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Mary (Profiles in Christmas #3)

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INTRODUCTION

The godliness & virtue of Mary coupled with the profound significance of the task appointed to her of bearing God in the flesh in her womb, has led some to revere Mary in her own rite. But, when we look at her life, we must resist two temptations. One would be to overly reverence her (the Roman Catholic error), the other to disrespect her (the error of our irreverent age). She ought not be venerated, but rather, emulated.

THE TEXT

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:26-33).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The Angel Gabriel comes as one of God’s “mighty ones” to a virgin from Nazareth in Galilee. Two important descriptions are noteworthy: first, she is an espoused virgin; second, that she (as we saw with Joseph) was of the house of David (vv26-27). Gabriel’s greeting is packed with regal honorifics: she is hailed as with royal (not divine) honor, she is highly favored, the Lord is with her, and she is blessed among women (v28). While she is quite flummoxed by this greeting (v29), the Angel goes on to unfurl the most important tidings any Angelic messenger had ever given. Mary had found favor in God’s sight (like Noah, Abraham, and Moses); like all moments of redemption, this was God’s free grace at work (v30).

This Incarnation of God in the flesh was the crowning jewel of all of God’s grace towards man. Mary is told that she would conceive & give birth to a son, who should be named Jesus (v31). So far, nothing that abnormal. Human mothers had birthed human sons before. Angels had come with these sorts of messages before. Prophets had made these sort of predictions before.

But then the Angel sets forth the towering glories of this Son. In Mary’s Son all the Messianic glories are brought into full flower. Her Son would also be divine. He would be great, the Son of the Highest, the fulfillment of God’s messianic promise to seat an eternal heir on David’s throne (v32), He was the prophesied Star which would arise out of Jacob to reign unto endless eons (v33, Cf. Num. 24:17).

THEOTOKOS

As you recite the Definition of Chalcedon at Christmastime each year, you shouldn’t forget that almost every phrase in it was the topic of long debate. One of the principle debates was whether it was right to call Mary the “God-bearer”. The Greek word is theotokos. This debate centered on who Jesus was. Was He a Son of Man which God used? Was he the eternal Christ, but more of an apparition than a true human?

A few other suggestions were proposed: theotokos should be combined with anthropotokos, or Christokos. But by landing on calling Mary the God-bearer, the theologians of Chalcedon said more with less. It forced the Church to affirm the unity of the human & divine nature of Jesus Christ.

This isn’t just theological hair splitting; there are important practical implications, even if it gives us a bit of a headache in trying to get it pinned down. God the Son was manifested in the flesh. The Son never resigned His divinity while taking unto Himself true humanity.

If you erroneously split that theological atom, you end up with either a Christ who can’t suffer in our stead, or a mere man who can’t bring us up to glory. One is a ladder that isn’t tall enough, the other is a ladder that floats just out of reach. But theotokos puts both together. Jesus is God. Jesus is man. Mary bore God in her womb. Yes, this is mind-blowing. This was the most impossible thing to ever happen, and Mary herself knew it (Lk. 1:37).

GOD MY SAVIOR

One of the central errors of Mariolatry is that it neglects to reckon with Mary’s own words. This is seen particularly in her Magnificat. She describes there her wonder and worship at all that had befallen her in terms of fulfillment of OT types.

All the Psalmists’ pleas for God’s swift deliverance of His people (including Mary) are now answered. Mary sees Hannah’s exultation over her adversary (satan) played out once again in her own story, but cosmically, the woman’s seed overcoming the serpent’s seed. She sees that her Son is the Seed of Abraham, and this was the blessing for all the earth, for all generations.

She rejoices in “God my Savior.” She does not set herself above all others, but sets herself as the first blessed amongst all others who would receive this great blessing of the Savior. Mary needed a Savior. Later on in Jesus’ ministry, we also get a bit of a sense that Mary was pushing Jesus forward into being the sort of Savior she (as well as the other disciples) envisioned the Messiah would be. Simon surely prophesied well when he told Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul.

Mary was there when God first took on flesh, and she beheld when that flesh was hung––mangled and tortured–– upon a the accursed Roman tree. She understood, imperfectly at first, and then on Calvary she came to see more clearly, that her Son was also her Savior.

RECEIVING AS A CHRISTMAS VIRTUE

Generosity requires two parties: the giver & the receiver. One is active, the other is passive. Every gift we give is play-acting God’s creative power. It is He who made us and not we ourselves. Can the pot say to the Potter, “What gives?” Our modern world thinks that being can be taken for granted. Your existence isn’t your possession for you to do with however you please; it is a gift to be received and rightly used. All the modern jargon about “self-expression” & “finding your true self” is continuing the root rebellion of mankind.

Mary’s response is that of true faith: “Be it unto me according to your word.” Mary receives the unearned favor of God with humble faith. She doesn’t resist or object in doubt. She receives the gift. This sort of faith insults our modern egotistical age, and confronts it as a putrid rebellion against God.

What do you have that you did not first receive? Man wants to try to clean himself up to please God, before he receives God’s gift of cleansing. Man tries to reform himself, before receiving the reforming grace that God gives. Man tries to find rebirth in himself, before receiving the New Birth in Christ. The order matters, immensely. God casts His favor upon you, through no merit of your own, and calls you to receive it. Only then can you be remade.

ANOTHER REBELLIOUS MIRIAM

Mary’s namesake was Miriam, Moses’ sister. Her name meant resistant/obstinance. Miriam notoriously resisted Moses’ authority (Cf. Num. 12). Here we have a profound contrast between two Miriams. Mary the resistant, says, “let it be.” Mary receives grace, and so resists the proud.

By God’s grace, the rebellious become the receivers. This is how Mary, and all true believers, overcome the world. We receive in order to overcome our adversary. We who were once rebels of God, when we receive His gracious favor, we are made more than conquerors through Christ, the Son of Mary. The overthrow of Satan had begun, because Christ was born of Mary.

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Palm Sunday as Powder Keg

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INTRODUCTION

Over the years, I have mentioned a number of times that there is no good biblical reason to use the hosannas! of Palm Sunday and the crucify him! of the Passion account as proof of the fickleness of crowds. We have no reason for assuming that the make-up of the crowds was in any way identical. But because we are living in a time driven by mass movements, it is past time for to develop a theology of crowds. Given that America is filling up with competing mobs now, one of the things that believing Christians ought to do is go back to the Scriptures to see what we can learn about mobs. There is a great deal there, actually, and if we pay the right kind of attention, we can profit more than a little bit.

The Text

“And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? But and if we say, of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet” (Luke 20:5-6).

Summary of the Point

In our text, Jesus asked His adversaries what they thought of John the Baptist, who was a real dividing line. Jesus had cornered them by asking a question that forced them to choose between their own actions, and the hostile reactions of a very hostile crowd. All the people will stone us. A few verses down from this, we see that the Jerusalem elites were plotting against Jesus, and they thought they needed to deal with Him secretly because why? Because they were afraid of the people. Jesus was really popular with a lot of people who did not really grasp the implications of what Christ had come to do. “And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them” (Luke 20:19).

The gospel writers tell us this over and over. Two chapters later, the same thing is repeated. “And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people” (Luke 22:2). In the gospel of Mark, the same thing is mentioned and emphasized. “And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine . . . But if we shall say, Of men; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed” (Mark 11:18, 32). And in the next chapter of Mark, we see the same thing repeated. “And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way” (Mark 12:12).

And this same pattern does not disappear after the Lord ascended into Heaven. Not at all. When officials went to detain some apostles, they handled them quite gingerly. And why? Because they feared for their lives. “Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned” (Acts 5:26).

A Room Full of Fumes

When the Messiah was born into first century Israel, He was born into a room full of fumes, ready to go off. It was politically volatile, and complicated, but it was also a complexity that could be reduced to two basic groups—those who had been baptized by John, and those who had refused it.

But before we get to that reduction, we have to take a number of other factions into account. That way we know what we are reducing down to their version of red state and blue state. There were the Sadducees, well-connected to the aristocracy that controlled the Temple. They were theologically liberal but quite conservative when it came to their own vested interests. There were the Herodians, whose connections were to the political elite, and who had a deep investment in what Rome was seeking to maintain. The Pharisees were a lay renewal movement, highly respected among the people, at least until Jesus got done with them. There were about 6,000 Pharisees in Israel at this time. They were largely merchants who had made enough money to be able to retire to a life of personal devotion, their goal being to get the average Israelite to live up to the holiness standards that the Torah required of priests.

I am (temporarily) excluding from this political roster the immediate followers of Christ—His twelve disciples, other extras, and the women in His entourage, but I am not excluding the crowds who loved Him, and who were not far from the kingdom. This was yet another group. Think of the massive crowds who welcomed Him during His Triumphal Entry.

But there is another group, almost always overlooked, a bit more surly and anti-establishment, but still clearly in the pro-John-the-Baptist, pro-Jesus camp. This was a group of significant size that was hostile to the establishment that was hostile to Jesus. And by this I mean that they were seriously hostile, and at life-threatening levels. They were “on the Lord’s side,” but had not really internalized all that Sermon-on-the-Mount stuff. The Lord once rebuked a few of His disciples for not knowing what spirit they were of (Luke 9:55), but it should be pointed out that there was quite a large group out there who fit in the same category.

Now can we all agree that these crowds, as warmly affectionate toward John the Baptist as they might have been, and as doggedly committed to the honor of the rabbi Jesus as they were, were people who had not taken on board the full import of what the Scriptures required of them? I mean, had you gone to one of their rallies, who knows what kind of flags might have been there. And did their presence in the mix in any way discredit what Jesus was up to? Not even a little bit.

No. The Lord knew of this group’s cluelessness. He understood their cluelessness. He even used their cluelessness in His debates with that other form of cluelessness, the respectable kind—the kind that is always the last to know. But Henever apologized for their cluelessness. “And the Lord spake unto them, saying, ‘I have recently been informed that the chief priests have been receiving credible threats against their lives, and I wanted to hasten to apologize . . .’”

So in this powder keg called Jerusalem, what did Jesus do? Did Jesus come in to pour soothing oil on troubled waters? No. He went into the Temple, for crying out loud, and started flipping over tables.

Ownership of the Public Square

And this is why we need to follow Christ, Christ above all. There is only one kind of defiant joy in the world that can successfully stand up to this kind of godless pressure. There is only one path for defying the screechers—without becoming a screecher yourself. That path is Christ, the one who has risen from the dead. And He rose from the dead the same place they crucified Him, which is to say, in the public square. Remember: the reason Christians still own the public square is because Jesus rose from the dead in it. I know that the militant secularists despise this truth, but truth it is, and they should have thought of those objections before they crucified Him there.

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Inescapable Fear

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INTRODUCTION

This message on Inescapable Fear could just as easily been entitled as Freedom from Fear. And, without any contradiction, it could also be entitled The Christian Grace of Fear. But all this will take some unpacking.

THE TEXT

 “And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12: 4-7; cf. Matt. 10:28-31).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Notice how Jesus addresses His disciples here—He calls them His friends (v. 4). His next words are instructions to them to not be afraid of those whose maximum power is that of physical death (v. 4). He then turns to the subject of the one that they should fear—the one who has complete, full, and final authority over hell. Christ emphasizes that they should fear Him—He says it three times in one verse. Fear Him (v. 5). God remembers even the sparrows, sold so cheaply in the market (v. 6). This means that the hairs of your head are all numbered (v. 7). Do not fear, therefore, because you are worth more than many sparrows (v. 7).

FEAR NOT, FEAR, FEAR NOT

Here is the pattern. We are not to fear men. All they can do is kill us. We are to fear God—He is the one who can throw people into hell. But God loves us and cherishes us, and He cares deeply for us. We should therefore not fear the providences of God concerning us. Still less should we fear the pains of hell. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4: 18). We do not fear hell; we defy it. We do not fear hell because we fear the one who can put us there. Because we fear Him, we know that He does not want to do this to us—we are worth more than many sparrows. When He sends His angels, they almost always say, “Fear not.”

Now this is why we have spoken about inescapable fear. If we fear man, we do not fear God. If we fear God, we will not fear man. But we will fear someone. The question, therefore, is not whether we will fear, but rather whom we will fear. This is just another form of “not whether, but which.” 

HEALTHY FEAR

 One of the central reasons why modern Christians are so timid is because we have not cultivated a healthy fear of God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7). This is foundational. And notice how fear of God is described in the New Testament as a glorious and wonderful thing. Forgive me as I belabor the point.

  1. “And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word” (Matt 28:8).
  2. “And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50).
  3. “And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to day” (Luke 5:26; 7:16).
  4. “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied” (Acts 9:31).
  5. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).
  6. “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13).
  7. “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Eph 5:21).
  8. “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).

There are many other passages like this—this is a point that could be multiplied many times over.

BRING THIS TOGETHER

 In our fear of God, we begin to know; fear and great joy mingle in knowledge of the resurrection; fear receives mercy; fear renders awe and glory; walking in fear means walking in comfort; fear advances personal holiness; fear works out salvation; fear enables us in cultivating the spirit of mutual submission and humility; fear animates appropriate worship. Fear of God is therefore a Christian’s glory.

PROFOUND AND ALL-PERVASIVE FEAR

Because of this profound and all-pervasive fear, we do not fear anything. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7). “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption” (Rom. 8:15). “And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb. 2:15).

TO PRESS THE POINT 

This means that if you are troubled with anxieties and fears, then you need to name the problem accurately. The problem is that you do not fear as you ought, and the vacuum has been filled by phantoms. Now I am not talking about normal physiological reactions—shaking when you just escaped from a car wreck, or you have a close call with a grizzly bear.

I am talking about the ongoing fears that cripple your Christian life and your relationships with others. What do I mean? I am referring to fear of slippery roads, loss of reputation, the cancer you might get twenty years out, dying young, marital unhappiness in the future, or any other kind of “what about? or “what if?” followed by some unpleasantness that you cooked up. The fear of God liberates. The fear of the creature paralyzes—because to guard effectively against whatever it is, you have to be omnipotent. And you are not.

WE MAY BOLDLY SAY…

The fear of God is the foundation of all true contentment. All things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). And when we are content, free from grasping and covetousness, what may we then say? God will never ditch us. We are His people.

“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5-6).

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The Future and the Little Flock

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INTRODUCTION

Our attitude toward the future reveals, as few others things do, our actual doctrine of God, our actual theology. It is perilously to have our catechism truths down pat, there on the paper, but then to have the slightest threat or disturbance or turmoil or ominous cloud unsettle everything for us. We can’t sleep, it wrecks our appetite, and so our worries creep into all our conversations. This is a sin, and we must learn how to mortify it.

THE TEXT

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

This passage from Luke is unique to Luke, but it comes in the middle of some very familiar teaching. Immediately before this, we have a reprise of the Lord’s teaching from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7). Consider the ravens. God feeds them. Consider the lilies. God clothes them. So don’t worry about what you are going to eat and drink and wear. And right before that is the parable of the rich man who thought he had it all under control (Luke 12:15-21). The warning is for those who are not rich toward God. A man’s life does not consist of the abundance of things he owns (Luke 12:15). Do not be of a doubtful mind (v. 29). The nations pursue that stuff, and the Father knows what you need (v. 30). Seek first the kingdom, and God will take care of you (v. 31).

Then the Lord says, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (v. 32).

Then right after this verse, He tells us to save up by giving away (v. 33). The best way to hold on to these things is with an open palm Put your treasure where you want your heart to be (v. 34).

TWO KINDS OF WORRY

One kind of worry has to do with your personal fortunes. The world is perceived to be operating normally out there, generating its normal ratios of winners and losers. Your worry has to do with whether you are going to wind up as one of the losers. This is the kind of thing the Lord was addressing directly when He told us not to worry about what we were going to eat, or drink, or wear. These are personal concerns. What if I go bankrupt? The good thing about this is that at least it is obvious that your concern is about yourself. When you are worried in this way, you have multiple Bible verses bouncing off your forehead.

But the other kind of worry disguises itself as “an interest in politics,” or “awareness of geopolitical affairs.” You see a bunch of people who appear to have lost their minds, bent on burning down the country, and a bunch of other people who appear to have lost their spines, who are bent on not interfering with them as they do it.

I want to treat this second kind of worry—the kind that follows the news avidly. But the base coat of sanctification paint for this kind of worry has to be dealing with personal worry correctly—whether it is worry about cancer, or slippery roads, or financial ruin, or how the kids are doing.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6, NKJV).

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

THE LITTLE FLOCK AND THINGS TO COME

The Lord is aware of how imposing the church looks to the outside world, which is to say, not very. He calls us His “little flock.” But what is He going to do for this little flock? He is going to give the kingdom to us, and He is going to do this because it is His good pleasure.

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:37–39).

“Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor. 3:21–23).

There are two things to consider in all of this. The first is the protection that God promises His people. We have nothing to worry about from external threats because we are more than conquerors. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. One of the emphases here is the fact that we are protectedagainst all those things that might come after us in order to separate us from the love of God in Christ. We are protected in the event of unsuccessful attack, whether from death, or life, or celestial powers, or anything going on around us, or anything in the future. In fact, the end result of us being able to fight off all these is that we conquer. We are more than conquerors.

But it is not enough that the world is not going to be able to own us. Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Fear not, little flock, and remember the Father’s good pleasure. Not only will the world not be able to own us, it will actually be a turnabout case. We own the world. All things are yours, whether the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come.

Yes, secular man wants to gather everything up in his arms and claim all of it. Yes, their hostility toward the church needs very little prompting to be fully manifested. But when they attack the heavens, the only thing they will succeed in doing is dragging deep heaven down upon their heads.

“Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, And hath conceived mischief, And brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, And is fallen into the ditch which he made” (Psalm 7:14–15).

And why? Because Christ was crucified. And why? Because He was also buried. And why? Because He rose from the dead. And why? Because He is enthroned at the right hand of the Father, and is busily engaged in giving us kingdom.

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Nation, Family, Church, and Gospel (Further Up #4)

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INTRODUCTION

We continue our series on Christian maturity and the pursuit of excellence, and we turn to what the Bible teaches about political maturity. In the midst of the mud-slinging of much political discourse, it can be easy to lose sight of basic Biblical principles, much less, long term goals. Apathy, perfectionism, and compromise are all enemies of political maturity. Central to mature thinking, planning, and acting politically is understanding the Lordship of Christ over all, and the different jurisdictions he has assigned to different authorities.

THE TEXT

“… Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told Him by certain which said, ‘Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to see Thee.’ And He answered and said unto them, ‘My mother and My brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it’” (Lk. 8:19-21).

NATIONS AND FAMILIES

The Bible teaches that nations are the natural extension of families multiplying. It frequently refers to nations as the “families of the earth” (e.g. Gen. 28:14, Ps. 22:27, Zech. 14:17). In Eph. 3:15, Paul writes, “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” The word translated as “family” in Greek is patria, which is derived from the root word pater, which means “father,” but it can also refer to a much larger sociopolitical group such as an entire nation of people. Patria is where we get the words “patriot” and “patriotism” and the notion of right love and loyalty to one’s nation. This family-nation connection is true biologically, but Paul is clearly insisting that it goes deeper and broader than that, since every family is named after God the Father. And this is precisely what God began to teach His people early on through the gift of His covenant. To Abraham, God said, “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee” (Gen. 17:4-5). While biological conception was always an important part of the growth and expansion of families/nations, from this very moment, God also instituted circumcision, in effect saying, but do not think of this covenant as a purely physical/blood relationship. Abraham’s entire household, including his male servants, were circumcised, Israel went up out of Egypt as a “mixed multitude” (Ex. 12:38), and Paul goes to great lengths to insist that this covenant was by faith not by the power of the flesh (Rom. 4:16-21). “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7ff). God has always taught His people that water is thicker than blood.

JESUS, LORD OF ALL NATIONS

All of this means that the Bible views the governments of the family, church, and state, as different sorts of families, nations, or covenants. While we have already seen this with families and nations, the Church also has “fathers” (cf. 1 Cor. 4:15) and is called the “household of faith” (Gal. 6:10), “the household of God” (Eph. 2:19, 1 Tim. 3:15, 1 Pet. 4:17) as well as a “holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9) in which Christians have a citizenship (Phil. 3:20). And this brings us full circle to the words of Christ: “‘My mother and My brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it’” (Lk. 8:21). The point is not merely one about biological family (although it includes that); it’s far more expansive, including all of our “mothers and brothers,” in our families, churches, and nations – all natural loves and kindred are subject to God’s word. When Jesus rose from the dead, He said, “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to me, therefore go and disciple the nations…” (Mt. 28:18ff). Jesus is Lord of the nations: Lord of family-nations, church-nations, and country-nations. In the ordinary course of things, there are spiritual and physical relations and loves, similarities and differences running through all of these nations, including language, culture, belief, tribes, practice, land, work, marriage, children, history, symbols, and more. But only allegiance and obedience to the Father who is over all and in all can rank and sort these allegiances rightly (Eph. 4:6). How do you build a family, a church, or a nation? By hearing and obeying the Word of God.

HOW SHALL WE THEN LIVE?

Family: The marriage covenant is the core of this governmental jurisdiction, and it constantly pictures the Covenant of Grace in which Christ is Head of the Church (Eph. 5:22ff). As Lord of the family-nation, Jesus assigns the tasks of education, health, and welfare to this jurisdiction (Eph. 5-6). This includes care for elderly parents or other needy relatives (Mk. 7:11), the first line of defense for orphans and widows and similar needs, and a man that does not provide for his own household is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:1ff). Our fundamental allegiance to Jesus sometimes does mean losing or straining family relationships where there is a refusal to hear God’s word and obey. But the gospel turns the hearts of fathers and children (Mal. 4:6).

Church: The church has been given the keys of the Kingdom by Jesus Christ and is commissioned to preach the gospel to every nation, teaching them to obey the entire Word of God, calling the saints together for worship, admitting disciples through baptism to the Table, and barring those from fellowship who do not obey Christ (Mt. 16:17-19, 18:15-20, 1 Cor. 5:1-5, 2 Thess. 3:14-15). The church proclaims the water of the Word – which is the Word of the New Covenant in the shed blood of Christ that cleanses families and nations from their animosities and feuds. But the church is not partisan to any other government. It teaches all men to honor all of their fathers (at every level), and so it teaches true family loyalty and patriotism in Christ. A patriot honors his fathers. But the church is a completely independent government from all other governments. This is why it is unseemly and confused (at best) and idolatrous (at worst) for churches to conduct worship services that confuse national identity with Christian identity.

State: The civil magistrate has been given the sword by Christ to punish criminals and keep good public order (Rom. 13:4). Civil magistrates receive their power from God and are established to praise the good and be a terror to those who do evil (Rom. 13:3). Just as God establishes the authority, He also establishes the standards and the definitions. A magistrate who ignores or openly defies the One from whom he receives his authority is cutting off the branch he stands on. Magistrates are true “foster fathers” (Is. 49:23) who hear the word of God and obey it in their offices, laws, and judgments. And those nations that keep covenant with the Lord of the nations will bring their glory and honor all the way into Heaven (Rev. 21:24). But all dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, and idolaters will be shut out (Rev. 22:15). So it is right and good to ask God to cast down all evil, to thank Him for the true glory He has given to our nation and celebrate it, and ask Him to grow and safeguard it all the way to Heaven.

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