 About a week ago, we considered the mission of the church during our ABF hour. Time didn’t allow me to conclude the way that I had hoped, so I’ll do so here.
The New Testament authors all humbly and gratefully identified themselves as “slaves of God.” • Titus 1:1 – “Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ” (cf. Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1). • James 1:1 – “James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” • 2 Peter 1:1 – “Simon Peter, a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ.” Of this humbling, yet honorable term, William Barclay writes: (i) To call the Christian the doulos [slave] of God means that he is inalienably possessed by God. In the ancient world a master possessed his slaves in the same sense as he possessed his tools. A servant can change his master; but a slave cannot. The Christian inalienably belongs to God. (ii) To call the Christian the doulos of God means that he is unqualifiedly at the disposal of God. In the ancient world the master could do what he liked with his slave. He had the same power over his slave as he had over his inanimate possessions. He had the power of life and death over his slave. The Christian belongs to God, for God to send him where He will, and to do with him what He will. The Christian is the man who has no rights of his own, for all his rights are surrendered to God. (iii) To call the Christian the doulos of God means that the Christian owes an unquestioning obedience to God. Ancient law was such that a master’s command was a slave’s only law. Even if a slave was told to do something which actually broke the law, he could not protest, for, as far as he was concerned, his master’s command was the law. In any situation the Christian has but one question to ask: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” The command of God is his only law. (iv) To call the Christian the doulos of God means that he must be constantly in the service of God. In the ancient world the slave had literally no time of his own, no holidays, no time off, no working-hours settled by agreement, no leisure. All his time belonged to the master.” (The Letters of James and Peter, rev. ed. [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1976], 293; emphasis in the original). By way of application, we had considered the following in our series together through Titus: Paul was always driven by the reality of who he had become in Christ. His understanding of the grace of God (I Corinthians 3:10; 15:10; Ephesians 3:7) and of his own unworthiness (I Corinthians 15:9; Ephesians 3:8; I Timothy 1:15) helped him easily claim the responsibility of “commissioned slavery.” How much of a bearing on your daily mindset and pursuits does your position have? What drives your work ethic? What motivates you in the business and ugliness of the work place? What compels your relationships with people? What influences the way you plan for tomorrow and dream about the future? What summarizes your goals for this year? Does the awareness that you are God’s slave and Christ’s ambassador influence your thinking and regulate your interactions and plans? O church, you’re on a mission as a “slave of God”! Fulfill your calling until the rest that awaits.  I was reading this tract this morning, and I was overwhelmed again by Jesus’ substitutionary atonement.
Jesus was “crushed for my sins” (Isaiah 53:5). It’s easy to allow familiarity with the crucifixion to lessen its impact. We think so much of the physical pain and only occasionally of the spiritual pain. Even Jesus’ phrase “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?!” doesn’t strike us as being the horrific expression of real experience that it was. Don’t miss it though – we’ll never fully understand the weight of the punishment that Christ took…that’s the point of the GOSPEL! We’ll never know it…NEVER! Even when we read and meditate on the crucifixion, and try to put ourselves in Christ’s place, and seek to logically understand what happened in that moment of substitution – we’ll never fully get it. Because Christ paid it ALL! He took ALL that wrath…wrath reserved for me! Jesus was CRUSHED for me, so that I would never know what that was like, even when I read about it in the Bible. Praise be unto our Jesus Christ – our propitiation and substitution! (For more artwork that powerfully illustrates the Gospel, click here. I’m thankful for Full of Eyes ministry for using their free artwork to the glory of Jesus Christ.)  August 14, 2012
Volume 2.6 www.singlefocusindy.org Hey guys! A whole lot is going on right now, not just in Single Focus, but in all of your lives, too. Since the spring, we've watched the Lord move many of our friends away from Indy, and in the next few weeks, many of you will head back to your colleges and universities. It's tough to say good-bye, and Dawn and I have already resigned ourselves to this unavoidable aspect of singles ministry. We're thankful that as you go, we can "commend you to God and to the Word of His grace" (Acts 20:32). In the meantime, there is still a lot going on in Single Focus! So, let me keep you updated on the highlights. What's Happening with Single Focus? (BTW, if you miss some information somewhere, Facebook, Twitter, or our website should have it. You can also stay up-to-date with what's going on by subscribing to the Single Focus calendar. Girls, you can even follow us on Pinterest! Please, guys, no comments about Pastor Keith being on Pinterest.) :)
What's So Funny? And, just in case you haven't heard it yet, I give you the famous Chick-Fil-A song. Warmly in Christ, Keith |
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