Creation Care and the Biblical Christian
Having the right relationship with the world that the Lord has made is central to our proper use of it. One of the great concerns of Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry was a warning against the allurement of riches. It isn’t money itself, but the blindness of thinking you must keep up with the Jones’s to maintain the view you want the world to have of you on Instagram or whatever. Far more of our concern as believers should be in considering how the Lord has called us to live in light of the free grace offered in the gospel.
I’m sitting at ball practice looking over a small herd of donkeys and cattle as I write this, and it seems a fitting sequel to what we talked about last week. The creation which God made, and called good, is more than just a physical representation of the power of Jehovah to make things. It is as much a part of who He is as a good God as is the spiritual world itself. We live in strange times where on the one hand people deny the supernatural, but also have little regard as well for the maintenance of mountains and valleys. It may sound as if I am going into a diatribe on environmentalism. However, all theological conservatives should be as excited about conserving social and moral blessings as they are stewarding the resources and gifts of the natural world. Both are a part of the Lord’s purpose in ensuring that all things are done well and for His glory.
We should believe as Christians that the Lord has a purpose for the rock and river, for His own glory and our benefit.
In Psalm 19 we hear the well-known testimony that God has made two books, that of the Heavens and of the Law. One seen, the other written. Each in their own way illustrating to the mind of man who their Creator is. The sky above shows His glory, His presence everywhere, and the fact that no one who has sense (in a physical, tensile way, not mental capability) can deny His reality. The Bible, the word of God, merely confirms what the natural world reveals about who God is and why He is not only to be obeyed, but worshiped. We were blessed this past Lord’s Day at Bethany to hear an excellent sermon on this passage from Rev. Justin Brickey who only worked to confirm what we read above. The earth itself cries out to the living God, it groans under the weight of sin, and the call of Adam to watch over it and express the dominion of the mandate of Genesis 2 and 3 is no less true today than it was in the time of Eve’s youth. This is such an important truth for the believer to confess. We must affirm that Christ has more than just a future interest in who we are. He wants us to live well now and to enjoy His world.
As we make plans and think through the work God would have us to do on a daily basis we can only ensure a biblical understanding of success when we think about the small things as much as the big things.
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The Yoke of Christ
The yoke of Christ is EASY. Compare it with the yoke of Satan, which we wore in our natural state; the yoke of Moses, as worn by the Jews of old; the yoke of superstition, as worn by pagans now. It is easy, because connected with it for every trial, there is assistance; for every temptation, there is support; for every difficulty, there is help; for every sorrow, there is solace; for every trouble, there is tranquility; for every loss, there is unspeakable gain; and for every service, there is a rich and eternal reward!
The “yoke” symbolizes subjection and obedience. The yoke of Jesus includes the subjection of the understanding to His teaching. We must receive the kingdom of God as little children. All that He says, we must believe; and all that He commands, we must do.
The yoke of Jesus includes the subjection of the conscience to His authority. He must be sole Lord of conscience. As cleansed by His blood, enlightened by His truth, and sanctified by His Spirit, the conscience must bow to Him, be zealous for Him, and maintain His honor.
The yoke of Jesus includes the subjection of the will to His pleasure. We must prefer His will to our own, and make His pleasure ours. The yoke of Jesus includes the subjection of the heart to His love. His love must inflame, regulate, and elevate the heart. He must become the object of its highest, warmest love. Love to Him must rule our thoughts, words, and actions.
The yoke of Jesus includes the subjection of our abilities to His service. For Him, the duties of life must be performed.
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Nebuchadnezzar’s New Humility: Daniel 4:34–37
We are not so far removed from Nebuchadnezzar, and like him, we deserve to be humbled by God. In fact, we deserve far worse than the king received in this account. Although God set us above the animals as bearers of His own image, we desire to be gods instead. For such a transgression against God’s holiness, we ought to be brought far lower than even that of a beast, which is exactly what will happen to all who refuse to repent. Those who reject Christ will forever be cast “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). They will share the same eternal fate as the demons.
At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,
for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth;and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Daniel 4:34-37 ESV
After the time of madness, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven, which was an outward sign of his newly humbled frame of mind. Only then was his reason restored to him. Twice the king tells us of his restored mind, and twice he follows with praise to God. He remarks in verse 36 that still more greatness was added to me; however, this appears to be an almost incidental fact now that he knows something of the greatness of God. Three quick notes are worth pointing out. First, while Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image appeared to be his declaration of the never-ending glory of his kingdom, now the king ascribed to God an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation (v. 34). Second, he now calls God the King of heaven (v. 37), acknowledging God as a greater king than himself. Third, he understands that God targeted his pride, saying, those who walk in pride he is able to humble (v. 37).
Nebuchadnezzar’s great sin was pride, but the rest of humanity holds no bragging rights over him.
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Strange Lyre: Early Beginnings of Pentecostal Worship
Pentecostalism grew out of the Holiness movement, and thus drank deeply from the populist movements in Methodism and Baptist and African-American circles. Charles Fox Parham (1873–1929), is usually credited with the beginnings of the movement. He was born in Muscatine, IA, and claimed a revelation of light at age 13. Parham associated with Methodism, but rejected their hierarchy, and moved toward holiness theology. He broke with Methodism in 1895 and established his own ministry, Bethel Bible College, in October 1900. He emphasized “primitive Christianity.”
An easy error for a historian to commit is to equate or link events or movements in history that are similar, while ignoring or underplaying their differences. One example of this is when historians of worship note that modern negative reactions to contemporary pop-rock worship contain similar objections to ones leveled against the hymns of Luther, and later, Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts. Without question, there are similarities. What a lazy historian fails to notice is when the differences are greater than the similarities.
That can be said about the roots of Pentecostal worship, found in the populist religious mood that swept America in the late 1780s, through to the 19th century. Yes, there are many parallels to earlier reactions against ossified liturgical forms that sparked more colloquial and lay-driven worship (e.g., some Waldensians and Lollards, some Anabaptists, the Moravians). But there are differences to previous reformations of worship that far outweigh the similarities. When we examine those differences, we will find that the seedbed from which Pentecostalism grew in the 1900s was actually a considerable departure from prior worship reformers such as Luther, Wesley and Watts.
Nathan Hatch detects four waves of populist folk religious music in America from 1780 to 1830. The first was among Separatist Baptists in rural New England. Some of the early hymnals of these Baptists maintained continuity with the hymns of Watts and others, but a flood of hymnbooks published by Elias Smith between 1804 and 1820 contained no overlap with the accepted hymnals of the day. Original and catchy lyrics linked to popular folk tunes became the new tradition of rural New England Baptists.
The second wave of populist worship was Methodist revivalism. The Wesleys had taught the importance of the participation of all people, but had also insisted that hymns maintain dignity and reverence. But Methodism in America during the early 1800s went in a new direction. It included spontaneous song, shouting, jumping and seeking a rousing emotional response to the singing. These songs were the beginnings of the “gospel song”: simple, easily remembered lyrics, verses written in rhyming pairs with a chorus or refrain. Gospel songs were songs of testimony, marching songs of solidarity, humorous ballads, even appeals to repentance.
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