Bill Smith, Author at Kuyperian Commentary

On April 27, 2023 By Bill Smith In Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom 1

Cross Wisdom

“If God is all-powerful and all-good, how is the existence of evil possible? Either God is not all-powerful and, therefore, can do nothing about the evil, or if God is all-powerful, then he is not all-good.” This has been the “gotcha” question for many unbelievers through the centuries. There are answers to this question, but unbelievers who ask this are rarely satisfied with them. The issue is not so much a “purely theological” or “purely philosophical” dilemma. The issue is personal and moral as much as it is dogmatic. If I were to believe in a god, he must be a god who is all-powerful and uses that power to allow me to live my life without negative consequences. I want a god who frees me from all suffering no matter how I live. Some unbelievers may be more sympathetic to the sufferings of others, angry with the God they don’t believe in because he allows innocent people to suffer horribly. If they were God, they would arrange the events of history much differently.

What is God’s answer to this wisdom? The cross. The all-powerful and all-good God who created and sustains the world took on the flesh of man in the Person of his Son to absorb his own wrath against the sin of man and reconcile the world to himself.

Who in his right mind would believe such a message? This is insanity! An all-powerful, all-good God would find ways to avoid pain for himself and me. The word of the cross is a stumbling block to the postmodernist and foolishness to the modernist.

The rebuttals against the cross reveal not that God exists as an eternal dilemma but that unbelievers are insane. Those who scoff at the message of the cross are reality deniers. God is the Creator and sustainer of reality, and if our thoughts don’t align with his, then we are the ones with backward thinking.

Paul engages this battle of wisdom with the Corinthians in his opening salvo in his first letter. God reveals his wisdom in the cross of Christ. Period. To understand this wisdom, you must submit your mind and heart to God’s wisdom. No worldly wisdom will reason itself to God. The world cannot know God through its own wisdom (1Cor 1.21). We mistakenly believe that if man is educated adequately, he will be convinced. Think about it. No one can actually believe that the existence of logic, the ability to communicate coherently, and love can come from utter randomness. That is insanity. People must be able to understand that. Right? Nope. They refuse to see it, and you can’t convince them if they are committed to worldly wisdom. To people such as this, the cross will never make sense.

“But what about those philosophers who reason their way up to a higher power?” Paul would answer, “Did that higher power die on the cross for you? If not, it is an idol and no god at all.” “What about the scientists who give proof of an intelligent designer?” Well, they might have some good things to say, but is this intelligent designer the one who dies on a cross? If he is not, he is an idol. “What about the religious professional who believes that we are all going to the same god, just climbing up different sides of the mountain?” Well, there are serious conflicts between all of these various stories. The crux of the conflict is that all other religions of the world don’t have a God of the cross. “What about the person who believes in spirituality?” If his spirituality doesn’t include the fact that the Spirit proceeds from a crucified God, then his spirituality is worldly wisdom and futile. He still doesn’t understand the world because he refuses to submit to the wisdom of God.

Why does the cross make sense? Paul answers that question when he says, “It pleased God” to use this “moronic” proclamation of the cross to save those who believe (1Cor 1.21). God determined in himself that the cross is the way the world is put in order and moves toward its purpose. Whether or not the cross satisfies the wisdom of man doesn’t matter. Man doesn’t get a vote. His opinion and pleasure don’t determine the purpose of creation, especially since he is a part of it and has his purpose defined by his Creator.

Therefore, man’s fundamental calling is to submit to the wisdom of God by embracing the message of the cross and then living out this cruciform wisdom. Cruciform wisdom patterns its life according to the self-giving love revealed by God through the cross. Worldly wisdom trains you to look out for yourself, using and stepping on people to exalt yourself. Cruciform teaches you that exaltation comes through humbling yourself and serving others. Worldly wisdom trains you to indulge yourself in the name of liberty. Cruciform wisdom teaches you to deny your impulses for the joy set before you. Worldly wisdom teaches you to take vengeance on others, holding on to bitterness and unforgiveness until your sense of justice is satisfied. Cruciform wisdom teaches you to forgive even as God has forgiven you for Christ’s sake.

The world will think you are crazy, but you are the sane one.

On April 20, 2023 By Bill Smith In Culture, Family and Children, Theology, Wisdom Like

The Glory & Shame of Family

God made man glorious and destined him for greater glory. Between these glories, he would move from glory to glory incrementally. Man’s glory is wrapped up in his calling to take dominion over the world. To obtain that glorious state of rule over the creation, man must become better than he is and more than he is. With this, his responsibility grows, and he becomes weightier.

Fundamental to this progressive glorification is the family. God initially made man more than he was by creating the woman and making her one flesh with him, adding to the man. Future children born from this relationship will continue to add glory, making man more than he was, better than he was, and expanding his rule over the earth.

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On April 13, 2023 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom Like

Faith & Shame

“For we walk by faith and not by sight.” So says the apostle Paul in 2Corinthians 5.7. Paul is, of course, dealing with a particular issue in that context, but this statement is a general principle of the Christian faith that he is applying. Paul is laying down the way Christians must walk in every area of life: by faith. Faith is relying upon what God says and having your thoughts, actions, and affections shaped according to his word. Faith is thinking Christianly.

Learning this way of life is a struggle. We have enemies within and without. Our own sin and our own word of authority fight submission to what God says. We hear the voices of the world echoing the words of the devil, “Has God really said?” God’s authority is challenged in our lives at every turn. We are tempted not to listen to him and exalt our own word or the words of others above his, conforming our lives to those words.

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On April 9, 2023 By Bill Smith In Theology, Wisdom Like

Wisdom: By Me Kings Reign

“By me kings reign.” ~Wisdom
Proverbs 8.15

In his resurrection, Jesus is declared to be the “Son of God with power” (Rom 1.4). Whenever we hear of Jesus being the Son of God, our minds might immediately race to claims of divinity. Though Jesus is the incarnation of the eternal Son, that is not exactly what Paul is talking about. The “son of God” title has a long and storied history among men. Adam is the son of God (Lk 3.38). Israel is God’s son, his firstborn (Ex 4.22, 23). David’s son is God’s son (2Sm 7.14; 1Chr 17.11-14). All of these mortals rightfully claimed the title “son of God.”

There are many layers of meaning to the title. One of those layers speaks of being a king. Adam was the original king of creation, having been given dominion over everything on earth (Gen 1.28). This kingship passed through Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob became Israel, the man, and then Israel, the nation. Israel came to be embodied in the king of Israel, David’s son. The Father promised David’s son that he would inherit the nations, ruling them with a rod of iron (Pss 2; 110).

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On April 8, 2023 By Bill Smith In Theology, Wisdom Like

Holy Saturday: Wisdom’s Patience

Some situations must be endured. There are no quick fixes, easy outs, or immediate relief. From the common cold to grieving the loss of a loved one, there is no speeding up the process. There is only patience and hope.

Jesus was born with the promise of being exalted to be Lord of all, but exaltation doesn’t come immediately after the manger. He must grow in wisdom. Wisdom must endure not only arduous situations but also the normal passage of time. There is no rushing it. Training takes time.

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On April 7, 2023 By Bill Smith In Theology, Wisdom Like

Dying For Wisdom

Jesus has been a faithful son in the old creation, taking it as far as possible. John records this in his Gospel as Jesus performs the first seven of eight signs. These signs were mighty acts, much like the signs and wonders Yahweh worked in the land of Egypt to deliver his people. From turning the water into wine to raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus faithfully executed his mission as the new and last Adam to take dominion over the creation and rule it in wisdom.

Raising Lazarus from the dead was the seventh sign. It was a mighty act, to be sure. It was good, but there was also something not good about it: Lazarus would die again. This was as far as the old creation could go. To bring the world into the place the Father desires, where sin’s death-sting will no longer have a stranglehold on man, the Son must have more power and wisdom.

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On April 6, 2023 By Bill Smith In Discipleship, Wisdom 2

Maundy Thursday: Wisdom’s Love

“Everybody wants to save the Earth, but nobody wants to help mom do the dishes.” This quip from P. J. O’Rourke captures well how many of us with big visions don’t like to do the menial things thinking that they are beneath us and/or they don’t contribute to the grand vision that we have for ourselves. We are going to do big things. Big things, I tell you! We can’t waste our time piddling with trifles such as doing the dishes or taking out the trash. We will build and rule an empire, whether by slaying all the giants in social media discussions or conquering the business world. Whatever domain we plan to establish, the menial tasks don’t fit into our strategy.

There is nothing wrong with having big visions for our future. Jesus himself had a big vision, we might say, for ruling the entire created order. In John 17, he prays that the Father would fulfill his hope for this rule when he prays that his Father would glorify him. When riding into Jerusalem days before his death to the acclamations of the crowd that he was the King of Israel, Jesus accepted this title in the present and as his destiny. The king of Israel, the son of David, is a new Adam, the one to whom dominion of the created order is given. He will not be a regional king over a little plot of land and the ethnic boundaries of the Jews. Jesus shall reign where ‘ere the sun does his successive journeys run.

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On March 30, 2023 By Bill Smith In Theology, Wisdom Like

Growing In Wisdom

“By me kings reign.” ~Wisdom
Proverbs 8.15

Wisdom is a gift of God that is developed by responding faithfully in the crucible of discipline. Wisdom does not come merely by reading books, listening to sermons, or receiving counsel. All of those things and more are necessary, but there is no substitute for experience, the place where your senses are exercised by habitual practice to discern good and evil (Heb 5.14). Discipline involves suffering; therefore, no discipline is pleasant but painful (Heb 12.11). However, it is only through discipline that we are trained in wisdom, and wisdom is necessary for us to grow up to be like God and to accomplish our mission of dominion in the world. To become kings, we need wisdom. To gain wisdom, we must endure suffering.

The pattern for gaining wisdom through suffering is established in the beginning, even before the fall. God’s son, Adam, was created as an individual man who was given the task of dominion. That task could not be completed alone. God declared that it was not good that man should be alone. God led his son to see that his condition was not good as he exercised his first act of dominion by naming the animals. Adam sees that they come in pairs, male and female. They correspond to one another. He doesn’t have a female who corresponds to him. So (using a bit of imagination here), he calls out to his Father, “All these animals come in pairs as male and female. I’m alone. This isn’t good. I need a female who will correspond to me.”

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On March 16, 2023 By Bill Smith In Theology, Wisdom Like

Generosity

There is one who scatters and increases and one who withholds more than is right only to be in need.
~Proverbs 11.24

God is generous. God gives. That is who he is and what he does. Generosity is his character and the culture of the divine family. In the eternal relations of Father, Son, and Spirit, there is a constant giving, receiving, and giving back. Jesus, revealing his eternal relationship with the Father, tells the Jews that the Father has life in himself and has given to the Son to have life in himself (Jn 5.26). The Son, glorified by the Father, gives glory back to the Father (Jn 17.1). The Spirit is giving to the Father and the Son as the bond of love between them. Creation itself is a gift of each member of the Godhead to one another, and they continue to give generously.

All creation, with man as its apex, receives life from the Trinity, not only initially but continually, moment by moment. When creation fell under the curse of sin, God revealed the depth of his generosity by the Father giving the Son, the Son giving his life, and the Spirit being given to grant us life from the dead.

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On March 9, 2023 By Bill Smith In Counseling/Piety, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom Like

Unlocking Potential

“An abundance of food is in the fallow ground of the poor, but it is swept away through injustice.”
~Proverbs 13.23

If I gave you a treasure map and told you, “X marks the spot. There is a 100% guarantee that the treasure is there. Go, find it, and it is yours.” You might ask what tools you will need to retrieve the treasure, but it is doubtful that you would turn down such an opportunity. The potential to be wealthy is a good motivator.

The truth is you are promised riches and a way to retrieve them. Not only that but you have also been told what tools you need. The only question is, How badly do you want to be wealthy?

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