As the resurrection of Jesus anticipates and secures the general resurrection, so the death of Christ, usually represented by Paul as an atonement, occasionally appears as securing and embodying in advance the judgment and destruction of the spiritual powers opposed to God, thus bringing the other great eschatological transaction within the scope of the present activity of Christ and the present experience of believers, Rom. viii. 3; I Cor. ii. 6 (where notice the present participle …: “who are already coming to nought “).

From the article “The Eschatological Aspect of the Pauline Conception of the Spirit”, by Geerhardus Vos, found in Biblical and Theological Studies, collected essays from the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary. (Available for free on Google Books!)

I’m familiar with the idea that the resurrection of Christ is the first fruits of our own resurrection, and that there is a kind of organic solidarity between the Head (Christ) and His body (the Church) – that, to quote Scripture, “because He lives, we also shall live.” But I had never thought about how the judgement of the Cross (which He took on Himself in our stead, Isa. 53) is also a ‘down payment’ or first fruits of the cosmic judgment that awaits the rest of the old creation – unbelievers included. As surely as he was raised, so shall we be raised. As surely as he was judged (in our place), so shall the enemies of God be judged. Just as our resurrection has already begun, so also has their judgement.

That’s a scary thought, if one isn’t in Christ. God’s wrath is still pending – and dare I say – growing full, looming ominously, intensifying fiercely – until that day of full consummation which he has appointed. Let us check ourselves. See whether we are in the faith. For there is therefore now no condemnation for all those who are in Christ – but for those who aren’t? The day of their ferocious (though just) judgement, has already begun. The clouds, dark and heavy with justice, have already started to gather…

January

• Jason Stellman, Dual Citizens : Worship and Life Between the Already and the Not Yet [pretty good]

February

• Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov [good, long]
• Cornelius Van Til, The Confession of 1967 (rare) [standard Van Til]

March

• Greg Bahnsen, Presuppositional Apologetics [decent explanation and defense]
• Doug Wilson, Federal Husband [short and insightful]
• Doug Philips, Masculine Mandate [great corrective to Eldredge's Wild at Heart]
• Jerry Bridges, The Bookends of the Christian Life [edifying]

April

• Friedrich A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom [highly recommended - poli-econ]
• Marilynne Robinson, Gilead [superb fiction]
• Sean Michael Lucas, Robert Lewis Dabney : A Southern Presbyterian Life [very good bio]
• Maureen Ogle, Ambitious Brew : The Story of American Beer [engaging, interesting]
• John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life [classic]
• P. G. Wodehouse, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves [fun]
• Robert A. Peterson, Adopted by God : from Wayward Sinners to Beloved Sons [ok]
• Marilynne Robinson, Home [more superb fiction]

May

• N. T. Wright, Surprised by Hope [sheep and goats]

June

• Ronald Wallace, Calvin’s Doctrine of Word and Sacrament [surprisingly good]

If anyone, therefore, appears before you who is in need of your kind services, you have no reason to refuse him your help.

Suppose he is a stranger; yet the Lord has pressed his own stamp on him and made him as one of your family, and he forbids you to despise your own flesh and blood. Suppose he is despicable and worthless; yet the Lord has deigned him worthy to be adorned with his own image. Suppose that you have no obligation toward him for services; yet the Lord has made him as it were his substitute, so that you have obligation for numerous and unforgettable benefits. Suppose that he is unworthy of your least exertion; but the image of God which recommends him to you deserves that you surrender yourself and all your possessions to him.

If he has deserved no kindness, but just the opposite, because he has maddened you with his injuries and insults, even this is no reason why you should not surround him with your affection and show him all sorts of favors.

You may say that he has deserved a very different treatment, but what does the Lord command but to forgive all men their offenses and to charge them against himself?

No, all men may not be our brothers in Christ, but they are brothers in Adam. There is a simple and profound dignity to being made in God’s image, possessed of every human, which demands our respect and affirmation. The annoying waitress has unfathomable worth in God’s eyes. The rude customer service representative may have never heard a single word of kindness or respect spoken to him in his life. Perhaps the awkward neighbor has never had someone listen to him patiently while looking him in the eye.

The image of God they bear deserves, even demands, far better.

1. John Owen, The Holy Spirit (Works, Volume 3) (at 650 pps, this one took a while!)
2. John Fesko, The Rule of Love

November

1. Gustaf Wingren, Luther on Vocation
2. Collection, Luther and Calvin On Secular Authority
3. Robert Godfrey, John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor

December

1. Collection, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology
2. G. I. Williamson, The Westminster Confession of Faith : A Study Guide
3. David Hall, Calvin in the Public Square
4. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

Brief comments on the above, if you’re interested, are available here.

Dear family and friends,

It appears that the Lord, in his goodness and wisdom, has decided to call our little one home.

We accept this hard providence as good for the baby, and good for our family (Romans 8:28). We also echo the words of Job: “Shall we receive good from the Lord, and not receive [hardship] also?”

There are important decisions to be made now regarding Megan’s health, namely, whether to wait for a natural passing of the baby or to perform a medical procedure to accomplish this. There are risks and benefits to both options; please pray that He would grant us wisdom and patience as we work through the next steps.

“The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Thank you for praying with us.

In His Sovereign grip,
Aron, Megan, and Ethan Gahagan

As best as we can tell, the baby was about 6-8 weeks into the pregnancy. I hadn’t posted the news here yet, but for those who knew about the pregnancy and about Megan’s complications, we do appreciate everyone’s prayers. We embrace this outcome as the Lord’s answer to our prayers – may it never be said that “He did not answer” them. Our pastor visited us recently and read Psalm 139, which had been a great comfort to us during the complications. Through tears, he reminded us that this child was not “taken too soon”, but lived out his full life in the plan of God. We were much comforted by the following verses especially:

15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

As we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, the infant King, we are truly sorrowful, and yet abundantly joyful. “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away – blessed be the name of the Lord!”

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

The first thing that jumped out was that the “dwelling place of God is with man” – immediately I thought of that theme throughout all of Scripture, beginning in the Garden of Eden. Then the next verse about God being our God, and we being his people – also a recurring covenantal theme running back through Moses to Abraham and back to the protoevangelion (the ‘seed promise’ of the gospel), when God’s first gracious act was to “put enmity between” the enemy and his son, Adam (that happens by Adam becoming ‘his people’ again, and not the enemy’s). And yet, the context of all this Edenic ambiance is judgment. I almost felt guilty for focusing on a ‘side dish’ of the text – but then I remembered that the only way Eden could be restored is by Christ fulfilling what Adam failed to do, namely, purge the temple. This passage is about the final purging of the cosmic temple – the climax of history when Christ consummates what he inaugurated at Calvary – the cleansing of God’s cosmic ‘garden-temple’. That only happens through judgement – judgement that remains for any and all who are not in Christ, for Christ has already borne the full weight of God’s wrath for all those who are His – the wrath of God has been satisfied.

And yet, judgement remains. Living now, between the ‘first judgement’ (of the Church, in Christ) and the ‘second judgement’ (of the enemies of God), I’m reminded of the very first Scripture Christ read when he began his ministry, after his temptation in the wilderness:

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21)

In reading this passage, he put a period where there was a comma (so to speak) in the text: the passage from Isaiah continues, “…and the day of vengeance of our God…” The day of judgement as come “already” and the day of judgement has “not yet” come. As I wonder at the first Advent of Christ I am thankful that it means  ”God and sinners [are] reconciled.” And it points me forward to the second Advent of Christ, terrible as it will be, when the final judgement will cleanse the cosmic temple, and “God’s dwelling place will be with men” and “we will be his people, and He shall be our God.” It will be “a great and terrible day of the Lord,” but “even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!”

UPDATE: The post above was apparently provoked by A Letter to Non-Believers* by Shane Claibourne, published in Esquire.

*For whatever it’s worth, there is no such thing as a “non-believer”. There are only believers and unbelievers. “Non-believer” implies some kind of neutrality on the question of the true God’s existence, whereas Romans 1:18-23 teaches us that all men know God – but suppress that knowledge in unrighteousness (by denying it). The existence and attributes of God are clearly revealed to all “so that they are without excuse” (Gr., anapologētos – i.e., “without an argument”). There are no sidelines in this game – everyone plays, and you’re either for Him or against Him (Matthew 12:30, Luke 9:50).

Never under any circumstances admit that your own failure may be owing to your own weaknesses, or that the failure of anyone else may be due to his own defects — his laziness, incompetence, improvidence, or stupidity. Never believe in the honesty or disinterestedness of anyone who disagrees with you.

This basic hatred is the heart of Marxism. This is its animating force. You can throw away the dialectical materialism, the Hegelian framework, the technical jargon, the “scientific” analysis, and millions of pretentious words, and you still have the core: the implacable hatred and envy that are the raison d’être for all the rest.

Here also is the root of political correctness – the “Critical Theory” of the Frankfurt School.

(HT: Mises Ec0nomics Blog)