Bill Smith, Author at Kuyperian Commentary

On October 22, 2018 By Bill Smith In Theology Like

An Upside Down World

The opening of Luke’s narrative seems innocuous enough: “In the days of Herod, the king of Judea….” Historical fact. Herod the Great (the king to which Luke is referring) reigned from 37 to 4 B.C. So, whatever Luke is about to write is within that time span.

However, if Luke had only wanted to give us a calendrical setting, there would have been other ways to do it. Sure, the dates are narrowed down for us as to when everything is happening (and that, in itself, is important), but that is not all that Luke is accomplishing with his opening reference. (more…)

On October 8, 2018 By Bill Smith In Wisdom Like

Gospel Catechism

Luke provides the clear purpose for his Gospel in his opening words: that Theophilus might be convinced of the words in which he had been catechized (Luke 1.4). The Gospel is written to be persuasive, to assure Theophilus that what he has learned is true. Luke doesn’t write simply to lay down a great number of facts about Jesus, but he sets his hand to join with others in writing a narrative that is an “orderly account,” a word in Greek that connotes that Luke is setting out a persuasive order of events so that Theophilus will be fully assured of the fact that God has revealed himself in the historical figure of Jesus the Christ.

This is the goal of all Christian catechism. Catechetical instruction is rooted in facts. In its most basic form it can be laid out in question-and-answer format. “Who made you?” “God made me.” Simple. Straightforward. Factual. Getting the facts right is vital to being catechized in the Faith. As we move through the Gospel, we hear of the virgin conception and birth of Jesus, the fact that he lived during the time of Herod the Great under the rule of the Roman Empire. Jesus is baptized, tempted in the wilderness, teaches, heals, is condemned, dies, rises again, and ascends to sit at the right hand of the Father. Facts. Vital, indispensable, facts. Facts that need to be learned. (more…)

On October 1, 2018 By Bill Smith In Theology Like

Head and Body

Luke writes his two volumes, the Gospel and Acts, to be read together. This is quite obvious from what he writes in Acts 1.1: “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach….” The story of Jesus continues in the ongoing life of the church.

Once you see this, the relationship between the two books becomes apparent. The body–the church–follows the head–Jesus. There are many parallels between the two volumes that tease out this theme of head-and-body. At the beginning of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit hovers over the womb of Mary and creates the body of Christ. At the beginning of Acts the Holy Spirit hovers over the disciples and creates the church. Toward the beginning of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit baptizes Jesus, anointing him with power for his mission. In the beginning of Acts the Holy Spirit baptizes the church anointing them with power for mission. In Luke 5 Jesus heals a paralyzed man. In Acts 3 Peter and John heal a paralyzed man. Jesus raises the dead in Luke 7. Peter raises the dead in Acts 9. Jesus sets his face to go to Jerusalem though he faces certain death at the hands of the leaders of Israel. Paul sets his face to go to Jerusalem though he faces the threat of death from the officials in Jerusalem. The trial of Jesus and the trial of Paul are also remarkably parallel. (more…)

On September 24, 2018 By Bill Smith In Theology, Worship Like

The Environs of the Spirit

In Luke’s two-volumes, The Gospel of Luke and Acts, the Holy Spirit has a prominent place in the life of Jesus and his church. Whenever the Spirit shows up, our minds should race back to the first place we see him in Scripture: brooding in the darkness over the newly created, unformed and unfilled world. He is the Breath of God that carries the Word to tear apart and put everything back together in a new unified, fruitful relationship: light and darkness, waters above and waters below, seas and dry land, vegetation and ground, and man and woman. All of this is done with an eye on creating an environment for God and man to dwell together (Rev 21.3). (more…)

On September 17, 2018 By Bill Smith In Theology Like

The Authority of the Gospel Story

Stories are powerful. As we read, listen, or watch stories, we become involved. We come to know characters in ways that we know very few people in the world. We hear their inner thoughts and feel their struggles. They become our friends in a way. Their dilemmas become our dilemmas. Our views of justice, love, mercy, and many other things are challenged, not just at the intellectual level, but on an emotional level. The more involved we are in the stories, the more they have the power to shape our lives.

The gospel is a story; a true story, history, but a story nevertheless. God is the great Author crafting the storyline and moving the characters all in place to drive the story to a purposeful conclusion. The Gospels recount this story as it reaches its climax. They record the story of Jesus, the one they proclaim to be the Christ, the Messiah. We read and hear the stories of Jesus’ birth, a few vignettes from his early life, his choosing of the twelve, his frustrations with the twelve, his healings, his hiding, his teaching, his death, and his resurrection. They are all the story of the gospel. (more…)

On September 10, 2018 By Bill Smith In Theology 1

Why Four Gospels?

Why do we have four Gospels? Wouldn’t it have been a bit more tidy for casual reader and scholar alike if we had one Gospel that would clear up any apparent discrepancies? The Holy Spirit guiding the writers as well as the church obviously didn’t think so. There was a need for four Gospels to give us different perspectives on the life of Christ; all completely consistent with one another so that they can be harmonized historically, but different so as to throw a different light on the Person and work of Christ Jesus.

The early church understood the number four to be Scripturally significant. Irenaeus, second-century bishop of Lyons, summarizes the early church thought about why we have four Gospels: (more…)

On September 4, 2018 By Bill Smith In Theology Like

Hyphenated Christians

Naming is an important feature of human life and the mission to which God has called man. When we name people or things, we create a way to understand them and deal with them. The unknown—the unnamed—creates tension and anxiety. If someone is prowling through your house in the middle of the night, you want to know “Who’s there?” When you are waiting on test results from the doctor, you want a diagnosis so that you can know how to proceed with any treatment. One of the first steps in understanding a person, situation, or an animal is to name it.

This started in the beginning just after God created man. God brought the animals to him to see what he would name them. God gave the man the responsibility to take dominion over all of the animals, to subdue them for the good of the created order. The first step was naming them. When awakened Adam from his death-sleep after creating the woman, the first thing Adam did was name the woman. He then gave her the name “Eve” after God pronounced all the judgments upon him, her, and the serpent. (more…)

On August 27, 2018 By Bill Smith In Culture 1

Male and Female?

“Transgender” people have been around for quite some time. Up until recently, we haven’t really had to take them seriously as a culture. They were always on the fringe. In many ways they still are. However, now our culture is not only tolerating them, but they are being praised for their courage of breaking free from “social constructs” of male and female foisted upon them by the interpretation of their anatomy and becoming the sex (or gender) they really feel they are on the inside. The media that feed our society are pushing the rest of us to sympathize and celebrate these new heroes. Gender identity has become so fluid that the binary distinctions of male and female aren’t enough. Facebook has dozens of options and a “Custom” button for the user to choose an identity.

The question that confronts the church is one that many of us haven’t had to ask in the West for quite some time. With our Christian heritage, we have accepted the categories of male and female for centuries. But now we must give an account for why believe these are still valid categories. Some dismiss this out-of-hand as silly, requiring no argument. But as we take the gospel to our culture, this is a question we may have to answer. Does the gospel speak to this issue? Does it really matter if someone believes he’s a female even though he has a male anatomy (or vice versa)? Does this have any bearing on whether or not someone is a Christian? (more…)

On August 20, 2018 By Bill Smith In Culture 2

A Beautiful Wall

The wall surrounding the New Jerusalem that John sees at the end of the Revelation is described as being great and high (21.12); a wall that is made of translucent stone (whether jasper or diamond; 21.18). This wall serves the purpose of distinguishing this city from other cities whose cultures are characterized by sinful patterns of life (22.15). The culture of Christ’s church is distinct. This distinction is not created by a cold, hard, plain stone wall. The wall that distinguishes us from the rest of the world is made of precious stone and is, therefore, beautiful. This wall, being translucent, allows the glory of God that is inside the city to shine through so that the world outside the city can see the life that exists within the city.

From John’s description of the city throughout, we know that this city is the reality of the church now in Christ and is what we are becoming. It is our present. It is our future. Christ has made his bride beautiful through his death and in his resurrection. The church can come and stand before the Father in beautiful holiness united to Christ. But there is also the reality that Christ is making us into a more beautiful bride through the Spirit’s work throughout history so that we might become what we are. As the church we are to see what we are being made and deliberately have our lives now on that trajectory. (more…)

On August 13, 2018 By Bill Smith In Culture Like

Being Holy

At the end of Revelation, John is guided by an angel to see the Lamb’s wife, which is a city (Rev 21.9). This city is what a wife should be: pure. She is, John sees, a holy city. Outside of her walls are “dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie” (Rev 22.15). They are the unholy. But the walls of the city enclose a culture that has integrity and purity. There is no weakness to compromise its strength. There is no blemish to compromise its purity. The city is holy like the God who created her.

John’s vision of the church is a bringing together of what we are, what we are becoming, and what we will be. Created in the image of God, we were created holy. Re-created in the image of God in Christ, we are holy (cf. Eph 4.21-24). As the bride, the Lamb’s wife, we are united to him, one flesh. His holiness belongs to us. In him we are holy. This is the reason we can dwell in this city in the unveiled presence of God, drawing near to him without fear of being consumed. Christ took our sins in himself, died for them, and rose again so that they might be forgiven and we might share in his holiness. At this present time, we who are in Christ by faith share in his holiness. The church is what John sees: a holy city. (more…)