The Epistle to Diognetus

Today I had the incredible experience and blessing of reading the short "Epistle to Diognetus," the earliest example of Christian apologetics.  The only thing we know about the author is that he claims to be "a disciple of the Apostles."  It was written to Diognetus, a Gentile interested in the claims of these strange Christians he had heard about.  It was probably written in the early 2nd century-- somewhere between 100 and 160 AD.  That makes it one of the earliest extra-biblical Christian writings we have.

What I love about this epistle is its presentation of the gospel.  I was so encouraged to see that the gospel of substitutionary atonement and justification by faith we preach today is the same one being heralded 1,900 years ago.  I've copied chapter 9 of the epistle below.  By the time I was done with it, I was practically weeping.  It's definitely worth taking a few minutes to read:



Having planned everything already in His mind with His Son, He permitted us during the former time to be borne along by disorderly impulses as we desired, led astray by pleasures and lusts, not at all because He took delight in our sins, but because He bore with us.

And He bore with us not because He approved of the past season of iniquity, but because He was creating the present season of righteousness, so that, being convicted in the past time by our own deeds as unworthy of life, we might now be made deserving by the goodness of God, and having made clear our inability to enter into the kingdom of God of ourselves, might be enabled by the ability of God.

And when our iniquity had been fully accomplished, and it had been made perfectly manifest that punishment and death were expected as its recompense, and the season came which God had ordained, when from that time on He should manifest His goodness and power (O the exceeding great kindness and love of God!), He did not hate us, neither rejected us, nor bore us malice, but was long-suffering and patient, and in pity for us took upon Himself our sins, and Himself parted with His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy for the lawless, the guileless for the evil, the just for the unjust, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal.

For what else but His righteousness would have covered our sins? In whom was it possible for us lawless and ungodly men to have been justified, save only in the Son of God? O the sweet exchange, O the inscrutable creation, O the unexpected benefits; that the iniquity of many should be concealed in One Righteous Man, and the righteousness of One should justify many that are iniquitous!

Having then in the former time demonstrated the inability of our nature to obtain life, and having now revealed a Savior able to save even creatures which have no ability, He willed that for both reasons we should believe in His goodness and should regard Him as nourisher, father, teacher, counselor, physician, mind, light, honor, glory, strength and life.

True Romance

I'm getting married in about 2 1/2 months, and so naturally I've been thinking a lot about love and commitment and faithfulness. Yesterday I was talking to a friend about love and marriage, and about how many girls on this campus are looking for a storybook romance, when the real thing is a little different. After 4 1/2 years in a relationship, I have realized this:


True romance looks a lot less like Prince Charming and happily ever after, and a lot more like a bloodied cross.


Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. ~Ephesians 5:25

In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ~1 John 4:10-11

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." ~John 15:12-13

Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:8

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." ~Mark 8:34

Good Friday

From the Valley of Vision:

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell's worst that I might attain heaven's best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.
My Savior wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thorny crown that I might have a glory-diadem,
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might forever live.

Satisfied

This is a free verse poem I wrote yesterday, meditating on Isaiah 51:17 and 22. It was a really intense two hours for me as I struggled for words to describe the cross and the wrath of God, and all that those things mean. The poem is titled, "Satisfied."


~~~~~~

Stand up, O Jerusalem,

you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD

the cup of His wrath,

who have drunk to the dregs

the bowl, the cup of staggering.

~Isaiah 51:17

~~~~~~

Stand up, people

Get on your feet

Move on, assemble:

Your Maker addresses you.

Your King has summoned you.

God Most High speaks.

From the hand of the LORD,

from the hand that opens to satisfy

the desires of every living thing--

from the hand that guides, fashions,

makes, creates--

from the hand of the LORD--

a cup.

But not a cup of blessing.

It’s a deserved cup,

an earned cup,

a cup we’ve worked for

and asked for.

And we haven’t deserved,

we haven’t earned,

we haven’t worked for,

we haven’t asked for

a cup of blessing.

This isn’t a wishy washy God who holds the cup,

this is no friendly God, “me-and-Jesus” God, safe God.

This is not a tame lion.

But oh, He is good.

Good beyond reckoning, beyond comprehension.

Absolutely, fully, completely, ever and always

good.

And that’s bad news.

Because I am bad.

Rotten to the core, corrupt in my

inmost thoughts and outmost deeds.

Shot through with lust and lies and vicious

pernicious mischievous strangling hold of sin.

And this is a deserved cup.

A cup of wrath.

Furious, lightning bolt anger,

white hot and ice cold

melting my heart and freezing my blood.

This is not displeasure, or bad mood,

or disappointment.

This is despair-of-your-life, run-to-the-hills, call-for-rocks-to-crush-your-skull,

nightmarish, vengeful, retributive,

blacklisting, hunting, holy hate--

a thousand million billion lifetimes of

concentrated apoplectic rage fermented

down to the dregs of well-deserved death.

This is my cup.

A cup of staggering

strangling

haunting

hellish sadness.

O my God, I cannot bear

to take this cup that I have bought

with a costly lifetime

of purposefully

willfully

skillfully

stealthily

boastfully

recklessly

misplaced love.

One drop of this potion

will send me staggering to an infinite death.

And in this cup I see a bottomless ocean of red,

each drop screaming for my blood.

O my God,

if You permit Justice’s sword to fall

upon my guilty guilty guilty head

I am undone

undone

undone.

Is there another way?

Remove this cup from me!

~~~~~~

Thus says your Lord, the LORD,

your God who pleads the cause of His people:

“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;

the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more.”

~Isaiah 51:22

~~~~~

Stand up sinner

Get on your feet

For your Maker, your Creator,

your Savior answers you.

From the hand of the LORD--

the hand strong enough to save,

to meet and arm-wrestle

and overcome justice and meet holiness’ demands--

from the hand of the LORD--

a cup.

It is my cup.

Taken from my hands,

and given to Another.

And this other hasn’t deserved

hasn’t earned,

hasn’t worked for,

hasn’t asked for

my cup.

And yet He takes it and in this moment we see:

This is not a wishy washy God who holds the cup.

He is not a tame lion.

But oh, He is good.

Good beyond reckoning, beyond all comprehension,

absolutely, fully, completely, ever and always

good.

And suddenly, spectacularly, surprisingly,

that’s good news.

Because He has my cup.

It is a cup of wrath, and watch, suddenly:

it tips, it hovers, He cries,

it spills, He drinks.

Furious lightning bolt anger nailing Him to a tree

until His heart bursts and blood flows like water.

Horrible, wretched, screaming, bloody agony

as the dregs of my death boil over,

a violent, gruesome, mangling grace.

“Is there another way?”

Stony silence.

“Remove this cup from me!”

Heaven closes its gate,

bars the door,

shuts the window.

And the prayer that from my lips

evoked the thunderous, resounding, earth-splitting

Amen of atonement--

on His lips, rejected.

“Why have You forsaken me?”

Forsaken Him?
Forsaken Him?

O my God-- You’ve forsaken Him?

But it’s my cup, not His--

my nightmare, my curse, my gore,

my horrible, wretched, screaming, bloody agony

on His lips

as He drinks my cup.

You’ve forsaken Him--

why in the world Him,

when You should have forsaken me?

And yet there He is

staggering under the weight

of doom

of malady

of grief

of death

of despair

of mourning, sickness, crying, pain,

rebellion, treason, murder, treachery,

of a cross.

See Him stagger under the cross!

O holiness--

terrible, frightening, demanding holiness

that blinds my eyes and burns my heart

and would require THIS as payment.

This is not a wishy washy God.

This is a God who would rather scream

under the mountainous, crushing, humiliating weight

of His own astronomical standard

than let one white lie

one lustful glance

one greedy thought

one moment of less-than-perfect love

go unpunished, unanswered, undrunk.

And so He punishes

He answers

He drinks it

Himself.

Trembling, terrified, broken,

I come to the cross,

to the cup--

my cup, my cross--

and behold, it is empty.

Down to the dregs, every last drop

of rancid, calamitous,

raging rebuke

has been swallowed, consumed, drunk, finished,

satisfied.

Satisfied.

Satisfied.

Justice, holiness, wrath and love--

oh sweet and tearful,

bitter and joyful,

mysterious, wondrous, glorious,

impossible, immutable, unchangeable,

availing, pleading, saving love--

satisfied.

Some More Spectacular Calvin Quotes

Gosh, I love The Institutes.  No, I take that back.  I love the power and wisdom and beauty of God so clearly celebrated and expounded in The Institutes.  I spent 6 1/2 hours today reading all of Book II, which focuses on the work of Christ as our Redeemer, and covers topics like sin, depravity, free will, Law, grace, the Incarnation (which I recommend as a great Christmastime devotion!), the person of Christ, the atonement, etc.  By now my copy of The Institutes is all covered in highlighter, but below are a couple particular quotes which are so awesome in provoking worship that they deserve to be reproduced and pondered and celebrated.

"Our acquittal is in this-- that the guilt which made us liable to punishment was transferred to the head of the Son of God."  (Yes, we know this, but oh how sweet it is to hear it again and again, especially with such eloquence!)

"Christ crushed, broke, and scattered the whole force of death."

"For the good and safety of His people, God overrules all the creatures, even the devil himself, who, we see, dared not attempt anything against Job without His permission and command.  This knowledge is necessarily followed by gratitude in prosperity, patience in adversity, and incredible security for the time to come."

And perhaps my favorite, from the chapter on the Incarnation:

"It was His to swallow up death: who but Life could do so?  It was His to conquer sin: who could do so save Righteousness itself?  It was His to put to flight the powers of the devil and the world: who could do so but the mighty power superior to both?  But who possesses life and righteousness, and the dominion and government of heaven, but God alone?  Therefore God, in His infinite mercy, having determined to redeem us, became Himself our Redeemer in the person of His only begotten Son."

Praise, praise, praise the Redeemer!  Praise His infinite mercy!  Praise the One who "crushed, broke, and scattered" the whole force of death and rules all the universe for the benefit of His chosen people.  What a God we serve!

Making it to the Cross

I came across an excellent blog post today entitled "Making It To The Cross," about how important it is to get a glimpse of the cross every time you open your Bible.

Here's the opening paragraph, to get you hooked:

"Today, whether you read a few chapters in Leviticus or Luke, Ezekiel or Ephesians, Proverbs or Philippians, you must make it to the cross.  If you don't make it to the cross, if you don't see the connection between a chapter in Proverbs and what Jesus accomplished on the cross, you'll miss the whole point of your regular Bible reading.  The whole point of reading through your Bible on a regular basis is to begin to see and celebrate that the whole Bible is about the cross-- about the gospel, about the good news of what Jesus has done for you."

Read the whole article here, and remember to make it to the cross.

Isaiah 53:10

"Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief."

Staggering.  Who killed Jesus?  Was it Pilate?  The Roman guards?  The Jews?  They had a role, but the Bible's simplest answer is: "His Father killed him."

Acts 2:23- "This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God"

Romans 3:25- "Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood."

Why?  How could this be?  Why would the Father do such a thing?  Why isn't this, as some arrogant people like to say, "divine child abuse?"

Romans 8:32- "He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all."

2 Corinthians 5:21- "[God] made Him who knew to no sin to be sin on our behalf."

God did not spare His own Son, because it was the only way He could spare us.  The perfect Son, blameless of any wrongdoing and wholly worthy of my worship, took my place and received my punishment for my sins.  The book I was reading today captured the staggering thought this way: "Just as Abraham lifted the knife over the chest of his own son Isaac, but then spared his son because there was a ram in the thicket, so God the Father lifted the knife over the chest of his own Son Jesus-- but did not spare him, because he was the ram; he was the substitute." 

I almost cried when I read that.  This is love incomprehensible.  It's like the hymn "Hallelujah What A Savior" says:

Man of sorrows! what a name

For the Son of God who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim

Hallelujah!  What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude

In my place condemned He stood

Sealed my pardon with His blood

Hallelujah!  What a Savior!

Amen!  May I never cease to survey and savor the wondrous cross!