The Pursuit of God - Chapter 8c - Living Grace Fellowship

Wednesday 06/08/16

Series: The Pursuit of God

Message – Chapter 8c – Restoring the Creator Creature Relation

Out of all the chapters in, The Pursuit of God, this one is perhaps the most important.

Regardless of all the theological differences people have with the Christian novel, “The Shack”, it made many very good points. One of them was the lack of a hierarchical structure within the Godhead. This statement the book made was true…until the incarnation! Once Jesus became man, He humbled Himself and became obedient even unto death on a cross.

The incarnation tells us more about what it means to be human than any other single thing. The Living Word Who was and is God, became man and as a result became willingly sub-servant to the Father and the Spirit.

This week I actually taught a short lesson on the obedience and humility of Christ in the incarnation, rather than advance further into the chapter. The issues at on topic are such that it requires a little more attention than one sitting could afford.

Embracing less – becoming more

In the incarnation, Christ is said to lay aside His privileges as God. This is true, but in a more real sense than most Christians have ever imagined. The passage in Philippians tells us that in becoming human, Jesus did not become less…but more. In the incarnation nothing was subtracted from Christ – He still retained all that had made Him God from eternity past. It was not a stripping away of Who He was as God, but a taking to Himself something that He had never been. The Creator, became the created. The Master and Lord became the willing servant. The All powerful became the completely dependent.

Perhaps the best translation I have ever witnessed of the truths reveal in this passage was by Wuest, and though it is wordy it reveals the true nature of the incarnation.

“This mind be constantly having in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, Who has always been and at present continues to subsist in that mode of being in which He gives outward expression of His essential nature, that of absolute deity, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His inner being , and Who did not after weighing the facts, consider it a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards, this being on an equality with deity , but Himself He emptied, Himself He made void, having taken the outward expression of a bondslave, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His nature, entering into a new state of existence, that of mankind. And being found to be in outward guise as man, He stooped very low, having become obedient to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross.” – Phil. 2:5-8.

This is a FOUNDATIONAL and incredibly important teaching, one I dare say needs a lot more attention but what we covered tonight was sufficient to illustrate the Creator – creature relation in a tangible way through the reality of the incarnation of Jesus.

Following our teaching we broke into groups as usual and discussed the following.

For Discussion

Before your minds get cluttered with other thoughts. What are some of your first blush reactions to Christ’s response to becoming human?

Knowing the humility it took to submit and obey without question – even to the point of death – how do you react to this level of nobility in His character?
How do you aspire to act in relation to the example Jesus left for us?
How do you relate all of this to what we have so far covered in this chapter (remembering that the chapter is called, “Restoring the Creator Creature Relation”)?
Discuss some ways our lives can be a living statement to God of, “Be Thou Exalted”?

Blessings!

This is where we ended our discussions on chapter 8c , Restoring the Creator Creature Relation of A.W. Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God. We will be progressing further into the chapter next week…Blessings!

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.

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Blessings!

Pastor Mark

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Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!