In the Spotlight
The Promised Prophet
Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world Opening Prayer Responsive Prayer — Isaiah 40 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Summary We are continuing our sermon series titled The Promised One looking at how Jesus fulfills the promises made to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and David. In our passage for this week, Moses assures Israel that the Lord will raise up a prophet “like me” from among their own brothers: a covenant mediator who will speak God’s very words. This promise grows out of Israel’s fear at Sinai, where the overwhelming holiness of God made them plead for a mediator to stand between them and the divine voice (Exodus 20:19-21). God graciously heard their appeal and established the prophetic office so that his people would not be left to seek guidance through the types of pagan divination, sorcery, or omens condemned immediately preceding this passage (Deut. 18:9-14; cf. Isaiah 8:19-20; Amos 3:7). It should be mentioned that we tend to think of the prophetic office as one of foreseeing the future, but as Old Testament scholar Iain Duguid points out, the prophetic office is primarily one of revealing the will of God to his people. In this way, Deuteronomy 18 presents a continuation of Moses’ covenantal role and demonstrates how God revealed his will leading up to Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2; Westminster Confession of Faith [WCF] 7.5). Yet from the earliest days of Israel’s hope, this promise for a continuing prophetic office pointed forward to a singular, climactic Prophet who would surpass Moses and embody the fullness of God’s Word. Scripture explicitly identifies Jesus as the complete fulfillment of this passage. Crowds recognized him as “the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14; 7:40). John the Baptist denied being this promised figure (John 1:21, 25). Peter and Stephen unmistakably apply Deuteronomy 18 to Christ (Acts 3:22-23; 7:37). The New Testament clearly shows that Jesus not only fulfills Moses’ prophetic role but also surpasses it. Theologian Meredith Kline observes that though both Moses and Christ serve as covenant mediators, only Christ has uniquely seen the Father (John 6:46), making him the perfect revealer of God. In other words, Christ perfectly and completely executes the office of a prophet “in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation” (Westminster Shorter Catechism 24). Where Moses was a faithful servant in God’s house, Christ is the Son over the house (Hebrews 3:1-6). Moses mediated the covenant at Sinai, but Jesus mediates a better covenant established on better promises (Hebrews 8:6). Moses spoke God’s words; Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14). The transfiguration makes this contrast unmistakable: Moses stands beside Jesus, but the Father’s voice singles out Christ alone — “Listen to him” (Matthew 17:5) — echoing Deuteronomy’s call to heed the coming Prophet. Christ is the final and complete revelation of God (WCF 1.1) and the only mediator between God and man (WCF 8.1). With this promise comes a command and a warning. God requires his people to listen to this Prophet, and whoever refuses will face divine judgment (Deut. 18:19). As Italian theologian Francis Turretin notes, this text contains a “special command of faith in Christ” already embedded in the Old Testament itself. To reject Christ’s words is to reject God’s own revelation (John 12:48-49). The prophets who came before him were genuine gifts of God’s grace, yet they were preparatory, incomplete, awaiting the arrival of the true Prophet. Jesus is the consummation of that office — the one who perfectly reveals God, mediates the covenant, and speaks with final authority. To heed him is life; to ignore him is to stand accountable before God. Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible From the passage, share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you. 2. Looking at Jesus Jesus says that he “came to bear witness to the truth, and everyone who is of the truth hears his voice” (John 18:37). How does this statement help us understand Moses’ command, “to him you shall listen”? In what ways does listening to Jesus differ from merely believing facts about him? 3. Looking at Our Hearts C.S. Lewis explains that the only logical conclusion for Jesus and his extraordinary words is to see him as “Lunatic, Liar, or Lord.” Why would we be reluctant to see him as Lord? What would the implications be if he is indeed lord over everything? 4. Looking at Our World Moses warned Israel not to turn to the practices of the nations for guidance (Deut. 8:9-14). What parallels do you see today in cultural “alternative revelations” or sources of truth people rely on? How should Christians respond without retreating from the world or engaging in its norms? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. This is the last week of CGs. Pray that God would keep everyone safe in their holiday plans and travels. Pray that the Advent season would be a time when we realign ourselves to God, placing our hope in his coming again.
December 14, 2025 | Read
Latest Resources
A Changed Relationship to One Another
May 3, 2026 | Watch
A Changed Relationship to One Another
Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world Opening Prayer Responsive Prayer — Psalm 36 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like the great deep; How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, And you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; In your light do we see light. Summary We are continuing our sermon series entitled God’s Vision for a New Humanity throughout which we are studying the latter part of the book of Romans. While much of Romans expounds upon the theology of the gospel message, chapters 12-15 focus on the practical implications of the gospel on the life and relationships of the believer. This week’s passage focuses on our changed relationship to one another. With the transition at verse 9, Paul moves from the discussion of gifts and a changed relationship to ourselves (Romans 12:3-8) to another implication of the renewed mind (Romans 12:1-2). Here love emerges as the governing principle of Christian community, summarized well by one commentator who said that in this passage "all our duty towards one another is summed up in one word, and that a sweet word: love." Up to this point in Romans, references to love have been to the love of God. For example, God’s love demonstrated on the cross (Romans 5:8), poured into our hearts by the Spirit (Romans 5:5), and unfailing in its hold upon us (Romans 8:35, 39). This is characteristic of the book: Paul establishes what God has done before laying out the pattern for the Christian life. The practical flows from the theological. So when he now turns to the love Christians show one another, he is not introducing a new or independent demand; rather, he is describing the necessary outflow of what God has already accomplished. The love of Christians for others is grounded in (and only made possible by) the love of God expressed in the gift of his Son (John 13:34; 1 John 4:9-11). Such love is the mark of the renewed mind. It is not an optional virtue to be cultivated but the natural outflow of a life transformed by the gospel of God’s love (cf. Galatians 5:13-14). Paul unfolds the love we are meant to share in Christian community through a rapid-fire volley of short, sharp injunctions. These are so compressed that in the Greek, most omit finite verbs entirely, lending them an almost breathless urgency. Some commentators have dismissed this section as simply a random collection of miscellaneous instructions, but as English pastor John Stott observed, "each staccato imperative adds a fresh ingredient to the apostle's recipe for love" — multiple ingredients forming a comprehensive and searching portrait of Christian character. The portrait is both comprehensive and coherent. These are not miscellaneous virtues randomly assembled, but they form a unified vision of a community ordered by love at every level: in its inner disposition, its family life, its worship, its suffering, its generosity, and its posture toward the lowest and least. The demanding nature of these exhortations is inseparable from the grace that makes them possible. The renewed mind, transformed by the gospel, now sees others through the eyes of him who first loved us. In this way, the Church becomes what N.T. Wright calls "a small working model of the new creation," a community where love governs all relationships and bears visible witness to the transforming power of the gospel (John 13:35; Westminster Confession of Faith 26.1). Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you from the passage. 2. Looking at Jesus Looking at these verses, how has Jesus already done for us the things that are listed? How might remembering that Jesus associated with us, the lowly, while we were still his "persecutors" change these verses from a burden we must carry into a beauty we get to reflect? How has receiving this love from Christ and/or from his people had an impact on your life? 3. Looking at Our Hearts Verse 10 challenges us to outdo one another in showing honor. When you see someone else being praised, what is your immediate internal reaction? 4. Looking at Our World How does contemporary secular culture tend to define love, and in what ways does this passage challenge or correct that definition? What steps can you take to make these expressions of love more apparent in your community group, in the church, and to people around you? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Pray for yourselves and for the other members of your group to be empowered to love others radically.
May 3, 2026 | Read
A Changed Relationship to Ourselves
What if the way you see yourself is quietly shaping every relationship in your life? The gospel offers a new lens, freeing us from both pride and insecurity and grounding us in a truer identity. From that place, we begin to see our need for others, our belonging in community, and our role in serving with purpose. Watch this sermon as Andrew Smith invites you to discover how a renewed perspective can transform both your inner life and your relationships.
April 26, 2026 | Watch
A Changed Relationship to Ourselves
Purpose To discover and experience Jesus Christ in our midst To cultivate mutually encouraging relationships To participate in God’s mission to the world Opening Prayer Responsive Prayer — Ephesians 4 There is one body and one Spirit, Just as we were called to the one hope of our calling, One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, Who is above all and through all and in all. Come, worship God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit! Summary We are continuing our sermon series entitled God’s Vision for a New Humanity throughout which we are studying the latter part of the book of Romans. While much of Romans expounds upon the theology of the gospel message, chapters 12-15 focus on the practical implications of the gospel on the life and relationships of the believer. This week’s passage focuses on our relationship to ourselves. Flowing directly from the call to a renewed mind in last week’s passage (Romans 12:1-2), Paul shows that such renewal must result in a transformed self-understanding. As the French reformer John Calvin famously opened his Institutes, “nearly all wisdom we possess… consists of two parts: knowledge of God and of ourselves,” and the two are so intertwined that neither can be rightly known apart from the other. In other words, to know ourselves, we must first know God. Our minds must be renewed to think rightly. Therefore, the central command of this passage, “to think with sober judgment” (verse 3), flows out of a renewed mind actively discerning God’s will and evaluating the self in light of that will, excluding both pride and self-deprecation (Psalm 139:23-24; Jeremiah 9:23-24; Philippians 2:3). Paul grounds this command in the shared reality of faith and the corporate identity of the Church. The phrase “measure of faith” (verse 3) is best understood as the common faith given equally to all believers, functioning as the objective standard by which we are to evaluate ourselves. This guards against exaggerated notions of personal importance, since all stand equally as recipients of grace, and it prevents undue self-neglect, since each is truly incorporated into Christ. Paul reinforces this through the body metaphor that we are members of one another through union with Christ (verse 5). To think rightly about oneself, then, one must think relationally. No believer exists in isolation. Each individual is bound to others in mutual dependence. This reality also tempers pride, since no one is self-sufficient, and it elevates the seemingly insignificant, since every member contributes to the whole (1 Corinthians 12:21-22). God is building a Church in which identity is neither self-constructed nor self-exalting but received and exercised for the good of others within the body. Verses 6-8 then unfold how this sober judgment takes concrete form through the recognition and use of spiritual gifts. “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,” Paul emphasizes that all gifts have a divine source, that these gifts are diverse — ranging from prophecy and teaching to service, exhortation, generosity, leadership, and acts of mercy — and that this diversity is essential to the Church’s health (1 Corinthians 12:4-7; 1 Peter 4:10-11). Paul’s argument has moved from command to foundation to concrete expression: sober judgment, rooted in the body’s shared identity in the gospel, which takes visible shape in the humble and diligent exercise of the gifts God has given us all. Taken together, this passage presents a distinctly Christian vision of self-understanding. The believer is neither autonomous nor insignificant, but a redeemed member of Christ’s body, called to live in humble dependence upon God and in loving service to others. Such a perspective produces a life marked by humility, gratitude, and diligence, as each member contributes to the flourishing of the whole. In this way, the Church becomes a visible expression of the new humanity created in Christ, where unity and diversity coexist under his lordship, and where all things are directed toward the glory of God (Ephesians 3:10-12). Discussion Questions 1. Looking at the Bible Share with the group some key phrases or ideas that stood out to you from the passage. 2. Looking at Jesus Read Philippians 2:5-12. Paul calls the Church to have the same mindset as Christ, who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself in obedience. In what ways does Christ’s own disposition serve as the pattern for the sober self-assessment Paul commands in Romans 12:3? 3. Looking at Our Hearts John Calvin famously wrote that all wisdom consists of two parts — knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves — and that neither can be rightly known apart from the other. How does Paul’s command in verse 3 relate to this connection? What does knowing God rightly have to do with knowing yourself rightly? 4. Looking at Our World Our culture tends to measure a person's worth by their productivity, visibility, or influence. How does Paul's vision of the body (where every member is necessary and where every gift has a divine source) challenge or reframe that way of evaluating human significance? Prayer Pray for each other: Share any prayer requests you have. Spend some time praying for the church and your community group, that you might use your gifts to serve each other well.
April 26, 2026 | Read
Is Christianity Escapist?
Christianity somewhat conveniently offers an unbelievable narrative that, if true, literally changes everything. Which raises the question: Is it possible that Christianity is simply wishful thinking — a framework generated by humans who were (and still are) looking to place their hope in a future that’s better than their reality?
April 18, 2025 | More...
Can We be Good Without God?
Throughout human history, both the religious and non-religious have exhibited the capacity for doing good works. But when we turn to the question of universal moral obligations of goodness, does atheism hold up? Without a belief in God, there is a ceiling to how far goodness can reach.
September 30, 2024 | More...
Grace, Then Gratitude
For many of us, the thing that we fear the most is being insignificant. This is why we are so driven and ambitious—we think that we have to do everything we can to prove that we are significant and that our life counts for something. We scramble to find whatever meaning, value, and purpose this world alone can offer. Although it is true that there is no good or fulfilling life without significance, through Jesus we are offered not only significance but grace. While we may be tempted to try and prove our worth to God or others, God relates to us not on the basis of merit, but on the basis of grace. Our life is simply a response to his love. Accepted First God showers his love upon us simply because he loves us—not because of what we have done, will do, or what potential he may or may not see within us. This is what gives us absolute and utter security. If we do not do anything to win God's love, there is nothing that we could ever do to lose it either. Furthermore, grace means there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us more, and there is nothing we could ever do to make God love us less. His love for us is immovable. This is the difference between Christianity and every other religion. Religion requires you to obey before you are accepted. But the message of Christianity is that you are accepted in and through Jesus Christ first, despite all your faults and failures, and therefore, you obey—not in order to try to win God's love or out of obligation, but out of gratitude for the love you have first been shown. Consider the Exodus story. God could have given his people the Ten Commandments while they were living in bondage in Egypt and required them to follow the law before he rescued them. But instead, he rescues his people first. It is only after he delivers them from their bondage that he then gives them the law in order to show them how to live their lives in response to his love. It is not law, then grace. It is grace, then gratitude. Contra-Conditional Love Grace is the most powerful force in the world. And yet, at the very same time, it is the most difficult thing for us to accept because it is an affront to our pride and self-sufficiency. When we accept God’s grace, we acknowledge that we cannot save ourselves. Years ago I had a conversation with a college student who told me, “I hate the very concept of grace because I want God to love me for me. I want God to love me for the things I do for him because then I know what I'm worth. Then I know that I'm valuable.” I tried to help her see that grace is far better. Consider the words of Victor Hugo who said, “The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved—loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” God's love is not conditional or even unconditional. His love is contra-conditional. In Jesus Christ, he does not merely love us as we are. He loves us despite who we are and despite what we have done. That is why Pastor Jack Miller used to say, “Cheer up! You're worse than you think! But in Jesus Christ, you are more loved than you could ever imagine.” The House of David In 2 Samuel 7 we read that several decades after God raised David up to be the prince over Israel, David decides to build a house for the Lord. David is living in a luxurious house with paneled walls made out of fine cedar, and he realizes that by contrast, the Ark of the Covenant—the place where God said that he would dwell in the midst of his people—is being kept in a tent. It suddenly dawns on him that his housing is better than God’s! David, understandably, wants to do something for God by building him a permanent house. But rather than allowing David to follow through with his plans, God responds by saying God is going to make a house for David, and David's son, in gratitude, will be the one who builds a house for the Lord. In 2 Samuel 7:16 God says, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.” God makes this unconditional promise to David—not because of any merit on David's part but out of sheer grace. This is how God works with all of us. Like David, we might want to go out there and do something great for God as a way to prove our worth or win other’s respect and admiration. But God’s grace always precedes our work. He makes the first move and takes the initiative. His grace comes first. If you continue reading through the Bible, you discover the house of David eventually comes crashing down. The kingdom is plagued by civil war, and eventually, the Babylonians conquer David's kingdom, setting fire to the temple that Solomon builds and carrying away the last kings in the line of David into exile. And yet centuries before, the prophet Isaiah promises that one day a child will be born who will establish and uphold the throne of David with justice and righteousness forever. The promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7 points us forward to Christ, the true son of God, who knows God as Father. That is why Jesus is repeatedly referred to as the Son of David. When Jesus begins his public ministry, he proclaims: “the kingdom of God is at hand.” And when Jesus establishes the kingdom of God, he says that he will build a house for the Lord in the midst of his people, not in a temple made out of human hands. This means that the moment we put our faith in Jesus, we become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Building for the Kingdom After becoming a Christian, we might start talking about bringing the kingdom, building the kingdom, advancing the kingdom, expanding the kingdom. But “bringing the kingdom” is precisely the one thing that we cannot do. Only Jesus can do that. Matthew 6:33 tells us we are called to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” We are called to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, to testify to the kingdom, to inherit the kingdom. The kingdom is not something that we achieve through our own effort but rather something we receive as a gift of grace. But that does not mean that we are supposed to sit back and passively await the coming of the kingdom in its fullness. We may not be able to build the kingdom of God, but we can and must build for the kingdom of God. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright writes, “The final coming together of heaven and earth is, of course, God’s supreme act of new creation, for which the only real prototype—other than the first creation itself—was the resurrection of Jesus. God alone will sum up all things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth. He alone will make the ‘new heavens and new earth.’ It would be the height of folly to think that we could assist in that great work. But what we can and must do in the present, if we are obedient to the gospel, if we are following Jesus, and if we are indwelt, energized, and directed by the Spirit, is to build for the kingdom…You are—strange though it may seem, almost as hard to believe as the resurrection itself—accomplishing something that will become in due course part of God’s new world. Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every work of art or music inspired by the love of God and delight in the beauty of his creation; every minute spent teaching a severely handicapped child to read or to walk; every act of care and nurture, of comfort and support, for one’s fellow human beings and for that matter one’s fellow nonhuman creatures; and of course every prayer, all Spirit-led teaching, every deed that spreads the gospel, builds up the church, embraces and embodies holiness rather than corruption, and makes the name of Jesus honored in the world—all of this will find its way, through the resurrecting power of God, into the new creation that God will one day make. That is the logic of the mission of God.” The kingdom of God is a present reality because the kingdom is present in Jesus. It is a kingdom of grace, which means that it can only be received. That is why Jesus said in Luke 12:32, “‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’” He went on to say that only those who receive the kingdom like a child will ever enter it. How does a child receive the kingdom? With empty hands. Our faith does not add or contribute anything to our rescue. Faith is simply empty hands which receive what Jesus gives. And what Jesus gives us is himself. Wherever Jesus is, there is the kingdom. There is grace. ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Grace, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 23, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. Christ and Contemporary Culture is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee
August 9, 2023 | Read
Beyond Morality: Living a Life of Worship
When most of us think of the “good life,” we are not merely imagining an ethical or moral life but a life that is truly worth living, even in the face of the existential problems with which we must contend. Luc Ferry, a French philosopher and self-proclaimed atheist, offers this interesting thought experiment: Imagine we could wave a magic wand and cause everyone living today to begin treating one another perfectly, with equal dignity and respect. There would be no more war, genocide, racism, or xenophobia. There would be no need for a police force or a standing army. Our judicial system and prisons would eventually disappear. And yet, Ferry suggests that even if we were to wave that magic wand, the most profound existential challenges we face would still not be resolved. This is how he puts it, “Still—and here I have to weigh each one of my words—none (I really mean none) of our most profound existential problems would be resolved if this came to pass. Nothing, even in a perfect realization of the most sublime morality, would prevent us from aging; from witnessing, powerless, the appearance of wrinkles and white hair; from falling sick, dying, and seeing our loved ones die; from worrying about the outcome of our children’s education or from struggling to achieve what we want for them. Even if we were saints, nothing would guarantee us a fulfilled emotional life.” The point is that morality is indispensable to human life. And yet, it is not enough. We read in the story of David in 1 and 2 Samuel about the importance of living a life of worship before God. David is far from perfect, but that is not what matters. What matters is that whether winning a great victory or committing an egregious sin, David lives a life of repentance and faith. Whether in triumph or defeat, hope or despair, David does not run away from God. He runs towards God. And that is what fills his life with enduring meaning, value, and purpose. What Is Worship? The problem with religion is that it leads us to think of God like a genie in a bottle—rub the lamp and out will pop God to grant you your wishes. Religious people tend to think God is there to serve us, to fulfill all our dreams, and to make us feel good about ourselves. We assume that if we are good enough, pious enough, zealous enough, devout enough, if we say all the right prayers, observe all the right rituals, and keep all of the right rules, then God is obligated to bless us and to make our life go well. We are not really interested in God for who he is—we are merely using God to get whatever we want. And if God does not deliver, then we become angry, bitter, and resentful because he did not fulfill our expectations. It is critical to realize that the real God will challenge our dreams, not merely fulfill them. The poet W.H. Auden once wrote that a Christian is someone who says, “I believe because He fulfills none of my dreams, because He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image.” God is not here to serve us. We are here to serve him. In fact, in Hebrew the word “worship” and “serve” are the very same word. God is not here to worship us. We are here to worship him. God is not supposed to follow us according to our terms. Rather we are supposed to follow God on his terms. And if we do, then he promises that he will bless us—not out of necessity, but as a pure gift. Christianity offers this unique view of salvation: God relates to us on the basis of sheer grace, which means that a relationship with God is not something that we achieve through our own efforts, but something we can only receive with empty hands. Religion leads us to say, “I obey, and therefore, God accepts me.” But the gospel tells us, “God accepts me, despite my sin, through the substitutionary sacrifice of another, and therefore I obey.” We strive to love, serve, and honor God, not motivated by mere duty or obligation, but motivated by gratitude and joy for what he has first done for us—not as a way to try to win God's love, but in order to demonstrate that we already have it. If we know that God has done absolutely everything that is necessary in order to cover our sin and put us in right relationship with himself, then that will infuse our life with insuppressible joy, regardless of our life circumstances or personal challenges. There is, of course, a rightful place for lament as we mourn those aspects of our lives or within the wider world that are not yet in line with his purposes. Nevertheless, the foundation of a Christian’s’ life must be one of joy. The English author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “Man is more himself, man is more manlike, when joy is the fundamental thing in him, and grief the superficial. Melancholy should be an innocent interlude, a tender and fugitive frame of mind; praise should be the permanent pulsation of the soul.” Why Worship Matters When Isaiah has a vision of the Lord seated enthroned above the ark of the cherubim in Isaiah 6:5, he immediately says, “‘Woe is me! For I am lost!’” Isaiah acknowledges that he is a sinner and “a man of unclean lips.” But despite Isaiah’s sin, God does not strike him down. Instead, one of the seraphim flies to the altar, the place of the sacrifice, and removes one of the burning coals and places it on the lips of Isaiah saying: “‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” God has now made Isaiah clean. This, of course, was just a vision. We get something far better. There are only two places in the New Testament where the Greek word for “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used—once in Romans 3 and once in Hebrews 9. In both cases, “mercy seat” or “place of atonement” is used not to describe a place but a person. Hebrews 10 tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could never do anything to actually take away people's sin. This is just a symbol meant to prepare us for the ultimate high priest who does not enter the most holy place within a humanly constructed temple, but rather he enters into the presence of the divine being himself. And there he offers not the sacrifice of an animal, but rather the sacrifice of his very own self. He gives himself for us so that our sin might be covered by his blood, and so that God in his mercy might forgive us and cleanse us so that we can enter into his holy presence and live. Jesus is the mercy seat and the place of atonement. He is the true prince of peace and the one who makes it possible for us to approach the throne of grace and live. And the mercy seat is open, still. The gospel tells us that God is so holy and you and I really are so flawed that Jesus had to die. There was no other way for us to be able to enter into God's holy presence and live. And yet, at the same time, God is so loving and you and I are so valuable, that Jesus was willing to die for us. When you take these two truths deep into your heart and into your life, then that is what unlocks the joy. Morality and ethics are essential and important, but they are not sufficient to actually live the “good life.” The Westminster Shorter Catechism, a historic document of faith from the 1600s, begins with this question: What is the chief end of man? In other words, what is the meaning of life? The answer is short: To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. As C.S. Lewis astutely observed, those two commands are actually one and the same. In commanding us to worship him, God is inviting us to enjoy him. The only way in which we truly learn to live the “good life” is through worship, by living our lives before the God of grace. And when we do, it will fill our lives with insuppressible joy. ___ Adapted from David and The Good Life: Worship, a sermon delivered by Jason Harris on October 16, 2022. Listen to the sermon or read the full transcript. "Christ and Contemporary Culture" is a journal written by Jason Harris which reflects on the intersection between Jesus Christ and our contemporary culture. If you are skeptical or resistant to Christianity, the hope is that you might pause to reflect on your pre-existing ideas about the way things are and perhaps think again. For those who have embraced Christianity, these posts will serve to encourage you in your ability to communicate the gospel in a way that takes our current cultural context seriously. Produced by Mary-Catherine McKee
May 18, 2023 | Read