Bill Smith, Author at Kuyperian Commentary

On May 23, 2024 By Bill Smith In Theology Like

The Circumcision of Christ

Circumcision is not a subject usually talked about in polite conversation. It can be a bit awkward as you are reading aloud through the Scriptures with your young children, and circumcision is the focus of the text. The discussion of circumcision makes something that is private and shameful (that is, exposing nakedness) public. Paul’s cryptic phrase in Philippians 3:18, “whose glory is their shame,” may be referring to the Jews bragging about their circumcision. Exposing your private parts before all is shameful.

Nevertheless, circumcision plays a significant role in the redemption of the world and is a prominent theme in Scripture.

(more…)

On May 16, 2024 By Bill Smith In Church, Discipleship, History, Theology 2

Pentecostal Temple

When the construction of the Tabernacle was complete, God declared his approval by covering and filling it with his glory (Ex 40:34). Moses couldn’t enter the tent because of the glory cloud (Ex 40:35).

When the construction of Solomon’s Temple was complete, after Solomon prayed his prayer of dedication, fire came from heaven, lit the bronze altar, consumed the offerings, and the glory of Yahweh filled the temple (2Chr 7:1). The priests were unable to enter the house because the glory of Yahweh filled the house (2Chr 7:2).

When the construction of the post-exilic or restoration Temple was complete, there is no record of a historical event like the glory of God filling the Tabernacle or Solomon’s Temple. God promised that he would “fill this house with glory” so that “the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former” (Hag 2:7, 9). God’s glory fills the post-exilic Temple of Ezekiel’s vision (Ezek 43:1-12), but no record exists of a priest or king praying and fire and cloud filling the Temple … until Pentecost.

(more…)

On May 9, 2024 By Bill Smith In Culture Like

Ascension

Tucked away on a Thursday within the fifty days of Easter, ten days before Pentecost Sunday, is Ascension Day. Holy Week at the end of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday receives a great deal of attention in the church. Many churches will even observe some form of Ash Wednesday and, possibly, Shrove Tuesday to kick off the Lenten. However, Ascension Day comes and goes in many of our churches without much of a second thought. Maybe we push its recognition to the following Sunday, but you just don’t hear that much about Ascension Day. Besides, who wants to meet on Thursday?

Is it really that big of a deal in Scripture? Luke draws attention to the historical event of the Ascension of Christ at the end of his Gospel and the beginning of Acts, but I suppose we have to know the history of the resurrected Christ before the church received the Spirit. The Ascension only takes up a few verses in Scripture, right? Not really. The historical record of Jesus’ ascension only takes a few short passages, but ascension is a major theme in Scripture that Jesus takes up and fulfills.

(more…)

On May 2, 2024 By Bill Smith In Church, Discipleship, Theology, Worship 1

Angels

While playing prominent roles in history, the nature and function of angels remain mysterious to a great degree. We meet them in the first pages of Scripture. The serpent is an angelic creature (something we learn more about as Scripture unfolds). Cherubim, angels, guard the way to the Tree of Life after the man and woman are expelled. Angels visit Abraham. The angel of Yahweh leads the children of Israel through the Sea and in the wilderness. Cherubim adorn the Tabernacle and Temple. Angels bring messages from God to Daniel (see Dan 10), Zechariah, and Mary (Lk 1). Four-faced angels make up the throne chariot of God, as seen in Ezekiel 1. Angels play a prominent role in the Book of Revelation. Angels are everywhere in history, but we seem to know very little about them.

By carefully examining Scripture, we can begin to unravel the mysteries surrounding angels and gain insights into their significant role in God’s economy.

(more…)

On April 25, 2024 By Bill Smith In Church, Discipleship, Theology Like

One Church. One Heartbeat.

Back in 2016, LSU’s athletic director hired a native son, Ed Orgeron, to be the head football coach. Known for his gravelly voice coupled with a Cajun accent, he stepped up to his first press conference, pledging that he would quickly build a championship team. The means to the team’s success would be captured in the mantra “One team. One heartbeat.” Team members must be committed to one another with no prima donnas. They must move as one man out on the field, sharing the same commitments, love, loyalty, and goals. They must have one heart. If they did this with the talent they had, they would grow into a team that would win a championship. In 2019, they did win the championship with arguably the best college football team ever. (I’m a tad bit biased, and I don’t want to talk about what happened after that.)

The apostle Paul’s concern for the church at Colossae (and Laodicea) is that they grow to maturity as individuals and as a church. The path to maturity and, in some sense, its goal is “One church. One heartbeat.” Paul fights (Col 2:1) through all that he suffers as well as through teaching the churches through his letters (cf. Col 4:16) so that “their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, so as to come to all the riches of the full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery: Christ” (Col 2:2). Within that statement, Paul gives a perichoretic trinity of characteristics that move the church and its individual members to maturity. We are encouraged as we are knit together in love, and being encouraged through our oneness in love moves us to the full assurance of our faith in the gospel.

(more…)

On April 18, 2024 By Bill Smith In Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom 1

Me-Time & Maturity

Children are born believing that everyone around them is there to serve them. I suppose that this would have been true even before the fall. They are entirely dependent upon everyone else, and when they make a need known, someone is there to serve them. That would have happened in a world without sin. But when you add sin to this creation reality, selfishness is the result. This sinfulness is the foolishness bound up in a child’s heart from birth (Pr 22:15).

One aspect of maturing is gaining a sense of otherness; the whole world is not all about me, but I am to be serving others. Serving others involves putting others’ genuine needs above my personal comforts. The greatest example of this is, of course, our Lord Jesus Christ. When instructing the Philippians to look not only to one’s own interests but also for the interests of others, Paul turns immediately to Christ’s self-emptying at the cross that secured our salvation (Phil 2:1-8). He follows this up later with examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus. Each gave himself in particular ways for the needs of others, following Christ’s example.

(more…)

On April 11, 2024 By Bill Smith In Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom 1

Adulting

“Adulting is hard. I just can’t today.” “Adulting. Horrible. Would not recommend.” These and other similar sentiments have been popular over the past ten to fifteen years. People don’t want to grow up. Growing up means more responsibility, and responsibility means work, and work means that I don’t get to have “me-time” and do all the fun things I want to do. Refusal to mature or mature with joy and dignity is evident throughout Western culture. Young men don’t want to take on the responsibility of a wife and children. They will use every excuse in the book not to try to find a wife. The red-pill masculinity gurus recite the numbers concerning the bias against men in family court, so men retreat to staying children the rest of their lives, afraid to take risks. Young women with the fantasy of having innumerable choices of men because of all the connections they have on social media refuse to “settle” for anything less than the top one percent of men and neglect to take on the responsibility of being a wife and mother. Men and women get on social media and give their sob stories about how having a job and paying bills is hard. They don’t know if they can take it. Adulting is hard.

(more…)

On April 4, 2024 By Bill Smith In Theology, Worship 1

War & Peace

When President Biden declared Easter Sunday “Transgender Visibility Day,” American Christians took to social media platforms to express their outrage at a blatant finger in the eye to Christ and his church. It is not enough that the White House pushes this LGBTQ+ agenda throughout the year, giving an entire month to celebrate these sins that disorder and destroy. Now, they are trying to re-order the Christian calendar, which has set the rhythms of American life from its earliest days. The agenda is clear: we are at war with the Christian faith and want to see its vestiges wiped out of our society. People hate God. They don’t hate the concept of “god.” They don’t hate certain gods. They hate the God who has revealed himself in the Person of Jesus. The one true and living God.

Hatred of God runs deeper than you might think. What the Biden administration did is obvious hostility, but the truth is that hatred of God is endemic to all humans, including you.

(more…)

On March 31, 2024 By Bill Smith In Culture Like

How God Became King: Resurrection

God created man in his image, giving him dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts, and everything that creeps on the earth. The man was ordained to rule the beasts.

The serpent was wiser than any other beast of the field, but he was one of the beasts of the field. The man was to rule the serpent. Instead, the man submits to the serpent, allowing the serpent to have dominion over him. When Yahweh God comes for his inspection, discovering what the man has done, he clothes the man in the skin of a beast. Clothing the man in beast skin is a grace that covers the man’s sin, but there is another dimension to it. The man has become beastly. He is under the dominion of the beast. The world is upside down. Adam needs a son to set things right, a man who will do what he failed to do and take dominion over the beast.

(more…)

On March 30, 2024 By Bill Smith In Theology, Wisdom, Worship 1

How God Became King: Where Is God?

Holy Saturday seems to be that day that is lost within all the Holy Week observances. We go through the feast of Maundy Thursday, the solemn vigil of Good Friday, and then we simply wait around for Resurrection Sunday morning. But what happened Saturday? Well, not much. But that is actually the point, and it deserves some attention.

In Matthew’s Gospel, we hear about events that happen in between Friday and Sunday, what, on the church calendar, is called Holy Saturday. We know the end of the story. We anticipate the end of the story. And well we should because Matthew has given us explicit statements of Jesus as well as hints of anticipation throughout his record of Jesus’ life. But all of this occurs in history, which means that it takes time. Sometimes we want to jump over this part and immediately start reading the final chapter. If we do, we miss an important part of the gospel story and the opportunity to understand just a little better how God works.

(more…)