The Last Enemy
“Halt! Who goes there?” Such might be the words of a sentry who confronts a mysterious stranger in the darkness. The sentry must discern the identity of the trespasser to determine whether he is a friend or foe. Armed to protect his territory, the vigilant guard wants to avoid two evils: 1) the entrance into the compound of an enemy bent on destruction and 2) the mistaken shooting of an ally stumbling about in the dark.
There is an intruder in our garden—the one called death. Our task is to determine whether his grin is the fiendish mask of a mortal enemy or the benign smile of a friend come to rescue us from this vale of tears. Should we greet him with strident protests or with open arms?
The Bible describes death as an enemy. It is not the only enemy of the Christian, but it is described as the “last enemy.” In 1 Corinthians, Paul affirms that Christ will reign until He has put all enemies under His feet, and the last of those enemies will be death (1 Cor. 15:25–26). It should be a great comfort to the believer to know that the One in whom he places his trust is Christus Victor. We see this clearly in Hebrews, where the author describes Jesus as our archegos, or the “supreme champion” of His people.
The champion motif is central not only to Hebrews but to the entire Bible. We think of the famous episode of the match between David and Goliath. The Israelites and Philistines had agreed that the outcome of their war would be determined not by a full confrontation of the armies but by a contest between champions who would represent each side. Goliath, the gigantic champion of the Philistines, struck terror into the hearts of the Jewish soldiers because he appeared invincible. No one volunteered to go up against him until the shepherd boy, David, stepped forward to assume the task. His conquest of Goliath was astonishing, but it pales into insignificance when placed alongside the victory of David’s greater Son, who was also David’s Lord and David’s champion. As David went up against the power of Goliath, Jesus went up against the power of Satan himself.
Notice the link between Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 15 and that found in Hebrews 2.
First Corinthians 15:26–28 says:
The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For ‘He has put all things under His feet.’ But when He says ‘all things are put under Him,’ it is evident that He who put all things under Him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
Now note Hebrews 2:8ff:
For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we do not yet see all things put under Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
-
Employee Vaccination Religious Exemption
Pastor Brant Bosserman provided members of his congregation with a letter to employers requesting a religious exemption to possible COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Knowing this may be a scenario many Christians face in coming months, Rev. Dr. Bosserman has made his pastoral letter available to others, to serve as a template on how and why such an exemption can be requested.
Today the Food and Drug Administration granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19. In the lead-up to that news, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said such an approval will likely increase vaccine requirements—especially in places of business and educational institutions. Not unexpectedly, the societal discussion around this topic has been extremely contentious, and there are sincerely held and well-informed opinions on both ends of the spectrum about whether or not to get the COVID-19 vaccination.
That discussion may take a new turn if policies begin rendering the vaccine mandatory. In arguing the Bill of Rights before the first session of Congress, James Madison asserted that the “rights of conscience” is something for which “the people in America are most alarmed.” What was civilly true of our founding has, for a long time, been religiously true too. The Protestant and Presbyterian tradition to which I belong has valued the liberty of conscience both in society and within the church. We value this because it is an important and distinct teaching of the Holy Scriptures (see Liberty of Conscience: The History of a Puritan Idea by L. John Van Til). As citizens of this nation, and more importantly as Christians many will need to determine in the days ahead whether they will get the vaccine if business or institutions make than mandatory. As we do, we must leave room for disagreement and in the spirit of Christian charity, we must be content to let others act according to their own conscience as we all seek to inform and be informed.
Recently, Pastor Brant Bosserman – a pastor in the PCA, adjunct professor of philosophy at Northwest University, and a guest contributor to Gentle Reformation—provided members of his congregation with a letter to employers requesting a religious exemption to possible COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Knowing this may be a scenario many Christians face in coming months, Rev. Dr. Bosserman has made his pastoral letter available to others, to serve as a template on how and why such an exemption can be requested. I offer it here acknowledging that not everyone will agree with the need for such a request, but also recognizing each Christian’s right to sincerely hold their religious convictions.
Dear Employer
In my capacity as a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), I am writing on behalf of ________________________ to ask that his/her religious exemption from receiving Covid-19 vaccination be honored by your organization.
Read More -
Who Knows Best? The Push to Replace Parents
In internet lingo, to “say the quiet part out loud” means to reveal one’s true intentions or motives that were supposed to remain publicly unsaid. Recently, a couple of prominent organizations that deal with children have “said the quiet part out loud” when talking about parental rights.
The first was the National Education Association, which has a long history of advocating extreme, sexually progressive ideology in schools, such as, for instance, advising teachers to hide transgender students’ name and pronoun changes from parents. In November, the NEA tweeted: “Educators love their students and know better than anyone what they need to learn and thrive.”
Hmm. Could they be overlooking anyone? Such as, I don’t know, students’ parents? It’s as if any right that parents have to be involved and aware of their children’s education ends at the ability of progressive teachers to shepherd their students into alternative lifestyles, sexual practices, and abortions.
Speaking of abortion, another group that deals with vulnerable children and teens also recently said the quiet part out loud. Parental rights advocate Megan Brock tweeted a clip from a video conference by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Policy Lab. In it, Dr. Sarah Wood explained the group’s strategy for circumventing Pennsylvania’s parental notification law for minors seeking abortions.
Read More -
Why Your “Christian” Friends Have Become LGBTQ Allies
Many of us love and fear our friends and family more than we love and fear God. We’re more afraid of becoming enemies with our loved ones than becoming enemies with God.
Some of your supposedly Christian friends have recently said they are members of the LGBTQ community. That’s becoming increasingly common. However, an even bigger number of your supposedly Christian friends have become LGBTQ allies.
You already know that. But do you know why?
There are, of course, several reasons why many professing Christians are embracing LGBTQ ideology. Satan has devised many schemes to lead us into apostasy. With that in mind, although all people who support LGBTQ ideology do so for the same reason: sin—people can commit the same sin from different temptations.
As I’ve alluded to, one of the reasons why many professing Christians have become allies with LGBTQ people is because many of their friends and family have become members of the LGBTQ community.
Studies show that this is statistically the biggest reason why people become LGBTQ affirming. For instance, a 2013 study from Pew Research Center shows that 32% of Americans changed their minds on gay marriage because they “know someone who is homosexual.”
When a loved one says their sexual sins are an intrinsic part of who they are, they’re suggesting that if we do not love their homosexuality or transgenderism—then we do not love them. That is a powerful, manipulative argument that many parents, siblings, and friends do not have courage or integrity to resist.
Many of us love and fear our friends and family more than we love and fear God. We’re more afraid of becoming enemies with our loved ones than becoming enemies with God. Therefore for every person who becomes a member of the LGBTQ community, many more of their friends and family will become LGBTQ allies.
In a sense, familiarity breeds acceptance. Our culture knows that.
In a leaked video about Florida’s Parental Rights In Education bill, an executive producer at Disney said they had a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.” Since people are more likely to become LGBTQ allies when they know and love others who are members of the LGBTQ community—influential institutions in our culture like Hollywood, mainstream media, social media, and academia have created an agenda to produce favourable LGBTQ representation to make us more accepting of LGBTQ ideology.
Therefore the most popular movies, TV shows, and books today feature characters and storylines designed to normalize LGBTQ sexuality. Knowing this, my wife—Annie Sey—has created a service called Library 4 Littles to help parents protect their children from deceptive books that indoctrinate them.
Read More
Related Posts:
