Some Urgent Applicative Gleanings From Matthew 20:28

“ὥσπερ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.”
"Just as the Son of Man came not to be served, rather to serve and to give his life a ransom on behalf of many."

Some urgent applicative thoughts on Matthew 20:28

To serve is to give.

ἦλθεν “[he] came”
- In English this is the word for “come/came.” Standing alone in Greek it literally is “he came.” The “he” of course is referring to Jesus.
- Jesus went to the people.
- Jesus approached people where they were in life: some where political figures, others were homeless beggars.
- He came to us, that we may go to others.

οὐκ ἦλθεν διακονηθῆναι “came not to be served”
- Jesus announces that he, the Messiah who is the King of kings, is a servant, not the one to be served.
- Overly so, this is antithetical to our world and culture. It is often a glamorous thing to be waited on and served and our culture deems famous and longs to be like those who are being served.
- Jesus calls us to serve and not to be served.

ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι “but to serve”
- “but” denotes a contrast
- The contrast is between being served and doing the serving.

διακονῆσαι καὶ δοῦναι “to serve and to give”
- Hereon is where we find the climatic call in life from this verse and where I will close our discussion on this verse.
- διακονῆσαι “to serve” means more literally to be someone who gets something done on behalf of another, for another.
- καὶ “and” is a conjunction joining “to serve…to give” together implying here that they are one and the same --> to serve is to give.
- Hence, to serve is a call to give. But to give what?
- To give of yourself, your time, resources, energy, thoughts, words, and so forth.
- It is a call to sacrifice.
- Furthermore, this is a call to humility. If the King of glory is by far to One who should be served, but he announces he came to serve, then here is where we find in our ever proud culture the call to be humble.

A Man's Highest Calling --> Fatherhood

It is an often discussed question in our current culture regarding whether or not a woman's highest calling is to be a wife and mother. There is, however, another side to this coin which has seemingly been left un-discussed: Is not the highest calling of a man to be a father? Does not ministry begin in the home?

Of course in asking this question, fatherhood would need to be defined. However, here I am simply attempting to raise some thoughts about men being fathers in the world today. Furthermore, both for men and women in Christ, as a people, our highest calling is to live our lives unto the One who calls us to himself, making him our supreme desire. Fatherhood is but one of the great ways men - who are fathers - get to live out this highest calling.



This past Father's Day I was privileged to speak to a youth group in Michigan regarding their call to be a part of God's team and pursue his mission of the Great Commission. During the hours of preparation I spent for the message, I found myself for the first time as a expectant father realising that some day - Lord willing - my son will be faced with the decision to follow Christ and his claims.

This thought left me dumbfounded, but humbled. I realized anew and afresh the need to prepare to embrace fatherhood with the same passion Amber and I share for the Lord and his service.

In a world desperate for good fathers, may it be that I and others are equally as excited and passionate about the home front and our need to be there as we are about the sea of people around us, their need for the gospel, and where we think our specific place in all of that is.



One thing I have been reading up on lately is communication with your child while he or she is still in the womb. Amazing as it is, the unborn child is alive and well in the womb and can hear the outside world. As a result of this, Amber and I have been attempting to read a Proverb each night aloud to our little handsome squirming gummy bear. As we do this, my heart overflows with warmth in realising the dialogue between a father and son - as seen in the book of Proverbs - has already begun. Will our early attempt at training up our child in the way he should go reap a manifold blessing of a child who walks the straight and narrow? Regardless if so, may we continue to passionately embrace parenthood, realising that as our heavenly Father makes us the center of his love and care, so too are we called to do with our child.

I believe ministry begins on the home front as parenthood, being the highest calling for a husband and wife. Could this mean hard work and self-sacrifice? Duh. Is it worth it? Of course.

For the Dad out there who feels as though he has blown it and wasn't a good father, be encouraged knowing there is still time to work toward making the most of what is left.

For the new Dad or those with me who are expecting Fathers, may we seek the wisdom of Dads who serve as good examples of fatherhood. Pray for me as I do for you as we strive together to figure out how to be fathers in our world today, for our children - to the glory of God.

For Am and I, our blessing from the Lord will hopefully have arrived by this time in October. Surely there will be plenty of diapers to minister to - all in love.

Cell Theory & The Reality of the Centrality of Christ

What has the cellular theory to say about Christianity? Not a whole lot. BUT if you will return with me for a moment to Biology class, the parallels we can glean from the theory do help us better understand our basics as Christians.

The Cell theory is as stated:
1 - All living things are composed of cells.
2 - The cell is the fundamental unit of life.
3 - All cells arise from previous cells.

I would like to take this as instead of talking about a theory, talk about truth - God's truth.

For Christianity, the above three hallmarks of the cell theory may look like this:
1 - All Christians find their identity in Jesus Christ. This means we are to live in such a way that who we identify ourselves with (Christ) is evident in any way possible to those who do not (Eph. 1; 1 Pet. 2).
2 - Christ is the fundamental Builder for all of life and existence (Prov. 8; Col. 1). If you read through Proverbs 8 and Colossians 1 (as well as other passages) it will be evident that Christ is supreme in all things. And, at this, that we turn to him through his word for counsel on how to live life.
3 - All Christians became a Christian by hearing the gospel from another Christian (at best and at most).

The third one has a huge implication. If all Christians became a Christian from hearing the gospel from another Christian, then it follows that part of being a Christian involves sharing the gospel.

Perhaps this analogy will help us better grasp the picture of being in Christ and his centrality in all things.

It is crucial to know one more thing about cells: if a virus enters the body which cannot be controlled, cells will begin to die off. If too many cells die - the body dies.



This is what cancer does to the body. In like manner, when spiritual cancer - sin - enters the spiritual body - our inner person - at less we stand firm and resist (Eph. 6), we will be taken over and Christ will play a less prominent place in our life. This will lead to at least three things:
1 - Greater detriment of the Christian body as a whole (the church).
2 - God's glory being displayed less to other people who do not know him.
3 - We ourselves will walk in conviction and contradiction from our identity - Christ.

May we strive to make Christ and his commands central to our life, family, relationships, job, home, and so forth.

The Proof's in the Pudding

When it comes to our God, I believe it is safe to say that the proof is definitely in the pudding. A man once said “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.” God’s extraordinary claim of loving us is backed by his even more extraordinary proof.

Romans 5:8

but God proved his love to us, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The word for “demonstrate” [συνίστησιν] means to provide evidence of a personal characteristic or claim through action.

For God, his claim is that he loves us. His action – Christ' sacrificial death. God’s characteristic which is seen here is his love. As Christians, demonstrating our love in anyway through action demonstrates the gospel. This leads to sharing the gospel.

APPLICATION:

1 - We are called to prove our love to the others through action. God did this and we are called to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1).
2- Think of some ways you often show love to others. Maybe it’s writing a love letter to your spouse every now and then. Perhaps it’s working at a soup kitchen in your city.
3 – Now think of some ways in which you are not the best at demonstrating your love to others and resolve to work on them. For example, how do you think about others? Are you constantly criticizing them? How do you respond to conflict with your friends and family? We can always find ways to demonstrate our love, that the world may know his love.

In English, συνίστησιν is in the past tense, whereas in Greek it is in the present tense. This is what we call the present progressive which means God is continually proving his love to us. Thus, we should continually be demonstrating our love to him and others.

APPLICATION:

1- Think of ways God continually shows his love to you. These can be even the most common things in life such as food, a job, and so forth.
2 – Think of ways you could show your love to a friend, to your spouse, to a stranger.

God provided evidence for his love and this evidence is the cross of Christ. The cross implies a sacrifice. So it follows that showing love can often call for a sacrifice to be made by the one trying to show love to someone.

But what type of love is demonstrated here? The word used in this verse is ἀγάπην and it is the unconditional love of God. But why is it unconditional?

Typically we love people we like or know, or who are nice to us. This is not merely God’s love. God loves even his enemies, those who hate him, those who never come to him. If you look back a few of verses, you’ll read in v. 5 that we, that is, you and I, we were God’s enemies before he called us to himself. Yet, God still loved us and proved it to us. People can ignore the cross, but God's love will never ignore them.

APPLICATION:

1 – Think of someone in your life who you typically do not appreciate or are not that fond of. Regardless of the reason, talk to God about him working in your heart to work toward loving this person and accepting them.

One way we could re-read this verse to gain a more intimate feel for it is to substitute the word “us” with the word “me.” Hence, “God proved his love to me, while I was a sinner, he died for me.”

Lastly, we must realize that during the days of Rome, heroes died for their fatherland and for people who loved them and they were celebrated. Christ died for people who did not know him, others who hated him, and he died for those in a foreign land. He came to earth to die for people who knew him not. We are called to leave our comfort zones and prove God loves other with our actions and by sharing the gospel.

Perhaps today this opportunity may present itself.

Below is a music video which shows members of the Billy Graham Association proving God's love to people. May you and I be encouraged to do the same.

Inheritance: Earthly or Heavenly?

What would you do if you knew you had millions of dollars in inheritance awaiting you?


Inheritance is a prime way many people in our culture today bank on receiving extra money at some point in their life. There are cases when some children long look forward to the death of their parents so that they can inherit their money. These folks we usually see on a funny television show or scene in a movie. Sometimes it is an old friend who may leave something behind for another. At best and at most, those who are receiving some sort of inheritance usually care more about their loved one who is leaving them their inheritance, but in the back of their mind, they know that when they croak, there’s something coming their way which may help out paying for that forty or fiftieth wedding anniversary cruise!

To help safeguard against wasting time dwelling on one of the many earthly things such as supposedly guaranteed money, and to instead focus much more on heavenly things, may we now learn of a much greater inheritance.

Paul makes an interesting statement in Ephesians 1:18

that you may know what is the hope of his [God the Father] calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

One of Paul’s many metaphors which he uses is this word “inheritance.” In this lone yet wreaked with depth verse, Paul says that part of his multifaceted desire is for Christians to know what is the wealth of God’s inheritance in the saints. Usually, when we think about God, we think often about what he can do or has done for us, about our inheritance in heaven. However, this verse is claiming something the other way – what we do and are for him.

The use of the word “wealth” [πλοῦτος] can also be “riches” or “abundance” and is used usually to describe someone’s accumulation or quality of material possessions. It was the same for people back then as it is today. In this verse, it is used as an adjective describing God's inheritance. Because it is used of God and is a word which the culture then would have understood, it is drawing a contrast between earthly wealth and heavenly wealth. Because it is dealing with God who is infinite, it follows that this wealth is not merely more abundant than earthly wealth, but also lasting.

People then, as today lived in a consumer like environment and money held its sway in things. So, when Paul used this word, the readers of this epistle were overly familiar with it. Paul was being relevant with the culture. And, surely, anyone in the church at Ephesus who may had been a business person perked up and listened more attentively as Paul was using an economic term. However, Paul was talking about a heavenly economy, about heavenly wealth which he made clear was worth far more than earthly wealth.

But what is this wealth in connection with? It is connected with “inheritance” [κληρονομίας]. This word appeared in 1:14, but there it refers to our home in heaven. Here in 1:18, it refers to God’s inheritance. Wait a second, God who already owns everything has an inheritance?

Yes, God does have an inheritance and his inheritance is us - his children.

Much of understanding this verse hangs and falls on how one understands the little word “in.” In several Bible translations - the New English Bible, the Holman Standard Bible, and even the New Revised Standard Version Bible - this verse does not have “in” there, rather the word “among.” This is a tragic translation! This would imply that we as believers have an inheritance waiting us in heaven. Trust me, there will be know homes we inherit or investments which become ours in heaven. Our inheritance is God and he alone satisfies all.
So, 1:18 is saying that God has an inheritance and we, his children are that inheritance.

As a result of God’s choosing, redeeming, adopting, and sealing of us (vv. 3-5, 13-14) – we are his possessions. As his possessions, he will fully inherit us when we pass on to heaven and are welcomed into his presence. Therefore, it follows, we have an inheritance - God - AND - God has an inheritance - us.

Now for the parallel to today: If you knew you had millions of dollars awaiting you in inheritance money, whether through property, CDs, stock or bonds, or just cold cash, would'nt you familiarize yourself with it and know exactly what was there awaiting you, even think about it often, and know thoroughly well the details? Of course. How much more should we pay attention to, think about, and thoroughly know the details of our heavenly inheritance which we have – the King of glory himself.

We are valuable to God, this is not merely seen in that he purchased our redemption, but also that he longs for us to come home to him calling us his inheritance. We have a wonderful inheritance we can hope in and look forward to.

This makes evident and emphatic that the pursuit of the things of this world such as wealth above the pursuit of God leads to a hopeless end. Whereas the pursuit of the richest inheritance ever, the pursuit of our heavenly inheritance leads to an endless hope. Wealth is not bad, nor attempting to increase one’s wealth. It is only when heavenly wealth through our inheritance of God begins to dim in its splendor compared to earthly items does it then become evil.

Desmond, LOST, & Hebrews 13:8

My wife, Amber, and I finished another episode of the one of a kind show LOST. We are in the middle of the fourth season and just watched an episode which left me breathless and clinging to the Christian parallel which was so easy to see.

For those of you who have never watched LOST: reading this post will not ruin the show for you. Also, if you are trying to go against the tide of those who watch LOST, I would encourage you to give LOST a chance for it has many Christian parallels. Amber and I do not own a television, but if the only way we could watch LOST was on t.v., I would greatly think about buying one.

In this particular episode, Desmond and Sayid (pronounced Si-eed) are being transported off of the island and back to the freighter. During their flight, Desmond's mind begins to play tricks on him and he is now going back and forth in time between a part of his life in the past and then back to current time with Sayid. Each time he goes back and forth in time, his body remains in both places being unconscious in one place and both conscious and utterly confused as to what is happening to him in the other. When he returns to current time, Desmond no longer recognizes Sayid and has no idea where he is and why he is there.

When those left on the island found out about Desmond's condition, Daniel Farraday calls him from the island telling Desmond the next time he goes back in time to find Daniel at Oxford University.

When Desmond finds Daniel and meets him, Daniel tells Desmond if he wants to fix this he has to think of a constant, that is, something which is important and dear to Desmond that is in both places: his past and present.



Desmond's constant is his true love, Penelope (Penny). Desmond was going to ask Penny to marry him until he broke off their relationship, but he was still in love with her. He has been separated from her since he has been on the island.

Desmond finds Penny and tells him he needs her new phone number. Penny thinks he is crazy, but gives it to him. He tells her he will call her eight years from that moment, on December 24 - Christmas Eve. While this is happening in past time, in present time Sayid and unconscious Desmond are now on the freighter and Sayid fixes a broken phone to a battery, making it possible for Desmond to call Penny. Desmond calls and ring upon ring the suspense en-captures us until finally, Desmond hears Penny's voice for the first time in years.

She believed that he would call. They exchange words and Penny assures Desmond she is going to find him. Desmond is filled with more hope than ever before and no longer goes back and forth in time chaotically, but is now alert, focused, and full of assuring peace.

As children of God, we also have a constant. Our constant is the supreme Constant - Jesus Christ. Christ is the only one who is a guaranteed constant in an ever changing and chaotic world.

He is our promised aid in time of need, our ever present helper in moments of despair (Psa. 46:1).

We find this promise in Hebrews 13:8:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, this very day, and even forever

For we who believe in the One True God - the Lord Jesus Christ - He is to be our one true love. He is our one and most true constant, who defines our life.

He is our defining reference point in Whom we find our identity, our past, our present, and our future. He is who fills us with hope in times of despair as Penny did for Desmond. He is who brings us back to focus when we are seemingly falling in and out of life as Desmond was. Jesus Christ and His promises, amidst an ever changing world is the One who does and always will remain constant. Christ alone is the One whose history of faithfulness always fills our memories when we recall a hard time in life and know He was there for us then, carrying us through.

Jesus Christ, He and He only, is the same yesterday, today, and forever.