The Tenth Leper

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02 May 2013

What Are Your Idols? (And Why Should You Care?)

In his marvelous book The Peacemaker, Ken Sande defines an “idol” as “anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure.” He also unpacks how an idol is formed:

….if…seemingly legitimate desires are not met, we can find ourselves in a vicious cycle. The more we want something, the more we think we need and deserve it. And the more we think we are entitled to something, the more convinced we are that we cannot be happy and secure without it.

When we see something as being essential to our fulfillment and well-being, it moves from being a desire to a demand. ‘I wish I could have this’ evolves into ‘I must have this!’ This is where trouble sets in. Even if the initial desire was not inherently wrong, it has grown so strong that it begins to control our thoughts and behavior. In biblical terms, it has become an idol.

goldencalf2While the word “idols” generally conjures up statutes of primitive gods, it’s an issue that affects people of all times and all cultures. As Tim Keller writes, the Bible’s “concept of idolatry is an extremely sophisticated idea, integrating intellectual, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual categories.”

Think about it: if there’s something you’re depending on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure, what’s your reaction going to be when you don’t get it? How will you treat somebody who stands in the way of you having it? What will your response be when you have it but you don’t feel happy, fulfilled, or secure?

Welcome to your world. Welcome to the source of all your interpersonal conflicts (James 4:1-2). Welcome to the layer of your heart that’s feeding your more visible sins of addiction, anger, anxiety, jealousy, and despair (Mark 7:21-23). We want something to the extent that we feel we need it. So we rage against those who keep us from having it. We have it, but we are consumed with anxiety over the possibility of losing it.

It’s not wrong to seek something to be our happiness, security, and fulfillment. It’s called worship, and we’re created for it. The problem lies with the fact that we’re looking to something other than God to give us that kind of wholeness. Not only does God deserve that kind of worship because he is our creator but- as Augustine said- our hearts won’t rest until they find their rest in him. As long as what you’re worshiping can be taken away from you, you’ll never be at rest. You’ll never be content. On the other hand, if what you’re worshiping is the eternal, sovereign, everywhere-present God of the universe, you’ll rest just fine, even in the midst of great trials.

What are your idols? Have you ever thought about it? If not, I’d greatly encourage you to. It’s not a question of if you have idols, but rather what your idols are. Mark Driscoll provides a helpful list of questions to ask yourself toward that end:

Who or what do I make sacrifices for?

Who or what is most important to me?

If I could have any thing or experience I wanted, what would it be?

Who or what makes me most happy?

What is the one person or thing I could not live without?

What do I spend my money on?

Who or what do I devote my spare time to?

Posted in Counseling | Leave a Comment
01 May 2013

Worship and the Attributes of God

Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
Psalm 95:1-5

If I’m completely honest, verses like these are the ones I tend to glaze over when I’m reading my Bible. Any kind of call to praise God doesn’t really tell me anything I don’t already know. “Praise God. Yep, got it.” It’s not that I don’t enjoy praising him. It’s just that I’m so aware of my need to praise him that any reminders seem superfluous.

But there’s something else in these verses that caught my attention when I was reading them. They don’t just tell us to praise God. They tell us why. “For the LORD is a great God…”

A couple weeks ago I was reflecting on my marriage, specifically the ways in which I let my wife know that she’s loved and appreciated. In doing so, I was convicted about something. I realized that I spent more time telling her that I loved her than I did specifying what it is that I love about her. Saying “I love you” isn’t bad, obviously, nor does she not like it. But there’s a fullness breathed in to those words when I truly sit back and reflect on who she is and all the reasons I’m happy to be spending my life with her. My praise of her reaches new heights when it’s given more fuel.

The same is true when it comes to worshiping the Lord. We all know we should praise God. But I don’t think we stop often enough to ask why. What about God is worth praising? What about him should lead us to thank him? It’s not wrong to say “Thank you, Lord” or “Praise you, Jesus!” But there’s a fuel that enriches our hearts and worship when we stop to think about who God is.

At the risk of sounding like a cranky-old theologian (probably too late, thanks for visiting!), I think there’s a bunch of worship music out there devoted entirely to reminding us to praise God without reminding us of what precisely it is that we’re praising. Again, that’s not to say that that’s never okay. But if that’s all we’re singing, we’re going to burn out quick. “Praise” will become a duty rather than the natural overflow of pre-existing awe.

In Psalm 95:1-5, we see the call to worship God in verses 1-2. Verses 3-5 tell us why.* We make a joyful noise and come into his presence with thanksgiving because he’s the God who created everything. Sit on that for a moment. He’s the God who holds the highest mountains and the deepest oceans in his hand. He spoke them into existence and can take them out of existence. This means that the God who created this:

Nepal_Mount_Everest_And_Ama_dablam

and this:

grand canyon

is the same God who is guiding you through this sin-devastated world. And since he is the God powerful enough to create everything our eyes see, we can have confidence that he is powerful enough to create a new one, free from all the disease, death, and injustice of this present world. He is the God who will put his foot down once and for all on the evils of this world, wipe ever tear away, and repair what is broken.  Thank and praise this God, indeed.

But knowing who God is fuels our worship in another way as well. Consider this: knowing what’s true helps us to know what’s false.  Knowing Spain is in Europe teaches us, among other things, that it’s not in North America. In relationships, knowing that a friend loves us and would die for us teaches us that they would never tear us down behind our back, which frees us from the burden of worrying about that.**

And it’s the same with our knowledge of God. Everything we learn about him from Scripture also teaches us a hundred things that can’t be true. Knowing that God is all-powerful (his omnipotence) and therefore in control protects us from the despair that comes from thinking that all the crap going on in the world is beyond his control. Knowing that God is present everywhere (his omnipresence) shields us from the hopelessness that comes from feeling alone. Knowing that he is just keeps us from the kind of unrighteous anger that leads to vengeance and the never-ending cycle of retaliation. And knowing that he is all-wise keeps us from the frustration of feeling like where you’re currently at in life is a mistake.

Our love for God can grow only as we know him for who he is, which is why it’s important to study his attributes. While there are some great resources for doing so, here’s a brief list of just some of them:

God is…

  • Omniscient (all-knowing). Psalm 139:1-6
  • Immutable (never-changing). Psalm 102:25-27
  • Holy (set-apart, excellent, perfect). Exodus 15:11
  • Wise. Isaiah 40:28
  • Just. Numbers 14:18
  • Omnipotent (all-powerful). Genesis 18:14
  • Sovereign. Psalm 135:6
  • Self-existent. Exodus 3:14, John 5:26
  • Eternal. Isaiah 57:15
  • Merciful. Exodus 34:6-7

———————————————–

*Not to say that this alone is why we should worship God. The Bible has 66 books’ worth of reasons to praise him.

**Obviously, sin exists and so does betrayal.

Posted in Attributes of God, Doctrine & Theology | Leave a Comment
05 Apr 2013

Steps to Take Before Leaving a Church

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
Acts 20:28

A major role of a church’s elders is to shepherd the church’s members, protecting them from things harmful to their souls and helping them mature in their walk with Christ. Their responsibility for their flock is so great that the writer of Hebrews will go on to say that they are “keeping watch over [their] souls” and will “have to give an account” for them one day.

While some of the ways that elders shepherd members are obvious and embraced (preaching, counseling, etc.), it can be temptingchurch-2 to think that we are no longer under the oversight of our elders once we decide to leave our church. Yet it’s when we decide to leave a church that we often need their oversight the most. For example, life circumstances often will force us to relocate, bringing with it a laundry list of spiritual needs, one of which is the need to find a new church.

But there’s another reason we should make the decision to leave with our elders rather than deciding on our own and then telling them. Discontentment, for example, is one of the most suspect reasons for leaving a church. When there’s discontentment between the elders and someone wanting to leave, one of two things usually needs to happen: the person has some sin that needs to be repented of, or the elders have genuinely wronged them and need to repent (and there could be a mixture of both). Either way, sin is often behind the decision to leave, which means that repentance needs to take place.

Leaving a church, then, is a big deal and should be treated like it. And it is never a decision to be made alone. In his book What is a Healthy Church?, Mark Dever gives the following list of things to consider before leaving a church, as well as how to leave well if you do in fact decide to do so:

Before You Decide to Leave

1. Pray.

2.Let your current pastor know about your thinking before you move to another church or make your decision to relocate to another city. Ask for his counsel.

3. Weigh your motives. Is your desire to leave because of sinful, personal conflict or disappointment? If it’s because of doctrinal reasons, are these doctrinal issues significant?

4. Do everything within your power to reconcile broken relationships.

5. Be sure to consider all the ‘evidences of grace’ you’ve seen in the church’s life- places where God’s work is evident. If you cannot see any evidences of God’s grace, you might want to examine your own heart once more (Matt.7:3-5).

6. Be humble. Recognize you don’t have all the facts and assess people and circumstances charitably (give them the benefit of the doubt.)

If You Go

1. Don’t divide the body.

2. Take the utmost care not to sow discontent even among your closest friends. Remember, you don’t want anything to hinder their growth in grace in this church. Deny any desire to gossip (sometimes referred to as ‘venting’ or ‘saying how you feel’).

3. Pray for and bless the congregation and its leadership. Look for ways of doing this practically.

4. If there has been hurt, then forgive- even as you have been forgiven.

Posted in Church, Membership | Leave a Comment
03 Apr 2013

He Is Risen! Now Get Back to Work! (Easter for the Other 364 Days)

Few things so collectively celebrated as Easter get collectively forgotten so quickly. If Easter is the day of the year where people far and wide remember the good news of Jesus’ resurrection, Monday’s the day we go back to forgetting why it’s so important. While everyone’s “He is risen”-ing on Easter Sunday, everyone knows that Monday is Discount Peeps Day.

But this isn’t how the apostles saw things. Paul goes so far as to say that if Christ hasn’t been raised, then our faith is vain (1 Cor.15:14). And if our hope in him is therefore false, then we as Christians should be pitied more than any other people on the planet (1 Cor.15:19). Peter likewise instructs his readers to set all their hope on Christ’s return to earth, implying that he didn’t stay dead after his resurrection (1 Pet.1:13).

The resurrection for them had enormous ramifications. Whatraffic_jamt are these ramifications? How can we take the news that “He Is Risen” with us to work this week? How does Easter intersect our lives on the other 364 days of the year? While it’d be impossible to list out all those ramifications, there’s a couple of immediate ones that I think we should remember:

1. A Clear Conscience. We’re not saved because Jesus died. We’re saved because Jesus died and was raised. Jesus’ resurrection is the Father’s declaration that the sacrifice he made for us was sufficient. And since we are united to Christ, the Father’s vindication of his Son is also his vindication of us. He is pleased with his Son and by extension everyone who is united to him. This means that God doesn’t condemn us (Rom.8:1), that there’s no longer any offering or payment for our sins that needs to be made (Heb.10:18), that our sins don’t define us (Heb.10:3; Psa.103:12), and that we can approach God with confidence (Heb.4:16).

Easter makes all of these benefits a reality for the Christian. Because of Easter, you are free this week from the burden of proving yourself to God or others. You are free of a guilty conscience. Your identity is “child of God.”

2. Healed Relationships. After being raised from death, Jesus then ascended up into heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand. In his sermon at Pentecost, Peter directly links this event with the coming of the Holy Spirit. As a result of his ascension, Jesus “received the promise of the Holy Spirit” and then poured out the Spirit on believers. Today, whenever someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside them. In so doing, we are enabled to love others with the other-centric love that the Father and Son have had for each other for all eternity (Rom.5:5)

This means that the Spirit kills the selfishness that is responsible for so many of the problems we face in our relationships. By couple-fighting-on-couchreminding us of all we already possess as children of God, and that we have an inheritance waiting for us after death, we’ll stop treating others as means to our own ends or as obstacles to getting what we want. Since we no longer need others to fulfill selfish wants (through their affirmation, love, or material possessions), we are freed up to love and serve them regardless of how they treat us, exactly the way God loved us.

Easter frees us from the burden of “needing” others, enabling us to truly love them for who they are and not what they can do for us.

3. Victory over Sin and Misery. Easter deals with sin in a couple of ways. First, it removes the guilt of sin that we are born into this world with as descendants of Adam. With sin’s guilt gone, we are now accepted and adopted children of God. But it also begins to remove the power of sin. We still sin in this life. But because the Holy Spirit now lives within us, we have the assurance that he will continually and progressively make us look more like Jesus.

What have I done!?A lot of the misery we encounter in our lives is due simply to the fact that we live in a fallen world. But I think we greatly underestimate just how much of our misery results from our own sin. Take anxiety for example. Anxiety is so universal to our experience that we assume it’s a neutral given, created and cured by our circumstances. But in the Gospels, Jesus peels back the layers of anxiety to show us that it’s traced directly back to our view of who God is. We sin when we believe that God isn’t good (which then leads us to feel abandoned) or that he’s not powerful enough to do something about our circumstances (leading to hopelessness). It is a misery that we for some reason love to inflict upon ourselves (Luke 12:25).

If sin leads to anxiety, and if the Spirit is working to eradicate sin in our heart, then the Holy Spirit is actively working to remove  anxiety from our lives. And I don’t know who wouldn’t want that. I don’t know who wouldn’t their lives-chaotic as they are- to be characterized by the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, which is what Paul contrasts anxiety with (Phil.4:5b-7).

4. Hope.

Biblically-speaking, “hope” is the confident expectation Christians have of Jesus’ return to establish new heavens and a new earth. In Jesus’ resurrection, part of that new earth- a resurrected, glorified human- showed up in this crummy old earth, promising that there’s more where that came from. Tim Keller beautifully captures the implications of living in this world with our minds on the next:

…to the extent that [this] future is real to you, it will change everything about how you live in the present. For example, why is it so hard to face suffering? Why is it so hard to face disability and disease? Why is it so hard to do the right thing if you know it’s going to cost you money, reputation, maybe even your life? Why is it so hard to face your own death or the death of a loved ones? It’s so hard because we think this broken world is the only world we’re ever going to have. It’s easy to feel as if this money is the only wealth we’ll ever have, as if this body is the only body we’ll ever have. But if Jesus is risen, then your future is so much more beautiful, and so much more certain, than that.

Posted in Doctrine & Theology, Resurrection & Ascension | Leave a Comment
31 Mar 2013

Easter Sunday: The Bruised Head

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he small bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:15

jesus resurrection 3
“For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” David wrote these words in Psalm 16:10, and in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter cited them, saying that David “foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ…” (Acts 2:31) He went on to cite Psalm 110:1 as an Old Testament prophecy of the Messiah ascending up into heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand. While we celebrate these two great events as historical facts, it can be difficult to appreciate the practical effects they have on our lives 2,000 years later.

For starters, the resurrection of Jesus means that God accepts us. Paul writes that Jesus was “raised for our justification” (Rom.4:25), and that as a result we have “peace with God” (Rom.5:1). You are free from the burden of having to prove yourself to God or others, because as a Christian you are accepted already.

Secondly, the resurrection means that you have new life. Scripture teaches that one day we will die but that our bodies will be resurrected. But it also teaches that a spiritual resurrection has taken place already for God’s children. This isn’t just a metaphor. Paul writes that the power of God that raised Jesus’ dead body from the grave is the same power that is currently at work in all believers (Eph.1:19-20). If Christ’s resurrection can be called a miracle, so can your salvation and growth in Christ-likeness. The God who raises people from the dead is at work in you to free you from your sins and make you look more like Jesus. When you grasp this, you won’t have time to despair, only hope.

Thirdly, as a result of Jesus’ ascension into heaven, you are now empowered to overcome sin in your life. When Jesus sat at the right hand of God the Father, he poured out the Holy Spirit on all his followers, enabling them to bear the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal.5:22-23). By returning from the dead, Jesus bruised the head of our enemy. And because he now sits at the right hand of God the Father, he reigns until all his enemies are subdued (Psalm 110:1; 1 Cor.15:25).

Peace with God, confidence in his ability to change you, and increasing victory over sin. These are the things made possible by the resurrection and ascension of Christ. Happy Easter.

Posted in Holy Week | Leave a Comment
30 Mar 2013

Saturday: The Bruised Heel

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he small bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:15

It was the worst day of their lives. Their first thought waking up that Saturday morning very likely was wondering whether or not the previous day had just been a terrible nightmare. But then reality sank in. The man who they’d given up their whole lives to follow, who had taught them and shown them wonderful things for three years was dead. Now that the one who had called them to become “fishers of men” (Matt.4:19) was gone, there was nothing left to do in their sorrow except return to being ordinary fishermen (John 21:3).

Living on this side of the resurrection, it’s hard for us to appreciate how horrible this day must have been for the eleven remaining disciples. Yet what’s easier for us to appreciate is the role the crucifixion played in God’s overarching story of redemption. Immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God responded in grace. Yes, they and the entire human race after them would suffer the consequences for their rebellion against him. But before listing the curses that humanity would now be subject to, God spoke of the punishment that would come upon the serpent and of his ultimate destruction. The promise was that the woman’s offspring would war with him. The serpent would bruise his heel, but the offspring would crush his head.

The woman’s offspring ultimately refers to Jesus, the offspring that will crush the head of our enemy, Satan. Before this happens though, Satan must bruise his heel. The Friday and Saturday of Holy Week were days in which this reality was all-too real for those who followed Jesus. But what they couldn’t see in the midst of all their pain and confusion was that as horrible as it was, these painful days had been part of God’s plan of salvation from the very beginning. This also meant that things wouldn’t stay this way. The offspring’s heel had been bruised. But the rest of Genesis 3:15 still needed to be fulfilled…

Posted in Holy Week | Leave a Comment
29 Mar 2013

Good Friday: “Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:46

These words, spoken by Jesus, come from Psalm 22, which had been written hundreds of years earlier by David and is for anyone who has ever experienced intense suffering. In the first eighteen verses, we see David despairing (vv.1-13) and suffering persecution (vv.16-18) so much so that he laments his existence (vv.14-15). Commentator Robert Davidson says that the psalmist “is someone being torn apart because he cannot deny the reality of faith, nor can he reconcile it with the savage reality of life as he now experiences” it. In short, where is God when it hurts?

crosses_3It is fitting that so many elements of Psalm 22 show up in the crucifixion story. Jesus, like David, was mocked (Matt.27:39, Ps.22:7), had his garments divided (Matt.27:35, Ps.22:18), and suffered the taunts of enemies who said that the Lord would deliver the one who trusts him (Matt.27:43, Ps.22:8). Above all, both felt forsaken by God (Matt.27:46, Ps.22:1-2). Yet unlike David, Jesus was in some sense truly forsaken by God the Father. In order to atone for the sins of his people, he had to suffer the wrath of God on our behalf which included him being cut off from the fellowship which he had enjoyed with God the Father for all eternity until this point.

In addition to being the atonement for our sins, the crucifixion is an enormous reminder of God’s love for us. It is God’s comfort for anyone who feels that he is far off and removed from our struggles. John Stott once wrote, “I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross…In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it?” God is not immune to our struggles. He doesn’t tell us how to find comfort as someone who has never been through what we have. Our God has been mocked, beaten, rejected, betrayed, tortured, and murdered. That we worship a suffering God is the source of comfort to us who suffer in this life. For if he’s been through it, then he understands, cares, and has a plan to do something about it.

Posted in Holy Week | Leave a Comment
28 Mar 2013

Maundy Thursday: The New Covenant

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Matthew 26:26-28

Última_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5
In instituting what is now referred to as the Lord’s Supper, Jesus used bread and wine to demonstrate that his body would be broken and his blood would flow on the cross. Today when we take the Lord’s Supper, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” as Paul says (1 Cor.11:26) and remind ourselves of the new covenant that we are now under, made possible by Jesus’ death.

Centuries earlier, Jeremiah prophesied of this new covenant (Jer.31:31-34). God promised to do three things in it. First, he would put his word in the hearts of his people by giving them his Spirit. In other words, he would cause his people to obey him by giving them a heartfelt desire to. Secondly, we can know God. We may take this for granted, but most people in the Old Testament could not know God personally. If they wanted to consult God, they would have done so through prophets and priests. Thirdly, this new covenant would provide forgiveness of sins, something that animal sacrifices under the old covenant could never provide.

The contents of the New Covenant remind us of three profound truths. First, even the desire to obey God must come from God Lords-Supper_555himself. We can’t simply “will” ourselves to love him. Second, any and all personal knowledge we have of God only exists because he first pursued us. We will never want to speak with God more than he wants to speak with us. Finally, we can’t atone for our sins. Only Jesus can, and he did it 2,000 years ago. So even though God as our Father may discipline us at times, he will never condemn us for our sins. Additionally, we don’t need to offer anything to God for our sins. No promises to “do better next time” or resolutions to live a more holy life make him love us more. We are completely accepted in his presence- and are thus free from the burden of trying to prove ourselves- because Jesus shed his blood for us.

Posted in Holy Week | Leave a Comment
27 Mar 2013

Wednesday: The New Passover

“Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
Matthew 26:17

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Each year, thousands of faithful pilgrims made the trek to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, and Jesus and his disciples were among them. The Passover dated back to the time of the exodus, when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. As God prepared to send his final plague on the Egyptians (the killing of all the firstborns), he provided a way to spare his people from this judgment. If they would take the blood of a lamb “without blemish” and cover the doorposts of their homes with it, the angel of the Lord would pass over them.

The Passover had a threefold function for the Jews. First, it looked back on what God had done for them in the past by rescuing them from slavery. Second, it strengthened them in the present as they traveled through the wilderness. Third, it looked ahead to the Promised Land that they were headed toward. During the Passover meal, four cups of wine would be passed around to remember God’s four great promises of deliverance: “…I will bring you out…I will deliver you…I will redeem you…I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.” (Exodus 6:6-7)

This was a fitting occasion for Jesus to have his last meal with the disciples, for he is the true spotless Passover lamb whose blood was about to be shed (John 1:29). As those who are saved by his blood, Christians celebrate this new Passover through the Lord’s Supper. Like the ancient Israelites, when we take the Lord’s Supper we first look back on our deliverance from the bondage of sin. Secondly, we are encouraged and strengthened here in the present as saved people who still struggle with sin. And finally, in the Lord’s Supper we set our sights on the Promised Land that’s to come in the form of new heavens and a new earth.

Posted in Holy Week | Leave a Comment
26 Mar 2013

Tuesday: The LORD Says to My Lord

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
Psalm 110:1

Centuries before Jesus was born, God made a covenant with King David, promising him that one of his sons would sit on his throne and that his throne would last forever (2 Sam.7:12-16). This was initially fulfilled by God giving the throne to David’s son, Solomon. But it finds ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, a “son” (or descendant) of David, who lives forever and thus reigns forever. Though there are many verses in the Old Testament that point to a future Messiah, the New Testament quotes Psalm 110 more than any other messianic text, and on the Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus used it to confront the Pharisees.

The Pharisees correctly believed that this Psalm spoke of the coming Messiah, who they also believed would be descended from Gerard_van_Honthorst_-_King_David_Playing_the_Harp_-_Google_Art_ProjectDavid. So it was a no-brainer when Jesus quizzed them on whose son the Messiah was: “The son of David.” (Matt.22:42) Now for the hard question: Why does David call the Messiah “my Lord” in Psalm 110 if the Messiah’s his son? In Jewish custom, the son would refer to his father as “my lord” and not the other way around. This coming Messiah would somehow be greater than David. While “son of David” emphasizes the humanity of the Messiah, Psalm 110:1 teaches that he will be more than just human.

The Pharisees had been looking for a political and earthly Messiah who would free them from Roman bondage. But the Messiah is not just the son of David. He is the son of God. He is human and divine. Thus he will not only put an end to evil earthly powers. He will put an end to our greatest oppressor, Satan. He will deliver us from our greatest slavery, sin. Jesus is King and is reigning “until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Cor.15:25). This is the hope we’re meant to bank on when we our sins, struggles, and addictions seem bigger to us than God. Our King is in the process of delivering us from them, and will one day crush them forever.

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