so this passage now applies equally well to all present day men and women.

We start with the before, v11-12:

• Separated from Christ.
• Alienated from the nation of Israel (God's chosen kingdom), strangers to the covenant.
• Having no hope, without God (literally, atheist).

And, the amazing after, v13 and following:

• Brought near. What brought us near? (Singing) "Nothing but the blood of Jesus."
• In peace, made us all one; the "dividing wall" is referring to the inability of Gentiles to enter the sacred parts of the temple in Jerusalem. We are now fellow citizens and saints in the household/body/building/temple of God.
• We have access now in one Spirit to the Father, through Jesus. What an amazing work of the Trinity!

quick and dirty: not man's praise

Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. 
(Romans 2:27-29 ESV)


I guess a real blog should actually say something, so here goes for a post. I started a new bible reading plan this week. I'm never good at keeping these things, so ask me how it's going in like 8 months. Then ask me again in like 5 years. But by then I'll already have a book deal and stuff so you won't need to ask, you could just pay $15 at Borders to find out.


Anyway, the reading plan is basically: read 10 chapters from all over the bible every day, in some random-systematic way that's supposed to show you how interconnected the meta-narrative of the Bible really is. (meta-narrative is your word of the day, look it up and use it in a sentence). Which means if I want to mini-sermon on a verse, which I always do, I will have no shortage of variety of material to choose from. Legit.


That brings me to the paragraph I quoted at the top from Romans. Here Paul is summarizing his thoughts on what makes a Jew a real Jew, and his main point is that circumcision is to be from the heart, not just physical. While it would be true to say that Paul, and basically all Orthodox Christianity, do not mandate circumcision for all believers (you could go to Acts 15, or just read Galatians), I don't think that's the point here. I think the final phrase is the kicker for Paul: His praise is not from man but from God. A gentile that underwent circumcision was not doing so to attempt to justify himself before God, that would be silly. He would be trying to justify himself before the Jews, gain acceptance in their circles. What is more important for the new gentile convert to do, Paul says, is to seek praise from God: to give Him all our mind and heart, which is 'spiritual' circumcision.


This is not strange to hear in churches and in Christian books and music, but a distinction I'd like to point out is that in not seeking praise from men, we still do not hold no rules. In living by the Spirit we do not abandon all letters. For who wrote the 'letter' (the same word translated commonly elsewhere as "Scripture") but the Holy Spirit? The gentile Christian may not need to mutilate his privates to gain favor with God, but he still must guard his way according to God's Word, or else it will become unpure (Ps 119:9)!


That's all for now. Maybe my next post won't be written devoid of sleep!