19 years ago (yesterday) I received the most precious gift from Lord I will ever receive outside of salvation itself. She came into the door of the small chapel with purity (but not perfection), beautifully clothed (in a borrowed dress), and a smile of joyful anticipation (knowing that happily ever after would have many bumps along the way). Not only has Alicia been my companion, help-meet, and the object of my affection, she's been my best friend and my soul-mate. I say soul-mate because of all the things God had used to mature me, no human relationship has been more important in my own spiritual journey. Alicia, you are the gift I'll never deserve. The only thing better than 19 years with you is ... 20!
It just so happened that I was blessed to be asked to perform a wedding ceremony 2 days before our anniversary. Having had several conversations with the bride-to-be before the wedding, I knew just how much preparation had gone into the preparations for the wedding. The invitations were ordered, the programs printed, the dress picked out and sized, the rings found and purchased, the reception planned, and I could go on and on! The point is this, the beauty of the bride and the beauty of the wedding were not accidental! Brides are beautiful not just because of their facial features and wedding dresses. They are beautiful because of the tireless preparations they've made, the seriousness with which they are addressing their up-coming marital relationship, and because of their dedication to becoming the wife that their husband is hoping for!
This wedding not only served to remind me of how blessed I am as a husband of 19 years, but it also reminded me that Jesus is referred to as the bridegroom (John 3:29) and the church as his bride (Ephesians 5:25-27). And as a part of his bride, the church, we must do our best to be connected in fellowship, committed to service, awestruck in worship, dedicated to discipleship, and eager to evangelize! These are the things that make the church beautiful and fully engaged in our relationship with the Lord Jesus as his bride!
We all know that the media and others in our culture don't look to favorably on the local Christian church. Yes it's true that throughout history the church hasn't been perfect, has made mistakes, and has even misrepresented Christ at times. But we know that Christ has promised to make her holy and blameless (Eph. 5:27) and to equip her to be all she (we) is designed to be through fellowship, service, worship, discipleship, and outreach.
So regardless of what the world says... isn't she beautiful?*
*The Church: Isn't She Beautiful! A Sunday teaching series of Cornerstone Bible Fellowship. Sunday's, August 10 through September 7, at 9:00 & 10:15 a.m.
6 comments:
Well-written stuff, Barry. I, for one, can't wait to get into this new series. In fact, I'm praying that God will use this study to encourage "seekers" and believers alike to consider afresh the unmatched beauty of the church--the only place where Christians can thrive and grow spiritually.
JPS
I truly have enjoyed this series. It really has taught me a lot about what a church is.
I have one question though. In today's service, Pastor John mentioned that everything is preordained by God. If this is true, how do you explain free will?
I'll give you an example of why I struggle with this. Several years ago my grandfather was killed in a car accident. He had several paths he could have taken to his destination, but chose one in which he had to make a left turn across US-67 near St. Louis instead of going a couple miles further to where there was an on ramp.
Had he chosen a different path, would his fate been the same?
I tried to find a way to email this to Pastor John directly, but was unable to find his email address.
Mine is flyherks@sbcglobal.net if he wishes to answer me directly.
Thanks,
Chris Kennedy
Great question, Chris. Thanks for asking it.
The issue of God's sovereignty and human freedom has been debated for hundreds of years (at least!), and yet the tension has never been resolved. And it never will be on this earth.
I have some resources that I'd be glad to recommend if you really want to dive deeply into the discussion, but for now let me offer a (very) brief response to a much debated issue.
1. The Scriptures teach that God is sovereign over all of life (see Gen. 50:20, Eph. 1:11, Pr. 19:21, Pr. 21:2, Isa. 46:8-11, Acts 2:23).
Not even a bird falls to the ground apart from the sovereign will of God.
2. Although the term 'free will' does not appear in the Bible, the Bible does teach that we are culpable for our sin, which implies a degree of freedom (or moral agency).
3. Although there are a number of definitions of "free will" by philosophers and theologians, the most tenable to me seems to be this: a person is free who acts without coersion.
So, in essence, we have freedom in that we always do what we want to do. We are never forced by God to do anything. We act the way that we do out of our own volition.
In the case of your grandfather, he made the left turn across US-67 because that's what he wanted to do, but that decision was also ordained by God before the world was created. Therein lies the tension.
I wish I could explain it better, but it's a difficult concept to grasp, and one that we'll never fully understand.
I hope this helps.
John
I guess I'm confused by the work ordained in your explanation of my grandfather's death.
To me, ordained means God made that decision long ago and my grandfather really had no choice in the matter. Which means my grandfather really had no choice at all and therefore, we do not really we are simply acting out a script written by God.
Am I using a bad definition of ordained?
I would be very interested in looking at the resources you have on this topic.
Thanks for your reply.
Chris
Chris,
See how difficult this tension is! Based on the testimony of Scripture (including the references that I noted above), the Westminster Confession defines ordained as: "God's will is, and rightly ought to be, the cause of all things that are."
Now this, obviously, doesn't solve the problem of divine sovereignty and free will.
If we give man libertarian free will, which is to say, that he can make any out of a number of uncompeting choices, then we have to give up God's exhaustive foreknowledge. (e.g., if millions of years ago God knew which way your grandfather would turn on that tragic day, could your grandfather actually done something different that what God knew?)
I don't want to surrender God's exhaustive foreknowledge.
However, if we conclude that your grandfather did precisely what he wanted to do (that is, he wasn't coerced), but still exactly what God foreknew (or preordained) then can we at least make some human sense of the myriad Scriptures which proclaim God's providential control over all things.
I hope this helps. I realize that it may not. Let me know to what extreme (baby pool? shallow end? deep end? abyss?) you want to dive into this topic and I'll make some copies appropriate thereto.
Thanks for the dialogue.
John
John,
This is some really heady stuff!!!
I haven't really thought this deeply about many topics since my philosophy class in college.
I think I would like to start in the shallow end with the info you have and try to work my way deeper.
Thanks for the great dialogue and your time. I'll make sure to find you on Sunday to get the info from you.
Chris
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