Christ be about His business as Prophet... habitually.

So, I'm teaching Sunday School again this year. I'm so glad that our church has decided to use a curriculum created by Children's Desiring God (part of Desiring God ministries), because whenever I plan for a lesson using this SOLID curriculum I feel that I'm even more blessed and amazed at God's grace than the kids are. The curriculum for the class I'm teaching this year is called "How Majestic is Your Name". Every week we discuss a different name of God: what it means, why it applies to God, how God manifests the characteristics of this name in Scripture, how it affects us as God's people, etc. Last week, for example, we talked about Jesus as "The Lamb of God", so we discussed things like sin, blood atonement, temporary vs. perfected sacrifice, etc. Pretty common conversation topics with 10-year-olds, right? Diggity.

The name for this morning's lesson was "High Priest". We talked about the Tabernacle, the separation of the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant, the role and duties of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement, and so on. The discussion got me thinking about the awe-inspiring nature of the fulfillment of the threefold office of the Christ of God: Prophet, Priest and King.

There were three offices to which God appointed men of Israel under the Old Covenant. These three offices fulfilled distinct roles as servants to both God and His elect in that they, respectively, brought God to His people (Prophet), interceded on behalf of the people to God (Priest), and united the people under God (King). In each of these offices, Christ is seen as perfectly and infinitely glorious because He both inherits each office eternally, as well as redeems and completes the glory of the office by fulfilling it to its perfection. I'd like to do a post about each of these offices*, starting with Christ as Prophet.

The prophets of the Old Covenant served as God's voice to His children. God chose specific men to fulfill specific roles as the ones who were to declare the great and glorious "thus says the LORD" to the people of Israel. This is how God revealed His nature and will to His chosen people. However, Jesus has become the final and perfected Prophet of God the Father to His people, as it is written:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

-Hebrews 1:1-2

God spoke to His chosen people in order to reveal Himself to them. In what better way can He choose to do this than by sending His very self to His people to live among them, and die in their midst as an atonement for their sin? There is no greater way, and God has done precisely this:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

-John 1:14

Christ is the very Word of God, the absolute reflection of His character to His people, because Christ is at the same time both fully human and fully God: the perfect communication from God to mankind! Indeed, there is nowhere other than to God the Son that we need look in order to find God the Father:

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?

-John 14:8-9

The incarnation of God in the flesh has perfected the ministry of the prophet of God. Because of the revelation and ministry of Jesus on earth, God has now fully revealed to His creation all that is necessary for men to know about their Creator in order to be reconciled to Him. Jesus Himself has shown that the revelation of God's Word in the Old Testament served as a witness to Him (John 5:39-40). Possibly without even knowing it, God's prophets of old were giving glory to Christ and pointing the way to him! And now that Jesus has been revealed to the world, the ministry of the prophet has been fulfilled, since the entirety of the Holy Scriptures, all of God's word that He has chosen to speak to His people, points to Jesus. And Jesus continues to speak to men and women as the final, perfected Prophet through His Spirit, convicting the world of sin and revealing Himself to the sheep of His fold through the Scriptures that have been written about Him.

The revelation of God to mankind began with creation (through Christ), continued with selected dispensation of prophecy (about Christ), has been fulfilled in the revelation of God's Word on earth (in Christ), and now draws men and women to redemption as found in the Gospel (by the Spirit of Christ).

Soli Deo gloria, yo.

*If you want to read more about Christ's roles in the threefold office of Prophet, Priest and King, you can read about John Calvin's thoughts on the matter here. It was Calvin who first brought this idea to a prominent light in Christian doctrine.

He is risen indeed... and that actually matters!

Who could have ever possibly guessed that I would do a blog post about the Gospel on Easter Sunday? WHO, I ask, WHO?!

What can I say? I'm predictable.

Easter Sunday is one of 365 days in the year when it is important to remind ourselves and others of the significance of the work, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the eternal Lamb of God.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

-1 Corinthians 15:3-5

Paul was a major stud. Along with Luther, I'm definitely going to be buying a beer for this brother after I'm resurrected (You hear me, Martin and Paul? I'll keep the tab open; Brother Martin, you find Jesus; Paul, go grab a table at the back of the pub.). Paul was a stud because, no matter what happened to him, he kept it real. He was focused on one thing after his conversion: preaching the Gospel to whoever was put in his life. The brother preached, and preached, and preached, and he never watered down the message that Christ had given him on the road to Damascus!

Paul received from Jesus Himself, and preached to others, a message of first importance: a Man who had claimed to be God was put to death by the local government, was buried in a tomb, and was then raised back to life. Why was this message so important to Paul? What was it about this bizarre series of events that turned Paul from one of the greatest persecutors of the Body of Christ into one of its most vocal members? He gives his reason just a few verses later:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

-1 Corinthians 15:17-19

For some reason, the resurrection of Christ was a big deal to Paul. Such a big deal, in fact, that he actually believed that the entirety of his religion hinged on this singular event. But why? Why is it necessary for Jesus to literally have been raised from the dead? Wouldn't it be enough for Him to be raised "in our hearts"? Can't it be simply alright that Jesus was a good moral example and leader? Can't this be good enough for Christianity to be the one truth?

NO, IT CAN'T.

That's largest font size Blogger is capable of, by the way, so I don't know how to make this point any clearer: Christ had to be raised from the dead. If He wasn't resurrected then, as Paul said, we are of all people most to be pitied, because our faith is futile and we are still in our sins.

So what's the reason for this? Why did Paul believe that the physical resurrection of Christ was necessary for his faith? Read on:

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

-1 Corinthians 15:20-23

Ahhh, I see... it has to do with sin and redemption! The first Adam brought all mankind under the rule of sin and death, but Christ, the second Adam, will one day bring those who belong to Him into eternal life! Christ had to die in order to become sin in our place, so that we might receive His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). And He had to be raised in order that He might raise us as well when He returns to complete His conquering of sin and death.

Furthermore, the resurrection of Jesus is proof that His atoning sacrifice for the sins of those who belong to Him was actually accepted by God. If Jesus was not who He claimed to be, if Jesus was not God, if Jesus was not sinless, then His sacrifice would have been a pointless death. It would have been pointless because it wouldn't have actually paid for anything: not my sin, not yours, not anyone's. God demanded the sacrifice of a spotless lamb to atone for sin. Jesus was that Spotless Lamb, the final sacrifice for sin. His resurrection on that wonderful Easter morning was proof of this, because it meant that the sacrifice was a good one, that it pleased God, and that it fulfilled the demands of the Law... forever.

He is risen! He is risen indeed! And I thank the Lord that this actually matters.

My only comfort

(From the Heidelberg Catechism)

1 Q. What is your only comfort

in life and in death?

A. That I am not my own,

but belong -

body and soul,

in life and in death -

to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,

and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He also watches over me in such a way

that not a hair can fall from my head

without the will of my Father in heaven:

in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,

Christ, by his Holy Spirit,

assures me of eternal life

and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready

from now on to live for him.

Ahhh... it is so good.

(From the Heidelberg Catechism)

56 Q. What do you believe

concerning "the forgiveness of sins"?

A. I believe that God,

because of Christ's atonement,

will never hold against me,

any of my sins

nor my sinful nature

which I need to struggle against all my life.

Rather, in his grace

God grants me the righteousness of Christ

to free me forever from judgment.

6th century BC, 1st century AD, 21st century AD... let's keep preaching!

Six centuries before the revelation of God in the flesh, the Lord GOD spoke the following words to His prophet Ezekiel:

"And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."

Moreover, he said to me, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear or refuse to hear."

-Ezekiel 2:7-8,10-11

Seven centuries later, Paul, "an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus", wrote the following to the evangelist Timothy:

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

-2 Timothy 4:2-4

And yet another two millennia later, I don't believe that anything has changed for the people of God, who are charged with proclaiming the glory of the LORD on His earth, and who will find true joy in nothing else.

There always have been, and always will be people who refuse to listen to the word of God. There always have been, and always will be people who will persecute those who bring that word. There always have been, and always will be seasons when the Gospel of Christ will be received, and others when it will be abhorred.

But we must not forget that there also always has been, and always will be a great and sovereign God whose ultimate ambition is to proclaim His great worth, drawing men and women to experience His everlasting glory. We must not forget that the Gospel of Christ has been sovereignly planned and executed by this glorious God. And we must not forget that the Gospel will go forth, because it is a manifestation of God's glory. The Gospel will not fail, because God cannot fail.

So let us preach the word of God, in season and out of season, whether they hear or refuse to hear. It is God's Gospel that we bring, not our own. He will ultimately sustain it, but He chooses us to be blessed by being the messengers.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

-Romans 1:16a

A good name (or two!)

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.

-Proverbs 22:1

A friend asked me tonight what "M" stood for.

It took me a while to realize that she was referring to the "M." of "Christopher M. Carignan", in my email signature, which stands for "Michael". Christopher was the most popular name the year I was born and Michael was the second most popular. But the question itself got me thinking about how much I appreciate what my first and middle names actually mean...

Christopher: From the Late Greek name Χριστοφορος (Christophoros) meaning "bearing Christ", derived from Χριστος (Christos) combined with φερω (phero) "to bear, to carry".

Michael: From the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el) meaning "who is like God?" This name is commonly misunderstood as meaning "one who is like God". However, the name is actually a rhetorical question, implying that nobody is like God.

I like my names because they remind me of...

• Who I am: I am a redeemed sheep of Christ's flock, whom He has brought back to the fold by the effective call of His voice. The love of Christ shown to me in His atoning sacrifice creates a gratitude in me which is such a compelling force that I cannot help but preach the Gospel, in season and out of season. I am called to be a Christ bearer.

• Who I am not: I am not God. I cannot do the work that only God can do. I may be called to be a Christ bearer, but I recognize that none of my words, none of my logic, none of my convincing can ever turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh. It is the Holy Spirit alone, regenerating a person to understand the oral or written proclamation of the Gospel, which can do this. When people believe on this message, they are saved, both instantly and eternally. I am nothing more than a redeemed sheep who is blessed to be a part of this work by bringing the message to those who will listen.

So, thanks, Nina, for the reminder. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving me these two awesome names. And thanks, God, for all You have done to give these names meaning!

I bring near my righteousness

"Remember this and stand firm,

recall it to mind, you transgressors,

remember the former things of old;

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is none like me,

declaring the end from the beginning

and from ancient times things not yet done,

saying, 'My counsel shall stand,

and I will accomplish all my purpose,'

calling a bird of prey from the east,

the man of my counsel from a far country.

I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;

I have purposed, and I will do it.

Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,

you who are far from righteousness:

I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,

and my salvation will not delay;

I will put salvation in Zion,

for Israel my glory."

-Isaiah 46:8-13

There is so much to learn about God in just these 6 verses. One could spend their entire lifetime writing whole volumes of books on the truths to be found here. I, on the other hand, don't have that kind of time... sooooo... here's just a little bit... :o)

The uniqueness of God

The God of Israel, of Abraham and Isaac, of the New and Old Testaments, of the fool-hearty Simon Peter, of the chief of sinners, and of the thief on the cross, stands alone in His holiness. The divine glory of the triunal Godhead is, indeed, not only second to none, but completely unique: God alone is the great I AM, and there is no other.

The infinite glory of God

The unique God of Israel is shown to be glorious in countless ways, including His infinite nature. Having spoken all things into existence, even time itself, God always has been I AM. He has always been I AM, because He has always been. There was never a time when God was not God, and therefore there will never be a time when God will ever not be God. He is unchanging in all of His ways, His character, and His glory.

The sovereignty of God

Since God has created all that is, all that is belongs to God alone. There is nothing that ever has been, currently is, or ever will be, over which God cannot claim sovereign right. God needs nothing, because everything is His. God lacks nothing, because He is everything, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Therefore, when He wills to do something, His council is perfect and blameless. When He wills to do something, it will be done, because all of creation is His creation, and is a manifestation of His own will. When God speaks, God does, because God alone is sovereign.

The sinfulness of man

God is holy, man is not. The effect of sin stretches from Adam to all of his offspring, creating in each of us a stubborn heart which will not, which cannot seek the glory of God. As sure as it is that every person is born into a state of inevitable physical death and decay, we are all also born into a state of spiritual death and decay. As helpless as we are to overcome the death of our body, we are equally unable to save ourselves from the spiritual effects of our fallen race. Man is far from righteousness, every single last one of us.

The graciousness of God

Because of our fallenness, the distance between us and righteousness cannot be covered by our own striving. We, who are unrighteous, cannot become righteous on our own, since we have no righeousness to find within ourselves. "But God, being rich in mercy..." (Ephesians 2:4) "But God! But God!" is the song of the redeemed; there is none other which we can sing! For God has brought His righteousness to us in Christ. The righteousness which God demands from us He gives to us in the Gospel. We are not righteous... but God... has given His righteousness to us in the atoning sacrifice of His Messiah, His Son, His very Self.

The objective of God

Why would the great and holy I AM do the unthinkable? Why would God have mercy on a messy bunch of unrighteous sinners, who have defamed His name and played the whore, turning after every kind of conceivable idol, stealing the glory which the eternal Creator rightly deserves and giving it to things that He has created instead? God has done this not primarily for me, not primarily for you, but primarily for His own glory. "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name..." (Ezekiel 36:22a) God exists eternally to glorify Himself, not to glorify His creation. Worshiping the glorious I AM is the only source of true joy for all created things; for God to glorify anything less than Himself would not be the most loving act. But God, who is love, always has, always is, and always will make it His sovereign prerogative to bless and glorify His own great name.

How do you summarize the beauty of the Gospel in 15 lines?

Sing the 5 lines of the chorus of "I Come by the Blood" three times over, that's how!

I come by the blood, I come by the cross,
where your mercy flows from hands pierced for me.
For I dare not stand on my righteousness.
My every hope rests on what Christ has done,
and I come by the blood.

Unbelievably amazing...

Stop trying to be someone you're not!

I'm beginning to memorize a chunk of Ephesians with a friend from church, and here is the first part that I was working on today:

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

-Ephesians 4:17-24 (my emphases)

Paul is writing here to Christians, encouraging them to not go on sinning like they use to do, and like the Gentiles continue to do. But notice how Paul doesn't say, "Stop sinning or else God will disown you!" or, "You'd better stop sinning or else you'll cease to be a Christian and then you'll go to hell!" No, Paul simply says, "Stop being controlled by sin... because that's not who you are anymore."

If you are a Christian, this doesn't mean that you're not still a sinner in a fallen world. What it does mean, however, is that you're no longer a slave to sin:

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

-Romans 6:17-18

This freedom from the reigning power of sin is the beginning of the release from sin that Christ's atoning sacrifice purchased for you 2000 years ago. It means that your sin no longer keeps you under God's judgment, because it has been paid for. It also means that God has given you the ability to turn away from sin, to resist temptation, and that He is strengthening that ability in you as He sanctifies you and grows you. One day, when you are finally in the presence of Jesus, the release from sin will be completed, and at that time you will no longer be under any effects of sin. But until that day, remember what the true Gospel is, remember what it has purchased for you, and remember what it has made you: a person free from the reigning power of sin.

If we are people who have been freed from the reigning power of sin, then let's stop letting sin reign over us. Let's stop trying to be people we're not.

Wanna share the Gospel? Then pray.

Very often, we spend so much time trying to figure out how to pray for God's will in certain situations, because we don't know what His will is concerning the matter. And yet we seek Him anyway, asking that His will be done.

However, there's at least one thing in which we can be absolutely certain of His will... but so seldom do we (or, at least, do I) actually pray for it: personal evangelism.

God has been teaching me in the last couple of years the importance of praying for very specific, providentially ordained situations which God would use to allow opportunity to point others to the cross. I started doing this, praying for specific people, that God would use me that month, that week, even that very day to speak to them about Christ.

And you know what? He has.

He's been answering those prayers... in a fury of humbling, awe-inspiring blessing to others and to me.

But the funny thing is that I've actually been kind of surprised by how readily He answers these prayers (literally within hours, in some cases)... yet, I shouldn't be. I know that God wants me to preach the Gospel, because it brings glory to His Son, His very Self. It's not as if He's going to have something better for me to do than to give Him glory, after all... because spreading the glory of God is the greatest activity that we could ever hope to be involved in.

Consider this as an encouragement. Are you feeling stuck? apathetic? discouraged? The atoning sacrifice of Christ at the Cross is the answer to these ails, and telling others of this glorious news will bless you as it blesses them.

So pray for opportunities to proclaim of Christ's work, remembering that it is not of your power to reap the growth, only to sow the seed. But remember as well that God wants to give you opportunities to sow the seed... so just ask Him to give you what He already wants to give, and be blessed, brothers and sisters. Be blessed.

Keep it on Christ, Chris... keep it on Christ.

God has certainly taught me much in the past year... it has been a difficult year, to be sure... but I've understood lately just how much this difficulty was necessary for God to grow me just a bit more.

As many who might read this may already know, my relationship with my ex-girlfriend was ended a little over a year ago. This has been incredibly difficult for me to deal with, because I was moving towards making the relationship a bit more... ehh... permanent, if you will. Yah. Almost bought the ring, yo. Almost bought it.

Having that kind of relationship taken from me rocked me to the core, I have to admit (mostly because she was yet another one of the idols of my idol-factory heart). I was shaken and beaten, and didn't know what to do with myself. I was so sure that marriage was where that relationship was supposed to go. But God has taught me a good thing lately, a thing which - among other things - I'm not sure I would have been able to learn without being shaken so thoroughly (coffee, anyone?).

I have been thinking about my pastor's view on evangelism, which is that the fruit of his ministry isn't really his concern, it's God's. He's always said that, as he preaches the Gospel, if God decides to fill the church with 1000 people, he will praise God. If God decides to fill the church with 10 people, he will praise God. Whatever fruit God decides to bear from his ministry should have no effect on his calling to preach the Gospel and nothing but the Gospel. He keeps it on Christ.

In meditating on this, I have realized that I was focusing so intently on the fruit that I thought would be reaped from being in a Christ-glorifying relationship with a godly woman (namely, marriage), that I completely lost sight of the fact that I had been in a Christ-glorifying relationship with a godly woman. I was part of something which brought glory to the name of the Son of God, and seemed to have forgotten how much of a blessing this was, and how both of us can now glorify Christ more fully and deeply in our separate lives, having been a part of that relationship for a time, than if it had never happened.

Praise God for His faithfulness and goodness, and for His glory! Lamentations 3:37-38, Job 1:21, 2:10.

So, my prayer is that God would continue to remind me of this as He grows me. No matter what the fruit may be that He decides to bring about in my life, that is His business to deal with, not mine. My business is to bring glory to the name of Jesus, by the power of God's Spirit, and to lead others to the foot of the Cross in any and all ways that God will choose to use me to do so. As I do that, I pray that I would remember that anything that comes about in my life as a result is simply God's will unfolding, and that His will is good.

Keep it on Christ, Chris... let God take care of the rest.

Piper on the Prosperity "Gospel"

The prosperity gospel is alive and well in America... but it is "a gospel contrary to the one [we] received" (Galatians 1:9) and a message which "will turn [people] away from listening to the truth" and cause them to "wander off into myths" (2 Timothy 4:4).

It is good to our souls to hear truth spoken out against it:

The Object of our faith... not the Example.

Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity—liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man's will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God. [...] Liberalism regards [Christ] as an Example and Guide; Christianity, as a Saviour: liberalism makes Him an example for faith; Christianity, the object of faith.

-J. Gresham Machen, "Christianity and Liberalism" (pp. 47, 96)

The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Part 2

37:1-14
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
And he said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, you know."
Then he said to me, "Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the LORD."
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord GOD: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Then he said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.'
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it," declares the LORD.

The Gospel According to Ezekiel, Part 1

16:4-8
"And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths.
No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.
And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'
I made you flourish like a plant of the field. And you grew up and became tall and arrived at full adornment. Your breasts were formed, and your hair had grown; yet you were naked and bare.
When I passed by you again and saw you, behold, you were at the age for love, and I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness; I made my vow to you and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Lord GOD, and you became mine."

16:15
"But you trusted in your beauty and played the whore because of your renown and lavished your whorings on any passerby; your beauty became his."

16:22
"And in all your abominations and your whorings you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your blood."

16:60-63
"Yet I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish for you an everlasting covenant.
Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you take your sisters, both your elder and your younger, and I give them to you as daughters, but not on account of the covenant with you.
I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD,
that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done," declares the Lord GOD.

36:25-27
"I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."

36:32
"It is not for your sake that I will act," declares the Lord GOD, "let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel."

Glory which ravishes the heart

In His cross were divine holiness and vindictive justice exercised and manifested; and through His triumph, grace and mercy are exerted to the utmost. This is that glory which ravishes the hearts and satiates the souls of those that believe. For what can they desire more, what is farther needful to the rest and composure of their souls, than at one view to behold God eternally well pleased in the declaration of His righteousness and the exercise of His mercy, in order to their salvation? In due apprehensions of it let my soul live; in the faith of it let me die, and let present admiration of this glory make way for the eternal enjoyment of it in its beauty and fullness.


- John Owen, "The Glory of Christ: His office and grace" (emphases mine)

I will pay that which I never took

When Adam had sinned, and thereby eternally, according unto the sanction of the law, ruined himself and all his posterity, he stood ashamed, afraid, trembling, as one ready to perish for ever, under the displeasure of God. Death was that which he had deserved, and immediate death was that which he looked for. In this state the Lord Christ in the promise comes unto him, and says:

Poor creature! How woeful is thy condition! how deformed is thy appearance! What is become of the beauty, of the glory of that image of God wherein thou wast created? How hast thou taken on thee the monstrous shape and image of Satan? And yet thy present misery, thy entrance into dust and darkness, is no way to be compared with what is to ensue. Eternal distress lies at the door. But yet look up once more, and behold me, that thou mayest have some glimpse of what is in the designs of infinite wisdom, love, and grace. Come forth from thy vain shelter, thy hiding-place I will put myself into thy condition. I will undergo and bear that burden of guilt and punishment which would sink thee eternally into the bottom of hell. I will pay that which I never took; and be made temporally a curse for thee, that thou mayest attain unto eternal blessedness.

To the same purpose he speaks unto convinced sinners, in the invitation he gives them to come unto him.


- John Owen, "The Glory of Christ: His office and grace"

I'm dying.

Good, that got your attention. Now that I have it, I would like you to take the time to read this post and take it seriously. Not seriously, as in an overly cliché "look-at-him-he-thinks-he's-so-emo-who-does-he-think-he's-trying-to-fool" kind of way, but in an honestly serious way. I'll try not to make any jokes, to help you take it seriously. Just take the time to read, and think, whoever you are, even if I don't know you. It may be long, but please read it all, and think.

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For one reason or another, I've been thinking about death lately. I'm not entirely sure why. It's not that it's been crowding my thoughts, in an unhealthy, morbid sort of way. It's just that I've been having an abnormally sober judgment of my own life and the fact that it's ending.

I want to tell you that there will come a day when I'll close my eyes for the last time, my heart will pump its last bit of blood through my body, and my lungs will release their sustaining hold, never to expand again. It will be at that moment that I will no longer be alive, and I will never spend another waking moment in this world as I now know it. A couple days later, perhaps even a week or so, there will be a small section in the newspaper that will try to explain why it happened. It will say that my life ended because of a heart attack, or some sort of cancer, or an incurable disease, or even a car wreck. Who knows, maybe if I'm lucky it will say that I died of natural causes in my old age.

But whatever it says, it won't be true. I want to tell you that right now. Whatever the doctors say is the reason for my death will not be the truth. The true reason why my body will no longer function on that day is because I'm related to you... and because you're related to me... because we're both related to a man named Adam who lived, and died, a long time ago. I'm going to die because of the fallen state that I was born into. I was born to die, actually. I guess it won't really make sense for me to ever have to tell anyone, "I'm dying", or even for anyone to ever react to that statement. The fact is that I am dying now. I've been dying for 26 years. Nothing a doctor will ever say to me can change that.

Because I'm a Christian, I think that people believe that I'm not supposed to be afraid of that day, that I'm supposed to be happy because that's the day when I will get to see my Savior Jesus Christ in all of His glory. But I want to admit to you that that's not true. I'm kind of scared for that day, and it makes me sad to think about it. No matter how much I may think I know about resurrection and heaven, the fact is that I don't really know what it will be like. Will death hurt? Will I be scared on my death bed? What will I think about? Who will be with me? What will they be thinking about?

I get sad sometimes when I leave somebody, not knowing when I will ever see them again. But there will come a day when I will leave everyone around me forever, in a sense. My wife, my children, my friends, my family: I will never again get to see them in the same way that I see them in this life. Sure, I hope to see them in heaven, but I don't even know what that will be like. My wife won't be my wife anymore. What will she be to me? Will I remember the time I spent with her during this life? What will happen to those memories? Will my children know that I'm their father? If not, how will I feel about that?

What about the people I knew and loved who didn't look to Jesus' work on the cross for their eternal salvation, who were misled by the people around them, by their culture, and by their own hearts into thinking that God would have mercy on them because they were "pretty good people"? They will not be with me. Will I cry for them? What will I feel? I don't even want to think about what they will feel.

There's a part of me, deep down inside my emotions, that doesn't want to go, that doesn't want all of this to end. I know that I should want it to end, that I should want all of the the hurt, disease, war, hate, hunger, and worry of this world to be nothing more than a faint memory of something that once happened long ago. I know that I should want to leave and be with God now. But I don't yet. There's so much to do still. There's so much time to spend with my friends and family before I'm gone, or before they're gone. And there are so many people to talk to about Jesus. And I'm scared.

If you're reading this, and you don't know of the good news of ultimate salvation from the sting of death and from the curse of sin, and I talk to you someday (hopefully soon) about it, please don't take offense. Please don't be angry with me for it. The truth is that if I talk to you about it, I will be very scared. My heart will be beating fast in my chest, my palms will be sweaty, and my body will be warm with adrenaline. This will be happening to me because, if I talk to you about Jesus, I will be afraid of what you might think of me, of what you might say back to me. I'm afraid that you will think I'm a freak, or some sort of a brainwashed nutjob. But the very real truth, as honestly as I can tell it to you now, is that for me to find the courage to talk to you about Jesus anyway, in spite of my fear, is because I care for you. If I try to talk to you about your eternal salvation, it's because I wonder about it, and I care about it, because I care about you. If I ask to talk to you about the gospel, it's because I love you. Please don't be mad, because I'm going to be scared enough as it is. But please listen to me, because I love you. If you know that I love you, please listen to what I have to say.

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If you're reading this and you don't know what's going to happen to you on the day that you die; or you think you do, but you're not really sure; or you try not to ever think about it, and put it in the far back of your mind; or even if you once did, but you don't have a confidence or an assurance about it anymore... please talk to me. Send me an email. It doesn't matter if you don't know me. I would like to talk to you about it, even if I'm scared. If you're scared, I won't think you're silly, because I'll be scared, too, but please talk to me anyway. If you do know me, don't be alarmed if I send you an email sometime, or give you a call to talk. Please don't think I'm silly, but talk to me.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." -Romans 1:16

carignanc@gmail.com

Before the Throne of God Above, the Remix

I've posted lyrics from hymns on here before, and I'm sure that I've posted the lyrics from the hymn "Before the Throne of God Above", specifically, but sometimes reading lyrics just can't convey the same information as well as good synopsis in prose!

We sang this hymn again this last Sunday, and I was, yet again, struck by how great the almost unbelievable truth of the Gospel is. So, I'd like to put forth my best attempt at rewriting this hymn in prose, and expanding parts that might benefit from clarification. I hope this might make it a bit easier to read, and strike the point home more clearly!

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In the holy court of God above, before His throne, I have a case that is not only good, not only strong... but perfect. My argument is a Person: He is a great High Priest, whose name is "Love". This Priest lives forever, and He always intercedes for me. I am not only comforted by this case against my sin, but I am assured, because my name - my own name, Chris Carignan - is carved into His hands, and it is written on His heart. And I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that while He stands in heaven - which will be forever - nobody can bring any charge against me to try to cast me from His presence.

When I am tempted by Satan to give up because of my sin, and when he tells me how I should feel guilty for the things I have done, currently do, and will do in the future, I look up to heaven, and I see this Priest standing there, this Priest who made an end to all of my sin! Because this Savior, who was completely without sin, died in my place, my own soul, sinful as it may be, is considered to be as free as His. I am completely confident in this because God is not only merciful, He is also just, and His wrath against my sin is appeased when He looks at His Son, and pardons me because of His righteousness. Since I am united with Christ, it would be unjust for God to sentence me to a death that His Son already died.

Look at Him there! He is the risen Lamb! He is my own perfect, spotless righteousness! He is the great, unchangeable I AM, Jehovah God Himself, the King of glory and of grace! Since I am united to Him, it is utterly inconceivable, even impossible, that my soul should die, for that soul has been purchased once and for all by His blood. My own life is kept with Christ, on high, in heaven; it is kept with Christ, my Savior and my God!

Standing before God clothed in the righteousness that is our own faith?

Mike Shea on Romans 5:1 and 5:9-

Faith does not merit you justification on some kindler and gentler New Testament sliding scale. No, faith receives the gift of perfect righteousness, purchased for you by the blood of Christ. Faith doesn't purchase the righteousness, faith doesn't merit the righteousness, faith simply receives the gift of righteousness purchased by the blood of Christ, and so Paul can say we are justified by His blood. We do not stand before God clothed in the righteousness that is our own faith; we stand before God clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ, received through faith. And it makes a difference! If you don't get this, you'll have a very shaky assurance, because you'll be in danger of trusting in your own faith, rather than trusting in Christ. If you think that your faith merits the justification, that God's lowered His standards and says, "Okay, just believe," and you worry, "Well... do I believe enough? Is my faith strong enough?!" Your assurance will only be as stable as your own faith, rather than your assurance being as stable as the faithfulness of Christ.