Jesus, Our Sabbath Rest

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. (He 4:9–10)

Pastor Mark Preus is a hymnist of high caliber. Recently, he posted the following on Jesus as our sabbath rest. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Lord Jesus, Be My Sabbath Rest

1. Lord Jesus, be my Sabbath rest
For body and for spirit;
The soul to whom You speak is blessed,
And will Your peace inherit;
Have mercy, Christ, and come, draw near
To open now my heart to hear.

2. Your Sabbath Day is still profaned
When we love work and leisure
And think our faith could be sustained
While we serve care and pleasure,
Avoiding preaching of Your Word
For worldly work and its reward.

3. But for this sin Jerusalem
Was brought to sad destruction;
Though many years You called to them,
They shunned Your Word’s protection,
And scorned their loving Shepherd’s rod,
And lied when they called You their God.

4. Lord, it is this idolatry
That I find in me living;
Ignoring You and loving me
No rest to me is giving –
When sin is what I labor for,
I only serve sin even more.

5. It’s not in keeping outward rules
That I could end this labor;
I cannot find in me the tools
To love You and my neighbor,
Since there is rest in love, I know,
But only You this love can show.

6. The Sabbath knows You as its Lord,
Since You obeyed the Father,
When all our work on you was poured,
Since You became our Brother
To offer pure and sinless hands
To do the work the Law demands.

7. What is this pouring from Your side
Into my weary spirit?
What are these words that You once cried?
My heart so longs to hear it!
“It’s finished! All your work is done –
Now claim the rest My death has won.”

8. The water quenches all my thirst,
Your blood now teaches Abel
To sing to all in Adam cursed,
“Come, sit at Jesus’ table
To find forgiveness for your sin,
And rest from all regret within.”

9. Lord Jesus Christ, our Sabbath rest,
Still speak, our faith sustaining,
Till all your saints will have possessed
The rest that is remaining,
When as we rise we hear Your voice,
“All things are ready! Come, rejoice!”

Believers and Christ in Revelation

Overcoming Believers	Overcoming Christ
Eat of the tree of life (2:7)	The "water" of the tree of life comes from his throne (22:1-3)
Not be hurt by the second death (2:11)	Holds the keys of death (1:18)
Will be given new manna and a new name (2:17)	Is the new manna (cf. John 6) and has the greatest name (22:12-13)
Will be given authority over the nations as Christ was given from his Father (2:27-28)	Has the authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords (17:14; 19:16)
Will not have name erased, but Christ will confess it before the Father (3:5)	Christ decides whose names will be confessed before the Father (3:5; cf. 1:18; 2:7; 22:12)
Will be made a pillar in God's temple (3:12)	God and the Lamb are the temple (21:22)
Will be given a place to sit on Christ's throne as he overcame and sat on his Father's throne (3:21)	Receives universal worship while sharing his Father's throne, which is the throne of God and the Lamb (5:12-14; 22:3)

Robert M. Bowman & J. Ed Komoszewski, Putting Jesus in His Place

The Paradoxical Person

God …	But Christ …	And Yet He …
Is eternal (Psa 90:2; Isa 43:10)	Was born (Matt 1:18)	Always existed (John 8:58; Col 1:17)
Is immutable (Psa 102:26-27)	Grew (Luke 2:40, 52)	Is also immutable (Heb 1:10-12)
Is omnipresent (Psa 139:7-10)	Was one place at a time (John 11:21, 32)	Could act from afar (John 4:46-54)
Knows all things (Isa 41:22-23)	Did not know the day or hour (Mark 13:32)	Knew all things (John 16:30; 21:17)
Is incorporeal (John 4:24)	Has a body (John 2:21; Col 2:9)	Cannot be seen (1 Tim 6:16)
Is not a man (Num 23:19)	Is a man (1 Tim 2:5)	Is also God (John 20:28)
Cannot be tempted (Jas 1:13)	Was tempted (Heb 4:15)	Could not sin (John 5:19)
Does not get tired (Isa 40:28)	Got tired (John 4:6)	Did all God’s will (John 17:4)
Cannot die (1 Tim 1:17)	Died (Phil 2:8)	Could not have his life taken (John 10:18)

Robert M. Bowman & J. Ed Komoszewski, Putting Jesus in His Place

Worshiping the Lamb on Equal Terms with God

If we go through the entire book of Revelation and examine all of its doxological material, we find an almost complete overlap in the honorific language directed to God and that directed to the Lamb (see table).  The overlap is not artificially perfect—“wealth” is directed to the Lamb and not to God, “thanksgiving” to God and not to the Lamb—but these differences seem inconsequential in light of the big picture.  Matthias Hoffmann, in his dissertation on the Lamb in the book of Revelation, rightly concludes, “Most of the predicates within the doxologies do not seem to distinguish God and the Lamb from each other, but rather express an equal status of both of them in general.”

By constructing such doxologies to God and Christ together, or even to Christ alone, the New Testament writers were exalting Jesus Christ to the very level of God.

Robert Bowman; J. Ed Komoszewski,

Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ

DOXOLOGIES TO GOD AND THE LAMB IN REVELATION

	God/One on the Throne	The Lamb	1 Chr 29:11-12
Worthy (axios)	4:11	5:9, 12
Blessing/Praise (eulogia)	5:13; 7:12	5:12,13
Honor (timē)	4:9, 11; 5:13; 7:12	5:12, 13	1 Chr 29:12
Glory (doxa)	4:9, 11; 5:13; 7:12; 19:1b	1:6; 5:12, 13
Dominion (kratos)	5:13	1:6; 5:13
Power (dunamis)	4:11; 7:12; 19:1b	5:12	1 Chr 29:11
Might (ischus)	7:12	5:12	1 Chr 29:11-12
Wealth (ploutus)		5:12	1 Chr 29:12
Wisdom (sophia)	7:12	5:12
Thanksgiving (eucharista)	4:9; 7:12	5:12
Salvation (sōtēria)	7:10; 19:1b	7:10

Lifting the Veil

Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.  But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.  (2 Cor 3:15-16)

The foretelling, of which we read in the Old Testament, has a veil on it, however; but when the veil is removed for the Bride, that is, for the Church that has turned to God, she suddenly sees Him leaping upon those mountains—that is, the books of the Law; and so on the hills of the prophetical writings. He is so plainly and so clearly manifested that He springs forth, rather than merely appears.  Turning the pages of the prophets one by one, for instance, she finds Christ springing forth from them and, now that the veil that covered them before is taken away, she perceives Him breaking out and emerging from individual passages in her reading, and bursting out of them in a manifestation that is now quite plain.

Origen of Alexandria, Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles

Great Person, Great Image

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  (Hebrews 1:3)

And for this reason also Paul calls Him “the brightness of glory,” that we may learn that as the light from the lamp is of the nature of that which sheds the brightness, and is united with it (for as soon as the lamp appears the light that comes from it shines out simultaneously), so in this place the apostle would have us consider both that the Son is of the Father, and that the Father is never without the Son, for it is impossible that glory should be without radiance, as it is impossible that the lamp should be without brightness.  But it is clear that as His being brightness is a testimony to His being in relation with the glory (for if the glory did not exist, the brightness shed from it would not exist), so, to say that the brightness “once was not” is a declaration that the glory also was not, when the brightness was not, for it is impossible that the glory should be without the brightness.

As therefore it is not possible to say in the case of the brightness, “If it was, it did not come into being, and if it came into being it was not,” so it is in vain to say this of the Son, seeing that the Son is the brightness.  Let those also who speak of “less” and “greater,” in the case of the Father and the Son, learn from Paul not to measure things immeasurable.  For the apostle says that the Son is the express image of the Person of the Father.  It is clear then that however great the Person of the Father is, so great also is the express image of that Person, for it is not possible that the express image should be less than the Person contemplated in it.

And this the great John also teaches when he says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.”  For in saying that he was “in the beginning” and not “after the beginning,” he showed that the beginning was never without the Word; and in declaring that “the Word was with God,” he signified the absence of defect in the Son in relation to the Father, for the Word is contemplated as a whole together with the whole being of God.  For if the Word were deficient in His own greatness so as not to be capable of relation with the whole being of God, we are compelled to suppose that that part of God which extends beyond the Word is without the Word.  But in fact the whole magnitude of the Word is contemplated together with the whole magnitude of God: and consequently in statements concerning the Divine nature, it is not admissible to speak of “greater” and “less.”

Gregory of Nyssa, On the Faith

The Great Reversal

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.  (Luke 1:32-33)

God often does things in a way that is completely opposite to human expectations.  We sometimes call this the Great Reversal.  Evident too in the individual lament psalms is the Gospel theme of the Great Reversal.  Psalms 22, 31, and 69 are all psalms of David, and the life of David offers many examples of reversal: the eighth and last don of Jesse became his foremost son; the shepherd boy was anointed by Samuel to shepherd Israel; the lightly armed youth slew the fearsome giant; the young man unjustly hunted by King Saul succeeded him as king; and while King David wanted to build a house for God, instead God established David's house (dynasty) to endure forever through the Son of David who would rule on the throne of David for eternity (Luke 1:32-33; 2 Samuel 7).

Arthur A. Just, Heaven on Earth, 121

Trust Me, I'm a Liar!

Image from The Peanut Gallery

Save, O Lᴏʀᴅ, for the godly one is gone;
    for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
    with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
 
May the Lᴏʀᴅ cut off all flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes great boasts,
those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
 
“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lᴏʀᴅ;
    “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”
The words of the Lᴏʀᴅ are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.
 
You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, will keep them;
    you will guard us from this generation forever.
On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.  (Psalm 12)

Men and women are forgetful.  They forget needful tasks, important dates, and where keys or glasses are laid; but most of all, they forget their God—forgetfulness from neglect.  In this psalm, King David lamented the widespread ruin in society.  Godly character was nonexistent.  People lied to one another regularly, even boasting of their own greatness, simultaneously deceiving and being deceived, and with inconsistency and instability holding opposing feelings towards the same object.  So degraded was the condition that

two people when talking to each other have exactly the same intention of deceiving the other.  In fact, both strive to get the better of the other by smooth and duplicitous speech: it is not that one tells lies and the other speaks in a trustworthy manner, nor that one party only is involved in deception—rather, the business of deceit is found equally in both.*

The people proudly declared themselves free from any authority that might be placed on them to curb their libertine use of language for self-interests.

Does this condition sound familiar?  We consider this conduct typical among political rivals.  Whether a congressional bill, a contract, or an international treaty or trade agreement, negotiators hammer out details to the advantage of the principal party represented.  However, the situation described in the psalm is much worse: it was occurring among God’s elect.  Those who knew the Law would have understood the Lawgiver’s standard of uprightness to be practiced among His people, yet here we have described what would apparently by those in authority performing the opposite.  David calls out to the Lord to cut off the language and the prideful condition behind it, and He responds.  In contradistinction to the false words of the haughty, the words of the Righteous One are pure and true.  Those abused and bereft because of the crafty, deceptive vocabulary are reassured by sure promises and faithful sayings: comfort and safety are found in them.  The haughty found strength in their own words; the humble found strength in God’s words, because they are founded in the Eternal One.

Evil men continue to decline as they follow after their own plans and pursuits.  Rather than running to the fount of forgiveness, they choose to pursue their own path and revel in their sin while maintaining a veneer of “religiousness.”†  The wicked seek to silence the righteous either by annihilation or assimilation into a man-made unity.  The Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, entered this world by taking on human flesh.  The living, active Word walked among us for a time and allowed sinful men to kill Him, so that He might redeem the world.  The One, whom a few attempted to expunge, became the very message proclaimed to the world: He died for your sin; believe it.  The world tried to eradicate righteousness personified and continue in its sin, but by the cross Jesus reconciled the world to God and God to the world.  They forgot the Word, but He did not forget them.  What men did from wicked motives, God worked for their salvation.


*  Theodore of Mopsuestia, Commentary on Psalms 1-81
†  Read the book of Malachi to see how this happened in Judah.

Our High Priest's Ministry, the Salvation of Men

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tabernacle that the Lord set up, not man.  (Heb 8:1-2)

He left till last the greatest honor, presenting Him seated at the right hand of the throne of majesty.  Aaron, the forebear of priests, remember, who was the first to receive the role of high priesthood, entered the divine sanctuary with fear and trembling, whereas this person has a seat at the right hand.  He included the word minister, of course, because he is treating of a high priest.  What ministry does He discharge after offering Himself once and for all, and no longer offering a further sacrifice?  How is it possible for Him at one and the same time to be seated and to minister?  Only if you were to say the ministry is the salvation of men, which He procures in lordly fashion.… It belongs to a high priest to offer gifts to the God of all.  It was for this reason that the Only-begotten became man, assumed our nature, and offered it for us.

Theodoret of Cyrus, “The Epistle to the Hebrews”

Confessing Jesus' Redemptive Work

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried.  He descended into hell.  The third day He rose again from the dead.  He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

For when we had been created by God the Father, and had received from Him all manner of good, the devil came and led us into disobedience, sin, death, and all evil, so that we fell under His wrath and displeasure and were doomed to eternal damnation, as we had merited and deserved.  There was no counsel, help, or comfort until this only and eternal Son of God in His unfathomable goodness had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness, and came from heaven to help us.  Those tyrants and jailers, then, are all expelled now, and in their place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness, every blessing, and salvation, and has delivered us poor lost men from the jaws of hell, has won us, made us free, and brought us again into the favor and grace of the Father, and has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection, that He may govern us by His righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and blessedness.

Let this, then, be the sum of this article that the little word Lord signifies simply as much as Redeemer, i.e., He who has brought us from Satan to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and who preserves us in the same.  But all the points which follow in order in this article serve no other end than to explain and express this redemption, how and whereby it was accomplished, that is, how much it cost Him, and what He spent and risked that He might win us and bring us under His dominion, namely, that He became man, conceived and born without sin, of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, that He might overcome sin; moreover, that He suffered, died and was buried, that He might make satisfaction for me and pay what I owe, not with silver nor gold, but with His own precious blood.  And all this, in order to become my Lord; for He did none of these for Himself, nor had He any need of it.  And after that He rose again from the dead, swallowed up and devoured death, and finally ascended into heaven and assumed the government at the Father's right hand, so that the devil and all powers must be subject to Him and lie at His feet, until finally, at the last day, He will completely part and separate us from the wicked world, the devil, death, sin, etc.

Martin Luther, Large Catechism: Apostle's Creed, 28-31

Getting Better News Than Could Be Imagined

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."  Luke 2:10-12

When an angel made the announcement to shepherds millenia ago, the good news of great joy was simple yet profound: unto you is born…a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Though there was nothing profound about a baby being born, on this particular night, a remarkable child came into this world.  He is a savior.  Israel was being occupied by the Romans,and the faithful were continually seeking for political freedom similar to the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes.  This desire was shortsighted, however, as God was intent on saving them body and soul by sending one who would save them from their sins (Matt 1:21).  To this end an angel told Joseph that this child was to be named Jesus (i.e., YHWH saves), evidently as a sign to the people.

The angel was not satisfied with making known a savior was born—by itself wonderful news—but he identified who that savior was.

Messiah.  Messiah means "anointed one," something that would happen to set aside someone for a special office or duty.  There was one particular anointed who was prophesied as God's unique individual to do his bidding and complete it fully for the sake of God's elect and overflow to all peoples of the world.

Lord.  This is probably the most remarkable aspect of this prophecy.  While most people will read the text and naturally assume that Christ the Lord means something akin to "the anointed one who sovereignly reigns," yet this only addresses one aspect of the matter.  The English translations lose something here that the shepherds would have understood the angel saying: God himself is the savior and messiah.

Luke's use of the word Lord helps to clarify the matter.  Just a cursory reading of the first two chapters of his gospel shows us that in every other case, Lord is intended to speak of God Most High, who by virtue of all that encompasses his being does sovereignly reign over all creation.  God the Son took to himself a human nature to make satisfaction for mankind's sin, as Tertullian comments:

He who was going to consecrate a new order of birth, must Himself be born after a novel fashion, concerning which Isaiah foretold how that the Lord Himself would give the sign.  What, then, is the sign?  "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son."  Accordingly, a virgin did conceive and bear "Emmanuel, God with us."  This is the new nativity; a man is born in God.  And in this man God was born, taking the flesh of an ancient race, without the help, however, of the ancient seed, in order that He might reform it with a new seed, that is, in a spiritual manner, and cleanse it by the removal of all its ancient stains.

On the Flesh of Christ, XVII

The one born to men is everything the people had hoped for and more, for "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."  (1 John 2:2)

Loving and Hating at the Same Time

Does God hate sin but love the sinner?  Most reading this post will answer that God certainly hates sin but loves the sinner because of the sacrifice of Jesus for the atonement of sin.  The typical expectation of God is that he is loving to all.  That hatred should never be attributed to his character manifests itself when dealing with the passage "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated" (Mal 1:2-3; Rom 9:13).  This disturbs the naïve believer and is generally softened by meaning teachers who say this is just a rhetorical device meant to compare God's intense love for the elect with his general love for the world at-large.

This comparative, though popular, is built on partial knowledge of scripture with buttressing of subjective reasoning.  Let's begin with a familiar passage.

Proverbs 6:16-19

There are six things that the Lord hates,

seven that are an abomination to him:

haughty eyes, a lying tongue,

and hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

a false witness who breathes out lies,

and one who sows discord among brothers.

Solomon appears to be making a clear delineation between the person and the act as the latter falls under God's condemnation, and rightfully so.  On the other hand, here are two passages that will give pause:

Psalm 5:4-6

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

    evil may not dwell with you.

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes

    you hate all evildoers.

You destroy those who speak lies;

    the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

 

Psalm 11:5-6

The Lord tests the righteous,

    but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Let him rain coals on the wicked;

    fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

Notice the difference.  No longer does the deed alone fall under condemnation, but the person who carries it through.  The texts are clear.

One attempt to harmonize the apparent dissonance is to say that this may have been true before the cross, but afterward, the Lord has a different outlook because sin has been dealt with.  God simply does not hate those who have not believed but lavishly demonstrates his patience and forbearance until they do.  This sounds good but is just a variation of wrong teaching espoused by Peter Abelard in the twelfth century: Jesus is the example of the fullness of God's love, not a substitute for sin.

There is no question that the "soft" divine attributes are actively used by the Trinity today, however that does not detract from the harsh realities of wrath and judgment that all men live under who do not believe.  The apostle Paul describes unbelievers as children of wrath (Eph 2:3) and enemies of God (Rom 5:10)—the latter expressing "not our enmity for God, but God's enmity toward us." *  We are left with the paradoxical state the God both loves and hates unbelievers.  How can this be resolved, if at all?

We are born into this world disobedient and living in our passions (Eph 1:2:3), giving no thought for God or his precepts.  All unbelievers are objects of wrath, though they may not comprehend their condition and need for a savior.  Conversely, we know God loves the world.  John 3:16-17 is a clear indicator that his love extends beyond the confines of his elect, resulting in the ultimate sacrifice for sin.  As mentioned before, God is long-suffering.  He waits to execute his full wrathful judgment until the person dies or the Lord Jesus returns to earth.  Yet for those who know the truth and yet still disbelieve, God shows himself to be openly hateful and yet patient until the proper time.  It is to these that God shows himself as a foe in full indignation and promise of retribution.

In the end, we need to understand that God hates sin and both loves and hates the sinner.  Scripture clearly teaches that those who remain in their sin die and are judged, while those who believe the love and grace available through Christ live eternally.


* Walter W. F. Albrecht, Does God Hate Sin or Sinners?, Essay Delivered To The Springfield Circuit Pastors’ and Professors’ Conference, April 20, 1953.  Accessed at SoundWitness.

Belittling Jesus Through Vain Speculations

Theologians in the academic realm are as susceptible to vain speculations as any other scholar.  Knowing the truth does not guarantee that it is believed, taught, or confessed.  The latest venture into this tomfoolery comes from Dr. Susannah Cornwall of Manchester University’s Lincoln Theological Institute, who is making the insinuation that Jesus may have been a hermaphrodite.  She admits that it is impossible to test this with scientific certainty:

However, I suggested, Jesus' maleness is simply a best guess.  We can't analyze Jesus' chromosomes, measure his hormone levels, examine his gonads and so on.  The majority of people who live, identify and are recognized as men are male, so in all likelihood, that was also the case for Jesus.

However, there is simply no way of being certain.

Dr. Cornwall is investigating the rhetoric "surrounding gender roles in the Christian churches" which assumes that "humans are clearly and definitively male or female, and should therefore have gender roles which appropriately 'match' their physical sex" and comparing that to her own studies of intersex conditions.  Her conclusions is to posit that Jesus' alleged maleness has no merit in the gender debate.


Claiming to be wise, they became fools … (Romans 1:22)