New Covenant Ministry

On Saturday, I was trundling all over the dining hall putting food on peoples' plates.  And it was the end of the semester.  And I had homework to do.  And I was tired.  And there were things on my mind.  And my legs were tired of trundling me all over for the last two hours.  Remember how your parents told you that when you memorize verses, the Holy Spirit can bring them to your mind when you need them?  Well, I can't claim that the Holy Spirit gave them these verses, but they came in my mind and helped me get through the rest of the dinner shift.

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

This reminded me of the strength that God gives to complete daily tasks.  Christ's strength is absolutely sufficient for every weakness.  We receive sufficiency from God so that we may be sufficient New Covenant ministers.  Sometimes, New Covenant ministry seems like a very spiritual/theological concept somewhat detached from the dining hall and my tired trundling feet.  But these verses remind me that even putting vegetables on peoples' plates is New Covenant ministry if my sufficiency comes from God.


P.S.  You know what else I learned this week?  Never let things (aka, graduation stuff) take up more focus that Christ. Nothing works properly when the focus is off.

Theology as Useful Knowledge

While researching for an upcoming project, this quote reminded me of the purpose of studying God's plan: practical love for the God we study. We do not truly know God until we love and obey Him.

"God's self-revelation to us was not made for a primarily intellectual purpose. It is not to be overlooked, of course, that the truly pious mind may through an intellectual contemplation of the divine perfections glorify God. This would be just as truly religious as the intensest occupation of the will in the service of God. But it would not be the full-orbed religion at which, as a whole, revelation aims. It is true, the Gospel teaches that to know God is life eternal. But the concept of 'knowledge' here is not to be understood in its Helenic sense, but in the Shemitic sense. According to the former, 'to know' means to mirror the reality of a thing in one's consciousness. The Shemitic and Biblical idea is to have the reality of something practically interwoven with the inner experience of life. Hence 'to know' can stand in the Biblical idiom for 'to love', 'to single out in love'. Because God desires to be known after this fashion, He has caused His revelation to take place in the milieu of the historical life of a people. The circle of revelation is not a school, but a 'covenant'. To speak of revelation as an 'education' of humanity is a rationalistic and utterly un-scriptural way of speaking. All that God disclosed of Himself has come in response to the practical religious needs of His people as these emerged in the course of history" [emphasis added].

-Geerhardus Vos, Biblical Theology, 8

Holy Week, Pt. 2

"The New Covenant in My Blood"

Listening to J. S. Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, I am reminded on another significant even during Holy Week: the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Of deep devotional and theological significance, the Lord’s Supper reminds believers of Christ’s sacrifice of Himself to the Father and of their beautiful place in redemptive history.

Old Testament believers looked forward by faith to the forgiveness of their sins by God’s Redeemer. In evil times of apostasy, the prophets reminded the Jewish people of God’s promise that someday their sins would not only be covered, but taken away. God called His promise the New Covenant.

“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.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27, ESV)

After celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus’ words as He institutes the Lord’s Supper show that God’s Old Testament promise was about to be fulfilled:

“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20, NKJV)

With Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, God’s promise was fulfilled. Today believers receive forgiveness, a new heart, and the Holy Spirit. Truly, Christ was the fulfillment of the whole law and the prophets, for it was Him of whom they spoke. The New Covenant, by which comes salvation through Christ’s blood, extends forgiveness to each of God’s people.

This Holy Week, meditate on the significance of “the new covenant in My blood,” the single greatest turning point in redemptive history

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Holy Week, Pt. 1

Maundy Thursday commemorates the example of servanthood Jesus demonstrated by washing His disciples feet. As the first of the Holy Week celebrations, it reminds us of the purpose of Christ’s coming into the world:

“For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

Here is the account, devotionally paraphrased by Phillips:

Jesus, with the full knowledge that the Father had put everything into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose from the supper-table, took off his outer clothes, picked up a towel and fastened it round his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to dry them with the towel around his waist. So he came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" "You do not realise now what I am doing," replied Jesus, "but later on you will understand." Then Peter said to him, "You must never wash my feet!" "Unless you let me wash you, Peter," replied Jesus, "you cannot be my true partner." "Then Lord," returned Simon Peter, "please—not just my feet but my hands and my face as well!" "The man who has bathed," returned Jesus, "only needs to wash his feet to be clean all over. And you are clean—though not all of you." (For Jesus knew his betrayer and that is why he said, "though not all of you".) When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his clothes, he sat down again and spoke to them, "Do you realise what I have just done to you? You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and you are quite right, for I am your teacher and your Lord. But if I, your teacher and Lord, have washed your feet, you must be ready to wash one another’s feet. I have given you this as an example so that you may do as I have done. Believe me, the servant is not greater than his master and the messenger is not greater than the man who sent him. Once you have realised these things, you will find your happiness in doing them.

-John 13:3-17