“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, TO THE ONLY GOD, OUR SAVIOR, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD, BE GLORY, MAJESTY, DOMINION, AND AUTHORITY, BEFORE ALL TIME AND NOW AND FOREVER. AMEN.” Jude 24-25
Everyone has a way of thinking (worldview). We often absorb our worldview like a sponge in the water of our culture. Therefore, we must think with searching intentionality. One of the key themes of the book of Jude is: Think Well and Live Well.
“THE GREAT CHALLENGE FOR THE CHRISTIAN IS TO CRAFT A WORLDVIEW THAT IS DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN IN ITS SHAPE, SUBSTANCE, AND STRUCTURE. This is no easy task, especially in an intellectually complex world marked by an incredible diversity of worldviews and ideologies.” Albert Mohler, For the Fame of God’s Name, “A God Centered Worldview”, p. 352
“Divine revelation is the source of all truth, the truth of Christianity included: reason is the instrument for recognizing it; Scripture is it’s verifying principle; logical consistency is a negative test of truth and in appearance a subordinate test. THE TASK OF CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY IS TO EXHIBIT THE CONTENT OF BIBLICAL REVELATION AS AN ORDERLY WHOLE.” Carl F.H. Henry, God, Revelation and Authority, Vol. 1, p.215
“The fundamental problem in the evangelical world today is that God rests too inconsequentially upon the church. He is too distant. His grace is too ordinary, his judgment too benign, his gospel is too easy, and his Christ is too common.” David F. Wells, No Place for Truth (1995)
Embracing Strength and Joy for the Journey
1. God in Christ is the only God. God is our Savior (Rescuer, Deliverer, Preserver) and Lord (Ruler, one who commands.)
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14
2. He is the Eternal God, the Triune God has no beginning and he has no end.
3. To him be:
• Glory (weightiness), splendor, greatness
• Majesty
“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” Hebrews 1:3
“Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven” Hebrews 8:1
• Dominion and Authority (sovereign power, ruling power)
INFERENCES
1. We have a HIGH CALLING as children of God, therefore we live circumspectly/carefully.
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16
2. Contemplating and seeking to understand the weightiness, glory and majesty of God gives STAYING POWER as we live HOPEFULLY.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35-37
EPISTEMOLOGICAL GRID
3. We live with expectation as we wait for the coming of the Lord (the end that is a beginning).
QUESTIONS
1. What did Anselm of Canterbury (d.1109) mean when he said, the Christian task is well defined as “faith seeking understanding”?
2. MTD (Morally Therapeutic Deism) is a term that posits:
• God created the world
• God wants us to be good, nice and fair
• God is not involved in our lives unless we invite him
• God wants us to be happy
• Good people go to heaven when they die
Christian Smith and Melinda Denton wrote in the book, The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers, 2005, that MTD was the majority view of young adults in 2005. How does that correspond to Jude 24-25?
3. Why is disillusionment and disappointment inevitable in a “good world gone bad”?
4. What do we mean when we say, “the resurrection of Jesus is the beginning of the restoration of all things”?