Sunday, May 30, 2010
Wet
Life isn't always easy. There would be times when the road would be slippery and we all feel anxious driving on a crooked lane lubricated by the angry rain. There were times when I had to walk the five kilometer distance between my place and my school when two big wheeled cans would reenact the Twisted Metal game, causing disturbances along the narrow highways of our country. Life wasn't really meant to be easy. I have to admit, I myself have ran from the bites of life a lot of times, I mean, LOTS OF TIMES. And tonight, my calm has been disturbed again. Surely, the next days, my face would show forced smiles again. This storm is so frightening and I can't help but cover my face again. Fear is slowly eating my soul, and I can't help but wrestle with the Master Gardener. Only under the care of my Master can I actually rest. The storm might bring more rain, but His hands are strong enough to cover me with His big umbrellas, big enough to cover five thousand people eating loaves of bread and pieces of fish. And every time this rain comes, He will surely run to stretch His arms wide to carry His umbrellas. There were times though when He would just watch at me getting wet and for whatever reason, He's smiling, He's smiling at that scene. Me, getting wet all over. But there's one thing that is always sure, He'll never allow me to be totally soaked in the flood for a long time. When the flood rises too much, with a loud voice, I will surely hear Him say, "Be still!", and the flood will subside, the storm will die down. And this is what removes a forced smile on my face. Whenever I recall how this Gardener has worked to keep me safe and pleasant to Him, fear flies away. No matter how terrorizing the storm is, I can always be still, because my Gardener can do, and will do everything to keep His front lawn pleasant to His eyes. In this, I will have to say, life may not be easy, but the Creator assures us of a life worth living. So I won't mind being stepped on again..
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Romans 13:1-7 and the Philippine Election
God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, has ordained civil magistrates, to be, under Him, over the people, for His own glory, and the public good: and, to this end, has armed them with the power of the sword, for the defence and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil doers.(Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXIII. 1).
I voted for Manny Villar. And the moment I announced my support for the senator, my own family showed disgust over my decision. I have to admit, the sentimental value of the Filipinos for Cory and Ninoy was so overwhelming that most wanted Noynoy for no objective reason. They wanted Noy, and they were not wrong in their candidate. He is winning, though the proclamation is not yet announced, he is obviously winning now. My reaction, simple, submit to the new governing body. I honestly and personally do not believe in the competence of Senator Aquino but if he would be the one about to take shelter at Malacañan, then I have no more questions. I cannot make objections against the will of the sovereign God who establishes every kingdom, every government and every authority.Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. The government was instituted by God to bring His will down to us. They might be some unlikely events but the bottomline is it will still end up glorifying God. Therefore, Give everyone what you owe him (government): If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
I voted for Manny Villar. And the moment I announced my support for the senator, my own family showed disgust over my decision. I have to admit, the sentimental value of the Filipinos for Cory and Ninoy was so overwhelming that most wanted Noynoy for no objective reason. They wanted Noy, and they were not wrong in their candidate. He is winning, though the proclamation is not yet announced, he is obviously winning now. My reaction, simple, submit to the new governing body. I honestly and personally do not believe in the competence of Senator Aquino but if he would be the one about to take shelter at Malacañan, then I have no more questions. I cannot make objections against the will of the sovereign God who establishes every kingdom, every government and every authority.Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. The government was instituted by God to bring His will down to us. They might be some unlikely events but the bottomline is it will still end up glorifying God. Therefore, Give everyone what you owe him (government): If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Ephesian Doxology
Congratulating God
Ephesians 1:3-23 is a single sentence in Greek, often called a doxology because it recites what God has done and is an expression of worship to honor him. It starts with the word “Blessed”. The CEV (Contemporary English Version) renders it as “praise” but I would like to use Dr. John Gill’s explanation. “God is neither to invoke nor confer a blessing on him; for there is none greater than he to be called upon; nor does he need anything, nor can he receive anything from his creature; but it is either to congratulate his greatness and goodness, to ascribe blessing, glory, and honour to him, or to give thanks unto him, both for temporal and spiritual mercies.” It is a congratulatory address to God the Father, who has effected us with every spiritual blessing specially the blessing of being redeemed. God is to be congratulated, He should be greatly appreciated because His resolve was ultimately efficient and effective. And there is nothing on earth can change the course of his resolve. As Jesus said, “It is finished!”. It is done then. His way was already successful even if decades would run into being before actually realizing the fulfillment of all things. After all, God isn’t bound by time. Therefore, God authored our lives and He should be thanked for giving us life.
Redemption and Adoption
At verse 4-5, Paul tells us that God chose us not by our own hands but all by virtue of God’s overflowing love. He adopted us as sons, making us holy and blameless. Through the blood of Jesus did we have the forgiveness of our sins. During the time of the writing of the Epistle to the Ephesians, the redeeming of slave was a common practice. Therefore, it was of big deal to the early church that Paul used the word redeem or redemption. We were formerly enslaved by sin and were bound to death. But Christ’s death was the ransom used to pay off our death penalty. This redemption frees us from the penalty, but the adoption promises us a life of holiness. The sealing of the Holy Spirit was the pledge of God’s inheritance to His elect. He granted us the Holy Spirit who freed us from our total inability to seek God. As a part of His family, we are now recipients of this inheritance. These two words aren’t done in an orderly manner. Because when God redeemed us, He already adopted us. After all, as what verse 4 speaks, God chose us before the creation of the world. Therefore, we had been redeemed and adopted in the heart of God even before the earth began to exist.
The Centrality of Christ
In the entire passage, the Trinity was ever-present. From the Father creating and bestowing blessings, to the Son redeeming and the Holy Spirit Sealing, the Triune God was ever appreciated and praised. However, when Paul prayed at verses 18-22, he asked God to reveal unto the Ephesian Church the Hope of their calling, the Riches of the Glory of the Inheritance of the Saints and the surpassing greatness of God’s power all in accordance to God which He brought in Christ. And when he sat back at the right hand of the Father, all authorities became subject to Him. He is the head of the Church and His fullness dwells in us, His body.
The Reason for Everything
When I was eleven, I went to a retreat camp and I have to admit, it was the beginning of the realization that I am a redeemed and an adopted son of the Lord. But one thing that stuck with my mind was the reason I was “forced” to “receive Christ in my heart”. The staff planned a real-time drama rapture stuff. Since I was only eleven, fear struck my heart. I feared being left behind, I feared being thrown away in the lake of fire. To cut it short, “fear” led me to Christ. Time passed along those days and I became a member of what our local church called the communicant class. I learned from that class that God was a loving God and He wants to save my soul from hell. The thoughts of a majestic celebration when one comes back to God were so overwhelming. These were also reaffirmed and reinforced by the family. But time came when my life had to choose the worldly side, leaving my faith behind. The reason I am stating this is though parts of the learning I had were true, they were only relatively true. God saving people was a very great thing. It is indeed something to be celebrated about. But the thing lost here is what the passage has been talking about. It was stated thrice when concluding for an action of the Lord “to the praise of His glory” or “to the praise of the glory of His grace”. The redemption and adoption stuff were all executed not to give us happiness but to praise the glory of the Lord. The excitement, the happiness and security that we have are all based from the glory of the Lord. Yes, the Lord loves us so why He saved us. But still, that love is an overflow of His delight to His own glory. As what John Piper wrote in his book, “The chief end of God is to glorify God by enjoying God forever.”
Ephesians 1:3-23 is a single sentence in Greek, often called a doxology because it recites what God has done and is an expression of worship to honor him. It starts with the word “Blessed”. The CEV (Contemporary English Version) renders it as “praise” but I would like to use Dr. John Gill’s explanation. “God is neither to invoke nor confer a blessing on him; for there is none greater than he to be called upon; nor does he need anything, nor can he receive anything from his creature; but it is either to congratulate his greatness and goodness, to ascribe blessing, glory, and honour to him, or to give thanks unto him, both for temporal and spiritual mercies.” It is a congratulatory address to God the Father, who has effected us with every spiritual blessing specially the blessing of being redeemed. God is to be congratulated, He should be greatly appreciated because His resolve was ultimately efficient and effective. And there is nothing on earth can change the course of his resolve. As Jesus said, “It is finished!”. It is done then. His way was already successful even if decades would run into being before actually realizing the fulfillment of all things. After all, God isn’t bound by time. Therefore, God authored our lives and He should be thanked for giving us life.
Redemption and Adoption
At verse 4-5, Paul tells us that God chose us not by our own hands but all by virtue of God’s overflowing love. He adopted us as sons, making us holy and blameless. Through the blood of Jesus did we have the forgiveness of our sins. During the time of the writing of the Epistle to the Ephesians, the redeeming of slave was a common practice. Therefore, it was of big deal to the early church that Paul used the word redeem or redemption. We were formerly enslaved by sin and were bound to death. But Christ’s death was the ransom used to pay off our death penalty. This redemption frees us from the penalty, but the adoption promises us a life of holiness. The sealing of the Holy Spirit was the pledge of God’s inheritance to His elect. He granted us the Holy Spirit who freed us from our total inability to seek God. As a part of His family, we are now recipients of this inheritance. These two words aren’t done in an orderly manner. Because when God redeemed us, He already adopted us. After all, as what verse 4 speaks, God chose us before the creation of the world. Therefore, we had been redeemed and adopted in the heart of God even before the earth began to exist.
The Centrality of Christ
In the entire passage, the Trinity was ever-present. From the Father creating and bestowing blessings, to the Son redeeming and the Holy Spirit Sealing, the Triune God was ever appreciated and praised. However, when Paul prayed at verses 18-22, he asked God to reveal unto the Ephesian Church the Hope of their calling, the Riches of the Glory of the Inheritance of the Saints and the surpassing greatness of God’s power all in accordance to God which He brought in Christ. And when he sat back at the right hand of the Father, all authorities became subject to Him. He is the head of the Church and His fullness dwells in us, His body.
The Reason for Everything
When I was eleven, I went to a retreat camp and I have to admit, it was the beginning of the realization that I am a redeemed and an adopted son of the Lord. But one thing that stuck with my mind was the reason I was “forced” to “receive Christ in my heart”. The staff planned a real-time drama rapture stuff. Since I was only eleven, fear struck my heart. I feared being left behind, I feared being thrown away in the lake of fire. To cut it short, “fear” led me to Christ. Time passed along those days and I became a member of what our local church called the communicant class. I learned from that class that God was a loving God and He wants to save my soul from hell. The thoughts of a majestic celebration when one comes back to God were so overwhelming. These were also reaffirmed and reinforced by the family. But time came when my life had to choose the worldly side, leaving my faith behind. The reason I am stating this is though parts of the learning I had were true, they were only relatively true. God saving people was a very great thing. It is indeed something to be celebrated about. But the thing lost here is what the passage has been talking about. It was stated thrice when concluding for an action of the Lord “to the praise of His glory” or “to the praise of the glory of His grace”. The redemption and adoption stuff were all executed not to give us happiness but to praise the glory of the Lord. The excitement, the happiness and security that we have are all based from the glory of the Lord. Yes, the Lord loves us so why He saved us. But still, that love is an overflow of His delight to His own glory. As what John Piper wrote in his book, “The chief end of God is to glorify God by enjoying God forever.”
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
