Tag Archives: IV. Doctrine of Christ

The Apostles’ Creed and Other Religions

by therev2011

“When it called God “maker of heaven and earth,” it parted company with Hinduism and Eastern faiths generally; now, by calling Jesus Christ God’s only Son, it parts company with Judaism and Islam and stands quite alone.” -J.I. Packer, Affirming the Apostles’ Creed

Jesus’ Ministry Among Hypocrites

by therev2011

“And remember, Jesus saw hypocrisy far more clearly and deeply than we can. His X-ray eyes penetrated every pharisaical mask and disguise to detect every gross contradiction between lips and life. And even more painful for Him, He saw the double standards and inconsistencies in even the best of His disciples. His painful experience of hypocrisy was a large part of His sin-atoning sufferings. But they also gave Him an ongoing sympathy and empathy with us. However pained we are by phony faith, we can take our pain to someone who felt it even more deeply.” -David Murray, The Happy Christian

Vulnerable Birth

by therev2011

“The second person of the Trinity was conceived and born needing the care of a mother. To be human is to be vulnerable, but to be a baby is to be vulnerable in a manner we spend a lifetime denying. Indeed Jesus was a baby refusing to forego the vulnerability that would climax in his crucifixion. And as such, Jesus was entrusted to the care of Mary and Joseph. They could not save him from the crucifixion, but they were indispensable agents to making his life possible.” -Stanley Hauerwas

BTW NOTE: “Indispensable” is difficult word to use here. Could God have sent his Son differently? Yes, probably, but by sending him in the way that he did, Christ identified with true human beings who are dependent creatures from birth.

What We Need

by therev2011

“Genesis 3 shows what we most need. If you are a Marxist, what you need are revolutionaries and decent economists. If you are a psychologist, what you need is an army of counselors. If you think that the root of all breakdown and disorder is medical, what you really need is large numbers of Mayo Clinics. But if our first and most serious need is to be reconciled to God–a God who now stands over against us and pronounces death upon us because of our willfully chosen rebellion–then what we need the most, though we may have all of these other derivative needs, is to be reconciled to him. We need someone to save us.” -D.A. Carson

What If God Was One Of Us?

by therev2011
“First of all, we are looking at a true baby. He is not an idea or a religious experience. He is a newborn infant who makes noises and cries when he gets hungry. What we are looking at is real, simple, definite, complete. We are looking at a true baby. There is no reason to think that the baby shows any special manifestations. An artist such as Rembrandt can paint him with light emanating from his body, and if we understand the light as symbolic, it is safe enough. But if we think of it as more than that, it is harmful. There is no halo about the baby’s head. Certainly there is no halo around Mary’s head. What we see is a young Jewish mother, probably seventeen or eighteen years old. She may be pretty or she may not be. We see her husband, and we see a little baby who does not show any marks that would distinguish him from any other infant. And yet this little baby we see lying here is the second person of the Trinity. He himself has been God forever. This baby is God who has taken on flesh.” -Francis Schaeffer