Last Lord's Day was sad as I finished my fifty-one sermons on Genesis, but I am glad to begin Exodus this coming Lord's Day. I've been preparing voraciously.

One resource I found and purchased is Theodoret of Cyrus' (393–460), Quaestiones in octateuchum (Questions on the Octateuch), a series of questions and answers on difficult portions of the first eight books of the Old Testament (Genesis–Ruth). As I've blogged before, I make it a practice to read at least one patristic exposition of every text I preach on, if available. Thankfully I have two on Exodus, Theodoret as well as Origen, to go along with my perennial favorite Jewish exegete, Nahum Sarna, and Brevard Childs' work.

As a side note, I went back and read some portions of Theodoret on Genesis and was happy to find some features that are in other patristic authors on the situation in the Garden. All the major strands of what our forefathers called "The Covenant of Works" are in the patristics. Here are a few references I have found in my studies over the past couple of years, which I hope to incorporate into an article someday on the incohate doctrine of the covenant of works in Belgic Confession article 14's language of "the commandment of life":

An example from the western church is Augustine of Hippo, who wrote in The City of God (12.21):

Man, on the other hand, whose nature was to be a mean between the angelic and bestial, He created in such sort, that if he remained in subjection to His Creator as his rightful Lord, and piously kept His commandments, he should pass into the company of the angels, and obtain, without the intervention of death, a blessed and endless immortality; but if he offended the Lord his God by a proud and disobedient use of his free will, he should become subject to death, and live as the beasts do the slave of appetite, and doomed to eternal punishment after death.

Augustine teaches, first, that there was life beyond the earthly life (“he should pass into the company of the angels, and obtain . . . a blessed and endless immortality), and second, that this was obtained by obedience to God’s commandments.

From the eastern church, two witnesses stand out. First, Theodoret of Cyrus (393–460) wrote soon before his death a series of Questions of the Octateuch. In question twenty-four on Genesis he asked, “Why did God plant the Garden of Paradise from which he would soon exclude Adam as a result of his sin?” Among the reasons given, Theodoret said, “Also, the Righteous Arbiter had to set the prize of victory before the athletes of virtue.” He went on to ask about the two trees mentioned in the Garden, saying, “Adam was set a trial with regard to the latter [tree of the knowledge of good and evil], whereas the tree of life was proposed as his prize for keeping the commandment.”

We learn from Theodoret first, that there was something more for Adam beyond life in the earthly Paradise of Eden, his “prize,” and second, that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a trial by his Adam’s obedience was the means of gaining the “prize.”

A second eastern witness is John of Damascus (676–749), known as the last of the church fathers. In his An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, he said,

When therefore He had furnished his nature with free-will, He imposed a law on him, not to taste of the tree of knowledge . . . And with this command He gave the promise that, if he should preserve the dignity of the soul by giving the victory to reason, and acknowledging his Creator and observing His command, he should share eternal blessedness and live to all eternity, proving mightier than death: but if forsooth he should subject the soul to the body, and prefer the delights of the body, comparing himself in ignorance of his true dignity to the senseless beasts, and shaking off his Creator’s yoke, and neglecting His divine injunction, he will be liable to death and corruption, and will be compelled to labour throughout a miserable life. For it was no profit to man to obtain incorruption while still untried and unproved, lest he should fall into pride and under the judgment of the devil . . . It was necessary, therefore, that man should first be put to the test (for man untried and unproved would be worth nothing), and being made perfect by the trial through the observance of the command should thus receive incorruption as the prize of his virtue. For being intermediate between God and matter he was destined, if he kept the command, to be delivered from his natural relation to existing things and to be made one with God’s estate, and to be immoveably established in goodness, but, if he transgressed and inclined the rather to what was material, and tore his mind from the Author of his being, I mean God, his fate was to be corruption, and he was to become subject to passion instead of passionless, and mortal instead of immortal, and dependent on connection and unsettled generation.

We learn from John that 1) there was something greater for Adam than life in the Garden, 2) that God gave a law to Adam, 3) that the promise of eternal life was attached to this commandment, 4) that obedience was the means to receive eternal life, 4) and that this obedience was tested in the Garden.

A Meditation on the Death of Jesus
Psalm 143:5
Good Friday 2008

CONGREGATION OF JESUS CHRIST:
THIS EVENING WE pause. We sit in silence and hear the story of our Savior’s death. We respond with the Savior’s very own words, even empathizing with his sufferings as he empathized with our weakness. This evening we join the Psalmist, saying, I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands (Ps. 143:5).

Let us remember those ancient days, which by faith are as yesterday. Let us meditate on what God has done in his story of redemption, which he has done for us. Let us ponder anew that old, old story, which is our story, our song, and our salvation.

Let us pause and meditate.

The Lord washed the feet of his servants but was betrayed by a friend. The Lord, who in his goodness created the world and continued to give life to those who rebelled against him, is hated by his creatures. The Lord who rules as King over all is subjected to the unjust legal system of men. The Lord who healed peoples’ sicknesses and diseases is mercilessly betrayed by his own. The Lord who was clothed in a garment of his own righteousness was stripped naked. The Lord who made man in his image to praise and glorify God is mocked and cursed. The Lord who separated the light from the darkness is covered in the gloom of darkness as he feels his Father’s wrath—My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The Lord who created man by uniting two substances—the dust of the earth and the breath of life—experiences the separation of the two. The Lord who mercifully and graciously promised a way of salvation to his rebellious creatures, confirming his plan over and over for thousands of years finally cries out: It is finished!

When we meditate upon the death of Jesus we experience the heinous consequence of our sin. By Adam’s sin we lost life and fellowship with God and the only way that life and fellowship could be restored was through death. We understand that it wasn’t for this person’s sin or that person’s sin that Jesus was put to death, but for my sins—

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee!
‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied Thee;
I crucified Thee.

When we meditate upon the death of Jesus, therefore, we experience the justice of God. More than just God requiring death for sin, Jesus’ death satisfies that justice. His death does not just demonstrate God’s moral government of the universe; it does not just demonstrate his love as an example for us; instead, his death quenches the once inconsumable fires of God’s wrath and justice towards me. Sin is extinguished! Satan’s power is nullified! My guilt is taken away!

When we meditate upon the death of Jesus we experience the wisdom of God. Who could ever have conceived of such a plan? In all the wisdom of the world’s philosophies and religions it comes down either to denying the existence of sin and evil—even God—or leaves satisfaction up to the individual. Yet our Triune God covenanted from all eternity to send the eternal Son of the Father to take upon himself our humanity, yet remain divine. In his death God can be both just and merciful; just in paying the penalty of sin to God and merciful in showering upon us the blessings of such satisfaction. In the death of Jesus God is both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom. 3:26).

When we meditate upon the death of Jesus we experience, ultimately, the love of God. As Paul described the shallowness of our love in contrast to God’s, saying:

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:6–8).

What wondrous love is this? Love so high, love so deep, love so wide, love so incomprehensible that our Lord even said while on the cross: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34).

Let us meditate this night on those days of old for they bring us God’s goodness and grace. Let us meditate on all that God has done for he does it for us. Let us ponder the work of the Lord’s hands—hands that flung stars into space yet were pierced for you and me.

In the name of Jesus. Amen!

This past Lord's Day (6 Jan '08) we began a series of sermons on what I entitled, "The Life of Gratitude." In this series we will be following the third section of the Heidelberg Catechism, which expresses the Christian's response to gratitude to the grace of God in Christ. I am very eager to preach this series since I have not preached these Q&A's for quite some time. This third section is outlined as follows:

Sanctification in General (Q&A 86–91)
Sanctification in Particular: Ten Commandments (Q&A 92–115)
Sanctification in Particular: Lord's Prayer (Q&A 116–129)

I want to encourage all the saints at OURC to get a copy of Thomas Watson's wonderful little book, The Doctrine of Repentance. It is available from Reformation Heritage Books for $6. It is a classic Reformed treatment of the grace of repentance, which our Heidelberg Catechism explains in these words:

Question 88. Of how many parts doth the true conversion of man consist?
Answer. Of two parts; of the mortification of the old, and the quickening of the new man.

Question 89. What is the mortification of the old man?
Answer. It is a sincere sorrow of heart, that we have provoked God by our sins; and
more and more to hate and flee from them.

Question 90. What is the quickening of the new man?
Answer. It is a sincere joy of heart in God, through Christ, and with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.

"And the Word became flesh . . . (John 1:14)

A Homily for Christmas Eve 2007

BELOVED CONGREGATION OF JESUS CHRIST:

LET US REJOICE and give thanks this evening! Let us cast away our sorrows, for the most wonderful of wonders has occurred— and the Word became flesh. Let us cast away our doubts, for the announcement is as certain as we hear it on our ears at this moment— and the Word became flesh. Let us cast away our worries and anxieties, for we are called to holy meditation this night upon the mysteries of life and the life to come— and the Word became flesh. Let us cast away our sins of anger, hatred, jealousy, enmity, strife, and bitterness, for he who was the object of them all from our hearts, lips, and lives has come to you in grace— and the Word became flesh.

This night we rejoice because we hear again the story of God’s preparation of the coming of his Son through all the twists and turns, the highs but especially the lows of redemptive history. This night we rejoice because our forefathers were not put to shame, who awaited in anticipation the coming of their God, their Lord, their Savior, and their King. This night we rejoice because God’s calls us to participation in the long-awaited story and we are so blessed to embrace it as our story by faith. This night we rejoice because it is in commemoration that we gather together and draw near to that holy virgin, that holy stable, that holy night, knowing that it has come to pass. This night we rejoice because all that we sing of about the past leads us to expectation of another Day, when this Word who was made flesh, shall re-appear and consummate his gracious work in our hearts and lives.

Rejoice and give thanks! Stand in awe before the Lord! Contemplate anew what the Lord has done for all peoples and for you! And the Word was made flesh. He who is became something he was not without ceasing to be who he was from eternity. The infinite Word who measures the heavens in the span of his hand became finite and was held by his young mother. The eternal Word, who is Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, first and last, became temporal. The immutable Word who changes not became mutable—hungering, thirsting, sorrowing, and dying. The invisible Word whom no man has seen and lived became visible, tangible, and embraceable. The Word through whom all things were created became a creature. The Word who sustains all things by the word of his power became dependent upon his mother’s breast, his father’s labors, and his creation’s necessities. The almighty Word who accomplishes his holy will became weak. Immensity was cloistered in a womb. The divine Word became human. God became man.

Beloved, this night we rejoice!

In the name of the Word made flesh. Amen.

A Greek, a Calvinist, and a Jew. What do these have in common with each other? These are the religions of the three resources I am using in my sermon prep on Genesis: John Chrysostom, John Calvin, and Nahum Sarna. You see, I am not a huge commentary reader, but am an eclectic reader.

I have long held the practice of checking out some church father in my sermon prep. This is what the Reformers did (see H. O. Old's volume on preaching in the Reformation and his comments about Zwingli) and I think it is valuable in keeping with the catholicity of the Church. For Genesis, there are three volumes of Chrysostom's homilies on Genesis in the series (vols. 72, 84, 87), The Fathers of the Church (The Catholic University Press of America). In reading these homilies you'll understand why he was called "chrysostom," the golden-mouthed, as his rhetoric comes out, his moral exhortations to his people, and his preaching of the mystery of Christ. Read homily 49 as a great representation of his method, as he applies the meaning of Isaac and Rebekah waiting 20 years for a son as well as his preaching on the virgin birth of Christ.

I also like to read some Protestant reformer, and this time it happens to be John Calvin. Not only is his commentary available, but two volumes of his sermons are accessible to us: one on Abraham and one on Isaac.

Finally, I have found Nahum Sarna's two books on Genesis, Understanding Genesis and his Jewish Publication Society Commentary amazing, thanks to the recommendation of Bryan Estelle. His insights into the Hebrew text and ancient near Eastern culture open Genesis in a way my congregation has never heard before. His comments also challenge the Christian to think Christianly, that is, why do we see Christ in this text when Dr. Sarna does not?

Preachers, what commentaries have you found helpful on Genesis? Is there anyone else out there that reads the church fathers?