CHRIST'S CROSS

                                                                CHRIST’S CROSS

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        “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). One of the main features of Christianity is about Christ’s crucifixion. The other, of course, is about His post-crucifixion resurrection. You can’t have one without the other. Indeed, Christianity is symbolized by a cross. People wear them, buildings sport them, and maps use them to identify churches.

When we look up the meaning of the word “cross” in Bible concordances and dictionaries, we see that stauros refers to a pole, a stick, or a stake. There is another word used for cross in the Bible, xulon, which likewise refers to wood, a piece of wood, such as a staff or rod. Peter, in Acts 5:30, says, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging Him on a tree.” (See also Acts 10:39; 13:29). He says of Jesus in 1 Peter 2:24a, “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree…” And Paul says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’).” This “curse of the law” is in reference to Deuteronomy 21:23.

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        “And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha” (John 19:17). Obviously, Jesus was not carrying a tree up to the Place of a Skull. The word cross here is stauros, i.e., a pole, stick, or stake. Yet, the other word, xulon, can also refer to very similar items made from a tree, viz., a piece of wood. We get the idea of a rod or a staff made from a piece of wood when see what was in the Ark of the Covenant. “The ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant” (Heb. 9:4b).

You’ll remember Moses carried the rod of God which he used to part the Red Sea at God’s command, and he got in trouble for using it to strike the rock in anger? Well, “Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand” (Exod. 17:8-9). “Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun” (Exod. 17:11-12). This was how God used Moses to defeat His enemies. Yes, Moses did a lot of praying for victory for his people, but the victory belongs to the LORD.

Now, back to Jesus. The cross that Christ carried to His crucifixion was a piece of wood. But was it simply a plank of wood or was it a crossed piece of wood? This is where it gets interesting. We acknowledge that the piece of wood was more substantial than a walking staff. Jesus had already been thoroughly beaten and scourged (Isa. 52:14; John 19:1). So, after Jesus carried His cross for a distance (John 19:17), it changed hands. “Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross” (Matt. 27:32). Now, notice what happened when they got to the Place of the Skull, “They gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink. Then they crucified Him” (Matt. 27:34-35a).

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        They crucified Jesus by nailing Him to a cross. There were nails through His hands and feet (Psa. 22:16; John 20:27). Jesus was nailed to a piece of wood and hoisted to a vertical position for passersby to see. Are we to understand that He was nailed to a single upright plank that was heavy enough to hold His weight when He was nailed to it but light enough to be carried up a hill by a severely beaten and scourged Man, even with the Cyrenian’s help? Or worse yet, did Jesus (and then Simon) carry two pieces of wood nailed together in the form of a traditional cross? There’s no mention that Jesus carried two pieces of wood. So, we take it that Jesus had His hands nailed to the wooden plank both He then Simon had carried. And then was hoisted into place by lowering that beam of wood which slotted into a supporting wooden pole already sticking out of the ground designed especially for this purpose. This would be similar in priciple to a very basic form of door security used today, where a wooden bar is slotted into fixtures.

It is possible that Jesus may even have been hung on a live tree that was utilized for this purpose. Again, as Peter says, He "bore our sins in His own body on the tree." The tree image fits with the tree of life motif used throughout the Bible (e.g., Gen. 2:9, 3:22; Psa. 1:3; Prov. 13:12; Jer. 17:8; Rev. 22:2). By destroying death, Christ's cross has brought us life, everlasting life! Like the tree of life, the leaves of Christ's cross heal us. "The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations" (Rev. 22:2b).

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        Supposing Jesus to be around six foot tall, for Him to have His hands nailed to the cross with His hands above His head, then the pole He carried, allowing for it to be fixed solidly into the ground to support His weight when vertical, would need to have been a solid piece of timber at least nine feet (2.7 metres) long! It would’ve been like carrying  telegraph pole! However, if it was simply a crossbeam (patabulum) He carried, rather than dragging a huge cross (as per the movies and Sunday School depictions), then it would make a lot more sense. Especially, when we read the following, “And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Matt. 27:37). It does not say that they put up over His hands the accusations, but that “they put up over His head the accusation written against Him.”

And what did Jesus do as He hung there? Like Moses fighting the Amalekites, He prayed to God His Father with His hands outstretched. However, He didn’t have Aaron and Hur support His wearying arms and hands. Rather, He had sinners nail His hands to the wooden crossbeam. “Being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death” (Acts 2:23). And just as Moses’s “hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword,” so Jesus’s hands were steady until the going down of the sun and He defeated His enemies. “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:15). Christ’s cross brought us victory!

AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE (Review)

An Unholy Alliance: How Progressivism Brought About an Islamist Invasion by Michael Youssef is an upbeat book. By ending on a high note, it shows you the problem but doesn’t leave you to despair. The problem? It is described in the book’s title.

It was the book’s title that attracted me. What Christian, watching the current invasion of Islamism into Western nations has not wondered why Progressivism is so accommodating?  Dr. Youssef spells it out where he says, “Whenever you take in news, remember that the so-called main stream media or legacy media – Reuters, the AP, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, and so forth – are all part of the Omnicause, the Red-Green Alliance. The far-left media is fully allied with Hamas and other Islamist groups, no matter what crimes they commit. Why? Because the media shares the Islamists’ hatred for Western civilization.” p. 159.

Dr. Youssef utilizes Ayaan Hirsi Ali of the Hoover Institute’s descriptions of ‘Mecca Muslims’ and ‘Medina Muslims’ to differentiate between mainstream Muslims and a smaller subset of Islamists mentioned in the following, “I want to say this very clearly: Islamists – Muslims who want to impose Islamic law upon all society – represent only a small fraction of the global Muslim population.” p. 145. Apparently, they number, quoting Ali, “well over 1.6 billion [people], or 23 percent of the globe’s population.” p. 145. However, “If the proportion in the Islamist world is as high as 25 percent, that means that there are 400 million Islamists in the world – and that’s a troubling thought.” p. 146. “The ambition among political Islamists today remains one of totalitarian control over the life of not only every Muslim but every human being.” p. 69. “Mainstream Muslims do not speak out against the excesses of the radicals because to do so means risking punishment and death.” p. 63.

As witnessed by the “rape-gang crisis in Great Britain … The politically correct dogmas of the secular left still compel officials to ignore child rape, torture, and even murder if these crimes are committed by Muslims. The officials worry more about being called ‘racists’ than they care about the destruction of innocent young lives.” p. 26. “Progressives will do anything to prove how ‘enlightened’ and ‘inclusive’ they are. Progressives are scared to death of being labelled ‘Islamophobic’ and so, out of cowardice, and an obsession of ‘political correctness,’ join forces with the jihadists who seek to destroy us.” p. 53.

Those Christians in the Dispensational Premillennialism camp (invented by John Nelson Darby, 1800-82, and popularized Cyrus Ingersol Scofield, 1843-1921, in his ‘Scofield Bible') will especially enjoy the chapter under the heading, Islam, the End Times, and the Antichrist. Though he says, “I'm a ‘pan-tribulationist.’ I’m waiting to see how the future ‘pans out,’ Dr Youssef clearly identifies with Dispensationalism. That being so, he goes on to identify many similarities between this view and Islam. “…Islamic scholars specifically identify as the Mahdi the man Christians [sic.] identify as the Antichrist … When he appears, all Muslims will be required to give their loyalty to him … And who is the Mahdi? He is unmistakably the Antichrist of the Bible, and when this counterfeit ‘savior,’ the Antichrist, arises to impose his iron rule upon the world, Muslims will have been thoroughly prepared to meet him.’ pgs. 135-6.   

An Unholy Alliance: How Progressivism Brought About an Islamic Invasion is a timely book that will help alert Christians and will help equip them to understand and counter the Islamic invasion and its symbiotic relationship with Progressivism. The book’s main takeaway is that both Islamism and Progressivism “share the same hatred for Western civilization.”

THE WEDDING BAND & THE TRINITY

                                        THE WEDDING BAND & THE TRINITY

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Your wedding band is a sign of your covenant of marriage under God. At your wedding you verbally swore an oath before God and made vows to your spouse. You made a promise. Within the Godhead the eternal Trinity is in eternal covenant with Himself. Marriage reflects something of this. The Father and the Son have made a promise. They are swearing on oath Their eternal love for each other, making Their eternal vows before the Holy Spirit (who is included in Their love). The Three are One in this eternal covenant.

Now picture your wedding band sawn through and straightened. Like a short piece of gold (or copper!) wire, humanly speaking, the Father is at one end while the Son is at the other. The Holy Spirit is the “charge”, the power that eternally pulsates back and forth, communicating between the Father and the Son. Now, join the two ends of the flattened ring together. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in one eternal covenant, i.e., one eternal promise, (a Celtic triquetra knot!) symbolised in time by human Christian marriage.

Please note that we must not push or press human analogies of God too far lest we end up in the sea of heresy! When we who are finite engage with Him who is infinite, while we are looking, up we are prone to walk off the end of the pier and drown in the ocean! Therefore, be careful!

At a marriage ceremony the bride and groom turn to face each other as they repeat their promise, i.e., their vows, to each other in their oath before God. Each person breathes-out their words, back and forth to each other. The one is breathing out as the other is breathing in. The eternal Father speaks, breathes out His Word to His eternal Son who reflects them back to His Father. They communicate via Their eternal Holy Spirit who speaks to both the Father and to the Son. This has been happening throughout all eternity past (within the ontological Trinity).

With regards to creation (and the economical Trinty), in the Bible the Holy Spirit is referred by the Son as “the Promise of My Father” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4).

The Triune God wishes to bring others into His eternal covenant. After His resurrection and before His ascension, Jesus, (the Son), breathed on His disciples, “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22b). The Spirit is poetically referred to as “the Breath of God.” God breathed into Adam the “breath of life” when He created him (Gen. 2:7). When the last Adam died on the cross, He breathed out. “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ When He had said this, He breathed His last” (Luke 23:46). Thus, “The dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7). This is also illustrated by the flood in Noah’s day, when those who, along with the animals therein, were spared, “Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died” (Gen. 7:22). Thus, like the tide ebbing and flowing, God breathes out and God breathes in. It is good to be included in God’s “breathing”!

God alone has incommunicable attributes, such as Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence, which belong only to Him. Therefore, Christians share only in His communicable attributes, such as love, holiness, righteousness, and knowledge of God.

We know God by way of analogy, what He is like more that what He is. We know Him through the things He has made read in the light of His written revelation with which the Holy Spirit illumines us.

At creation, the Father spoke His Word and Their breathed-out Spirit, the “Breath of God,” brought creation into being. All those upon whom and in whom His Spirit remains are included in the eternal spiration of God, i.e., the eternal “breathing” back and forth between the Father and the Son as the Spirit spirates between Them. This now includes those chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and regenerated, renewed (and soon to be resurrected) by Their Spirit. These are the “Bride of Christ” and will attend the “wedding feast of the Lamb.”

All true believers are Christ’s bride. And, as such, are included in God’s eternal love-bond symbolised by our unbroken wedding band. He is one with us and we are one with Him.  “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are one – I in them and You in Me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me” (John 17:20-23).

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                We become believers when, like the two witnesses (i.e., the Spirit and the Word), the beathed-out Spirit works in our hearts with the written Word breathed-out by the Father. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16).

And just as “the spirit returns to God who gave it”, so the God-breathed out Word of God (which speaks of Christ the Word) returns to God. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:10-11).

Put Christ’s eternal wedding band on your finger by repenting and believing in the gospel (Mark 1:15).

A SON IS GIVEN

                                                                A SON IS GIVEN

Introduction

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            I don’t know who came up with the saying, “Children should be seen but not heard.” It sounds like something from the dark age of Victorianism – Christianity in a straitjacket. I don’t know who fist coined that phrase about children. I don’t know the context of when it was first minted. So, we shouldn’t get too upset with what might have been said in humour. But I do know that the Bible speaks of children as a blessing of God, a reward. “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward” (Psalm 127:3).

To be sure, it’s a double blessing when the children are your own. But, as Psalm 127:3 puts it, all children are a heritage and a reward from the LORD. This is regardless of whether the children are your own or someone else’s. Children are the blessing of God. They are God’s gift. Therefore, we need to appreciate the gift that God gives us. We should never take children for granted.

Now, we see Almighty God promising to bless Abraham. That covenant-promise is summed up in Genesis 17:19 which says, “Then God said: ‘No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.”

The general gist of what we’re looking at is, Abraham and Sarah are going to have a baby in their golden years!

Abraham’s Wife

“Sarah your wife shall bear you a son.” Abraham has just been told that his wife is going to have a baby. So, how does Abraham handle this piece of good news from the LORD? Well, we’re told that Abraham did three things: a) Abraham fell on his face. b) Abraham laughed. c) Abraham spoke in his heart.

So, firstly what’s Abraham’s falling on his face all about? Well, Almighty God has appeared to him, and He is speaking to him. The words used here are exactly the same as the words used at the beginning of verse 3. The only difference is that Abram’s name has been changed to Abraham. Back in 17:3 Abraham’s falling on his face was an act of worship. And so it is in verse 19. It is an act of reverential worship.

When a dignitary enters a room all present rise to their feet. When God appears, all present fall on their faces! Notice also that Abraham laughed. He’s on his face before Almighty God and he laughed. What is causing such an emotion? Laughter? Well, it’s the revelation that Almighty God has brought him that’s causing his laughter. It has just been revealed to him that he is going to father at a hundred years of age! That would be one for the newspapers, wouldn’t it? 100 year-old still has lead in pencil! It would make for a great story!

Abraham himself is finding it hard to believe that a ninety-nine-year-old can produce a child. But more than that, the real story is about his wife, Sarah. “And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” If a ninety-nine-year-old man fathers a child, that’s amazing. If a ninety-year-old woman gives birth, that’s incredible! This is the stuff of the National Inquirer, the Sunday tabloids and Internet click-bait.

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It was in the news that the Australian birth rate was in major decline, and that many women were waiting till they were older before they were having babies. They were waiting till they were about thirty. But ninety? Even our day of invitro-fertilization and all the rest, ninety is well and truly over the hills and far away beyond it!

No wonder Abraham laughed. He’s finding this hard to believe. However, don’t lose sight of the fact that he is on his face before Almighty God. It’s a case of “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!” It’s just that this piece of news is like Ahab’s arrow, out of the blue!

We see what’s going on in Abraham’s mind because it’s recorded what he spoke in his heart. What did he say in heart? We’ll that’s what we’ve just been discussing. “How can a ninety-nine-year-old man and a ninety-year-old woman become parents?” It’s a bit like Mary, when the angel Gabrielle told her she was going to be mother of the Saviour. Mary said, “‘How can this be, since I don’t know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God’” (Luke 34-35).

So, yes, Abraham, like Mary after him, is struggling to understand how this can be. Struggle as he does, he knows that God is Almighty and can therefore do the impossible. So, granted, it is tough for Abraham to believe that he and Sarah are going to become parents. But that’s only the half of it. Abraham’s real problem here is more to do with the why than the how.

Why does he need another son when he already has one, a thirteen year old by the name of Ishmael? That’s what 17:18 is all about. “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You!’” “I have a son, I have an heir from my own loins. I don’t understand!” We’ll look at Ishmael a bit more closely in a moment. But notice that the LORD says in verse 19, “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son…” No, not Ishmael your son whom Hagar Sarah’s maid bore to you. But rather Sarah, “YOUR WIFE.”

In Galatians chapter 4 the Apostle Paul refers to Hagar as a “bondwoman” or “slavewoman.” Hagar is Sarah’s maidservant. The LORD never refers to her as Abraham’s wife. According to the LORD, Sarah is Abraham’s wife, not Sarah plus Hagar. It says in Genesis 21:12 for example, “But God said to Abraham, ‘Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman.” The LORD refers to Hagar as Abraham’s bondwoman, not his wife. No, Sarah is Abraham’s legitimate wife, not Hagar.

So, look at Sarah. The LORD has just changed her name from Sarai to Sarah. What’s in a name? Well, names in the Bible tend not to be abstractions like you find nowadays. Names in the Bible mean things. They are descriptive. Names are given to reveal something about the person. Years ago, when she was little, one of my daughters got my wife a pen. She gave it to her mum, and said, “It’s got your name on it.” And there written on the pen was the word “Mum.” That’s my daughter’s name for my wife.

Back in Genesis 17:1 the LORD has given Himself a new name before Abraham, Almighty God. This reveals something about the LORD. He is El Shaddai, Almighty God. The LORD gave Abraham a new name. He changed his name from Abram, meaning Exalted Father to Abraham meaning Father of a Multitude even Many Nations. And the LORD is also changing Sarai, the name of Abraham’s wife, to Sarah. Sarai means My Princess, and Sarah means simply Princess.

I don’t want to sound mystical but both Abraham and Sarah have had the letter “H” added to their name. In Scottish Gaelic the letter “H” is called a lenition or aspiration letter, a puff of air. You’ll remember that Jesus gave each of His disciples a puff of air when He breathed on them saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). So, let’s not get too fanciful, but let’s just note that both Abraham and Sarah received the letter “H” from the LORD. The received new names the very day they received the good news of the son of promise. They received new names the very day God instituted the Old Testament sacrament of circumcision. And notice also that this new son, this child of a miracle is also given a name, Isaac. Isaac means He Laughs which we take to be in reference to Abraham laughing at the good news. “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Yes Abraham, but only if God says so.

Abraham’s Children

Abraham has two children, one already thirteen years old. And the other hasn’t even been conceived yet. Abraham is going to have the sign and seal of God’s covenant etched into his flesh. He’s going to be circumcised first, before Sarah will conceive.

Ishmael is a child of carnal reason. Isaac is going to be a child of faith. Ishmael is a child of the flesh. Isaac is going to be a child of the Holy Spirit. Ishmael is a child of a fleshly covenant. Isaac is going to be a child of the spiritual covenant. Ishmael is the child of a bondwoman, Hagar. Isaac is going to be a child of a freewoman, Sarah.

Abraham is concerned about his son Ishmael. Genesis 17:18, “And Abraham said to God, ‘Oh that Ishmael might live before You!’” Abraham here is asking the LORD where his son Ishmael fits into the grand scheme of things “LORD, What about Ishmael? Up until this very moment I though he was the son of promise.” But look what the LORD says to Abraham at the beginning of verse 19. “God said: “No…” No what? No Ishmael is not the one with whom I will establish My covenant. “I will establish My covenant with him [Isaac] for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.”

What’s this all about? Well, notice that the LORD is going to establish His covenant with Isaac. Isaac is to be Abraham’s promised descendant, i.e., Abraham’s son. God is giving Abraham a son, a son as a free gift. But notice that the LORD is establishing His everlasting covenant with Isaac’s descendants after him. That word descendants may be translated “seed” which is a collective noun. It can mean seed singular or seeds plural. It’s actually seed in the masculine singular. The words’ first use in the Bible is in Genesis 1:11, “Then God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth’, and it was so.” So, by the grace of God, Abraham as a ninety-nine-year-old, is like a fruit tree, whose seed is in itself. And from little acorns grow great oak tree, even the tree at Calvary!

Now, I want you to see that we’re not making some giant pole-vault leap into New Testament times. We’re not saying, “Beam me up Scotty!” and we disappear from Old Testament times to reappear in New Testament times. “A” is not becoming non-“A” and then reappearing as “A” without having traversed the distance in between!

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You need to see the connection between the everlasting covenant God has made with Abraham, and with Isaac and his Seed. You need to see that Jesus Christ is the promised Seed of Abraham and Sarah. God, as it were, has taken an arrow from His quiver. He has shot that arrow from His bow in eternity past. That arrow is passing through Abraham, and then Isaac and will then eventually land in Bethlehem. “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah…out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel” (Matt. 2:6).

It’s all about Christ, isn’t it? It’s all about the promised Seed. The Apostle Paul, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us what’s going on here. He says in Galatians 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ.”

It’s all about God preserving Abraham’s Seed, even Jesus Christ. He is the Seed promised to Adam and Eve right after the Fall (Gen. 3:15). He is the One who was coming to crush the serpent’s head. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it & establish it with judgment & justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Is this Good News? Well, it’s good news to Abraham and Sarah too! For Abraham now knows that he and Sarah are to be the father and mother of nations and kings. Abraham has already been told back in Genesis 12:3 that in him all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Of the increase of his Seed’s government and peace there will be no end. His kingdom will keep on growing even to the ends of the earth. His will rule over all the families, rule over all the nations of the earth!

You need to see the connection between Abraham and Jesus, otherwise you’ll miss the scope of the Good News. The Church today is looking at the tiny acorn at the foot of the tree. We need to look up and glorify God. The mustard seed has become a great tree! Abraham and Sarah thought they could bring all this to pass by using Hagar as a surrogate. Abraham had his hopes fixed on Ishmael. But God is going to bring all this to pass according to His covenant, and not according to any of the best laid plans of mice and men. “Yes,” says the LORD to Abraham, “I’ll look after Ishmael. I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”

God’s Covenant is an everlasting covenant. He calls it “My Covenant,” and not without reason. It’s the covenant made between God the Father and God the Son in eternity past. But Abraham and his whole household are being adopted into that everlasting covenant. The circumcision is the sign and seal on their bodies of that everlasting covenant.

Notice verse 22 says, “Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.” One is reminded of by this of Jesus in Acts 1:9, “Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” Christ is the Lord from heaven. The promises of God were made to Abraham. They were made to Abraham and to his Seed, even Jesus Christ.

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So, was Abraham trusting in God and His promises? Did he believe the Good News, the Covenant of Grace as it was administered at that time? “So Abraham took Ishmael his son, all who were born in his house and all who were bought with money, every male among the men of Abraham’s house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very same day, as God had said to him” (Gen. 17: 23). We can almost hear Abraham say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

That very day hundreds of grown men and male children were circumcised. What an obedient household Abraham has, at least at that point in time. And well we know, “He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Rom. 2:28-29).

Conclusion

We’ve considered Abraham’s wife, Sarah. And we’ve considered Abraham’s children, Ishmael and the promised Isaac. We have seen that Almighty God has established His everlasting covenant with Abraham’s Seed, Jesus Christ. Therefore, let us who are in Christ through faith rejoice along with Abraham, who rejoiced to see Christ’s day. For Abraham saw it and was glad (John 8:56). A Son is given indeed! Abraham rejoiced in the sure knowledge that his promised Son was coming.

Let us therefore spread the Glad Tidings, the same Good News our father Abraham received. Let us tell others, that they too, like us might be adopted into Abraham’s household, if they would only believe in Christ.

A BIOGRAPHY OF THE REV. ROBERT GORDON (Review)

Set against the backdrop of the formation of the Free Church of Scotland in 1843, A Biography of The Rev. Robert Gordon true, earnest, laborious, and faithful but almost forgotten by Michael J. Madden will be of interest to those involved in the ongoing development of Presbyterianism in Scotland.

“Robert was minister of the High Church Edinburgh (St Giles) during the hottest period of dispute between Church and State from 1833 to 1843.” p. 1.

This short biography is written in easy-to-read language. It traces the life of a man born in 1786, from his birth till his death in 1853. It moves from his being a stranger to God’s saving grace as a candidate for Presbyterian ministry to saving faith at around the age of twenty-nine while in the Church of Scotland. It would seem that God was pleased to use his wife, Isabella, as the main instrument of his conversion in 1816, the same year as their marriage. Post which there was a notable evangelical change in his sermons, i.e., a shift from cogitations in the head to affections of the heart.

Many of the greats, such as Thomas Calmers, James Bannerman, James Buchanan, Andrew and Horatius Bonar, John (Rabbi) Duncan and Robert Candlish are mentioned, all rubbing shoulders with and being influenced by the Rev. Robert Gordon. “It was at Hope Park that William Cunningham heard Gordon preach the sermon that ‘first led (him) to embrace right views of the truth.’ The text was ‘Being born again by the Word of God.’ (1 Peter 1:23).” pgs. 45-46.

 With a plethora of footnotes detailing sources, events and dates, the book’s intention is summarised by its author, “While this is not an academic work, I have provided as many references to information about Robert Gordon as possible. Hopefully these will assist anyone who intends to produce a large, scholarly work on the Rev. Robert Gordon.” p. 2.

Thank you, Michael J. Madden, for bringing the ‘almost forgotten’ Rev. Robert Gordon back to remembrance in such an informative and edifying way. 

PURPOSE

                                                                            Purpose

           Humans need a sense of purpose. Sometimes after a time of loss, (such as a loved one, a job, a marriage or romance, a pet, etc.), we begin to wonder what life is all about. I remember a man I worked with many years ago, as we packed up on a Friday afternoon, saying in depressed tones, ‘What’s the use?’ Had I known he was going to suicide over the weekend I would have taken his words more seriously. He had totally lost all sense of purpose. What is our purpose?

It is through the teaching of the Bible that humanity finds its chief purpose. Perhaps this is best summed up in the words Jesus spoke to His Father just before the cross, ‘I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory I had with You before the world began’ (John 17:4-5).

James the VI of Scotland became James I of Great Britain in 1603. He asked for a fresh translation of the Bible. The King James’ Version (KJV) was completed in 1611. Though not without much internal friction, at his coronation, James united Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland politically, with the intention that God’s Word would be the basis of the United Kingdom’s social cohesion. Upon James’s death in 1625, his son, Charles I, reigned till his execution in 1649. It was during these turbulent times, for the purpose of religious and theological unity, the English Parliament asked for a Christian Assembly, which comprised of an initial one hundred and forty-two ‘learned, godly and judicious Divines,’ and thirty-two lay assessors. The Westminster Standards were drawn up by the Westminster Assembly in 1643–1649. These Standards were to do with Christian teaching and church polity. These formed the basis for uniformity of religion for the United Kingdom of the 1600s, and by extension, the whole of the British Empire from that time forward. In other words, the purpose of the Westminster Standards is about uniting Christians, not dividing them.

By way of expressing this unity, the very first question asked and answered in Westminster Shorter Catechism focuses on the purpose of life Q. 1 What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever. The Larger Catechism expands this a little by replying, Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully enjoy Him for ever.

Christians enjoy God through bringing Him glory. How can we do this? ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Cor. 10:31). Like little mirrors reflecting the sun, the purpose of life is to glorify and enjoy God: through food production, culinary skills, agriculture, vinification, beer brewing, whisky distillation, water purification, architecture, education, politics, theology, metallurgy, writing, art, music, preaching and teaching, church attendance, bricklaying, plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, Lord’s Day keeping, family, church, state, economics, etc., the list is endless. Yet many Christians reduce glorifying and enjoying God to (occasionally!) attending church for an hour on a Sunday morning.

It was the Gospel of Jesus Christ that made the once great Western nations great. However, nowadays many Christians dualistically compartmentalise the Gospel. The little wheel on a penny-farthing bicycle represents ‘God-time’ and big one, ‘my-time.’ If we would only seek to glorify God in everything everywhere, we would surely halt and then reverse the present decline of Western civilisation.   

SO HUMBLE THE SAVIOUR

                                                          

Upon a donkey our King did ride,

‘O Hosanna!’ the people cried,

cloaks and branches 

the path made straight,

in through Jerusalem’s gate.

So humble the Saviour, 

who set us free.

Almighty the God with me.

Jesus, Jesus, my heart sings,

no one can tear us apart.

Jesus, Jesus, King of all kings!

Reign on the throne of my heart.

                                                            Upon a cross hung our King to die,

‘Save Yourself!’ 

was the scoffer’s cry.

Satan laughed 

at our King’s sad state

outside Jerusalem’s gate.

So humble the Saviour, 

who set us free.

Almighty the God with me.

Jesus, Jesus, my heart sings,

no one can tear us apart.

Jesus, Jesus, King of all kings.

Reign on the throne of my heart.

Up from cold death 

our King did rise,

‘He is risen!’ were joyful cries.

The path to heaven 

is now made straight,

He’s New Jerusalem’s gate!

So humble the Saviour, 

who set us free,

Almighty the God with me.

Jesus, Jesus, my heart sings,

no one can tear us apart.

Jesus, Jesus, King of all kings!

Reign on the throne of my heart.