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INDEX
Desertion (3)
The Messianic Psalms
Christ, the Image of the Invisible God (1)
It is instructive to note that those who
allow for the remarriage of the deserted believer and of the "innocent
party" have found it difficult to "hold the line." Luther even
permitted the bigamy of Philip of Hesse, creating a
huge scandal throughout Christendom. An Italian Protestant deserted his Roman
Catholic wife and children and moved to
Increasingly, in our "wicked and adulterous generation"
(Matt. 16:4),
churches are caving in on marriage,
divorce and remarriage. Congregations are being led by divorced and remarried
ministers, elders and deacons. Divorced and remarried people are coming to the Lord’s Supper, and
sometimes they partake at the table in
the same congregation or denomination. In many places, various grounds for
divorce are accepted and not just the one ground, adultery. The permission to
remarry for only the "innocent party," as well as being unbiblical (
As the cracks in the marriage doctrine
held by many are growing larger and larger, it is time for individuals,
families and churches to embrace that marriage doctrine espoused by Jesus
Christ, the church’s bridegroom and head.
In the attack on the biblical doctrine of
marriage, divorce and remarriage, the great truth of the unbreakable bond
between Christ and His church is being attacked, for the former is to reflect the latter
(Eph. 5:22-33).
The bond between Christ and His elect bride is that
of the everlasting covenant realized by the irresistible grace of Almighty God
and wrought by the indwelling Spirit. Our wicked sins can not break this bond;
nor can even death itself. For God is immortal, and our death
is a passageway into glory, and Christ’s death is our redemption, sanctification and glorification (25-27).
Rev. Stewart
O God, thou knowest
my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee
(Ps. 69:5).
A reader writes, "The whole of
Psalm 69
is clearly the prophetic words of Christ (e.g.,
Ps. 69:21;
cf.
Matt. 27:34).
But who is confessing sin and foolishness in verse 5? Could it be the imputed
sin of His people being confessed?"
This question brings us to the heart of
the messianic character of the Psalms. Usually conservative commentators on the
Psalms distinguish between the Psalms in general and the messianic Psalms, the
latter being those Psalms which speak directly of Christ. The messianic Psalms
include Psalms 2, 22, 69, 72, 100, etc.
There is a sense in which all the Psalms
are Messianic, for they were all inspired by the Holy Spirit of Christ. Christ
Himself speaks in the Psalms, even though He may be speaking through David or Asaph or Ethan. That Christ Himself is speaking in the Psalms by His Spirit is clear from
I Peter 1:10-12:
"Of which salvation
the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace
that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of
Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was
revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things,
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to
look into."
Scripture teaches that the OT prophets,
including the Psalmists, wrote what they did by the Spirit of Christ, and that
they, the prophets, searched their own writings to learn about Christ’s sufferings and glory.
However, the Psalms are unique in one
respect: they all testify and speak of Christ, as the whole of Christ’s work is performed
for, in and through those for whom He
died. It is hard to emphasize too strongly the importance of this. David
wrote many of the Psalms. He was infallibly inspired by the Spirit of Christ.
Christ by His Spirit was speaking in David and through David. But Christ by His
Spirit was speaking in and through David in such a way that Christ’s work for David was
reflected in David’s consciousness. And it was reflected in David’s consciousness in
connection with David’s own pathway in life with all its experiences, trials, victories
and sufferings, and as that pathway in life was determined by God in His
eternal counsel.
In other words, the Psalms are David’s (and Asaph’s, and Ethan’s) spiritual
biography, as Christ, the redeemer of His people, works His salvation through His people in their lives.
Christ speaks in the Psalms of what He has done. David speaks in the Psalms as
the mouthpiece of Christ. Every believer speaks in the Psalms as Christ works
salvation within him.
Christ said, "The Lord is my shepherd"
(Ps. 23:1).
The Triune God was Christ’s shepherd in all Christ’s suffering. Christ is the good shepherd who calls His sheep by name (
John 10).
Christ
leads His people into green pastures. The believer says, "The Lord is my
shepherd." The believer in whom Christ dwells and through whom Christ
speaks His own word, also speaks that Word as it
applies to his own life. He speaks it in all of his life—even when he walks through the valley of the shadow of death.
The psalmist said, "My God, my God, why hast though forsaken me?"
(Ps. 22:1).
Christ said those words on the
cross, for they were His words in the OT as He spoke them prophetically through
David. But David said those words in a moment of chastisement when God had
seemingly abandoned him. Nevertheless, it was Christ speaking through David and
in David’s own experiences in life. And every believer, at one
time or another in his life, cries out the same Psalm’s plaintive cry. This
spiritual character of the Psalms is
what makes them so rich.
Some Psalms speak directly of the
suffering of Christ and do so prophetically and specifically—as does
Psalm 69.
Yet,
it is Christ speaking through David
so that David himself is speaking, but he is speaking the Word of Christ as
Christ speaks in and through him. Enemies parted Christ’s garments among them
(Ps. 22:18;
John 19:34),
but they did
the same with David’s
clothes—perhaps at the time of Absalom’s rebellion. And so with all the Psalms.
Psalm 69:5,
quoted above, is also Christ
speaking in and through David, for only by the Spirit of Christ is any believer
able to confess his sins as David does here. But it is also Christ who speaks,
for the sins of all His people were imputed to Christ and He who knew no sin
was made sin for us (II Cor. 5:21). The questioner is correct. Christ cries out in
Psalm 69
that the sins of His people, imputed to
Him, were not hid from God. Christ cried this when He suffered the wrath of God
against sin on the cross. But because Christ said this first, and now says it
in us, we too are able to say it—and saying it,
find forgiveness in Christ’s blood.
Thus the Psalms were written out of the
personal experiences of the psalmists. They were, however, infallibly inspired
by the Holy Spirit. Christ is, therefore speaking in the Psalms concerning
Himself and His work which He does for and in His people. As He performs His
work in His people, He does so through His Word in the sacred Scriptures. He,
by the same Spirit who inspired the authors of Scripture, speaks His Word in
the heart and consciousness of the believer in connection with the believer’s own experiences in the pathway of life through which God leads
him. Thus Christ’s experiences become the believer’s experiences in his
union with Christ by faith. And so he
sings the Psalms with gusto.
Read the Psalms this way. Do so meditating
on each one, meditating on the truth that Christ speaks in and through you in
all the experiences of life through which God leads you. One thing is sure from
such an exercise: you will never want to go to uninspired hymns in your worship
of God. Prof. Hanko
Christ, the Image of the
Invisible God (1)
That Jesus Christ is "the image of the invisible God"
(Col. 1:15)
tells us something, first of all, about
God. Neither John in his visions in the book of Revelation, nor Moses on
The invisibility of God leads us to the
truth that He is hidden, far off, transcendent and incomprehensible to man. Thus
God must reveal Himself to us for us to know Him. His invisibility necessitates
His revelation if ever we can be His covenant friends.
Our text also tells us something about
Christ and His relationship to God, that He is "the image of the invisible
God." Certainly, the eternal Son is the image of God the Father. All that
the Father is so is the Son and all that the Son is so is the Father,
excluding, of course, their personal properties of begetting (the Father) and
being begotten (the Son). These exceptions excluded, the Son perfectly images
the Father.
Colossians 1:15,
however, is focusing on
the incarnate Christ as the image of God, for we are in the mediatorial
"kingdom" (13) of the crucified Saviour
"in whom we have redemption through his blood" (14). Thus our text
speaks of Christ as the image who makes the "invisible God" visible
(15).
Christ is the visible image of the
invisible God as the Word made flesh who dwelt among us, "and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father"
(John 1:14).
The apostles declared, "We heard Him and saw Him and handled Him" (cf.
I John 1:1-3).
Thus Jesus said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father"
(John 14:9).
As the image of God, the incarnate Christ
images God in his attributes (holiness, love, truth, etc.), works (creation,
providence and redemption) and will. He is "the image of the
invisible God," even "the express image of God"
(Heb. 1:3).
Christ is the absolutely perfect image of God in everything without
exception. No divine features are missing in the image; nothing is misplaced;
no glory is impaired or diminished. As the express image of God, Jesus Christ
is God, for only One who is God can be the express
image of God. Thus "all men should honour the
Son, even as they honour the Father"
(John 5:23).
Rev. Stewart
Covenant
Protestant Reformed Church
Lord’s Day services at 11 am
& 6 pm - Ballymena Protestant Hall,
Pastor:
Angus Stewart,
Phone:
(028) 25 891 851 - E-mail: pastor@cprf.co.uk - Website:
www.cprf.co.uk