Category: Devotional

How the Gospel is Dismantling My Critical Spirit

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

All Christians have besetting sins—those which recur persistently, fatiguing the most seasoned believers. Most of us survey these well-worn battlefields of temptation and sigh.

I’ve had a critical spirit for ages. It wasn’t until recent years, however, that I realized how much it was affecting my relationships and my ability to worship God.

As I’ve tried to fight against this proud part of myself, I’ve seen that the gospel really is the power of God (Rom 1:16). Where common Christian attitudes toward resisting temptation fall short, the good news of King Jesus gives us all we need.

The Symptoms

Trevin Wax distinguishes between a critical mind and a critical spirit. Those with a critical mind are “incisive, analytical, fair-minded.” Rightly used, this can be a gift to the church. But those with a critical spirit “[delight] in exposing the flaws of others,” and are “quick to judge, dismissive, and proud.”

Though I hate to type it, I recognize myself in these latter descriptions. I try to soothe my conscience by remembering that I am a college professor, trained to be analytical with high standards for my students. But my critical spirit shows up in my personal life far more frequently than at work; that excuse holds no water.

I grumble about the mistakes, flaws, and immaturity of others. This is seldom for their benefit but rather to assert my own superiority. I judge, heaping derision on others in my heart. I congratulate myself on my brilliant insight as I tear my brother down.

The Diagnosis

The critical spirit can sneak onto our porches under the cover of “giving feedback” or “iron sharpening iron” or, maybe at its worst, “discipleship.” But let’s turn on the fluorescent lights and call this what it is: pride.

I cannot speak universally here, so what follows may only be true for me. The standard to which I’m comparing everyone I criticize is—horrors—me. Or, if not me in reality, what I would be if I attempted this observed labor.

They should have known better. (Like I do!) They should have done better. (Like I would have!)

The diagnosis might appear grim, but this is only half of the doctor’s visit. The gospel really is good news, and not just for our initial step into the kingdom of God.

The Treatment

Because the gospel is the way to the Father, it is also the way to holiness. The gospel is how we defeat sin and mortify the flesh. Here is the way this looks for me and my critical spirit.

That flaw I’m spotting in my neighbor? That is not the biggest problem here. (See Matt 7:1–5.) I’m boosting myself as perceptive, wise, and superior, trying to justify myself.

The gospel of Jesus points out the big, ugly lies in my thinking. No amount of insight or skill will make me worthy before God.

My sin is so bad that it required the death of Jesus. How foolish it sounds that I could either add to that or replace it by some smart critique! God is the ultimate judge, not me.

Jesus died for me, but he also rose again. His resurrection means new life for all those in Christ—I have a new heart, and by the Holy Spirit I can love, encourage, pray for, and be thankful for others in ways that I could not in the flesh. I no longer need to be superior to anyone; the way to glory is not the way of self-exaltation, but of serving others. Jesus bids me follow him.

Just as surely as Jesus died and was raised, he also ascended into heaven. He rules the world, with truth and grace. I can look forward to the time when faith will be sight, when my critical spirit will be renewed, and when I will love God and desire the best for all of my neighbors, all the time.

Not There Yet

My real life friends will need to be patient with me. I’m a work in progress. The gospel is dismantling my critical spirit, but the construction ground is not yet clear.

The gospel is not a magic wand to wave, but we’ll make little progress on our besetting sins until we understand how transformation works. The anemic advice I hear from some Christians can often be reduced to: “You’re forgiven; try harder.” The gospel is much better news than that.

I cannot say how this works with your particular sins. But if this resonates with you at all, I would bet there are others in your church who feel the same need to apply the light of the gospel to the shadowy places of their lives.

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How Short, O Lord?

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

I teach college students, so I know the excitement that mid-August can bring. A new school year is full of possibilities.

My excitement this year is mixed with sadness. My wife and I dropped off our oldest daughter at college this week. She’s not studying on a different continent, but she’s not right around the corner. We’re going to miss her.

Those who know me best know I’ve been anticipating this event with something less than pure joy. (For almost a year I’ve been telling people that I was feeling pre-sad.) But some good friends have recently helped me remember who God is and what this transition represents.

The God of Time

We may not often phrase it this way, but time was one of the things God created and pronounced good. We affirm that God exists outside of time, but he spoke time into being on the first day of creation; we see this in the existence of evening and morning (Gen 1:5).

Time, therefore, was among the “everything” that God saw and pronounced “very good” at the end of creation’s sixth day (Gen 1:31).

So God has created time and rules over it. The days and months and seasons are under his control. And we should also affirm that the fact we have periods of our lives is good. This is the way God has designed our world to work: the earth spins and orbits, the clock hands rotate, and time passes.

The Nature of Seasons

The essence of a season or period of time is that it has a beginning and end. These starting and ending points may not be predictable, but they exist for us as finite beings.

So often we want to hold onto the past and resist the change that time brings. At its core, this is a subtle way of cutting against the grain of creation, of whispering that God may not be governing all things very well.

God wants thanksgiving and remembrance from us. Many of the festivals and worship occasions for believers throughout the ages celebrated what God has done. But rejoicing in what has past is not the same as grumbling that we no longer live there. We remember what has been done so we can live faithfully into the future.

Mourning is Real

The cry of David in Psalm 13:1 is “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” And this is the familiar plea of those who lament. Their circumstances are difficult, maybe nearly intolerable, whether because of illness, sorrow, or persecution. The deliverance they seek is an end to their situation—in essence, they want God to intervene by speeding time up.

I’ve found myself wanting the opposite this summer, essentially praying, How short, O Lord? How short and fleeting are these days with my dear daughter? How will we manage as a family with such a glaring absence? Could you, perhaps, slow time down just a bit?

Not Bad, Just Different

My family is entering a new reality, and some of the sadness I’ve been feeling is mourning the end of a season. No longer will both of my children be at home, available for a conversation just by walking down the hall.

There have been some seasons of parenting that could not pass quickly enough. My wife and I were quite glad when each of our children reached the age of 2. Other seasons (like the one that just ended) are much sweeter, seasons we’re not eager to leave.

But God is good and he governs time well. He goes with his people, including my oldest daughter. God cares for her more than I do, and he will be faithful to her. Though I’m feeling blue this week, I’m learning that turning the page on a season doesn’t make the present worse—it’s just different.

We’re finite creatures made by an infinite God with a longing to be with him. For those in Christ, we will realize this desire one day. Until then, we live as those in time, with all of the accompanying joys and sorrows.

And, this week, some of us will learn how to cheer on new college students from hundreds of miles away.

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Living Hope and the Resurrection of Jesus

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The word “hope” is often used, culturally, as a synonym for “strongly wish.” Even among Christians, “hope” might sound vague and squishy. I suspect some Christians’ hope would not withstand much scrutiny.

On what grounds do you have hope? What assures you of your hope? When will your hope be realized?

Peter answers these questions in the early part of his first letter.

A Living Hope

At the beginning of his letter, Peter uses the word “hope” to describe our status as believers.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5)

Specifically, Peter uses “living hope” to describe the state into which God has caused us to be “born again.” Hope is to be so present with Christians that it is our new residence. When we are made alive by God, we are (as it were) citizens of Hope. Christians are the hopeful ones, characterized by the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises.

Importantly, this hope we have is living. This modifier is not misplaced—our hope is living because our Savior is alive! Peter writes that we have been born again to this living hope “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Jesus’s resurrection makes our hope possible, vibrant, and vital.

Peter tells us some of the substance of this living hope, as we have been born again “to an inheritance.” This inheritance is pure and lasting, unlike any earthly inheritance, “kept in heaven” for us.

As Christians, Peter wants us leaning forward, eager for what is coming, like toddlers waiting for the whistle to start an egg hunt.

Hope in God

Later in this chapter, Peter reflects on Christ and the means of our salvation.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:20–21)

Because God raised Jesus from the dead and gave him glory, our faith and hope are in God. It is the “precious blood of Christ,” which is imperishable, by which we “were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from [our] forefathers” (1 Peter 1:18–19).

This is not just splitting hairs. Jesus’s suffering and death secure our ransom, and his resurrection and exaltation are the grounds for our faith and hope. We are always to be looking ahead with the confidence that God will keep his promises to us just as he kept them to Jesus.

Hope in Forthcoming Grace

The first command Peter gives in this letter comes in verse 13 of chapter 1.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)

Obeying this command requires our minds to be both ready for action and sober. Hope-setting is not for the lazy, the distracted, or the easily numbed. Our hope is a rudder, a precious tool, and we must be careful where it points.

Further, Peter exhorts us to set our hope fully on upcoming grace. It is not enough that we acknowledge this grace or look forward to it some of the time or with a divided heart. The grace that is coming to us is so transforming and thrilling that it demands our entire hope.

Peter also gives a time frame. We are not called to hope forever nor to look ahead to a vague, unspecified future. At “the revelation of Jesus Christ” everything will change and we will be new. Though we have already received (and continue, daily, to receive) buckets of grace, we will swim in an ocean at the revelation of Christ.

Grace Over All

Peter’s command in verse 13 (above) might sound impossible. It’s the first of several full-throated exhortations in that paragraph: “do not be conformed” to your former passions, “be holy in all your conduct,” “conduct yourselves with fear” (1 Peter 1:14–17).

Let’s not lose sight of the context, though. These commands are given knowing that we were ransomed from our futile, former ways (1 Peter 1:18). Like many commands in Scripture, these urge us to act like the new people we are instead of the former people we were.

Grace, thankfully, hangs over everything. If you feel small or inadequate reading these requirements, that’s good! You are. Like all of us, you need God’s grace which comes to us in Christ. God forgives our sin and enables our obedience by his Spirit.

And we have much to look forward to. One day we will know nothing of our former passions, we will be holy in everything, and we will fear God perfectly. There is so much grace waiting for us at the revelation of Jesus that we can’t fathom it all.

That’s our hope.

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Training That Only Grace Provides

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

My years as an athlete ended in high school. I was decent in one sport, decidedly below average in a few others, and quite content to leave formal competition behind at graduation.

My high school coaches didn’t fit the stereotype of an athletic trainer. They were encouraging, supportive, and (mostly) kind. Perhaps because of movies and television, I picture a trainer differently: intense, aggressive, and maybe a little bit mean.

What comes to your mind when you think of training? Does training have any relationship to Christian discipleship? In this post we’ll learn about the trainer Paul describes for all believers, regardless of fitness level.

Grace is a Trainer

I’ve recently been turning the following passage over in my mind.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Titus 2:11–14)

God’s grace is training us. That may sound surprising, as many people wouldn’t put grace in the role of trainer. Before studying this passage, I’d list several aspects of the Christian life before grace when thinking of training, including law, God’s discipline, and the example of other believers.

But Paul lands on grace as our trainer. To understand Paul’s logic, let’s look just one chapter later in this letter.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4–7)

We are not saved by our works, but by God’s mercy. We have been justified by God’s grace and have therefore become heirs of God. We are new people, through the regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

Through God’s favor, we now have an identity we do not deserve and would never choose. We are heirs of God.

God’s grace trains us because reflecting on our new identity is confrontational. His grace is contrary to our expectations, our nature, and even our basic notions of cause and effect. When we encounter God’s grace in this way, it forces us to grapple with what is true about God, us, and the way God really operates.

A trainer might force us to get out of bed to run when we’d rather sleep. The moral and religious path of least resistance is one of works and consequences. Grace, as our trainer, wakes us up and puts the uncomfortable (and wonderful) truth in our faces: we are justified by grace.

Training to Renounce and Live

Training always has a goal. Grace is “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.” In other words, God’s grace trains us to live as the new people we are.

The word “renounce” has teeth. It is different than “reject” or “refuse.” Renounce carries the idea that this was part of me and my lifestyle—but no more. To renounce is to intentionally put what I was behind me. Because we are justified, heirs of God, we can say “no more” to all the ungodliness and worldly passions that defined us.

Grace also trains us to live. This letter to Titus is full of what a “godly” life is like. (See Titus 1:5–9; 2:1–10; 3:1–2; 3:9–10.)

The renounce/live training that grace provides is similar to the put off/put on pattern of repentance that Paul describes in Ephesians 4:17–32. Because this is training, this renouncing and living is something Christians learn and practice throughout their lives.

Waiting For Our Blessed Hope

Part of our new living is “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Most of us don’t like to wait for anything, so we might bristle to learn that waiting is part of our Christian calling. Yet we know exactly what we’re called to wait for: the appearing of the glory of Jesus.

Paul also tells us why we should look forward to this appearing: because of what Jesus has done. Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” When Jesus gave himself for us there were (at least) two outcomes in mind: to redeem his people and to purify his people.

If Jesus gave himself for us for these world-altering ends, why wouldn’t his people eagerly long to see his glory?

The End of Our Training

All training is for a purpose—for an event or an outcome or a season of competition.

Similarly, grace trains us toward an end. We hope for the appearing of Jesus. When we see him, all will be made whole, all will be new. God’s children will receive their promised inheritance.

Paul refers to this as our “blessed hope.” Our progression in the Christian life will choke and sputter without this hope fueling our engines. There are many ways we can grow in hope, but hope is not optional for believers.

But we are not alone as we seek to grow. God’s grace is training us.

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Contentment Doesn’t Come Through Comparison

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

You should be thankful! Think how much worse things could be!

I’ve heard this advice throughout my life. I’ve probably given it plenty of times.

Is it good counsel? I’m not so sure. It doesn’t seem biblical, especially when “thankfulness” is understood to be the Christian virtue of contentment.

Paul: Content In Every Circumstance

Most Christian teaching I’ve read about contentment focuses on Paul’s writing in Philippians 4.

 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Phil 4:10–13)

Paul learned a “secret,” allowing him to be content in any situation, whether in abundance or need. What is that secret?

We know that God gave Paul confidence to “do all things” because of the strength he provides. Perhaps that is the secret. But Paul doesn’t provide a how-to course on contentment. If the strength of the Lord, and the knowledge that the Lord provides that strength, is the key to contentment, a modern reader can be forgiven for thinking there are still some unanswered questions.

Critically, for our purposes, Paul makes no mention of comparison here. His reason for contentment seems to have little to do with knowing that he is better off than other people.

Content Because of the Lord’s Presence

Philippians 4 is a great place to start thinking about contentment in the Bible, but there are other relevant passages.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5,6)

As the author of Hebrews is wrapping up his discourse, this passage follows the general command, “Let brotherly love continue” (Heb 13:1). Like another key passage (1 Timothy 6:6–8), Hebrews contrasts contentment with the love of money.

Unlike other passages, this author provides a substantial reason for being content: the promise of God’s presence. God has promised that he will not leave or forsake his people; therefore, we can be content with what we have.

The end of this short passage illuminates the way many view their possessions or wealth. If we are content with the Lord’s presence, we know he is our helper, and that surpasses anything man could do. For those who seek protection and security through their net worth, this serves as a stiff rebuke.

The Danger of Comparison

When we compare our situation to another’s, we are prone to fall into either envy or pride. The advice written at the top of this post tends toward the latter. It seems to say, God is caring better for you than he is for that other person, so be grateful! A path of superiority does end in godly contentment.

Instead of looking at others, the Bible suggests we look to the Lord for our contentment. We should not take stock of what we have or do not have, but rather who is ours.

In Christ, the promise of God’s abiding presence made to saints of old is both made to us and kept. Jesus secured that promise for us, and the promise is realized through the Holy Spirit.

For believers, God is with us. He is our helper; we have no need to fear; what can man do to us?

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How to Abound in Hope

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Names in the Bible are significant, none more than the names and titles of God. The biblical authors emphasize one of God’s strengths or an aspect of his character by the names they use for him.

In his epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul is no exception. Among others, he refers to “God our Father” (Romans 1:7), the “immortal God” (Romans 1:23), the “living God” (Romans 9:26), the “God of endurance and encouragement” (Romans 15:5), and the “God of peace” (Romans 16:20). Each title or description of God is both informed by and informs the context in which it is used.

I have been writing about hope for some time now, so I was quite drawn to Paul’s use of “the God of hope” in Romans 15:13.

Why Jesus Came to the Jews

After writing about church unity in the previous chapters, in Romans 15:8 Paul starts to address the inclusion of the Gentiles among God’s people.

He writes, “Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs” (Romans 15:8). Because God promised a deliverer to the Jewish people, and because God keeps his promises, Christ came to Israel first.

However, part of showing “God’s truthfulness” involved the Gentiles “glorify[ing] God for his mercy” (Romans 15:9). Though God’s promises were given to Israel, they have never been limited to Israel. One of God’s earliest covenant promises mentioned blessings in Abram for “all the families of the earth” (Genesis 12:3).

The Gentiles Will Hope in Christ

Note the way Paul quotes the Old Testament in a crescendo in Romans 15:9–12. He layers promises and exhortations to reach the final truth about the Gentiles.

  • There will be praise (by Israelites) “among the Gentiles” (Romans 15:9).
  • Gentiles are called to rejoice “with his people” (Romans 15:10).
  • The Gentiles are exhorted to “praise the Lord,” that “all the peoples” would extol him (Romans 15:11).
  • Finally, the Messianic promise mentions the “root of Jesse” who will “rule the Gentiles,” and “in him will the Gentiles hope” (Romans 15:12).

This hope in Christ connects to the beginning of the passage, that Jesus came to the circumcised so that “the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Romans 15:9). The gospel message came first to the Jews and then spread to the Gentiles; this was a message that brought hope for people who experienced the mercy of God.

Abounding in Hope

We cannot understand what it means to refer to God as “the God of hope” without this context in Romans 15.

First, this title labels Jesus as God. The Gentiles would hope in the root of Jesse, which refers to Jesus. By using “God of hope” in the next breath, Paul underlines Jesus’s divinity.

Additionally, God is the one who brought all prophecies and promises to fulfillment. The presence of Gentiles in the church at Rome shows “God’s truthfulness”—he sent his son, showing mercy to countless people, as he said he would.

Further, God is the one who can “fill” us with joy and peace, so that by the Holy Spirit we can “abound in hope.”

It may be tempting to think this “filling” is passive, like a donut being filled with jelly. And while such filling will not happen without God’s work, as with many aspects of the Christian life, our seeking and God’s providing go hand in hand.

We abound in hope, therefore, by looking to the God of hope. We seek joy and peace in believing what he has said. In this context, this means we read and rehearse his promises. We envision a world in which these promises all come to pass, and we rejoice at the peace present in that world. We can rest when we are convinced that our promise-keeping God keeps his promises.

I see a lot of pessimism and cynicism in the world today. These attitudes can breed deep discouragement and anger. But there is no need for Christians to be trapped in this whirlpool.

When the God of hope fills us with all joy and peace in believing what he has said, we will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). May it be so for us all.

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The Lord’s Prayer Is Changing Me

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

At the beginning of the year, I decided to focus on my prayer life. As the calendar turns over, Christians often recommit to more Bible reading. I’m no perfect Scripture reader, but I read/listened to the whole Bible last year and I’ve known for a while that my prayer life needs attention. So this year I wanted to grow in prayer while still taking in the Bible.

I am using Trevin Wax’s Psalms in 30 Days. This book outlines three prayers each day (morning, midday, and evening) that structure prayer around Scripture, confessions, and historic prayers of the church. And, of course, the readings cycle through all 150 Psalms in 30 days.

This little prayer book has been a remarkable help to my spiritual life. Though I have not consistently prayed three times every day, I have finished the book and started it again. The structured prayers—far from making my prayer life stuffy or hollow—have given me needed words and momentum.

The most surprising effect of this prayer book has been my interaction with the Lord’s Prayer. Wax has included the Lord’s Prayer in every prayer time. When I first realized this, I was surprised. I was convinced that the Lord’s Prayer (or personal, ad hoc prayers that draw on the same categories) was meant to be prayed daily. But three times per day seemed…excessive, maybe?

But I have grown to love praying the Lord’s Prayer frequently.

The Beauty of the Lord’s Prayer

Here are five things I love about this prayer.

I am part of something larger. I pray this prayer as an individual, but the prayer contains several collective pronouns: “Our Father,” “Give us this day our daily bread,” “forgive us our debts,” “lead us,” and “deliver us.” This is a prayer for all of God’s people.

I need daily bread and daily forgiveness. I need daily bread because I rely on God to supply me with everything. I need daily forgiveness because I sin against God and others so often. These facts are obvious, but this prayer reminds me what is true (and humbling).

Lead us NOT. I love the phrasing in the sixth petition. This might have been phrased “do not lead us into temptation.” The traditional phrasing is much better in my mind: “lead us not into temptation.” That “not” is disruptive and definitive. It reminds me that God leads me and that because of the ways my feet tend to walk, I desperately need this leading to be away from temptation.

The evil one is real. Wax follows the CSB translation in the sixth petition: “deliver us from the evil one.” This reminds me that the devil is a powerful enemy from whom I need protection and deliverance.

I am longing more for God’s kingdom. As I repeat the first and second petitions of the Lord’s Prayer (“Hallowed be your name; your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”), I cannot help but long for these things to be true. What would it look like if I hallowed God’s name more? How can I help others so that God’s will is done more completely and immediately on earth?

Prayer Affects Us

This is the biggest effect the Lord’s Prayer has been having on me—shaping my desires to match the Lord’s. I’m a work in progress, but by God’s grace I think I’m pointing in a good direction, since this is one of the ways prayer is supposed to change us.

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A Guaranteed Way to Grow in Biblical Hope

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

When I sit down for breakfast, I don’t think much about my chair. My simple, wooden, dining table chair has always been solid, and I am far more concerned about spilling my tea or stepping on the cat than I am about my chair. The past sturdiness of my chair gives me confidence about the future sturdiness of my chair.

This track-record link between the past and the future is important when we as Christians consider God. As we seek out ways to grow in hope, in this post we’ll find instruction in an aside found in Romans 15.

The Context: a United People

In Romans 14, Paul warns against passing judgment on or despising others. He commands the people not to put stumbling blocks in anyone’s way.

As Romans 15 opens, Paul exhorts the people to please their neighbors, not themselves (Romans 15:1-2). He notes that Christ did not please himself but took reproach on himself for the sake of others (Romans 15:3). Paul quoted Psalm 69:9 to show the Romans that Jesus’s work fulfilled an Old Testament foreshadowing.

Here is the aside that follows this reasoning.

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

I say this is an aside because while Romans 15:5 references verse 4 (see “endurance” and “encouragement”), the themes of unity and welcoming dominate the rest of Romans 15:5–7. This section of Paul’s letter is not primarily about how we use the Scriptures.

How the Scriptures Give Hope

However, what Paul writes here as an aside is quite interesting, particularly to someone who has been writing about hope for no small amount of time. We can learn several things from Paul’s comment.

First, what was written has been written for our instruction. The Law, the Writings, and the Prophets are not just dusty, historical documents. We are naïve and we need instruction, and the writings of the Old Testament give us just that.

Specifically, the result of this instruction is hope for God’s people. These writings should help us endure, and the Scriptures should encourage us to hope.

I’ve been defining biblical hope as the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises. If that’s correct, then we can make some sense of why Paul’s mind went to this comment after quoting a Psalm about Christ.

Paul notes that Scripture is being fulfilled in the way Christ did not please himself. The same God that kept this promise will keep all of his promises. And this is why we can have hope.

Much like the faithful wooden chair, when we see example after example of God keeping his promises, we can lean into other promises with expectation. We don’t need to question or wonder if he will come through. He is a promise-keeping God, so when he makes promises to his people, he will keep them. That’s who he is.

A Lens for Reading

Even though it is an aside in his larger argument, Paul provides us with a way to grow in hope. When we read the Old Testament, we can take note of the promises God makes to his people. Not all of these promises will have an obvious fulfillment found elsewhere in the Bible, but many will.

When we encounter such fulfilled promises, we can take a small moment to praise and thank God. Our future hope, ultimately, is based on his faithfulness and his unchanging nature.

Then, when we encounter a promise that is yet to be fulfilled, we can remind ourselves of the God who promised. And maybe, perhaps, our minds can run ahead a bit to imagine what the world will look like when he keeps this specific promise.

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Joy: An Engine of Christian Hope

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

In sorrow, we reach for hope because we see how far we are from the fulfillment of God’s promises. We can harness this distance to long for what we do not have.

Joy is a more pleasant path to hope. We can turn God’s delightful provisions into opportunities for hope: we have a small taste now of the promised full experience yet to come and we can train ourselves to look ahead.

The joyful engine of hope can be dangerous, however. Few of us are tempted to seek out sorrow in order to grow in hope, yet that is a pitfall where joy is concerned. We may delight in the person, experience, feeling, or blessing of God so much that we forget it is from God. Many people have valued the gift over the Giver and so put their hearts in peril.

May we all grow in Christian hope, seeing in each blessing the future that is to come. Here are three concrete examples, in which I link joyful experiences to what God has promised about the future.

Feasting

It’s no accident that almost every celebration involves good food, where we elevate meals from mere sustenance to something special and delicious. It should be no surprise that the Bible points to a grand feast in the new earth.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
    the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
    and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
    and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
    with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:6–9)

When God’s people (the Bride) are united with his Son (the Lamb), the celebration will be glorious, and it will involve food. When we are gathered around a joyful table now, we can catch the scent of the wonderful aromas to come.

Fellowship

Most Christians have probably shared conversations or experiences with other believers that leave them overflowing with gratitude. There’s nothing like connecting with others who share the deepest and highest desires of our hearts.

And while “fellow pilgrims” are given to us in this life for encouragement and help, we don’t leave fellowship behind at death. We will also have friends and companions in the new earth.

Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. (2 Corinthians 4:13–14)

We will go with others into the presence of God.

When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, (Matthew 8:10–11)

As God gathers in those from many nations, they will “recline at table’ with each other and with the patriarchs.

The sweet fellowship we share with others in Christ on earth is a foretaste of our heavenly communion.

Rest

If we could bottle up the feelings of contentment, relaxation, and peace that come on vacation, we’d have a best-selling product on our hands. Even a weekend or a long night of uninterrupted sleep can be an enormous blessing.

This is the blessing of reprieve. Broadly speaking, we are looking for relief from the curse pronounced to our first parents in the garden. As many have noted, this is not the curse of work, but it is a curse upon work. And sometimes we groan under those thorns and thistles when we just want to make it through another day.

Rest is good, and it offers a glimpse of heaven.

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. (Revelation 22:3)

It’s hard for us even to imagine a world in which nothing is cursed, but such a world is coming!

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. (Hebrews 4:8–10)

We need not work for our salvation; Jesus’s work accomplishes this for us. This rest pictures the Sabbath rest for God’s people. As tired and worn out and frustrated as you feel now, there is rest for you in the future.

Joy to Hope

All of the joys God gives us in this life are blessings by themselves.

But many of these joys are joyful precisely because they give us a small picture of larger masterpiece. If hope is the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises, then these small, temporary blessings can direct our attention to our fuller, lasting future.

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Jesus Takes Office Through His Resurrection

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The Christian faith is based in history. Jesus of Nazareth was a man who lived, died, and came back from the dead.

These are historical claims of fact, and Christianity rests on the truth of these claims. As Paul wrote, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Jesus’s resurrection is central to our faith and has scores of implications for Christians throughout the ages. But in this post I want to direct our attention to what Jesus’s resurrection tells us about Jesus himself and the offices he occupies.

Jesus is a Prophet

While it is true that Jesus is The Prophet, the one spoken of by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15–19), that is not my present concern. In this post, I’ll only argue that Jesus was confirmed as a prophet of God by his resurrection.

Jesus predicted his suffering, death, and resurrection multiple times (see Luke 9:22 and Luke 18:31–33 among other places). Further, the two men at the tomb told the women,

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” (Luke 24:5–7)

These prophecies were a regular part of Jesus’s teaching. His contemporaries recognized that Jesus was a prophet, and the Old Testament teaching on prophets is clear: false prophets can be identified when prophecies do not come to pass.

This means that Jesus’s credibility was on the line on the third day after his death. His resurrection proved that he was a true prophet of God.

Jesus is a Priest

The book of Hebrews spends a lot of time explaining that Jesus is a priest. The author contrasts the priesthood of Aaron (the Levitical priesthood) with the priesthood of Melchizedek and concludes that Jesus is a priest of the second kind.

How was Jesus qualified for this priesthood?

This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life. For it is witnessed of him, “You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 7:15–17)

Jesus’s resurrection proved his “indestructible life”—he was victorious over death and therefore stepped into his eternal priesthood. In his death, Jesus was both priest and sacrifice (Hebrews 7:27), and he now lives to make priestly intercession for his people (Hebrews 7:25).

Jesus is a King

Jesus’s resurrection declared him to be the king of the world.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 1:1–4)

Paul writes that Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God … by his resurrection from the dead.” The title “Son of God” was, in part, a royal title, so Paul is connecting Jesus’s resurrection to his kingly office. (I have written more about the title “Son of God” and its use in the Gospels; you can find that post here.)

The Centrality of the Resurrection

It is not a stretch to start with Jesus being a prophet, a priest, and a king and end with the fact that he is the prophet, the priest, and the king. In other words, Jesus occupies these offices in a way that is so unique, powerful, and unending that there can be no comparison with other human prophets, priests, or kings.

The resurrection of Jesus starts us down that road. In addition to being a necessity for our faith, Jesus’s resurrection reveals some of the historical and ongoing work that he does for his people.

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