Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

According to classical Christian teaching, at the very source of reality, we find a perfect and eternal relationship of self-giving love. A divine community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in an infinite, mutual, self-giving relationship—perfectly and equally sharing being and joy before all time. One God in three self-giving Persons, and three self-giving Person in One God. This is the very Fountain of all Love!

It was out of the overflow of this fountain, God made the world. And so, all creation is a theater of God’s glorious love. This is especially true with human beings, for we alone are made in the very image of this love.

In the light of this truth, we see more clearly the biblical concept of sin. In making us in His image, God meant for us to find our life in His self-giving Love. However, sin broke that relationship. Sin a dis-ease, a dis-harmony with the source of love. A cosmic relational breach with devastating consequences!

We have no life apart from the Triune love of God, for we were made from it and for it. God designed us to feast on His self-giving love and reflect it in our relationships with others. Indeed, to be a “person”, like God, is to live in communion with God and others. And so, any “person”, any “self”, that does not exist to serve and give themselves away for others is a corruption of what it means to even be a “person”—indeed, what it means to be made in the image of God.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’”

~ Matthew 11:25-30 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Hospitality is a discipline of heart, mind, and action. It requires you to have a new mindset—to work at getting outside yourself (your perspective, preferences, hurts, grievances, etc.) into the world of “the other”. It requires being considerate and kind, looking at and appreciating life from another’s perspective (Philippians 2:1-5). For the Christian, this happens first and foremost with one another in the church, and secondly, with those outside (Galatians 6:9-10). It is seeking to accommodate and value one another’s differences, while welcoming all to the same table of faith and repentance through the grace of Christ. It is giving of your time, treasure, talents, and reputation to help others feel the welcome embrace of God in Christ.

Hospitality often involves mixing your nonbelieving friends and neighbors with the people of the church, so that all might have an encounter with Jesus (Luke 5:27-32). It is seeing yourself as an ambassador in your workplace, school, and neighborhood; it is seeing your home as an embassy of gospel shalom. It is seeing our church as an embassy to our community. It is seeing your engagement at church as a diplomatic mission to all present.

As a church, we should expect to be “on display” in our community and thus be mindful of representing the gospel well in our engagement with others (Matthew 5:16; Colossians 4:5-6; Romans 12:9-21). As a church, we are an outpost of the coming kingdom—a city within a city (the polis of God amongst the polis of man). Thus, it is imperative we nurture a community of Christ’s love, of His grace and truth (i.e., love), as this is critical to the effectiveness of our mission of hospitality.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

~ Philippians 2:1-7 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

If we were to peel back the universe to see what’s underneath it—to discover the very source of reality—we would not find a mathematical formula, nor a scientific theory, nor a moral to do list, nor even a theological doctrinal statement. All these are good and necessary in their place, but they are not ultimate. Rather, if we were to peer into what’s beyond and behind creation, we would find a perfect, eternal, untainted relationship of self-giving love. A divine community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in an infinite, mutual, self-giving relationship—perfectly and equally sharing being and infinite delight before all time. One God in three Persons, and three Persons in One God.

Now, what does this mean? Well, most basically, it means love is real. As Christians, we do not have a thin and sentimental view of love. Love is not a mere feeling we experience. Love exists apart from our feelings. Indeed, it exists apart from and prior to all else. Love is more real that time, for love is in the very essence of God. God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a relationship of self-giving love.

In making us in His image, God meant for us to share in the glory of this love. He meant for us to find our life in the overflow of His Triune love. He meant for us to reflect His self-giving love in our all our relationships. He meant for us to feast upon the infinite abundance of this love and lavish it upon others.

That’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

~ 1 John 4:7-14 (NASB95)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. 

Hospitality is demanding. It requires us to give sacrificially of ourselves. At the core of hospitality is a discipline of heart, mind, and action. It requires you and me to have a new mindset—to work at getting outside ourselves (our perspective, preferences, hurts, grievances, etc.) into the world of “the other”. It is to be considerate and kind, looking at and appreciating life from another’s perspective (Philippians 2:1-5).

Now…such hospitality does not come naturally. It must be developed and practiced. The more you do it, the more you will become it (Philippians 2:12). BUT it is not merely an issue of our work either; it first requires seeing and being transformed by God’s work for us (2 Corinthians 3). Gospel hospitality requires a supernatural level of love and patience, and so, we cannot do it without continually drinking deeply of the well of God’s grace…for us. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). This means that we grow in patience, to the degree we see how patient Jesus continues to be with us. We grow in kindness, to the degree we see how kindly Jesus deals with us. We grow in our ability to forgive and forbear to the degree we continually see the greatness of God’s forgiveness and forbearance of us.

And so, my dear friends, fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter our faith!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

~ Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What is the basis of the modern sexual ethic? I think it boils down to one word: “consent”. If the participants (whatever the number) are agreeable in the activity (whatever it may be), there can be no complaint, for they have done so willingly—they have given their “consent”.

Now, beyond the questions of how to negotiate such “consent” in a world of nuanced power dynamics and communication difficulties—not to mention at what age this “power of consent” magically materializes—there still exists a much deeper and more fundamental problem. This ethic assumes reality itself, including our sexual reality, is malleable—that it can be manipulated to fit our desires. There is no design to which our desires must yield, no limits to which our “consent” must be confined.

But nowhere else in all creation can reality be so manipulated. Contrary to a popular contemporary anthem, we cannot “defy gravity” but only submit to it. Gravity is what it is, and if we are to benefit from its reality, we must approach it with reverence. If we “defy” it, we will most certainly suffer the consequences of transgressing its reality.

So, it is with sex. Sex is not defined by our desires but by our Designer. When our desires overrule what God designed sex for, we do violence to it; and since sexuality is core to who we are, ultimately, we do violence to ourselves.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. [emphasis added]

~ 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Biblically speaking, hospitality is the love and welcome of strangers. “Love of strangers” is the literal meaning of the New Testament word, and it is the posture God expected Israel to have towards sojourners in their land. This is not surprising when we think of the hospitality God exercises toward us in both creation and redemption.

In the work of creation, God welcomes us into the world He has made. In that world, He places us at the most honored seat, at the very pinnacle of created order, welcoming us to share in His glorious image and likeness, offering us the beauty and bounty of all He has made, and inviting us into His work of ruling over all things. Sadly, the Bible tells us we rejected this privileged status, choosing rather to be strangers to God, and so, were exiled from His presence.

But God, in His work of redemption, took extraordinary means, becoming radically “hospitable” to our needy state. In Christ Jesus, He entered our exile—taking on the full experience of our humanity East of Eden. And He did so that He might become a faithful High Priest, sympathizing with all our weaknesses, giving His very life as a sacrifice for our rebellion, thus restoring us to friendship with God. Now, by His Word and Spirit, He welcomes us back into the experience of His abounding hospitality for all eternity.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

     So God created man in his own image,

     in the image of God he created him;

     male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

~Genesis 1:26-31 (ESV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 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. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

~Revelation 22:1-5 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

It is in our nature to want things to be easy always—for life to be sunny with no storms. Sounds good, right? However, do you know what you call a place that’s sunny all the time and never rains? A desert!

Sometimes God purposes to bring us through the desert, a wilderness—a difficult and dry place. But He means well for us—to drive us to hope in Him and to prepare us for His unimaginable blessings. 

I take great comfort in Deuteronomy 8 where God says He “deals with us as with sons”. He calls this manner of relating to us “discipline”, a word that doesn’t translate well into our contemporary understanding. “Discipline” sounds punitive, as if God is angry and disappointed. But at its root is the word, “disciple”. The Lord is “discipling” us—He is training us—because He loves us as His own dear children. No good parent fails to disciple, to train, their children for the full responsibility and blessing of adulthood. This requires going through circumstances of both delight and difficulty. 

And in this God's heart is tender toward us and our weaknesses; He only means to strengthen our resolve to seek Him first—so we are not foolish children pursuing the wrong things. His goal is to train us—to prepare us to handle the overflowing bounty of all He intends to share with us, not only in this life, but more so in the one to come.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”

~Deuteronomy 8:1-10 (NASB95)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Times can get really bad. I mean really bad! Even in the company of God’s people.

During the 7th century B.C., a young king arose in Judah. This was the famous King Josiah, the 16th king of the southern kingdom. During his reign (c. 640-609) he oversaw a movement of reformation and revival centered in the Word of God. What prompted this—and what makes me look to this story to see how bad things can get—was the rediscovery of the Word of God. Things had dipped so low among God’s people that they had forgotten that God had ever given them a book of law. When Josiah sends a messenger to the temple, he ran into Hilkiah the high priest who had just made a discovery: “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to the king’s messenger, and he read it. Then, the messenger brought it back to Josiah and read it before him, as well.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

~2 Kings 22:11-13 (ESV)

Now, how bad can things get? By the time of Josiah, not only had God’s people ceased to obey the Bible, they even forgot they had one! Sadly, by the look of many American churches you’d wonder whether God had ever given us His Word in Christ. Without God’s Word, God’s people lose their reason for being and subject themselves to His judgment.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.”

~2 Kings 22:3-20 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

We live in a day that is cynical about leaders and institutions. This is true in government, education, business, health care and the arts—but maybe especially in the church. Sadly, in some instances this cynicism is warranted due to abuses of power and position. However, the existence of such counterfeits doesn’t invalidate the legitimacy of the real thing. A counterfeit $20 dollar bill does nothing to invalidate the legitimacy of a real $20 dollar bill.

Therefore, certainly, it is necessary to be shrewd in one’s engagement with any given church. We must be discerning, seeking a congregation preaching the historic gospel and operating according to the manner of Jesus Christ. A church that’s not addicted to the latest and greatest, but a church rooted in and faithful to the doctrine and practice of the apostolic church. We should be wary of leaders marked by power trips but seeking and commending leaders marked by the patient service and care of God’s people (Mark 10:43-45; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Now, once we find such a church, we need to link ourselves to the communion and discipline of that local body. Admittedly, this can be difficult for many of us who have been burned by bad churches and bad shepherds. However, it doesn’t relieve us from the responsibility of seeking to do so. Rather, we must trust God and carefully take it one step at a time. Although God’s church is not perfect, it is being perfected, and we along with it.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

~1 Peter 5:1-7 (ESV)

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

~Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

Transcript:

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The early church was distinctive for many reasons, but one of the most powerful was the quality of loving community found among in it.

Tertullian, the 3rd century church leader, wrote a number of works defending the gospel in the face of persecution (see, To the Gentiles and Apology). In one of his more famous statements, he directs his pagan detractors to look at the quality of love among Christians, as compared to its lack among the pagans. He writes:

“Look . . . how they love one another (for they themselves [pagans] hate one another); and how they are ready to die for each other (for they themselves [pagans] are readier to kill each other).”

Tertullian knew that the love of Christians for one another was incredibly powerful and persuasive. Not surprising, since this is exactly what Jesus taught.

In His famous prayer recorded in John 17, Jesus not once but twice says that it is this unifying love among Christians, in spite of their many differences, that shows to the world the truthfulness of the gospel. Jesus prays:

…that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. [And again a few verses later, Jesus prays…] The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. (John 17:21-23 NASB, emphasis added)

The quality of our relationships as followers of Jesus Christ is our strongest and clearest witness. Twentieth century thinker Francis Schaeffer called this love, “the final apologetic”—that is, the final proof of the veracity of the gospel.

The kindness, mercy and grace of genuine love may be in short supply in the world, but it must not be in the church.

Is your life dripping with love toward your fellow Christians?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

“O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; 26 and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

~ John 17:17-26 (ESV)