Tag Archives: father

Aug 14 2013

Can We Call Christian Music, Christian?

In the Los Angeles area where I live there are two contemporary Christian music (CCM) radio stations, Air 1 and the Fish.

They play a variety of Christian bands and songs, including some Christian crossover bands like Switchfoot and also some more mainstream bands like Lifehouse (whose lead singer is a professing Christian).

Some songs have an overtly “Christian” worship message like songs by  Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman which we occasionally sing at church, while other songs seem to have positive lyrics without mentioning the name of Jesus.

I do not have a problem with their choice of artists and songs.  It’s a free country and radio stations are free broadcast what seems fit for their audience.

But these radio stations are labeled as Christian.

This is where the disappointment comes in.

The Fish advertises their music NOT as Christian music, but music that is “safe for the whole family.”  Why not call it Christian music for the whole family or CCM?

Air 1 advertises itself  as the “positive alternative.” Why not the Christian alternative? 

The answer most likely has to do with ratings and audience capturing. People are not as likely to listen to a station that plays Christian music, even if the music is really good.   So they compromise the message a little to avoid the Christian label.

Because it is offensive to be an exclusive, Jesus only, one-way-to-heaven believer which is how the evangelical Christian is viewed (and should be viewed).

We are diluting the way we are representing ourselves in society, to make ourselves more palatable for it.  Instead of Christian we call the music “positive.” Instead of using specific terms for God like Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit we resign to using generic, inoffensive terms like “god.”

90% of Americans or more believe in god, but just try to mention the name of Jesus in a secular context and see how poorly received it is.

Christian music now is positive music.

Because the term “Christian” is not politically correct.

It is in fact offensive.

Jun 20 2013

Odd ESV Commentary on Psalm 45

C. John Collins

Psalm 45 is a Messianic psalm with trinitarian implications which presents Jesus as the anointed One:

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

Before we examine the ESV commentary on this passage which was written by Old Testament scholar C. John Collins and passed the well respected editorial board of the ESV Study Bible (Grudem, Packer, etc), lets look at some INSPIRED commentary on Psalm 45.  This particular commentary was written by the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  Here is what the Holy Spirit has to say about the Supremacy of the Son using the quote from Psalm 45:

8But of the Son he [God] says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

It is abundantly clear from this Hebrews commentary on Psalm 45:6-7 that it is the intention of the Holy Spirit to clarify that “Your throne, O God” is “Your throne, O God the Son” and that “God, your God” refers to the trinitarian persons of the Son and the Father, respectively.

Having confirmed that the Holy Spirit makes this clear (Heb 1:8), let us examine the ESV comment below:

Your throne, O God. Many have supposed that these words must address the Davidic king, either as foretelling Christ or as a type that Christ would eventually fulfill. Although the OT does foretell a divine Messiah (e. g., Isa. 9:6), this kind of interpretation does not easily fit this context. It seems better to think that the song speaks to God about his throne (“your throne, O God”), namely, the one that the heir of David occupies, and then goes on to describe the divine ideals for a king’s reign (scepter of uprightness). Hebrews 1:8–9 cites these verses in Greek from the Septuagint as part of the author’s argument that the “Son” is superior to the angels. Hebrews 1 applies the term “Son” to Jesus, probably in his role as the heir of David. Thus Heb. 1:5 puts Ps. 2:7 with 2 Sam. 7:14, where “Son of God” is a title for the Davidic king (see note on Ps. 2:7). This also accounts for the use of the messianic 110:1 in Heb. 1:3, 13.

It would appear that in the first part of the comment, Collins is at odds with the straight-forward interpretation given by Hebrews 1:8: “But of the Son he says…”  It is the Son whose throne is forever and ever.  It is the Son who is anointed by God.  Collins states that it does not “easily fit this context.”

In the second part of the comment, Collins does not aim at the heart of the matter which is the divinity of Christ in this context.  He settles on the superiority to angels argument when the Psalm clearly says “God, your God.”

I use the ESV Study Bible and recommend it to the youth in my church, but I was disappointed by the intellectual play I found in this commentary.  The whole purpose of Hebrews 1 is to lay down the  SUPREMACY and DIVINITY of the Son as foundation for the rest of the book.

So much simpler and easier to just say just like the writer of Hebrews “But of the Son he  says…  “…God, your God, has anointed you…””

image credit

Jun 15 2013

Father, Where Are You?

It is Father’s day.

But unfortunately many homes resonate with the questions “where is daddy?” or “who is my daddy?”

As the feminist movement progresses, and as women have become liberated and independent over the years, more and more children are born out-of-wedlock.  The CDC released a report last year with shocking data showing that 40.7% of children in the US are born outside of marriage, and many of these children do not have a father figure in the home to shape a complete family that nurtures them to adulthood.

A boy needs a father  in his life to identify with and show him the world through a God-given priesthood installed in the family by God Himself.

A girl needs her father to give her confidence and a critical approach to future relationships. This is in addition to showing her Christ as the center of the family.

Many families (some Christian) do not have a father to provide this critical role, and this has become a national tragedy.  The National Fatherhood Initiative has compiled many studies (here) to show how devastating the absence of the father has become.  These are some of the conclusions:

  • Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor.
  • Children born to single mothers show higher levels of aggressive behavior than children born to married mothers.
  • Infant mortality rates are 1.8 times higher for infants of unmarried mothers than for married mothers.
  • Even after controlling for income, youths in father-absent households still had significantly higher odds of incarceration than those in mother-father families. Youths who never had a father in the household experienced the highest odds.
  • Being raised by a single mother raises the risk of teen pregnancy, marrying with less than a high school degree, and forming a marriage where both partners have less than a high school degree.
  • The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth found that obese children are more likely to live in father-absent homes than are non-obese children.
  • Father involvement in schools is associated with the higher likelihood of a student getting mostly A’s.

And the list of such studies goes on and on.  America will suffer greatly in the coming generation(s) because fathers are no longer in the home.  Our children will not be complete socially without fathers, and they will also be a at severe spiritual disadvantage because the husband and father is the spiritual leader of the household.  Whatever the reason is for his absence, it will most likely leave the family unit in disarray.

So true sound the words of the wise man who says in Proverbs 20:7 “The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!” We must turn back to the God-ordained family unit of one father and one mother who raise their children in the fear of the LORD.

I wish all fathers who visit Delight in Truth a blessed Father’s Day!

image credit: istock/Andrew Penner
May 3 2013

Theology 101: Jesus is Glorified by the Father and the Holy Spirit

I love the doctrines of the Trinity because, as CS Lewis said, the idea of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit existing as Three-in-One essentially proves that Christianity is the one true religion.

CS Lewis points out that the mind of man could not come up with such an idea about God.  All other gods are man-made, except the One Triune God revealed in the Bible.  Many authors of the different books of the Bible, spanning over a thousand years remain consistent in this revelation!

That is amazing!

The Three Persons of God are all over the Bible, and once the believer understands this through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, he will understand how God relates to humans in His redemptive plan.

The relationship within the Godhead is such that the Father shares His glory with the Son.

“And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” John 17:5

Before the foundations of the world were laid down, the Son and the Father shared a perfect glory which we do not understand at this time.

But wait… How is that possible?

The famous verse from Isaiah 42:8 says:

“I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other…”

The only explanation is that the Father and Son are One.  That is, They are One Being, yet distinct.  This glory between the Father and Son is reciprocal:

“glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You.” John 17:1

This is the only way possible that the entire host of Heaven is able to rightfully worship Jesus the Lamb in Revelation 5, as only God Himself is the One able to receive worship.

The Holy Spirit also attests to the divinity of Jesus because the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus.

“He [the Holy Spirit] will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16:14

We see that the Holy Spirit shares in the Son’s divine attributes (“what is mine“) and at the same time He glorifies the Son.

Why is it important that 21st century Christians understand these crucial biblical teachings?

It comes down to the plan of redemption.  We must understand how we are being saved, how the Persons of the Trinity each has a specific role in our redemption.

The Father did not die for us, but the Son did (John 3:16).  The Father’s wrath and justice had to be satisfied (in the substitution made on the cross), not the Son’s.  The Holy Spirit is the One who convinces us of our need for Jesus (John 16:7-10), and the Spirit is the One at work in our regeneration and sanctification (John 3:5, 1 Peter 1:2).  The Father is the One who draws us to believe in the Son (John 6:44).

And the list of complementarian roles of the Godhead for redemption continues…

But it all comes down to the glory of God.  The Father glorifies the Son.  The Spirit glorifies the Son.

Should not we, the redeemed, glorify Jesus every second of our lives?!

CS Lewis photo

Mar 30 2013

Who Raised Jesus from the Dead?

The straight forward answer is that God raised Jesus from the dead as Acts 2:24 states: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

But I love the trinitarian implications found in Scripture with respect to Christ’s resurrection.

Most references to God raising Jesus up refer to God the Father.  Even the mockers testified truth when they said in Matthew 27:43: “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The Father-Son relationship was validated by the resurrection, and God the Father proved to be faithful in resurrecting Jesus.

Scripture also gives us evidence that Christ’s power was involved in the resurrection, as Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity.  In John 11:25 Jesus makes the powerful statement “I am the resurrection and the life,” assuming to Himself the power to life.  Jesus also said in John 10:17-18, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again…  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

The Father has assigned the task of life to the Son.

The Holy Spirit is also closely implicated in the greatest and most important event to ever grace the face of the universe.  Romans 1:4 says that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.”  And Romans 8:11 makes it clear that the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to life is similar to the work of resurrecting Jesus: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit have achieved the greatest and most glorious act in this work of redemption when Jesus was resurrected.

And we rejoice as we look forward to God resurrecting up His saints in a similar fashion!

image credit

Mar 18 2013

And Now, Father, Glorify Me…

We are quickly approaching the Passion Week which is the most important time period in Christendom, culminating with the en-bloc event of death and resurrection of Christ, the greatest event to grace the face of the universe.

Without the death of Christ there is no atonement, there is no substitution, there is no forgiveness of sin.  And without the resurrection of Christ there would not be any Christianity.

This Man left His mark on human history like none other.  Even secular folks will agree with that.

But this Man was infinitely more than just a mere man.  He was divine.  He was God Himself, the Son of God.

We know that Jesus spent long periods of time in prayer communicating with the Father, and in John 17 we are given a glimpse, a revelation, a majestic treat of  the content of one of His prayers.  This special prayer occurred Thursday night of Passion Week, before Jesus went into Gethsemane where His arrest happened, and one day before his death.

He started the prayer with the final motive and outcome of the entire chain of events which would take place, God’s glory: “Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”  John 17:1

The culmination of God’s redemptive plan brings Him the most glory via a most unlikely path, the death of the Son of God followed by His resurrection.  Such a method is contrary to any human approach.  That is why God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, and God’s ways are not our ways…

Things that Jesus communicates to the Father in this prayer are incomprehensible for us.  Attesting to His divinity, Jesus says: “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” John 17:5

The same glory that will unfold in His death, resurrection, ascension, and return, the Son already had with the Father before the institution of time and the foundations of this world came to be!  This concept alone, under the revelation of the Holy Spirit, should make every Christian bow down in their spirit and worship God because He left that ultimate glory to come and die in our place!

But this is not the end of the story of glory…

Apostle Paul tells us that we will be glorified with Him, not because of us, but because He is in us: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col 1:27

As we approach Passion Week, meditate on Christ’s unimaginable glory and the fact that He, by His grace will share it with us one day.

Jan 28 2013

Muslim Friendly Bible Translations Present a False Gospel

Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) are one of the most renowned Bible translation companies in the world. They are continuing the tradition of John Wycliffe, the great pre-Reformation theologian who broke away from the Catholic Church, and translated the first Bible in English risking his life in the process.

To the disappointment of many Christians, WBT are not following in the footsteps of Wycliffe with their most recent attempts at translating the Word of God into certain Arabic and Bengali translations.

I would go further and say that WBT are attempting to “help” God “sell” His Gospel by changing the names of God in order to make them more palatable to Muslims.  Since when does God need us to change his Word in order to win souls for His kingdom?

The changes are not slight.  They are in fact abominable.  They distort the most important doctrines found on the pages of the Bible: the doctrines about God the Father, the doctrine of the Trinity, and Christology.

Muslims do not accept the concept of Trinity, the idea of Son of God, and the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and WBT is now changing the Bible to be more fitting with their theology… and therefore more acceptable to them.

Here are some critical changes:

  • “Son of God” replaced with “Messiah of God”
  • “God the Father” replaced with “guardian.”
  • the removal of any references to God as “Father,” to Jesus as the “Son” or “the Son of God.”
  • replacing “Father” with the Muslim name for God, Allah

For example, it changes Matthew 28:19 from: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” to: “cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.”

Allah is NOT the Triune God of the Bible.  Allah is a singular entity in Muslim theology, and the name of this false god should never be used to replace the Triune God revealed in the Bible, especially in a Bible translation!  Such an act amounts to a false Gospel.

Presenting a watered down Gospel via an altered Bible, is no Gospel at all.  How can Muslims ascertain the dramatic difference between our God and their god if the Bible they receive does not present that difference?  We are certainly not aiming to convert Muslims to Chrislam… or are we?

WBT must come back to the foot of the cross and repent because they have made themselves guilty of the terrible sin outlined in Revelation 22:18-19:

“18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

Jan 5 2013

The Father Loves the Son

We know that God has revealed Himself as the  Triune God, three co-eternal Persons who love and defer to each other.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each fully God and there is one God, a mystery too wonderful to understand.

But why has God revealed Himself to us in Scriptures (via the ministry of Jesus) as Father and Son? Why this relationship?

Why are the first and the second Persons of the Trinity (no hierarchy implied) represented in such terms? Why not the brother-brother relationship, or another form of close human relationship that we can grasp?

This revelation is presented as such in order for believers to begin to understand the magnitude of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Son.  

Even as we meditate on this we will never be able to fully grasp the eternal mystery and the gravity of what God did to redeem us.

A small step in understanding this infinitely costly redemption begins with examining the love between the Father and the Son.

The Father loves the Son so much that He has deferred to the Son sovereign lordship over the entire visible universe, as well as the heavenly unseen domain:

“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” (John 3:35).

“…seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet…” (Ephesians 1:20-22)

We love our children and give them the very best we are able to give them.  But this pales in comparison with the fact that the Father gave ALL THINGS to the Son, so much He loves the Son.

The Father loves the Son because Jesus is a perfect reflection of God’s glory:

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” (Hebrews 1:3).

The Son is God in substance, nature, character and every other parameter that can be humanly expressed.

The Father loves the Son because the Son delights in His Father.  Jesus lived a perfect sinless life in supreme obedience to the Father who testifies for the seen and unseen domains to hear:

“And behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”  (Matthew 3:17)

As we begin to see evidence of the GREAT love between Father and Son another element is introduced by Jesus Himself, that is His love for us:

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you… These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:9,11)

Wow… Could this be possible?

After listing the amazing Scripture above can we say that the Son really loves us the way the Father loves Him?

The grandeur of the precious sacrifice of Christ now begins to take shape.

Can you even begin to image the wrath of the Father being poured on His beloved Son instead of us? Can you imagine a similar scenario between you and your own child?  Can you even begin to imagine what the Father felt (if can use this word) as His beloved was tortured and murdered?

Knowing how much we love our children we now begin to understand why God is revealing Himself as Father and Son in addition to the Holy Spirit.

He does this to help us understand the magnitude of the sacrifice of Christ and eternal impact on believers… to understand how costly His sacrifice was… to understand how much He loves us… to make us turn to Him and love Him… to make Him the center of our universe.

Jan 4 2013

The Love and the Sacrifice

This sermon from Planet Shakers 2007 was later dramatized using images from the highly acclaimed international movie MOST (The Bridge).  A father and a son desperately try to avert impending doom, but ultimately the father must make a choice between saving the lives of many or the life of his beloved son.

Even though this is not necessarily a theological perfect effort, it highlights a tiny glimpse of the Father when He chose to crush His Son.

Inspiring and emotionally charged to the max…

Nov 27 2012

The Triune God Revealed in the Old Testament (part 2)

continued from here

The book of Isaiah is considered by many to be the “Gospel” of the Old Testament (OT) because it portrays Jesus in His Messianic role as the servant send by God the Father under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Isaiah 61:1-2 has strong trinitarian implications because it distinguishes the three persons of the Godhead and it shows their participation in the work of salvation of mankind:

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;”

The narrative here is spoken by Jesus, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and the opening of the passage “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me” encapsulates the Trinity.  The Hebrew word ruah is used to designate the Holy Spirit in the OT and it is used in this passage.  The words Lord God (Adonai and YHWY) represent God the Father, while the person speaking in this passage is Jesus, the messianic servant sent by the Father to accomplish the tasks listed in verses 1-3.

The fact that Jesus is the narrator cannot be contested due to the evidence found in Luke 4:16-30.  Jesus enters the Synagogue on Sabbath and reads aloud from the scroll the passage in Isaiah 61:1-2, and makes the astonishing claim:  “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  Jesus thus claims to be the Messiah, the narrator of Isaiah 61.

Therefore, Isaiah presents the Trinity – God the Father sending Jesus the Messiah, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit –  together doing the work of redemption.

Isaiah also pays special attention to the Holy Spirit and designates personal qualities to Him in Isaiah 63:10 “But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.”  Besides the terrifying claim that God Himself became the enemy of Israel and He fought against them, this verse reveals two important things about the Holy Spirit (ruah).

First, the Holy Spirit is a distinct entity (his Holy Spirit) from God the Father (LORD YHWH), and second, the Holy Spirit can be grieved, a personal and emotional quality.  We now have a clear presentation of two out of three persons in the Trinity, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 63:10.

A biblical demonstration of the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is beyond the scope of this article, but Isaiah 61:1-2 and 63:10 are clear in revealing the three separate persons of God: LORD YHWH the Father, Jesus the Messiah, and the Holy Spirit.

to be continued…