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How to Meditate on the Glory of Christ

Posted on 11. May, 2010 by Ryan McGraw.

Meditation is a difficult duty. Most Christians struggle even with where to begin with respect to this duty. It is particularly important for us to mediate upon the Person and work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, since beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ is the primary means by which we are transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18). In his devotional work, The Glory of Christ, John Owen has provided five useful ways that we can meditate upon the glory of Christ as a divine/human Person. Our congregation in Conway found these instructions particularly helpful, so I pass them along with the hope that they will help you in your devotion to Christ (you can read the full section in Owen, Works, 1, 312–322).

1. Consider that the knowledge of Christ as fully God and fully man in one Person is the most useful object of our contemplations and affections (1, 312–314). Christ’s identity as the God-man places him in a unique position to make your redemption possible. He also reveals the glory of God to your understanding in a unique manner.

2. Diligently study the Scriptures with the express purpose of finding the glory of Christ in them (1, 314–316). The Scriptures assert that Christ is their central object (Lk. 24:26–27, 45–46; 2 Cor. 3:13–16). The three primary ways that Christ is revealed in the Old Testament is by direct descriptions of his Person and his incarnation, by prophecies concerning him, and by the Old Testament ceremonies of worship (Owen richly expands each of these). Too often Christians read the Old Testament in a manner that is no better than the Jews. Even if we do not see Christ in everything in the Old Testament, we must be careful to take our knowledge of Christ with us while reading the Old Testament.

3. Meditate frequently upon the knowledge of Christ that you have already obtained, both from Scripture and from sermons (1, 316–317). Failing to use and to build upon the knowledge of Christ that we have already received is the “fundamental mistake” standing behind the lack of spiritual growth among so many Christians. This is the error of treating the doctrines of Christ as fundamental and basic, thus taking them for granted. Owen adds that although we must not isolate ourselves from the world, we must love solitude as well. Without some measure of regular solitude, meditation upon the Lord Jesus Christ is impossible.

4. Do not simply rely upon fixed times set aside for meditation, but think upon Christ at every possible occasion throughout the day (1, 317–320). This is particularly important during those seasons in which Christ “withdraws” himself from our “spiritual experience.” If we know what it is like to “miss” Christ sometimes, then we should take comfort from the fact that this means that we have truly known what it is to have fellowship with him. When the comforts of communion with Christ diminish, we must seek him with the desperation with which a thirsty man seeks water. Christ acts in this way for our good, since his withdrawals increase our dependence upon him and the fervency with which we seek him. The truth is that Christ is always near to us, but “the principal actings of the life of faith consist in the frequency of our thoughts concerning him” (1, 319).

5. Accompany your thoughts of Christ with admiration, adoration, and thanksgiving (1, 320–322). The more we contemplate our divine/human Lord, then the more we shall realize that he is beyond the limits of our comprehension. This should lead us to love the Lord Jesus Christ with every faculty of our souls. In heaven, we shall exercise all of the faculties of our souls simultaneously in the worship and service of Christ, but in this world both our understanding and our strength is incomplete. Therefore, sometimes our thoughts of Christ should lead to admiration, others to adoration, and still others to thanksgiving according to our understanding and our capacity. You must never lose sight of the fact that the purpose for which you know Christ is worship.

Owen closes this section with the useful reminder that meditation upon the glory of the Person of Christ only occurs in the context of a heavenly-minded life. This is an important thought. Perhaps one reason why meditation is so hard for us is that we have not set our minds on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father in everything that we set our hands to (Col. 3:1–2). Meditation upon the glory of Christ is a jarring and painful interruption when our minds are trained to run along the well-worn grooves of our earthly routine. Let us never forget that we are pilgrims and strangers in the world! Let us never be surprised at the difficulty of heavenly-mindedness on this side of glory! Let us make use of means to help us contemplate the glory of our Savior more fully! And may we come to our heavenly Father who is able and ready to help us to meditate upon the glory of his Son through the power of the Holy Spirit!

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New Book on Christ’s Descent Into Hell

Posted on 12. Apr, 2010 by Danny Hyde.

The Apostles’ Creed claims that Christ “descended into hell,” but do we really believe that? Should we believe that? In this book, Daniel R. Hyde analyzes this controversial claim, bringing valuable light to this long confessed doctrine. He presents the arguments raised against the descent clause, discusses the various understanding of it throughout church history, explains how the Reformed churches have adopted it, and demonstrates the benefits of retaining it as a point of our Christian confession today. For those who question why Christians would believe in the descent of Christ, In Defense of the Descent is an informative and helpful guide.

Now available for pre-order and will be available as of April 15th from Reformation Heritage Books where you can also read chapter 1 as a .pdf here.

Endorsements:

“For creedal and confessional Christians, the clause in the Apostles’ Creed ‘he descended into hell’ is important, but sometimes puzzling. Even as intelligent lay folk often struggle to articulate a brief, cogent, accurate reply as to its precise meaning, they may not fully appreciate the history of discussion behind the phrase, or the origins and function of its inclusion in what is probably still, liturgically, the most widely used creed in the Reformation churches. Daniel Hyde has come to the rescue with a brief, helpful, historical, biblical, and pastoral treatment of this clause, and the crucial theological truth it is designed to propound and protect. I warmly commend it to the Christian reader.”

— Ligon Duncan, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi and Adjunct Professor of Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary

“Every pastor knows that sinking feeling when the congregation recites the ‘descent into hell’ clause of the Creed. What do we say to them? Written for laypeople and pastors alike, this slim volume not only gives us a good answer; it offers a terrific summary of broader Christian reflection. Danny Hyde convincingly argues that, far from an idle question, our Lord’s descent into hell is a precious facet of the gospel.”

—Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California (Escondido, CA)

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The Jewish Targums and John’s Logos Theology

Posted on 30. Jan, 2010 by Mark Jones.

This book by my friend John Ronning is one of the best works I’ve read on Christology.  Where did the “logos” title from the Gospel of John come from? Ronning makes the most convincing argument I’ve come across that the “Logos” title was developed from the Aramaic Targums, not from Philo.  The biblical exegesis in this book is stunning, particularly the connections Ronning makes between the Old Testament and John’s gospel.  Another title for this book could have been “And YHWH became flesh.”  I think the translations of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek are all done by Ronning himself.  You can get a preview at google books here.  Interestingly, Thomas Goodwin made a similar argument many years ago, but without the detail that Ronning goes into.

For Goodwin, the title of ‘the Word’ (ho logos) is not a reference to Christ being the thought or counsel of the Father’s mind since this ‘inclines too much unto the Notion of Plato, and other Heathen Philosophers’ (Of the Knowledge, 60). Goodwin is not unaware that the logos title had been used before John’s time by various Greek philosophers. However, in Goodwin’s mind, John refers to Christ as ‘the Word’ (logos) not because of Greek influences but because of the evidence in the Old Testament itself.

As a result, both Philo and Plato, by using the terminology of ‘ho logos’, are guilty of stealing ‘their knowledge from the Jews, and vend[ing] it as their own’ (Ibid, 62). Goodwin shows that the title, ‘the Word’, was used by the Jews, as a reference to the Messiah, in the Aramaic Targums, what Goodwin called the ‘Caldee Paraphrasts’ (Ibid). So, for example, Goodwin quotes the Isaiah Targum (Isa. 45:17) which makes several references to the divine Word (Memra). Hence, ‘Israel is saved by the Memra of the LORD with an everlasting salvation’. The KJV, based on the Masoretic Text (MT) in the OT, reads: ‘But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation’ (Isa. 45:17). Moreover, the MT text of Hosea 1:7 (… and will save them by the LORD their God …) is transliterated by the Aramaic Targum as ‘I will redeem them by the Word of the Lord their God.’

Referring to Christ as ‘the Word’, then, is Christologically loaded in terms of his divinity because of how the Aramaic Targums make use of the title, ‘the Word’ (Owen, 21:354). Not only, then, does the immediate context of John 1 show that Christ is the divine Word who existed in eternity, but the very fact that John calls Christ ‘the Word’ is evidence in itself for the deity of Christ because of how the Jews would have understood such terminology.

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Mondays with Manton (2)

Posted on 14. Sep, 2009 by Danny Hyde.

This week we want to continue through Thomas Manton’s (1620–1677) “Christ’s Temptation and Transfiguration Practically Explained and Improved in Several Sermons” (Works 1, 258–336; available through Reformation Heritage Books).

Sermon 2 treats Matthew 4:2–4. As with sermon 1, Manton follows the classic Puritan plain style of preaching, opening with the basic scope of the text, structuring his sermon along the lines of the text itself, deriving doctrines, and offering uses of those doctrines for his hearers’ souls’ sake.

Under the heading, “The Occasion,” Manton delves into the depths of catholic Christology in dealing with Christ’s forty days and nights of fasting. This reveals his true humanity, since Christ “submitted to all our sinless infirmities,” and his divinity, since it “enabled him to continue . . . without eating or drinking anything” (Works 1, 267). Here Manton shows us how we can preach the intricacies of Chalcedonian Christology all the while doing so in a way that is understandable and experiential. Not only this, Manton shows us that it is necessary to know our theology and to preach that theology when it arises from the text.

Under the heading, The Temptation Itself,” Manton exposits the devious ways of Satan so well, but all the while doing so to highlight the true sufferings of our Savior as well as our need to be on guard for his wiles. For example, Manton gives a general proverbial statement concerning the Devil’s work in tempting Christ when he was hungry: “Satan fits his temptations to men’s present case and condition” (Works 1, 268). One of the wonderful things Manton points out is that this temptation of Satan was intended “to weaken his [Christ's] confidence in the care and love of God’s fatherly providence” (Works 1, 270). We don’t think enough of the fact that as our truly human elder brother, Jesus needed to trust in the Lord. In doing so, he lays a foundation for our doing so as well!

Under the heading, “Christ’s Answer,” Manton may sound moralistic to our overly-sensitive biblical-theological/redemptive-historical ears, when he speaks of Christ’s answering Satan with Scripture: “This answer is not given for the tempter’s sake, but ours, that we may know how to answer in like cases, and repel such kind of temptations” (Works 1, 272). But is it not the point of the biblical-theological movement that because of our union with Christ we live out of Christ? If Christ answered the Devil with Scripture, we who are in union with him need to do as he did: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

In conclusion, Manton offers five “observations” from the text that are theological and practical in nature. Again, here is where Manton is so good. He exposits the text and he applies the text.

1. “God may leave his children and servants to great straits” (Works 1, 273).
2. “The devil maketh an advantage of our necessities” in order to tempt us “to unlawful means to satisfy our hunger . . . to question our adoption . . . to draw us to a diffidence and distrust of God’s providence” (Works 1, 273–274).
3. “In tempting, Satan pretendeth to help the tempted party to a better condition” (Works 1, 274–275).
4. “Satan’s first temptations are more plausible,” meaning, he tempts us with little things that don’t sound so bad at first (Works 1, 275).
5. “There is no way to defeat Satan’s temptations but by a sound belief of God’s all-sufficiency, and the nothingness of the creature” (Works 1, 275).

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Adam-Christ Parallels (e.g. Holy Spirit)

Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Mark Jones.

The parallels between Adam and Christ provide an interesting starting-point for theological discussion, particularly in the area of Christology.  A question in connection with the parallels between Adam and Christ that seems to be rarely asked is whether Adam possessed the Holy Spirit.  Christ was the man of the Spirit par excellence (Isa. 41:1; 61:1-2; Lk. 4).

The Puritan, Thomas Goodwin, affirms that Adam possessed the Spirit in Eden.  Goodwin suggests that the Spirit “was in Adam’s heart to assist his graces, and cause them to flow and bring forth, and to move him to live according to those principles of life given him (6:54)”  There are, however, differences between his having the Spirit and ours!  The emphasis in our experience is, of course, Christological; we receive the risen exalted Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9) who dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3:17), which happens to be the best way to discuss the ordo/historia salutis problem in my opinion. [...]

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Mondays with Manton (1)

Posted on 07. Sep, 2009 by Danny Hyde.

Thomas Manton (1620–1677) was called “the king of preachers” at his funeral. Anyone that has ever used his expositions of James or Jude for their sermon preparation knows this to be true. All told, his Works comprise twenty-two volumes and over 10,500 pages, most of which are sermons. Reformation Heritage Books sells the reprinted twenty-two volume set for an amazing price of only $250. Google Books has the complete set. Here is volume 1.

Among his expositions of Scripture are “Christ’s Temptation and Transfiguration Practically Explained and Improved in Several Sermons” (Works 1, 258–336). In Sermon 1 on Matthew 4:1, Manton followed the classic Puritan plain style of preaching, opening with the scope of the text, structuring his sermon along the lines of the text itself, deriving doctrines, and offering uses of those doctrines for his hearers’ souls’ sake. This sermon is full of biblical imagery, doctrine and comfort. Listen to this line as Manton expounded the lesson that temptations come not by chance but from God himself: “If tempted, when we are in Satan’s hand, remember Satan is in God’s hand” (Works 1, 259). Beautiful! Sounds like Luther’s famous line, “The devil is God’s devil.”

In expositing the point that Christ’s temptation occurred immediately before he entered his prophetical office, Manton offers the following lesson: “Experience of temptations fits for the ministry” (Works 1, 261). Manton did not merely moralilze this principle out of thin air to perk up his congregations’ attention, but he derived it from the Christology of the text itself. His point was that we as ministers are prepared for the ministry just as Christ was prepared for his prophetic office by means of temptation. Why? What was the purpose of Christ’s being tempted first, and congruously, what is our purpose in undergoing temptations? God’s purpose for Christ as for us was “for the recovery of poor souls out of their bondage into the liberty of the children of God” (Works 1, 261). In a word, Christ was tempted that he might help those who are tempted. And the same is true of us as ministers of the gospel. We cannot help those in bondage to sin unless we ourselves know what it is to be filthy, depraved sinners who constantly feel the Devil’s breath upon the back of our necks. Manton went on to say that God gave his Son to temptation by the Devil that “he should experimentally feel the power of the tempter” that assaults and endangers our souls (Works 1, 261).

Have we as ministers come to grips with just how depraved our sinful nature is? Are we in a constant and conscious war with Satan? We must for we minister best what we know and need ourselves. As Manton concluded:

Ministers should not only be men of science, but of experience.

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The Best Puritan Work

Posted on 03. Sep, 2009 by Mark Jones.

In my reading of the Puritans a number of works stand out.  Because of various reprints, John Owen’s works have received the most attention.  However, in my opinion, which comes from reading hundreds of Puritan Works, thus giving me some credibility, Thomas Goodwin’s short treatise, “The Heart of Christ in Heaven Towards Sinners on Earth”, represents the very best Puritan work I’ve read.  The Christology is quite simply breathtaking; but, more than that, Goodwin’s work shows the way Christology ought to be done, namely, with application to the ordinary Christian who sits in the pew each week.

Incidentally, this may be one of the most edifying posts from my previous blog and yet it did not receive the readership that I had hoped for.  Indeed, my review of “The Law is Not of Faith” or my response to Bruce McCormack on Enns controversy at WTS generated a massive readership, which shows, of course, that people are generally more interested in a good debate than devotional literature.  Sad, really.

Anyway, below I have summarized a small portion of Goodwin’s work on Christ’s heart in Heaven towards sinners on earth. Enjoy, I hope! [...]

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