The Birth of the Bible and the Revision of History

Perhaps you have heard the claim that the Bible was put together by a church council sometime in the 400s. Often this is brought up by critics of the Bible in order to disprove the authority and trustworthiness of the Bible. However, such a statement is overly simplistic and actual fails to look at the facts. In a real sense it is a revision of history as it occurred. Anyone who makes such a statement needs to do their homework. It is unfair to Christians to have such a mischaracterization argued against them. The following are the facts that many neglect in their discussion concerning the development of the canon of Scripture. The term canon comes from a Greek word that means rod, measuring rule, standard. When speaking of the canon of Scripture we are identifying the books that serve as the standard of the Christian faith. Books standardized not by individuals, not by the church, and not by an ancient council but by God Himself.

The Church Does Not Define the Bible to Be God's Word, The Bible Defines Itself to Be God's Word
The reason that the Church identifies the Bible as the Word of God is because the Bible itself claims to be the Word of God. At least 3,808 times the Old Testament authors refer to a statement as being Thus said the LORD, indicating that these words belong to God and not the human author who recorded them. The prophets are described as having the word of the LORD coming down upon them before they spoke the words preserved for us in the prophetic books of the Old Testament (Jeremiah 1:1-2; Ezekiel 1:2-3; Joel 1:1; Hosea 1:1). The clear implication is that the prophets spoke what God had told them to speak and thus were delivering His message. This is the message written down in the books that bear their name.

The Apostle Paul states that All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). The all Scripture Paul refers to is the compilation of both the Old and New Testaments. The Greek word, graphe (Scripture), typically refers to written words. Paul consistently uses the word to refer to the Old Testament writings (Romans 1:2; 4:3; 9:17; 10:11; 11:2; 15:4; 16:26; 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4; Galatians 3:8, 22; 4:30; 1 Timothy 5:18). However, the New Testament authors themselves include each others' writings as the category of Scripture. For instance, Paul quotes a statement of Jesus' recorded by the author Luke and calls it Scripture in I Timothy 5:18. The quote is alongside one from Deuteronomy. Both the verse from Deuteronomy and the one from Luke's gospel are preceded by the statement For the Scripture says. With the two quotes connected by the Greek word for and (kai), Paul appears to identify both Deuteronomy and the Gospel of Luke as being Scripture. Luke's writing is deemed authoritative by Paul in teaching that elders should be paid for their service. Also, Peter explicitly labels Paul's letters as Scripture. He states that the untaught and unstable distort his writings as they do the rest of the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:16). So, according to Peter, Paul's letters are a part of Scripture. Furthermore, these letters were intended to be read aloud to the congregations and admonish them (Colossians 4:16).

Paul acknowledges that these Scriptures are God's very words. He describes them as God-breathed. The underlying Greek word, theopneustos, is a compound word consisting of God (theos) and breath (pneuma). It communicates God breathing out the Scriptures. Thus, the origin of Scripture is God who breathed them out and not man. Peter affirms Paul's point when he says knowing that first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). These men spoke from God not from their own will.

Further claims of the Bible being God's Word found within Scripture can be seen with the author of Hebrews in quoting Psalm 95. He does not even credit David as writing the poem but the Holy Spirit. In introducing a quote from the psalm, he states: Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says (Hebrews 3:7). He recognized that though David penned the words, the origin of them came from the Holy Spirit of God. Even Jesus identified the Old Testament as God's Word. He stated that David in the Spirit wrote about Him in Psalm 110 (Matthew 22:43-44).

So the definition of the Bible being the Word of God does not come from the Church or any Church Council for that matter. It comes from the Bible itself. Martin Luther put it well when he stated, "It is not the Word of God because the church says so; but that the Word of God might be spoken, therefore the church comes into being. The church does not make the Word, but it is made by the Word." If one wants to contend the truth of the Bible being the Word of God then they need to deal with the claims of the Bible itself.

The Councils Did Not Create the Canon, They Merely Confirmed the Canon
The claim that a council in the 400s created the canon of Scripture as we have it today is certainly unfounded. It would be equivalent to arguing that America was founded fully as a Christian nation. (While there are certainly Christian elements that can be found in the framing of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, one can also find secular humanist views and ideas of moralistic deism.) There is much more to it than simply claiming that the nation was established as a Christian nation. Likewise, there is much more to these councils than that they "created" the canon. It would be better to describe the councils as the process the church went through to "recognize" the canon. The disputes and discussions over what books should be included centered on whether or not the books were God's very words. The criteria that was looked for was whether the book claimed to be God's word, whether it was written by an apostle who would have been sent by God to write His words, and whether it was in accord with the teachings of the books that clearly were God's very words.

Interestingly, many of the books that did not become part of the Protestant canon do not even claim to be God's Word. For instance, the intertestamental 1 Maccabees 9:27 talks of how prophets (those who would have spoken for God) had ceased to appear among the nation of Israel. The book does not claim to be prophetic itself nor does it state that it serves as God's very words. Thus, the Church did not get together and arbitrarily decide that it was not to be included in the Bible. The book excludes itself from being included in God's Word. It also would exclude other books written contemporary to it since the time of prophets had be recognized as having ceased. The Jewish Talmud also indicated an ending to the time of the prophets after the writings of the Old Testament which would further exclude the later writings that comprise what is known as the Apocryphal (meaning hidden) books. It states "After the latter prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, the Holy Spirit departed from Israel." The churches of the time recognized these apocryphal writings not to be inspired as seen in their not treating them as such. It should also be noted that several of the apocryphal books contain historical errors and contradictions which would clearly indicate them not to be inspired.

An examination of the practice of most of the churches at the time of the councils in the 300s and 400s reveal that predominantly what was treated as God's Word in worship and personal study were the 66 books that we now hold in our hand as the Bible. While a few books were doubted early on, most churches were found to be in agreement later, indicating God's powerful hand of providence at work. Most of the writings that are not included in the Bible today, such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas, were never read in the churches or ever viewed as authoritative. Eventually the different churches all were identifying the same books as being canonical and thus communicating God's Word. Church leader Athanasius in 367 listed all 27 books of the New Testament as canonical before much of the councils that many erroneously claim determined the books that would be in the Bible. The council simply served as a statement that here are the books that are God's Word. J. I. Packer points out that "it seems that the process involved no more than the explicit recognition of an established state of affairs. It was not a case of imparting to a newly-made collection of books an authority which they had not had before, nor of reminding a forgetful generation what authority the earliest Christians had ascribed to apostolic writings" ("Fundamentalism" and the Word of God, 66). It would better be described as a process of discernment. With the growing persecution and the rising of heretics that promoted books certainly not demonstrating evidence of being God's Word, such a statement was necessary for clarity and to guard the Church from error. They wanted to make sure Christians did not begin to read the wrong books that were not of God and therefore not authoritative for their lives.

Much more could be said about this and many more specifics pertaining to the debates and discussions over what books were canonical or not could be given but this should suffice for now the point that it would be wrong historically to claim that the councils merely created the canon of Scripture that we have today. That would undermine the testimony of the books of Scripture themselves and the facts surrounding the councils. Let's not rewrite history to make a point but deal with the text of Scripture itself and why Christians really are convinced the Bible to be God's Word.

In Christ,
Lee
Soli Deo Gloria!

The Puzzle and Picture of Scripture

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. ~Genesis 3:15

Have you ever been studying the Bible and felt that it was one big puzzle? You read a passage and then become frustrated and scratch your head just to what it means. You drudge through the seemingly never ending hard to pronounce list of names in those numerous genealogies or muster the exhaustive and extensive details of how the tabernacle or Temple should be build and wonder just what is the point. You know that All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16) but you struggle with how that passage fits with the others or what it has been intended to teach you. You wind up with all of these puzzle pieces without any idea how they all fit together. When you put together any puzzle, you need to look at the picture on the top of the box to understand each piece’s meaning and how they fit together in light of the painting. The same can be said of Scripture. To understand each individual puzzle piece that we encounter, we need to first recognize the overarching picture of the Bible. We find that picture in one verse, Genesis 3:15.

In the midst of announcing specific judgments, God provides hope in a precious promise. Adam and Eve have just committed cosmic treason by disobeying God’s clear command not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent had talked Eve into the treacherous act and her husband, Adam, followed suit. Now God delivers punishment to each of the participants in the great sin. While cursing the serpent, God states that there will be enmity between his seed and the seed of the woman. Basically, that the descendants of the serpent and the descendants of the woman will not get along but constantly be at odds with one another. In fact, one of these seeds or descendants of the woman will bruise the serpent on the head. The idea is that of a crushing defeat; a knock out in a boxing match. The serpent will bruise the seed on the heel but will not be successful in defeating him. A bruised heel can be recovered from but a bruised head cannot. Thus, God promises one who will be born of a woman who will completely defeat the serpent, who is Satan himself (Revelation 12:9).

This one verse serves as the picture of the entire Bible. It would be what you would see on the top of the box of the puzzle. The One who serves as the Savior of His people by defeating Satan and the powers of sin and death that he holds. All of Scripture basically serves as the unfolding of this promise. It can be described as the thesis or purpose statement for the entire Bible. The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) and the historical books reveal God’s working to bring this seed through the chosen lineage as well as providing previews of the salvation that the seed will accomplish through dying in the place of those who will trust in Him. The tedious genealogies trace the seed’s coming and the numerous animal sacrifices indicated that someone would die in the place of the people for their sins. The Law points to the need of the seed since it reveals that none of us are perfect and thus cannot save ourselves since we all fall short of it. The prophets provide further information regarding the seed’s birth and work indicating that He will be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) and be God Himself (Isaiah 9:6). The Gospels and New Testament letters reveals this seed to have arrived and be named Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16, 21; Galatians 4:4-5) and show how He defeated the serpent through His death on the cross and bodily resurrection. They also indicate the change that the seed brings when one truly has embraced Him and trusted in Him and His work for their salvation.

So the next time that you are perplexed trying to make sense of a certain passage of Scripture that you are studying, consider how it contributes to the greater picture of God’s salvation through Christ and His death on the cross. The intended meaning may then become clear. You may see how the puzzle indeed fits after looking at the top of the box.

Love in Christ,
Pastor Lee

The President, So-Called Same-Sex Marriage, and the Bible

Last night Barack Obama made history as the first sitting president to publicly proclaim support for so-called same-sex marriage. This itself comes as no shock or surprise. The President has been hinting at making such announcements since running for office four years ago. Everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before he came out and made his statement yesterday. What is surprising though is the reasoning he gave for the "evolution" of his position. He states that "[Michelle and I] we are both practicing Christians and obviously this position may be considered to put us at odds with the views of others but, you know, when we think about our faith, the thing at root that we think about is, not only Christ sacrificing himself on our behalf, but it’s also the Golden Rule, you know, treat others the way you would want to be treated. And I think that’s what we try to impart to our kids and that’s what motivates me as president and I figure the most consistent I can be in being true to those precepts, the better I’ll be as a as a dad and a husband and, hopefully, the better I’ll be as president." Alongside experience (he also referred to homosexuals who work for him and how they conducted themselves in relationships with other homosexuals as well as some same-sex couple "parents" of friends of his children), he uses the Bible, particularly the teachings of Jesus, to justify the practice of so-called same-sex marriage.

The President claims that this apparently "new" position stems from Jesus' teaching in the "Sermon on the Mount" concerning what has been labeled the "Golden Rule." In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12). This certainly is a principle given by the Lord that one should live by. However, Jesus never intended it to serve as a rationale for something that would go against His Father's grand and perfect design. In using this verse to support so-called same-sex marriage, the President ignores Jesus' explicit teaching on marriage itself. When dealing with a question concerning divorce, Jesus affirms God's intention of marriage by quoting the definition that God Himself gave in Genesis 2:24. And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?" (Matthew 19:4-5). There can be no denying here that God distinctly created the two genders (male and female) to compliment one another and that marriage is instituted as a covenant relationship between one man and one woman. See here for my response to Newsweek a few years ago concerning the Bible's clear and consistent definition of marriage.

The President did to Jesus what is far too often done to him by the news media and his critics. He took one statement of Jesus and ignored other things that He taught. This is the equivalent of how one will take part of what the President said in a speech and criticize it without paying attention to what he said in the rest of the speech or what he has said in other speeches. In a sense, he did to Jesus what others have done to him.

The way that Mr. Obama used that principle taught by Jesus could be used similarly to justify other redactions of God's institution of marriage. One could say the same regarding polygamy. Why not grant those who desire to marry two or more women at one time the ability to do so legally if they love both or all of them since we would want others to allow us to marry who we desire? What about pedophilia and grown men marrying very young girls? Many pedophiles claim that they are born with such desires and that such attraction feels "natural" to them. Once one redefines marriage to suit one group what is to stop it from being redefined for another group?

Marriage is no trifling matter. The Creator established it and we as His creatures have no right to change it to suit our carnal desires. Furthermore, marriage serves as a visible picture to us of Christ's relationship with His Church (Ephesians 5:22-33). Any tinkering with the roles of manhood and womanhood within marriage or with what constitutes a marriage itself affects that picture.

The issue here is not so much that the President officially announced his support for so-called same-sex marriage but that he misquotes Jesus to back his position. That is what is frankly inexcusable.

In Christ,
Lee Smith
Soli Deo Gloria!

A Crisis in Contemporary Christian Music

The other afternoon while driving home from visiting with my grandparents I was shifting through the radio stations to find something to listen to. (Throughout my 70 mile drive between Cumberland, MD and Mt. Pleasant, PA I need to find a few different stations.) I came across a song which sounded like it was sung by the lead singer of a popular Christian band. However, the style of the song resembled something one would hear on a station that would be playing the likes of Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. In fact, I was unsure what type of station I had stumbled upon. I could not tell if I was listening to the "Newsboys" or a modern day equivalent of the "Backstreet Boys!" It was not until I heard the word "Christ" in the bridge at the end of the song that I deduced that I had indeed stumbled upon a Christian music station. Though I am very dismayed that it took me that long to decipher whether the song was a "Christian" song or not (and granted I may not be the brightest lightbulb in the chandelier sometimes). The more I listen to and take in much of what is termed "contemporary Christian music" today, the greater my concern grows. I fear that much of what we listen to on several Christian music stations has replaced genuine God-centered "worship" with me-centered shallow feel good sentimentalism.

A Few Disclaimers
Before I explain what I mean by this, let me issue a few disclaimers. I do listen to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM). I have listened to it since high school. I came to a point where I began to see how many of the country music songs that I predominantly listened to did not edify me much or contribute to my sanctification. A majority of them glorify drinking, cheating, or divorce. I wanted to follow Paul's instructions to Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth (Colossians 3:2). Switching my dial to the local Christian radio station was a way to do just that. (For the record, Country Music remains a bad habit that I still listen to. I love the sound of the steel guitar! However, what normally happens is that I will put up with a few songs until I hear one that repulses me so much that I refuse to listen again for a week or so.)

Also, note that my complaint does not include every singer or song that could be classified as being under the Contemporary Christian brand or label. I do believe that there are several notable exceptions to the common trend. Hence that is why artists such as Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, David Crowder Band, Rich Mullins, Keith Green, Aaron Shust, and Kristin Stanfill serve as some of my favorites. My issue is with the direction the genre generally is currently taking. I am not the only one who has such concerns with the current state of Contemporary Christian Music either. Here is Steve Camp's (a Christian artist himself) "A Call for Reformation In the Contemporary Christian Music Industry" with his 107 theses (beating Luther's by 8!): http://www.bargenquast.com/steph/theses/opening.html

Staying in the Shallow End of the Pool
A major problem in much CCM today is that the lyrics are really shallow theologically. If you compare many of the popular Christian songs on the radio today with the old hymns of the church you will find that the songs of today lack in rich theology. When was the last time you heard a song on KLove that emphasized the Trinity? That explained Christ's atoning work on the cross in terms such as "in my place condemned He stood"? How much can you learn about the Bible from some of these modern popular songs? From time to time I like to take one of the hymns and just meditate on the words. So many of the words are so rich theologically in reminding me of Who Christ is and what He accomplished on the cross it just moves me to worship. Not many of the current songs played on several Christian radio stations have that effect because theologically they are lacking.

The songs that we sing should have an educational value to them. Paul instructs us to Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God (Colossians 3:16). Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs are a way to let the word of Christ dwell in your richly. If the song barely mentions Christ, or worse yet, does not describe Him with the majesty and glory He deserves, it cannot let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.

The psalmist states that As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2). In his depression, the author longs for God. In fact, he ends his poem by encouraging himself to find his hope in God (v. 11). He did not need some pep rally to motivate him. He needed to be reminded that he could find his comfort in God. He needed the very One that he yearned for. Likewise, what we need more than anything else today is not a fluffy fun song to make us feel good but a song that explains and magnifies Who God is. That is what would fulfill our deepest longings yet it appears so absent in much modern Christian music.

It is Really All About Me Lord, Not You
Another growing issue with modern CCM is just how "me centered" it has become. The central focus is not on Who God is and how great He is and how wonderful and majestic is His grace but instead on how I can benefit from Him or how worthy man supposedly is. Compare the recent song by the group, MikesChair, "Someone Worth Dying For" with the old hymn, "Beneath the Cross of Jesus." The former song seeks to comfort its listeners by reminding them that they are "someone worth dying for." The latter actually emphasizes the fact that none of us are worth the sinless Son of God experiencing the punishment that we deserved for our sins. "And from my smitten heart, with tears, These wonders I confess: The wonder of His glorious love, And my unworthiness." One of these elevates man while the other elevates God. Which emphasis do you think honors God more?

So many Christian songs today are about our emotions and not as much about the one these emotions should be directed to. The thing is, worship is not primarily about our emotions. It is about God! It is not about how we feel. In essence, when we sing about how we feel towards God, we actually shift the focus away from God to us. The issue becomes not "how great Thou art" but "how wonderful I feel." Instead of singing about our emotions, we should more so be singing about God. He must be the center in every aspect of our worship, including the songs that we sing. It must all be all about Him and not about us.

A Romance With Jesus
I think the worst element in the modern day CCM movement is how it has "romanticized" Jesus. If you replace the word "Lord" in many modern Christian songs with "baby," the words still make perfect sense. That is a scary thought! What happened to Jesus' holiness? What every happened to Him being Lord and worshiped? It is an affront to Jesus to sing to Him as if He were equal to our significant other. He must be seen and treated as greater than anyone or anything else. In a sense, we bring Jesus down to our level instead of exalting Him to where God the Father has lifted Him to. It is degrading to Him to sing of Him being our "home boy" or "best bud." Jesus must be honored as being holy and Lord or He is not honored at all.

If we are singing to a holy God, should not the songs we sing be holy? The word "holy" itself basically means "set apart." So the songs we sing should thus be "set apart" from those of the world. The world should not be comfortable with Christian music because the world hates Christ. The lyrics should be exalting Christ where the believer is moved to worship and the unbeliever repulsed unless the Holy Spirit uses the song to convict him and open his or her eyes to see the beauty of Christ and move them to embrace Him. An unbeliever should not gladly sing a Christian song if he or she truly pays attention to the lyrics. Yet, some Christian songs also double as top ten pop hits! The church has begun to become so much like the world that not even is there much difference in the message in their respective music. This should not be.

I am not calling for a boycott of Christian music but a reformation of it. The church is resembling more and more of the world and less and less of Christ. Oh for songs that would glorify God and edify His saints!

In Christ,
Lee
Soli Deo Gloria!!!

Christ and Him Crucified

And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
~1 Corinthians 2:1-2

The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian church that his preaching to them when he had been with them was not with fanciful words nor persuasive language. He did not try to manipulate them with the way he communicated. There were no special effects or cleaver gimmicks in his presentation. Instead, his focus centered on the message itself. He preached the word of the cross (1:18), the truth of Christ dying on the cross to suffer the punishment of those who would place their faith in Him so that they would be saved. He describes this message as being foolish to unbelievers but the power of God to those who are saved (1:18, 23). Recognizing the transforming power of the message of Christ and His crucifixion, he centered his preaching on Christ and Him crucified.

Notice that Paul’s message was very exclusive. He resolved to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. He did not focus on the contemporary debates of the day, the popular entertainment from the theater, or how one can have their “best life now.” All of Paul’s teaching and preaching revolved around Christ and His work on the cross. This doesn’t mean that the cross was all that he talked about. He discusses marriage later on in this letter as well as spiritual gifts. However, everything he preached and taught were done so in light of the cross. He realized that to have a godly marriage, you have to first understand Christ’s work on the cross that would enable you to have such a marriage because you cannot have that kind of marriage without Him and the work that He accomplished on the cross. In fact, you will notice that in many of Paul’s letters he begins with doctrinal teaching of Jesus’ salvation accomplished on the cross and then moves to the practical way that His work should factor into and influence a Christian’s work. (Compare Romans 1-11 and 12-16; and Ephesians 1-3 and 4-6.) Paul didn’t provide the Corinthian church with a “twelve step plan to recovery” for anything they were going through. Instead, he just points to Christ and His work as the ultimate remedy for whatever the problem may be and shows how that should affect their life. Of course, our ultimate problem is a spiritual one and unless we come to Christ for the forgiveness that He provides though His sacrificial death, and the life changing power of His Holy Spirit, other issues can never be solved. Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross even serves as the centerpiece of the Bible. The authors of the Old Testament pointed forward to it and the writers of the New Testament looked back to the event.

Too often today the cross becomes just a meaningless symbol. We wear it around our neck or have it pasted to our shirt without any passing thought of the very One who hung on that cross to save wretched sinners who cry out to Him. Have we lost the focus on the cross that the apostle had? Have we grown too preoccupied with the world that we no longer cherish the “old rugged cross” that we sing about?

For the Christian, the event of the crucifixion of Christ can never be viewed as something meaningless and irrelevant. In fact, nothing can be described as more meaningful or relevant. It is because of Christ and His crucifixion that we are saved, that we can be viewed as righteous by God, and that we can have a relationship with God.

This Lenten and Easter season, let us not forget about the cross. May we not lose sight of the salvation secured on that cross. Take some time this month to study and reflect upon Christ’s work on the cross: Paul’s central message, the centerpiece of the Bible, and the foundation of our salvation. May we determine to focus on Christ and Him crucified.

The church can only live and breathe at the cross; without it, there is no life and reason to exist.
~Erwin Lutzer

Love in Christ,
Pastor Lee

It is Finished!

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, "I am thirsty." A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
~John 19:28-30

Lent is a season that should specifically remind us of what our focus should continually be upon; Christ and His crucifixion. Just as Jesus When the days were approaching for His taking up, He set His face to go to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51) for the anticipation of His death on the cross, we should also be setting our face towards the cross during this time as well as every day. The significance of one of the last words that Jesus uttered while dying on the cross can serve as a good reminder of the importance of the reason behind our celebration.

The great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon, has commented on this word that it "would need all the other words that were ever spoken, to explain it . . . It is altogether immeasurable. It is high; I cannot attain to it. It is deep; I cannot fathom it." The word in which I am referring is the Greek word tetelestai. It is rendered in most English translations as It is finished. This is one of seven utterances that Jesus made while hanging on the cross. He would have said this with His very last breaths. It is the last thing that He says before willingly giving up His life.

Mission Accomplished
The Greek term literally means bring to an end, finish, complete, accomplish. It conveys the idea of carrying out a task. It is what one would say triumphantly after laboring hours or days at something and now having finished it. In fact, Matthew and Mark indicate that Jesus said this with a loud voice or cry . This served as a cry of victory and not defeat.

Notice too that Jesus did not say I am finished but it is finished. He was not simply indicating that His life was over or that His end had come. The it referred to His mission, not Himself.

What was this mission? It doesn't take long for us to go through the Gospels to find out. In the opening chapter of Matthew's gospel, we read the angel who appeared to Joseph tell him regarding Mary that She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). His mission was to save His people from their sins. In fact, Jesus' very name indicates His mission. In Aramaic, Jesus is Yeshua, which means Yahweh is Salvation or Yahweh Saves. Jesus Himself stated that He did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). His mission was to save His people from their sins by giving His life as a ransom. He came to live the obedient life that Adam didn't live and die to experience God's full wrath on the cross in place of those who would trust in Him. A wrath that He did not deserve because He was sinless but that everyone of us does deserve because of Adam's sin and our many sins. He came to serve as a substitute. This was the mission that He declares accomplished. The ransom had been made and the substitution complete.

Mission Fully Accomplished
This Greek word is an extensive perfect, which means that it conveys a full completion of the task at a specific point in the past. One could actually translate it as It has been finished. There is a finality to Christ's work of redemption that He accomplished on the cross. The work had now been "fully finished" and "completely completed." In fact, this Greek word, tetelastai, was often used in the marketplace during the time of Christ's life. It would be stamped upon a receipt after a purchase of a good to indicate that the transaction had been "paid in full." The debt of sin had been "paid in full" by Christ's death on the cross. All of the sins of those who would trust in Christ were paid for; whether they were past, present, or future.

This means that nothing more needs to be done pertaining to our redemption. There is nothing that we can add to Christ's already completed work. We cannot add our own works. In fact, to do so would be to say that the cross was meaningless and that Christ's work had not been sufficient. Former president George W. Bush has stated that one of his regrets during his time in office was giving a speech after the Iraq insurgency in front of a banner that stated: "Mission Accomplished." This communicated to the American people that the work had been done in Iraq when as we all now know, much more work needed yet to be done. However, Christ could loudly declare "Mission Accomplished" as His mission had been fully accomplished. Nothing more needed to be done for those who would by God's grace be brought to Him. He did all that was necessary. This truth is communicated well by the author of Hebrews when he writes Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins of all time, sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:11-12). The Old Testament priests were never allowed to sit down when they were doing their duty of offering the annual sacrifice for their people. This was symbolic of the fact that their work was not done. The sacrifice offered would only symbolically cover the sins of the previous year. They would have to enter into the "holy of holies" once again the next year for the sins of that year. However, Jesus is said to sit down as His work was finished when He offered Himself as the perfect and final sacrifice. No other sacrifice for sin was needed after His death. His cry from the cross communicated this.

We celebrate the finished work of Christ. We celebrate the work of redemption that He has accomplished that Friday on Calvary. Praise God that Christ's work is finished! Let's make sure that we trust the One whose work has been accomplished and live as if it has been complete by not trying to add our own works to the salvation equation.

Lifted up was He to die,
"It is finished," was His cry;
Now in heav'n exalted high:
Hallelujah what a Savior!

In Christ,
Lee
Soli Deo Gloria!

A Wonderful Prayer to Pray

O our God, will You judge them? For we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are on You.
~2 Chronicles 20:12

King Jehoshaphat did not know what to do and was afraid. He had just received word that A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, out of Aram and behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar (that is Engedi) (2 Chronicles 20:2). A coalition of the Moabites, Ammonites, and the Meunites were moving in fast to attack the nation of Judah. They had just come around the south of the Dead Sea and were in perfect range to head North to Jerusalem for a straight forward attack. Since the armies of the three of these nations banded together, the multitude might have been fairly large. Anyone of us in a similar situation as Jehoshaphat might have been fearful as well. I'm not sure how large these armies were but clearly Judah was outnumbered. However, in light of the size notice the king's response.

Jehoshaphat didn't let his fear drive him to run away or admit defeat in the face of what looked to be an insurmountable challenge ahead. Instead, he set his face (the literal Hebrew) to seek the LORD (2 Chronicles 20:3). He then called all the people of Judah to fast so the nation as a whole would seek God in this massive time of distress. He went to the LORD for help. He didn't seek to come up with a foolproof strategy of how his smaller army might beat the odds. He knew better. He knew that God served as the people's only hope. This is a good example of someone who modeled Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. So often when we are surrounded by a multitude of problems or burdens, we allow our fear to direct us to flee or we try to handle the challenges ourselves when instead the fear should drive us to our knees like it did Jehoshaphat. While on his knees, Jehoshaphat delivers a powerful prayer that could serve as a great guide for us when we find ourselves in a similar situation and are afraid of a multitude that may be plaguing us.

He starts the prayer recognizing that God is sovereign and omnipotent (v 6). You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. One of the greatest confidences we have is that God is in full control of everything that happens in the universe. There is not one stray molecule outside His sovereign will. In fact, Jesus tells us that not one sparrow will fall to the ground apart from your Father (Matthew 10:29). No matter what happens, God is in charge and knows what He is doing. The situation that Jehoshaphat faced was not a mystery to God or out of His control, just as any situation you may find yourself in is not either. Also, Jehosphaphat recognized that God is omnipotent, meaning that He is "all powerful." In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. There is nothing too hard for God. Jehoshaphat rested in the fact that He was addressing One who could handle the threat that he faced. No burden can be described as heavier than God. Likewise, never forget that you are talking to the Almighty and All Powerful God when you pray. He is in control and omnipotent and should be addressed as such.

Jehoshaphat then recounts God's faithfulness in the past as part of His covenant He made with the nation and His ongoing promise to them that they would have an inheritance in the land of Canaan (vv 7-9). Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend? (v. 7). Just as God has helped the people before, he is certain He will again. He also knows that the Lord will keep all His promises, including the one that He had made with them. God had been faithful in the past and he recognized that God would be faithful concerning their present situation. No matter what you are going through, think back about how God has been faithful to aid you in the past and be encouraged that the same faithful God can work in current situation as well. This is what we see Jehoshaphat do when facing this fierce multitude.

The king then requests God's help to protect the people from the threat (vv 10-12a). He calls for God's judgment on the people's behalf. O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? (v. 12a).

He reports his dependence upon God (v. 12b). The king acknowledges how much they needed God and could not handle the situation on their own and in their own strength. The heart of the reason for the prayer was because we are powerless before this great multitude who are coming against us (v 12). Jehoshaphat knew that the people did not stand a chance on their own without God. He also realized that he had no clue how to handle the situation. nor do we know what to do. The one thing he did do was to focus on God; but our eyes are on You. He knew the only one who could help him in this time of trouble was the Almighty God who had looked out for them all this time. The essence of prayer is confessing to God our helplessness and desperate need of Him. This glorifies God as He enjoys aiding His people and displaying His majesty to demonstrate His goodness and mercy.

God was gracious and answered Jehoshaphat's prayer. God fought the battle for the people. The Lord spoke through a man named Jahaziel and said, Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's (v 15). He actually confused the opposing armies and had them take care of each other! The Israelites did not even have to lift a sword!

This is a wonderful prayer that many of us would do well to pray. We often find ourselves "powerless" facing the multitude of things that come our way. Maybe not necessarily a physical army like King Jehoshaphat faced but a multitude of problems and burdens that we feel we just can't bear. We find ourselves in a place where we don't know what to do. Thus, we need to ask God to handle the matter just as Jehoshaphat did upon the threat of the coalition of armies moving closer to Jerusalem. While we are lost concerning the right direction to go, we need to keep our eyes on Him. It is when we seek the Lord and admit that we are powerless that He takes over the battle for us and insures the victory. Then we can say the battle is not yours but God's and praise God for the victory that He will bring.

If you are facing such a multitude, maybe its time for you to follow Jehoshaphat's example and seek God, admit your helplessness, and give the battle to Him. I know I will be spending some time seeking Him for help with some of my multitudes!

In Christ,
Lee