Order now for the New Year (I’m away the first half of next week).
Only local orders in the next two days can be guaranteed to arrive by January 1st!
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How do you feel about musicals? Many people dislike them because ‘in real life, ordinary folk don’t burst into song.’ Well, hopefully Luke chapter 1 will win over the doubters because here we read, not one, but two examples of spontaneous lyricism!
At the end of the chapter (Luke 1:68-80), Zechariah – the father of John the Baptist – waxes lyrical over the coming of Messiah. But first it’s Mary who overflows with praise.
Commonly her words from v46-55 are called ‘Mary’s song’ or ‘The Magnificat’, since that is the first word of its Latin translation. In many churches it’s said or sung on a weekly basis. (In Anglican churches it’s most likely to be used at Evening Prayer / Evensong).
In the “song”, notice two themes – Fulfilment of promise and Reversal of fortunes:
My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever. (Luke 1:46-55)
Fulfilment of Promise
Mary’s song is very much like Hannah’s song (1 Samuel 2:1-10) in which she too was given a miraculous child, she sang of great reversals from the LORD and ended by hoping in Messiah. But Mary’s song is not simply a recapitulation of Hannah’s – it’s the fulfilment of all Old Testament promise. The birth of Christ is “in remembrance of God’s mercy.” It is what He “spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever.” What is the sum and substance of Yahweh’s mercy? It is the sending of Christ. What is the essence of the LORD’s covenant love to Abraham and the Patriarchs? It is the LORD’s enfleshment, born of a virgin.
The Magnificat sounds like it could have been lifted straight from the Psalms. And, in a deep sense, it could have. Both Mary and David were singing of the same mercy, the same covenant love, the same Messiah. The Old Testament is Christian, through and through. And Mary is a Hebrew, through and through. The events of the New Testament are not a departure from the Old Testament narrative – they are its intended destination.
Secondly, let’s consider…
Reversal of Fortunes
This song is the battle hymn of a gospel revolution. All our expectations are upended.
Those who are high are brought low:
The proud are scattered
The mighty are put down
The rich are sent away empty
Meanwhile the meek are lifted up:
The lowly are exalted
The hungry are filled
This is not so much a political manifesto (though it will have implications for all of life). It is, first and foremost, a profound theology of incarnation. Here is what Mary is contemplating: the eternal Christ has emptied Himself. The Word of the Cosmos, has made Himself small. So small in fact that He rests within this penniless teenager. But if that is the trajectory of this world’s Judge, then all worldly trajectories come under judgement.
While the world attempts to lift itself up, the LORD of all comes down. Therefore the high and mighty find themselves dangerously out of step with their Maker. All who seek their own interests find themselves on a collision course with Mary’s child. Jesus redefines majesty as meekness, greatness as service, glory as sacrifice.
For those full of themselves, Christ’s coming will turn out to be their judgement. For those who know they have nothing, it will be exaltation for the lowly and feasting for the hungry.
Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
As you meditate on the LORD’s humility, how will you consider money, power and status today?
Most importantly, as you think on Christ’s self-emptying, won’t you sing with Mary: “My soul doth magnify the Lord!”
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Gabriel says to Mary: “have gratia plena!” Or at least, that was Jerome’s Latin translation from around 400AD. In English it would read “Hail Mary, full of grace.” But that’s not a good translation of Luke 1:28.
Jerome’s version sounds as though Mary is a repository of some spiritual substance called grace. And if we believed that then we might seek deposits of “grace” from the blessed virgin. Yet that is not right.
It is right to call her “The Blessed Virgin Mary”. After all, Gabriel does:
“Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” (Luke 1:28)
It is right to call her “Mary, the mother of God.” She does indeed bear the Son who is “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6).
But it’s not right to call on her as some storehouse of heavenly blessing. Mary is not full of grace, she is graced by God – “highly favoured” as the KJV has it. If we’re looking for a Storehouse of divine blessing we should look to the Child who she carries. He is Grace Himself – the One in Whom is all heavenly blessing (Ephesians 1:3).
But the reason Christ can offer this grace to the world has everything to do with the virgin Mary. You see Mary’s virginity is vital to Christ being full of grace for the world.
Mary’s virginity is triply underlined in Luke 1. She is twice called a virgin before she is even named (Luke 1:27). And when she’s told she is to carry the Christ-child she exclaims: “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Luke 1:34)
The virgin birth is a non-negotiable of the Christian faith. And this is not simply the assertion of a biblicist. The logic of the gospel demands this supernatural conception.
You see, Mary’s child is not the result of human reproduction. We did not produce the Messiah. He was a pure gift:
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.” (Isaiah 9:6)
And this Gift from on high is something completely new. This child is not the son of men – He is the Son of God! He takes a full and perfect humanity from Mary. But He is the true and eternal Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (as the creeds say).
This is so important, because this world is full of the sons of men. And that, really, is our problem.
Luke chapter 3 ends by running us through a potted history of humanity. From Christ back to Adam, Luke charts our family tree as a succession of men who give rise to more men. But at the top of the tree we find something curious:
Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. (Luke 3:38)
Everyone else has been described as the son of a man. But in the history of the world there are two exceptions – one is Jesus, the other is Adam. When Adam was brought into existence, his family tree was just him and the Lord God who formed him. He could be described as a son of God.
Think of him, standing alone in the garden of Eden: All of humanity was in him. Even Eve herself was in Adam and came out of Adam. And between them came the whole world.
Therefore, when Adam fell, he took the human race with him. And ever since, humanity has been born in Adam – born into his estrangement and sin.
So the last thing we need is a Messiah who simply belongs to that slow-march towards the grave. What we really need is something new. We need the original Son of God. We need Him to come as the Second Adam, the Man from heaven. We need Him to be born of a virgin to restart the human race in Himself.
And just as we were born into Adam’s old humanity, so through Christ we are born again into His new humanity.
As the carol says: “Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth.” (Hark the Herald!)
That’s the meaning of Christmas, and it’s the virgin birth that guarantees it. So don’t Hail Mary as full of grace. But thank God for her. Through her came the Second Adam, who invites the whole world into His new humanity. This is the fullness of grace that we all need. And it’s the fullness of grace which Christmas brings.
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Both Joseph and Mary were given strict instructions regarding the name of the Christ-child (Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:31). Angels had to come – they moved heaven to earth! – just to tell them the vital importance of being “Jesus.” Think of all the advice these first-time parents might have received… “You’re bearing the Son of God, don’t drop Him!” But nothing like that. The one thing they need to know is how to call Him, that is, how to think of Him, speak of Him, identify Him.
And what is His name? Joseph is told:
“Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
The name “Jesus” is the same as the name “Joshua”. (It’s from the same Hebrew word, but translated into Greek and then Anglicized). And just as Joshua led the people out of the wilderness and into the promised land, so Jesus would lead His people out of sin and into God’s presence. The name “Joshua” (or “Jesus”) means “the LORD is salvation.”
So we learn three things from the naming of Jesus:
First, we learn what kind of LORD we worship.
Jesus reveals God Most High. He is the way and the truth and the life, we only come to the Father through Him (John 14:6). So we don’t simply learn about Christ’s nature when we study His name. His name reveals the depths of the divine life.
Therefore, what does it mean to say that the LORD is salvation. It means that His very nature is a saving movement towards us. To know the LORD is to know Him in His gracious approach to sinners. The heart-beat of God is rescue: the LORD is salvation.
And who could deny this when we look to the baby Jesus. From heaven to earth, from a throne to a manger, from King of the angels to man of sorrows. Why? Only to save. His infinite riches are poured out in incarnation and crucifixion. He becomes poor, just to make us paupers rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). What is our God like? The LORD is salvation.
Second, we learn what salvation is. You see, the LORD is salvation.
Salvation is not a package of spiritual benefits which Jesus bestows. It’s not the accumulation of heavenly things: forgiveness, a righteous status before God, eternal life, feelings of peace and purpose. Jesus is not like a Prince riding along in his carriage and tossing bread to a pauper. Jesus is far more like the Prince who gets out of his carriage, sets his love on the pauper and pledges himself to marry her. He Himself is our redemption.
Salvation is not our receiving of heavenly stuff – it’s receiving the LORD Himself. And in Him, we receive forgiveness, righteousness, eternal life, etc, etc. What is salvation? The question is who? And the answer is: The LORD Jesus!
Third, we learn about ourselves. If the LORD is salvation then we must be lost. And that is certainly what our verse describes. The Christ-Child is called JESUS: “for he shall save his people from their sins.”
Jesus does not come to save us from loneliness, or lack of purpose, or material poverty. He comes in a very specific salvation – to save us from our sins. Therefore this is our greatest need – a remedy for sin.
As Max Lucado has said:
If our greatest need had been information,
God would have sent us an educator.
If our greatest need had been technology,
God would have sent us a scientist.
If our greatest need had been money,
God would have sent us an economist.
If our greatest need had been pleasure,
God would have sent us an entertainer.
But our greatest need was forgiveness,
so God sent us a Savior.
Allow Jesus to define your greatest need. It’s not your health, your finances, your job, your family, your relationship breakdowns. There is a much bigger problem: your sin.
But now, let Jesus “say unto your soul, ‘I am thy salvation.'” (Psalm 35:3). You are delivered from your real problem, and empowered to face all others.
Take a minute and allow Jesus to define for you…
… God
… salvation
… your sense of proportion in life.
I’m down to the last 20 or so King’s English devotionals.
I may be able to get a reprint done, but I can’t guarantee it before the New Year.
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The Christian life is a life of waiting and working.
Advent puts us in mind of the waiting. We look not only to Christ’s first coming, but ahead to His second coming, to judge the living and the dead.
Here is how Old Testament saints waited for that first coming:
“5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. 7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” (Psalm 130:5-8)
The long-awaited Lord did indeed come to redeem Israel from all their iniquities. But His first coming does not do away with waiting.
Paul explains this in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 (the passage from which our phrase originates). He narrates the conversion story of the Thessalonians:
Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10)
The Christian waits for Christ to come again. We don’t wait nervously for ‘Judgement Day’, unsure of the outcome. No, through His first coming Christ delivered us from the coming wrath. We wait confidently as those who love Him and long to see Him face to face.
When I was engaged to my wife we were on opposite sides of the planet. In fact our relationship was ‘long-distance’ for over a year. But here’s what kept me faithful to her – and more than faithful, here’s what kept our long-distance relationship positively vibrant: We were waiting for our wedding day. And that expectancy shaped virtually every minute of our lives. Simply waiting for this future rendered any notions of infidelity unthinkable. Waiting was not an absence of activity. It wasn’t a lack that needed filling. It was not a nothing preceding a something. It was a something of enormous substance. Waiting in this sense is a tangible reality.
So it is with the Christian. We wait to see Jesus.
But how do we wait? Like the picture above? Scanning the sky for signs of His coming? Scouring the newspapers for clues to His advent?
We’re called to be on the welcoming committee, but many want to be in the planning group. It’s something Jesus refuses to bring us in on. Just before He ascended His followers wanted to get an eschatological timetable from Him:
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (Acts 1:6-8)
They wanted to know times and seasons. Jesus says ‘That’s not your job! Your job is to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.”
We do not wait by worrying about when. We wait by witnessing.
It’s interesting how Acts 1 continues. Jesus ascends to heaven, the disciples are – understandably, you’d think – gazing into the heavens. But angels appear to tell them to stop gawping at the skies (Acts 1:10-11). The posture of the church, as we wait for Christ, is not stationary, faces heavenwards. Instead our posture is shaped by Acts 1:8 – we’ve been given our marching orders and out we go – to the ends of the earth as witnesses of Christ.
And so in the same chapter that tells us of the Thessalonians “waiting for God’s Son from heaven” Paul also gives us this description of their current life:
[We remember] without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:3)
Here again is Paul’s famous trio: faith, hope and love. Our faith looks back to Christ’s first coming and it inspires work. Our hope looks forward to Christ’s second coming and brings patience. And love is the atmosphere of our present lives – confident of the salvation Christ has won, and expectant of the cosmic redemption He will bring. Now we are free from having to build our own identity or secure our own future. Now we can love. And this love will be a busy, active thing. It is a “labour of love.”
We’re not working towards our vindication, our joy, our purpose in life. We’re working from that sure gift from Christ. Therefore Christian work is a “labour of love.”
Are your Christian efforts “a labour of love”? If they’re feeling more of a “millstone around your neck“, then these aren’t the kind of labours that will honour Jesus. Let me suggest that you may have forgotten the other two elements of the trio. Remember, we have a sure faith, grounded in Christ’s first coming. And we have a certain hope, expectant of His second coming. If you want to rekindle the love: look again to Christ this Advent – His faultless work for you and your expectant wait for Him. A fresh vision of Jesus turns labour into “a labour of love.”
This one is very much out of order. But Christmas is upon me and life is a little crazy. Nonetheless, here is an all new entry for this phrase from Genesis 4:16…
Humanity is homesick. We feel restless, estranged, ‘out of place.’ But this is very odd! Where else should we be? Where else have we known? Why should we not feel ‘right at home’ in the world where we live?
Genesis chapter 3 tells us why. Cut off from the LORD, humanity is deported – exiled from our true resting place in God’s presence:
23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:23-24)
The human race began on high (Eden was a mountain sanctuary, Ezekiel 28:12-19). But soon we were ‘down and out’. “East of Eden” has been our home away from Home ever since. And we all know that things are not right.
Our first parents would have told their children and grandchildren tales of paradise. The next eight generations would have heard from Adam himself about the life of Eden. And perhaps there’s also a residual memory in our flesh, a primeval nostalgia. Maybe that’s why the older we get, the more we consider our ‘green salad days’ to be behind us. As the saying goes “We’re living in the good old days, just wait and see!”
But whether we yearn for yesterday or hope for tomorrow, we all know that life here and now is profoundly disordered. In biblical terms – we need to make a journey back up the hill. A journey from east to west. But how can we, when those cherubim guard the way with their fiery sword?
Well the tabernacle models the answer. From Exodus 25 onwards we read about the tabernacle, built as a pattern of the gospel reality to come. When the people saw it they would have become very excited. In the west was the sanctuary of God – the Holy of Holies. In a clear reference to our verses today, a thick curtain separated the people from God’s presence and cherubim were woven into the curtain. The tabernacle was preaching to us about our condition, shut out of paradise, east of Eden.
And yet, every year a man would make the journey from east to west, from estrangement and into God’s presence. Every year a man would pass through those deadly cherubim and ascend into the sanctuary. He was the High Priest, and he modelled to the people what Christ would do.
You see Christ came down into our situation to make it His own. He took our predicament on Himself, exhausting the curse of death in His own body. He left our sins dead and buried – as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Then He arose to newness of life and ascended back up the hill into the presence of His Father. There He was not prevented by the angels but proclaimed:
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. (Psalm 24:7-10)
Those who are east of Eden have no hope in themselves. We cannot regain paradise in our own strength. The cherubim, the flaming sword, the curtain all stand in the way. But Christ, our Forerunner, has marched up the hill. He has taken our side, east of Eden, and has journeyed west on our behalf. There He sits – at God’s right hand – and He does so for us.
The night before the cross, Jesus made this promise to His followers:
2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2-3)
We are homesick exiles, east of Eden. But let us not yearn for a golden past. In Christ let us hope for a bright tomorrow. For where He is, there we will also be!
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Anyone who’s really loved (or feared) knows that the heart is not the only emotional organ. Some of our greatest loves and our greatest fears are felt a little further south – in the guts!
So while we might be used to speaking of a sinking heart, the Scriptures are comfortable speaking of churning bowels!
Genesis 43:30 And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother [Benjamin]
Song of Solomon 5:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
Jeremiah 4:19 [The LORD says] My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me;
Lamentations 1:20 Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled
We speak of gut-wrenching emotions. The King James Bible, in faithfulness to the underlying Hebrew and Greek, just takes that language one step further. And notice that all of these visceral reactions are right and good responses to the situation. You might call them healthy bowel movements. On the other hand, a lack of compassion is considered to be a nasty bowel complaint. So to the loveless Corinthians Paul writes:
ye are straitened in your own bowels. (2 Corinthians 6:12)
And John describes a loveless Christian who has “shutteth up his bowels of compassion.” (1 John 3:17).
Therefore there is great need for our sluggish bowels to be “refreshed.” Apparently Philemon was particularly good at this:
For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother. (Philemon 1:7)Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord: refresh my bowels in the Lord. (Philemon 1:20)
What would it mean to be refreshed in this way? Well Paul speaks of a change that has already happened to the Christian. It’s foundational to our emotional renewal.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; (Colossians 3:12)
The Christian is elect of God (that is, chosen – choice in the Father’s eyes). The Christian is holy (that is, special – set apart as His own). The Christian is beloved (that is, a child of the King and dearly loved).
Notice in all these things that Christians are what Christ is. Christ is the original and eternal Elect One. Christ is the original and eternal Holy One. Christ is the original and eternal Beloved Son. And, by faith, we come to share in His status and life.
Therefore, says Paul, since we are such a people, let us put on His bowels of mercies. Here is one more way we will share in Christ’s life – to share in His stomach-churning love. You see it is Christ who loves with a visceral, gut-wrenching passion.
Let me explain. There is a verb form of the Greek word for “bowels”. It means, most basically, to be moved in ones bowels, but the KJV translates it more idiomatically as “moved with compassion.” This word is used only in the Gospels and only to describe the emotional life of Jesus.
Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them…
Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them…
Matthew 15:32 Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude…
Matthew 20:34 So Jesus had compassion on [the two blind men], and touched their eyes…
Mark 1:41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched [the leper]…
Luke 7:13 And when the Lord saw [the widow], he had compassion on her…
In addition to these Gospel accounts there are three characters in Christ’s parables that are said to be moved with compassion: The King of the Unmerciful Servant, The Good Samaritan and The Father of the Prodigal Son. We’ve seen previously how each of these are a pictures of Christ Himself. It is Christ’s character to be moved with pity in His innermost parts. Churned up inside. Profoundly stirred towards mercy and love.
And not only does Christ share with us His standing before the Father, He shares with us His “bowels of mercies.” When we love our brothers and sisters we are participating in Christ’s love for them. We are “moved with compassion” in the name of Jesus. That’s why Paul is able to say that he longs after the Philippians “in the bowels of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:8) Paul loves with the very love of Jesus.
So please don’t think me rude, I’m only being biblical, but how are your bowel movements? You know what I mean. Are your bowels of mercies straitened and shut up? Or are you moved with compassion?
Return to the Lord Jesus by faith. See His compassion – perhaps read one of the Gospel stories from the quotes above. Allow yourself to be moved once again. As a chosen, holy and beloved child of God, Christ’s compassion is yours.
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William Tyndale gave us the word, “likeminded”, but what gives us the reality?
On the internet it’s easy to find “people like us”. No matter how specialist our interests might be, the online world is so large, any subgroup at all can find “likeminded” members.
But what about in the local church? What about in face to face community where people of all ages, races and cultures are called together by the Spirit? How can we find unity there?
That was a big concern for Paul in his letter to the Philippians. There were high profile spats within the congregation and it was affecting the witness of the church. Therefore Paul urges these Christians:
be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (Philippians 2:2-3)
Notice how important singleness of mind is to Paul. But how will it come about?
Well the answer, as always, is in Jesus. Paul writes in verse 5:
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
The mind we are to be like is Christ’s. And what is the mind of Christ? Well in the following verses, Paul either writes or quotes from a stunning hymn that reveals the eternal thought-life of the Son of God:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
You and I did not choose to be born. The eternal Christ did! He made up His mind to take flesh. This is incredible. Because if I ever did have the choice to be born, I would not have chosen what Jesus chose. If I was in the form of God, surrounded by the worship of heaven, in the direct presence of my Father, I would not have chosen the birth, life and death which the Son of God determined for Himself. Jesus chose a life of “no reputation”, of service (slavery even), humility, obedience and death – even the godforsaken death of the cross.
When we see the baby in the manger, it’s like watching a man falling. He has come from the highest heights. And on Christmas morning we see Him heading down, down, down, from heaven to earth, and eventually to hell on that cross,
And all of this happens because Jesus made up His mind to serve. Being in the form of God He has a mind to serve. And – this is crucial to understand – such service was not a departure from the divine glory, it is the very expression of it. The true Godness of God is shown when Christ climbs down off the throne and pours Himself out as a servant. Wriggling in the manger, writhing on the cross – there is the expression of true deity. And when the Father sees His Son pouring Himself out in service…
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Because of the crib and the cross, therefore the Father says “Have the crown!” What is crowned is the self-emptying love of the crib and the cross. The Father vindicates suffering love as the true display of divine glory. He vindicates the suffering Servant as the true LORD of heaven and earth.
And one day everyone will bow the knee to Jesus, the LORD. They will do so because He poured out His life to death.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)
One day the whole world will recognize what the Father has declared in exalting Jesus to His right hand: The sacrificial Servant is LORD. Humble, self-abandoning love is enthroned as the very heart-beat of deity. The mind of the Servant is the mind of God.
And so Paul says: “Be likeminded… let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:2,5)
We are a fractious bunch, we humans. But here’s the solution. The Christian has their thinking completely reoriented by the mind of Christ. Humility is greatness, service is glory, sacrifice is divine. When we really think like that we will esteem each other better than ourselves.
You see the saying from today’s picture is wrong. Or at least it needs recalibrating by the gospel of Christ. But the reality is this: Humble minds think alike.
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In his wonderful book on Ephesians, Watchman Nee observes that the letter can be divided into three movements: “Sit, Walk, Stand.”
We are seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6)
We then walk worthy of our calling in Christ. (Ephesians 4:1)
And we stand against the assaults of the evil one. (Ephesians 6:10-17)
The order is important. First we learn our true position in Christ – raised, forgiven, adopted, beloved and inheriting the cosmos. Then we learn how to walk out into the world on that basis. Finally we learn how to stand against Satan’s attacks, knowing that we already hold the high ground.
As far as Nee was concerned, all our problems in the Christian life stem from a failure to appreciate our seatedness. When we try to walk before we have sat, we fall down! We imagine that Christianity consists of performing certain duties or cultivating certain characteristics. Yet our new life really has been given to us in Jesus.
Thus, as he turns from “Sit” (Ephesians 1-3) to “Walk” (Ephesians 4-5) Nee makes this comment:
God has given us Christ. There is nothing now for us to receive outside of Him. The Holy Spirit has been sent to produce what is of Christ in us; not to produce anything that is apart from or outside of Him…We have been accustomed to look upon holiness as a virtue, upon humility as a grace, upon love as a gift to be sought from God. But the Christ of God is Himself everything that we shall ever need… Our life is the life of Christ, mediated in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit Himself.
Given that this is so, the very first area of our “walk” which Paul addresses is the realm of “words” (Ephesians 4:1-25). In the word, Christ is given to us again by the Spirit. Therefore the body of Christ is a word-full body. We are forever returning to the gospel word to tell us of our true position – seated at God’s right hand. In spite of all worldly evidence to the contrary, we walk by faith not by sight. In other words, we “walk” by the “word”. Thus we are constantly “speaking the truth in love [that we] may grow up into him in all things.” (Ephesians 4:15)
As Paul considers this, he raises the issue of words that go wrong. In verse 29 he will talk about “corrupt communication.” In verse 31 he exhorts us to put away “evil speaking”. But in verse 26 he writes our fascinating little verse:
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. (Ephesians 4:26)
Paul is aware that anger is a reality in our daily communication. If we’re not tempted to daily anger, perhaps we are not walking with our brothers and sisters in close enough communion!
Anger arises when our desires are thwarted (James 4:1-3). Most often our desires are inappropriate, but sometimes our desires are good and proper and therefore their frustration involves a righteous anger. In such situations we are to “be angry and not sin.” The anger is not to be suppressed but addressed. And addressed quickly.
In the Bible, days end at sunset because each day is a microcosm (a little world). Each day begins in darkness (at dusk), but the light triumphs over the darkness. If that is the story of the world, then it must be the story of our lives. Darkness must not have the last word in our relationships. We must end with the light of grace and reconciliation.
Therefore Paul exhorts us to sort out our quarrels before the day is out. In this way we will be imitators of God. His final word to the world is not wrath but mercy. Notice how Paul grounds all our human acts of reconciliation in God’s great reconciliation in Christ.
Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us. (Ephesians 4:32-5:2)
Sit in that truth – Christ has loved us and given Himself for us. We are at peace with the living God, though it cost Him everything to secure it. Now walk by that light.
Are there people you need to reconcile with? “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”
