Death is My Gain

Most of me thinks that the number of people who read this blog could be counted on one hand.

But all of me is fine with that.

There is something more to life than holding out my empty love cup asking anyone and everyone I find to fill it up for me. That doesn't matter. The only thing that matters in life - yes, the only thing that matters in life is Jesus Christ. He's worth dying for. And if He's worth dying for, He's worth living for.

His chief command: The Great Commission - go everywhere, preach the gospel to everyone, make disciples of those who believe, and baptize them.

Last night I heard a quote: "Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten" (Count Zinzendorf). To the natural ears, that is a wretched sound. Yet to the ears of the believer, it is beauty. Paul put it like this: "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). One of the chapter titles in John Piper's best-selling book Don't Waste Your Life is, in my opinion, a wonderful quote: "Risk is Right: Better to Lose Your Life than to Waste It."

This blog exists - I exist, then, to preach the gospel. I will give liberally and live dangerously. I'll take risks, knowing that death will bring better reward than safety ever could. My Bible will be studied until the pages fall out. Everyone around me will know that I'm not of this world; I'm sent into it to tell of my Saviour.

So for me, to live is to honor Christ with everything; when my time has come - at age 17, 97, or somewhere in between - death is my gain.

Seeing the Cross through a Glass of Milk

"Faith in falsehood is failure.... Faith in truth is of the utmost reward."

There he was, alone on the main floor of his log cabin. This wasn't the kind of night where you laugh, eat Oreos, and drink Dr. Pepper. No. Rather, the 17-year-old in this story was bending over, cringing and wincing in pain. His eyes were squinted. (I imagine the face was priceless!) Haha - ohh that huuuuuuuuurts!

So I drank milk.

They (don't ask who - it was just they who) told me milk helps calm stomach aches... or was it heartburn? So I Googled it. Well, it cures heartburn, but I'm told that if my pain was caused by acid I won't be able to move for a while. I don't know. Anyway, I was bending over and holding my stomach like some unearthly monkey who drank a pool of all-corrosive acid.

But seriously now - this isn't the kind of thing anyone wants to experience. It hurts, and when I say hurts I mean hurts. It hurt for Jesus too. He's the One that came to mind as I was holding that glass of milk with one hand and my stomach with another.

Did I want to put the milk in my stomach? No. Trust me - it's painful putting a glass of lactose into a stomach ache. But I did it because I believed the bitterness would be worth it. So faith is a wonderful thing, right? Well, not if it's misplaced. If there really is a bunch of acid in my stomach and if milk really does make it worse, I could have all the faith in the world that it would remove my aches and pains and that would just make things worse! Faith in falsehood is failure. It leads to extended, unexpected pain.

"[But I, for the joy set before me, endured the milk - despising the lactose - and have sat down on the living room chair.]"

Original: "Jesus... for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

Faith in truth is of the utmost reward.

Tonight I got a tiny glimpse of what Jesus felt in the Garden when He prayed, "Take it from Me." That phrase was where I stopped praying, but Jesus went on further: "Yet not My will, but Thine." And it was the Father's will that Jesus taste the cup of gall. He bore it to dark Calvary "and suffered and died alone" (from the hymn "My Savior's Love"). His death was full of wormwood.

But He did it for the eternal joy that awaited. Imagine the applause of Heaven when Jesus walked through the gate! Just try to conceive how much better being the Lord of all is now to Him who was the cursed of all (Galatians 3:13).

And so I come back to what is perhaps the main tenet of my worldview: God brought evil into the world so He could beat it. Because of the bad, we have the good news - the gospel. Because of sin's prevalence, we have victory. Because of the bitter cross, we have eternal joy. And because of it I say to my Lord:

"Your blood has washed away my sin -
Jesus, thank You!
The Father's wrath completely satisfied -
Jesus thank You!
Once Your enemy, now seated at Your table -
Jesus, thank You!"

~Sovereign Grace Music, "Jesus Thank You"

"Why do we fall?": Batman as a Type of Christ

No, I'm not going to ruin The Dark Knight Rises for those of you who haven't seen it.


It's the question Bruce Wayne faces over and over again as he is tested. Although the question itself asked only a few times throughout the Batman trilogy, its echoes are heard in many scenes. When Gotham City is at is greatest point of desperation and Batman is on the ground, he hears this inquiry. If he fails to live according to the answer, Gotham will fall forever. If he discovers it and meets its demand, he will be a savior... of sorts.

I watched The Dark Knight this evening with my brother Aaron. While the wretched feeling is still fresh in my mind, I wanted to blog about it. Throughout the movie, there is a feeling deep inside the pit of one's stomach that makes him want to turn off the TV. After the movie was over and I had seen this middle movie for the second time, I asked myself if I should ever watch it again. It's deep. Dark. Almost depressing. Should Christians really fill their minds with this?

Then I asked myself what the point of it was. Why immerse myself in this evil? What have I been preaching about on this blog for the past month? 

Why does evil exist?

Why do we fall?

Jesus was virtually trampled over and over again. The Pharisees were always out to make Him stumble. They couldn't beat Him, yet they couldn't bear the thought of joining Him. So they sought to kill Him, and eventually they did.

Satan is a strange character. I don't think he's after sitting on Heaven's throne anymore. He knows that God is God, for "even the devils believe." For crying out loud, the fear of God is stronger in demons than it is in me. So Satan isn't out to be the king of the universe. He doesn't have much of a plan; He just wants to mess up God's, and all he does is somehow directed toward just that. No, the Devil isn't organized; he's angry. Hateful. Almost psychotic. Somewhat of a...

joker.

You know what? His plan almost worked. Looking strictly at the world around us, we can say a huge part of his plan did work. Eve ate the fruit, Adam followed, and my great great grandkids will be born damned because of it. There's suffering and sin, sorrow and sadness, bitterness and violence. The earth groans. (Me too). Jesus died for it.

But why did He fall?

So he could get back up. And he did just that on the third day.

Why does evil exist?

So it can be defeated. 

Jesus has completed His main mission. All that's left is taking the victory and sting of death away, and that is as good as done. No, He's not the Hero Gotham want - He's the Hero we need.

So why watch The Dark Knight when it is an intense, bitter, wrenching, dark movie?

Because God ordained evil so that He could defeat it. He made Gotham so He could introduce a Hero. He tested that Hero with evil so that the Hero would be perfected (Heb. 2:10). He let that Hero's heel be bruised by a Joker, a menace, so that the Joker would be defeated.

Why did the God make the Hero - His Son - fall? 

So that the Hero could get back up - so He could rise again.

Because The Dark Knight Rises in the end.

CAST

Batman/Bruce Wayne....................................Jesus

The Joker......................................................Satan

[Classified].......................................Judas Iscariot

[Classified]....................................................Peter

[Classified].....................................................John

The Residents of Gotham...................................Us

CREDITS

J.D. Willett

John Piper

Hebrews

Christopher Nolan

A Journal Entry on Summer 2012

          The end of the best summer of my life has come. Sure, there were challenges; it wasn't a cakewalk. My faith has been tested and tried; my worldview, changed; and my perspective, altered. But God has proven faithful. His word was found true over and over again as Grace and I relayed verses to one another during clubs, as I exhorted Esther, as I read every day. "Spending and being spent" - that was the summer's theme for me, especially for 5-Day Clubs. That living word from 2 Corinthians 12:15a caused me to labor harder for the gospel. While I was struggling at CYIA, the ironic words I have been crucified with Christ kept ringing in my mind - and through those very words I found true life. Romans 8 assured me over and over that there was absolutely no condemnation for me. Hebrews continually pushed me to seek Christ. Different statements made by Jesus in the gospels have caused me to change my budget, my way of thinking, my desires for life and godliness. First Chronicles has brought me much joy this week, and by October 2 I will have completed reading the entire Bible for the first time. It's strange to think that there is a part of God's word - from God's very breath - that I have yet to read.

          Almost as an indicator of autumn, the air has been just a touch cooler the past two days - my first two weekdays after clubs. The sounds of Esther's voice and children's laughter is ringing in my ears. The hours Grace and I spent in the car together are all coming back to me. I see faces. Children's faces. And they remind me how much of a joy it is to give the gospel to young ones... and how much this world needs the gospel. In my mind, my body is rushed back to training, back to Kem Hall where I see Heather, J.D., Beth, Ethan, Bridgitte, Sally, Esther, Grace, Ashtyn, Laura, Don, Sherie, Jessica, Hannah, Zach, Vanessa, Emily, Kelsey, Nick, Mike, Kaleb, Kiarah, Faith, Jeffry, Nathan, Christy, Connie, and so many other complexions and stories. They may have names ranging from 2-9 letters, but their names represent entire lives, stories, experiences, struggles, triumphs.

          And then there is me. Hi, my name is Jon Ross... but I am not the Jon Ross of June 2012. No, this is a different person. Since those days at training, I have had struggles. I have seen many mountains and valleys; I have fought many wars; I have battled villains, monsters, and invisible forces; I have wrestled against that which I cannot see, and I have hoped for what my eyes cannot yet behold; I have been beaten to the ground; I have stood on the peak of a mountain higher than Everest; I have discovered there is a friendship closer than that of family; I have been transformed by things spoken; I have fallen by thoughts; I have risen by power; I have died by a piece of wood; and I am alive here and now by a Man who re-entered His body against all the will-power, hurls, and force of all of Hell and the Devil and his angels - and yes, that Savior, Jesus Christ, has won; and through Him I have won the battles of Summer 2012; and by Him I will win again this fall.

          Christ is a Treasure. I have seen that more and more this summer, more than I have ever before. At long last, my life and living are coming to the realization and full conviction that any and all good I have is in the Lord Jesus Christ. As I have written previously, my only desire is to be found in Him and known as His. And on this day, August 7, 2012, I look and I see myself in Christ alone.

          So for all the beauty of the earth; for the lines that say, "In Christ alone my hope is found" and for the Word that demands my life resound the same; for butterflies and clouds; for letters and emails, texts and calls; for love greater than fear, stronger than death, and better than life; for the friend that is closer than a brother and for the friend closer than a sister; for the gospel that saves me and continues to change me; for the God I love, my life, my joy, my song, my all - thank You, Father. Thank You for the fullness of Your person and for the perfection of Your deeds. Thank You for colours and the nations. Thank You for leptons and galaxies, for ants and lions. Father, thank You for Psalms and Romans, Luke and 2 Kings. For science, for nature, for energy, for the invisible, for stories, for truth, for Your Word, for life, for love, for happiness, for heartache, for the poor, for Yourself, for Your Son - thank You, O God.

          And for Your name and Your renown, that all the earth may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent - be glorified.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012, 5:11 PM

My Worldview

No, there's nothing particularly special about mine. It's one drop in an ocean, a grain on the shore of decentillions. But in short, this is the best way I can explain the origin of life, the problem of evil, and the purpose for which the world exists.

GOD
In the beginning God. Stop. He was, He is, He always will be. No one spoke, thought, or somehow placed Him into existence. Who created Him? Well, if anyone did, it was a bigger God. But no one did. So He's the biggest God, the only God. He holds all power and every right. He is sovereign over all things, and He can do whatever He want, whatever is possible for Him - and He is all-powerful.

It would be logically incorrect to say that God is not good because all that means is that you don't like Him; He doesn't fit your moral standards. If you define good, then yes, God is bad. He is utterly bad. But if God defines good (which He does), then He is good. He can do whatever He wants and call it good. Everything He does is good by default because He says what's good and what's not.

CREATION
He spoke the world, and it was. He speaks the world, and it is. Ned Wilson, author of the wonderful book Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl, tells me that atoms are made up of leptons. A lepton is the tiniest thing in existence. No one has ever seen one. But what are leptons made out of? Nothing. Hence, our entire universe is made out of nothing. We are words spoken by the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-creating, all-speaking Creator and Lord.

EVIL
Where did evil come from?
Man.
Where did man come from?
God.
Where did evil come from?
God.

Yes, this is why God is bad according to mankind. If God is God and if He knows all things and if He is truly all-powerful, then evil came from Him. It could not have possibly come from anyone or anything else.

How then can God be good?
Because although much of what He ordains may be evil, what He does (and thinks and says) is all good. All of God's senses are used only for that which is holy and pure, namely Himself. Yet somehow in His will, He has caused evil to cover the universe.

How can that be?
He's God. That's how that can be. The Potter has all rights over the clay. He can make toilets or He can make chairs.


"But man has free will."
God made man's will. Any "will" that we have is subject and bound by the sovereignty of God.


"I don't like this God."
Then it's a good thing His existence doesn't depend on your tastes. He created your tastes that dislike Him, your will that attempts to limit His, and your very mind that denies Him.

No, the God of the Bible isn't a nice guy. He's not a wimp and He doesn't have blue eyes and blond hair. (Jesus didn't!) He's not Santa, and He's not a teddy bear. He is greater than our feeble minds could ever conceive.

Why, then, did He create evil? So He could give us the gospel. Good news. The cross.

THE CROSS
The word became flesh. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became a perfect man, subjecting Himself to the likeness of sinful flesh and all of its weaknesses except for sin. The God before whom angels and elders hide their heads, fall on their faces, and worship became an ordinary person.

He was terribly smelly, socially unacceptable, religiously a failure, socially awkward, relationally challenged, and mentally disordered. Today they would have told Him what they told me: "You say a bunch of weird things that normal people don't say, so you have a form of autism. Here, take this medication."

He was tempted. But He didn't sin. So He suffered more in the world than anyone ever has or will - always tested, but never able to succumb; always mocked, but never able to give in; always beckoned, but never able to answer.

The end of His life was one of misery and despair. Put bluntly, Jesus was a mess. He was so shaky He sweat drops of blood; He told His eleven friends - and they were pretty much His only friends - to keep watch.

And finally came the most terribly tragedy of all universe history. God was mocked, spit upon, and beaten. He was battered, and His beard was ripped off His cheeks. His back was torn to shreds. His head, juiced by thorns; His hands and feet, nailed; His side, pierced. And it was all for me. It was because "God so loved the world that He [sentenced] His only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life."

ETERNAL LIFE
The story of life has the most brilliant ending of all time. It is greater than any Disney movie or fairy tale. Its joy is beyond what any artist, writer, or thinker could ever imagine much less create. It is more marvelous than a love story, more beautiful than a butterfly, and more colorful than a rainbow:

The very sinners for whom Christ died get to spend eternity with their Savior - Jesus Himself - having done nothing to deserve it. The thief and murderer who actually deserved the cross gets to walk into heaven with Jesus. Imagine the roaring crowds and multitudes and myriads of angels and men and women and children. Imagine Jesus coming in having done the hardest thing in all of history. Hear the applause; savor the rumble of Heaven; hear the proclamation of the Father, "WELL DONE!!! WELL DONE!!!!!"; behold the King - and now the Savior - sitting on a throne before a glassy sea at the right hand of God where billions worship Him; resound the Amen! And if possible, let it all bring tears to your eyes.

CONCLUSION
Once again, I cannot help but glean from the wisdom of Ned Wilson who stated that evil exists so that it can be defeated. In the Batman movie series, the dark knight hides when there is no crime to stop. For eight years, he secludes Himself because no one needs a hero. God has never had to seclude Himself; He is never bored. But He caused evil so that He, in effect, could save the world. He let the darkness come so that He could be the Light. He made sinners so that He could be their Savior. He initiated separation so that He could be the God who comes to us. He allows desperation so that He can be the Hero, the Remedy, the Redeemer, the High Priest, the Promised One, our Immanuel.

And all of life points to Him in some way (Paul). Every molecule of your being, every speck of dust, every grain of sand, and every lepton which is made from nothing screams that there is a God (David). God established Old Testament rituals so that He could compare Christ to something we can understand (Piper). He created a beautiful world and an unending history to try to describe Himself, an unending, beautiful God; it is His greatest challenge (Wilson). No, He never needed us, but He has always loved us (Platt).

He is beyond comprehension. He is the purpose of life, and the fulfillment of hope is the reason for the world.

Who am I?
I am a digit in God's sentence, a word from His mouth, a character in His play, a vessel for His use.

Where am I going?
Wherever God predestined before the foundation of the world, and if He predestined me for eternal life then I am going to an eternal weight of glory (Paul).

How do I get there?
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."

What is my purpose?
Savor the story. Tell it to everyone. Glorify the Author by enjoying Him forever (Piper).