The {Pop-Up} Story of Redemption

When the first Russian cosmonaut went up into space {1961}, he came down and said, "My atheism has been confirmed. I went up in space, I looked around, and I didn't see any God." Shortly thereafter, C.S. Lewis wrote a little essay, commenting, "If there is a God who created everything, that god would not relate to us the way a person on the second story relates to a person on the first story. God would relate to us the way Shakespeare relates to Hamlet. Hamlet's never going to find anything out about Shakespeare by going upstairs or backstage. The only way Hamlet's ever going to know anything about Shakespeare is if Shakespeare writes information about himself into the play—revelation."

Christianity asserts that not only did God provide revelation {the Bible}, but he went so far as to insert himself into the story. He looked at the mess we had made of the world he had created, and instead of closing the book, he wrote himself into the midst of that mess. Despite his right to be a comfortable observer, he subjected himself to being one of us and with us in the story, experiencing suffering, torture, and death to change the ending.

Tim Keller, C.S. Lewis

Paging Dr. Jesus...

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.

While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"

On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

—Mark 2:13—17

Oars Overboard

Psalm 50:9-15:
[God says,]
"I have no need of a bull from your stall
or goats from your pens,
for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

Psalm 51:1:
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love,
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

Miracle-Gro

Jeremiah 33:10-11
"This is what the LORD says: [of the uninhabitable Jerusalem, post-Babylonian-siege] 'You say about this place, "It is a desolate waste, without men or animals." Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD, saying, "Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; his love endures forever." For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before,' says the LORD."

There is no situation where God cannot choose to plant fruitful life. Every resource is at his disposal {and lack of resources is clearly not an obstacle to a God who created a universe out of nothing in the first place}.
Nor is barrenness/tragedy an indicator of the likelihood of his intent to produce future flourishing.
Therefore, no matter how bleak things look, there is actually never biblically-based reasoning for lack of hope for the eventual restoration of a person or circumstance.

What is self control?
The restraint of action toward a particular desire {A}.

But why?
Because that desire is in conflict with a stronger love {B}, and acting on desire A would hinder the fulfillment of the more highly valued B.
Let's say one desires to eat nothing but cookies, and also desires to be relatively healthy. If the desire to be healthy is greater, one will be able to refrain from subsisting entirely on cookies.

St. Augustine defines sin, therefore, as disordered love. If one loves/desires anything more than God, one will naturally place other things above pleasing God and following his commands when there is a conflict of desires.

ref: Tim Keller

Good Reception

The LORD will hear when I call to him. —Psalm 4

Answer me when I call to you,
O my righteous God.
Give me relief from my distress;
be merciful to me and hear my prayer.

How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame?
How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself;
the LORD will hear when I call to him.

In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your hearts and be silent.

Offer right sacrifices
and trust in the LORD.

Many are asking, "Who can show us any good?"
Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD.

You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

—Psalm 4

Notes: Psalm 3

{click to enlarge}

God sure looks like a schumck sometimes.

Just because God loves you does not mean he's going to give you all the crazy and dumb stuff you think you need to be happy. In fact, God facilitates the movement of suffering into the lives of Christians. On purpose. But this actually does not make him a schmuck.

Because he has taken us into his care as sons and is therefore actively committed to our good,
AND
He knows everything {he knows the potential outcomes of all options in all circumstances},
AND
He is completely sovereign {he has the power to control absolutely everything}:
Every single thing that happens to us is for the purpose of bringing us closer to him.

Romans 8:28:
All things work together for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose.

Why God doesn't suck {#2}

He knows what it's like down here—because he's lived in our world. He knows what it's like to be a human; to have needs and wants. He knows what it's like to suffer when those needs and wants aren't fulfilled.

Heb 2: 14—18:
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Why Jesus doesn't suck {#2}

He calls those the world would reject.

Mark 10:48-49:
Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped and said, "Call him."

Why God doesn't suck {#1}

Judgment day is not a pop quiz.

1 Thessalonians 5:3:
While people are saying, "peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, so this day should not surprise you like a thief.

Keep your hands inside the car at all times...

"When we suffer, we feel as though we have lost control. The reality is that we were never in control in the first place."

Tim Keller

Oversight

There is a way
that seems right to a man,
but in the end
it leads to death.

-Proverbs 14:12

Cosmic cost-benefit analysis

How did Jesus endure suffering?

Hebrews 12:
"For the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of God."

Isiah 53:
"The results of his suffering he will see and be satisfied, for my servant has justified many."

Check, please.

Somebody always has to pay when wrong is done; there is a debt created. But we continue to do wrong, and therefore continue to create debt, how can our salvation be permanent and secure?
Jesus paid the debt for all sin—past, present, and future—for those that will accept his payment on their behalf. God then forgives because he is just; he will not demand payment for the same thing twice.

Tim Keller

Why Jesus doesn't suck {#1}

Jesus had unlimited power, and yet refrained completely from using it to benefit himself.

Fair weather friends

"Don't waste your suffering. See that what you trust in and value will always fail [or leave] you if it is not God. He is the only thing that can always come with you into suffering."

Tim Keller

Playing in the mud

Since I am united with Christ, he is always with me. Therefore, when I sin, I drag him through it too.

Philippians 2: 1-2:
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."

On God's playlist

"When we walk along a clear road feeling fine, and someone takes our arm to help us, as likely as not we shall impatiently shake him off; but when we are caught in rough country in the dark with a storm getting up and our strength spent, and someone takes our arm to help us, we shall thankfully lean on him. And God wants us to feel that our way through life is rough and perplexing, so that we may learn to thankfully lean on him."

J.I.Packer

It's not about you.

The bible is not about you or what you've got to do to be saved. The bible is about Him and what he's done for you.

Ouch.

"But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head." —Psalm 3:3

Shield: a mechanism that protects one from harmful force by absorbing or deflecting that force.

Christians can say that God is their shield because:
• All of humanity has not done what God created us to do {love him & other people}, which has messed things up pretty badly for the whole earth. Thus, all mankind are objects of his wrath. If we received the wrath we are due from him, it would destroy us.
• But he decided he wanted to keep some of us. He sent Jesus, {his son/him/it's complicated} who willingly, after living up to God's standards and intentions for humanity perfectly, took and absorbed all of God's wrath towards the people that would accept him as their substitute/shield. All of it—there's none left for us. God will never punish {in any way} those shielded by Jesus, because Jesus took all that was due to us—for us. If punishment has been paid once in full for a particular group of people, it would be unjust of God to demand payment from those people for the same thing a second time.