Ben Zornes

Living and Dying to Show the Preciousness of Christ

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Sovereignty

The Supper as Theodicy

The Supper as Theodicy

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“Why do bad things happen? Where was God in my darkest suffering? How does a loving God permit evil in this world? Why didn’t He do something to stop my pain?”

These questions, and others like them, swirl around many folks’ minds. They object to faith in God because they don’t feel as if they’ve received satisfactory answers to these questions. So instead, they resign themselves to the gnawing coldness of agnosticism. But the Answer to such questions is here, on this holy supper-table. 

God holds up to our view a reminder of the worst thing that ever happened. God the Son took upon Himself all the grief, all the sorrow, all the pain, all the penalty, all the guilt, all the shame, and all the fear. Here is the broken body of the only man who never perpetuated the evil of Adam’s rebellion. Here is the guiltless blood of the true Victim, who died for us, His murderers.

In trying to engage in the apologetics of the problem of evil, Christians oftentimes contort God into a shape that will appease the inquirer. But we don’t absolve God by trying to explain that He was standing aloof in our moments of suffering. Nor is it truthful or helpful to say that God couldn’t have foreseen the evil things which have afflicted you. We must not make God into either a blundering stooge, or an indifferent observer.

Your sorest trial, your worst pain, your darkest chapter of sorrow were by God’s appointment. He’s telling this world a story, and the worst chapter of it is also its best. This bread & wine retell that story. Your sin is forgiven. Your suffering isn’t without purpose. Your God supplants the dark despair of sin’s misery, with the glorious hope of an empty tomb & an eternal, resurrection body.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

The Freeness of God

The Freeness of God

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There’s a draconian lie that repeatedly rears its head. It lures us with the false idea that somehow God is obligated to operate according to our rules for Him. Man wants a god he can micro-manage in a direction which satisfies man’s own vanity project. A god he can maneuver. A deity who answers to him. Man wants to whistle up his godling in times of trouble, and then tell it to get lost when he wants to indulge his debauched desires.

But this covenant meal severs the head of that lie. Here is God’s unfiltered, full-potency freedom. This sign demonstrates the sovereign freeness of God. No one bound Him to bring about our redemption. No one manipulated the Almighty to agree to our deliverance. No one made puppy-dog eyes at the good Lord so as to bend His heart towards taking pity on sinful man.

Rather, this meal is God’s sign that our salvation––from front to back, side to side, end to end––is all His doing. He took our cause in hand, and brought about our deliverance. All of this according to the mysteries of the purpose of His grace.

We operate in a world of blackmail, manipulation, backroom deals, mutual backscratching. Not so with God. There was nothing you could bring that would compel God to act on your behalf; no dark secret which could manipulate the Lord into saving you. Rather, from the boundless storehouse of His grace, He freely chose to redeem you by the blood of His Son.

God is free. And in this freedom, He determined to bind Himself unto His saints in a covenant of free grace. He bestows upon you all His grace, and delivers you from all your sin. He freely came to you, that you might freely come to Him.

So come in faith and welcome to Jesus Christ…

Sovereignty & Salvation

Sovereignty & Salvation

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Behind our baptism is the glorious truth of God’s sovereignty in man’s salvation. Without grace, we remain dead. Without the quickening of the Spirit, we remain a corpse. Without the breath of God, we remain dust. Unless God turns us, we won’t be turned. The reverberating truth of this covenant sign is that God turns you from your sin and to Christ.

Baptism says to you that though you once were covenantally in darkness, you were once dead in your sins, you were once under God’s wrath, by God & grace you’re now in the Light, you’re now alive in Christ, you’re now reckoned as righteous. Where once you were a slave to sin, now you aren’t your own, you’re bought with a price. You’re now a free son of grace. And so, live in accordance with what your Father in heaven says about you here in these waters.

So welcome our brother to Jesus Christ…

The Purpose of Pain

The Purpose of Pain

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A room full of people is a room full of pain. If we each filed past the microphone, describing the various pains we carry, we’d be here for a few days. Grief over lost loved ones, hard circumstances due to either your sin or another’s sin against you, chronic illness, endless financial strain, multiple miscarriages, family estrangement, hurtful words of parents, fears about current events, battle fatigue from fighting temptations. Were we each to share, it’d be a train of pain, after sorrow, after heartache, after trial, after infirmity. 

The response to this pain, by our society, is to medicate it. Pains and sorrows are to be treated therapeutically. If that fails, the dark alleyways of porn, drugs, or debauchery entice.

All this pain is the result of sin, but it isn’t the result of God’s absent-mindedness. Your pain, whether the result of your sin or others’ sins against you, is God’s kindness to you. Do you bear the consequence of your sin? This pain is like the smart of the discipline rod. Through that sting, God adjures you to mortify the sin that brought about that chastisement. 

But other pains are harder to explain. Why did God allow that to happen? Why did God allow them to do thus and such to me? Where was He? The answer isn’t to try to get God off the hook. You were hurt by some tragedy, and either there is a point to it, and God alone knows the purpose for it, or else it is pointless. One approach to explaining pain renders it all pointless, and there’s no comfort there. The Bible’s explanation comforts us with the knowledge that all our pain has a point. Through pain, God awakens sinners to their plight. Through pain, God draws us to cling to Him alone. So, don’t numb the pain through sinful vice. Let God put His salve of sovereign purpose on all your wounds, and so be brought to praise Him for His tendnermercies.

We naturally shy away from pain. We opt for numbing it through narcotics, TV, Facebook scrolling, obsessive gym work-outs, overeating, under-eating, gender reassignment surgeries, abortions, godless therapy, or slothful slumber. But we must learn to not look away from the truth. God is the Author of our pain. He ordains the dark clouds of our various trials. He ordains the chastisement we face for our sin. He ordains the trials we each face. The pain isn’t because He’s asleep at the wheel. Rather, pain is His means of awakening us to how things are not as they ought to be, and only by Him, only by His Son, only by the Holy Spirit is this world being restored. He drove our parents out of Eden, and ever since, His flaming sword has directed us to Mt. Zion, the City of our God, whose foundations cannot be shaken. We must stop fleeing the lessons hidden in our pain by seeking out all manner of pain-killers. May God grant eyes to see through the pain, and see His smiling face of kindness to us through Christ.

An Election Frame of Mind

An Election Frame of Mind

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This week our nation will elect a president, as well as vote on various other state and local officials, propositions, amendments, etc. Which is why, this Lord’s Day, we must plant our feet squarely––like a linebacker making a goal-line stand––on this basic profession of our Christian faith: Christ is King. That is a theological statement. It’s an ecclesiastical statement. It’s a familial statement. It’s an economic statement. As well as a political statement.

In the early days of the church, this confession landed our brothers and sisters in prison and led them to slaughter at the hand of gladiators and the mouths of lions. This confession was the north star for the various councils and synods during the first several hundred years of the church, and kept the church from many errors. It safeguarded true believers through the many heresies which multiplied during the middle ages. This confession gave courage to the Protestants as they proclaimed that the Word of Christ was superior to the word of man. It gave courage to our pilgrim fathers, who brought the Gospel to this New land of America. This statement burned in the hearts of many of our nation’s founding fathers. This statement was the spark that ignited the fire of the Great Awakenings.

And it is this statement, of Christ’s supremacy over this world which He purchased, which should inform us as we head to the polls, as we brace for whatever the god-haters do whether in victory or defeat, and as we go about our daily work. We know that our Lord Jesus holds the scepter of the universe. Which is why we will continue to proclaim through our worship each Lord’s Day and throughout our weekly duties: Christ is King. Christ is King. Christ is King.

It All Belongs to Christ

It All Belongs to Christ

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We often emphasize what baptism promises for us––the forgiveness of sins, the washing our conscience clean, the gift of a new heart. But we ought also to foreground what baptism promises for Christ.

Baptism is a promise that God gives faith, salvation, forgiveness, and resurrection to those in Christ. But it’s also a promise that God gives everything you are and have to Christ. Your hands, your feet, your silver, your gold. It’s all is His. Jesus lays claim to it all as your King and Sovereign. 

These parents are baptized saints, Christ promises all that His redemption purchased for them, but Christ also lays claim on all that is theirs: their child included. This is why we baptize the children of believing parents.

These are citizens of the Kingdom of Christ, and their child enjoys all the glorious blessings which are promised in the Gospel, and must hear all the warnings of the severe curses which accompany unbelief. Christ has laid claim to this home. This man, his wife, their child, and all their possessions belong to Christ and are to be rendered up to the King for His glory and service. This is God’s promise to us and to His Son in the sign of baptism.

So welcome, covenant child, to Jesus Christ.

The Sovereign of our Circumstance

The Sovereign of our Circumstance

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God’s Will For Me?

Many Christians probably wrestle with this question more than any other. We want to know God’s will for our life, as we do desire to honor Him with this flash of vapor that is our life. Piper’s “Don’t Waste Your Life” was emblazoned into the psyche of my generation of Christians. It has led us to be quite concerned with works of charity and mercy, gave rise to the “young, reformed, and restless” movement; for which we should thank God.

However, it brings with it some important considerations. When we look at what our lives could be for the Lord, we often forget to remember what our lives are for the Lord, right now. Singles often want to know how to discern who they should marry; young adult Christians want to know what college to attend, what career to pursue, and an endless string of “what ifs” and “what abouts.” Our desire to seek God’s will for our future is an attempt to acknowledge and obey the sovereignty of our God.

Sovereignty is Central

We know God has good works prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10), so we want to try to position ourselves to know what those good works are and get going on them already. However, it is of vital importance to remember that God is not simply sovereign over our future, but He is the Sovereign of our circumstance. Where and when you were born, the parents (or guardians) who raised you, the town (or towns) you grew up in, the church you attended, the siblings you had, the job your dad had, the activities your parents signed you up for, the first job you had, the friends you made, the opportunities that came your way, the instruments you learned, the movies you watched. ALL of these circumstances were overseen, ordained, and providentially stewarded by God to bring you right to the place you are sitting right now.

We sometimes wonder, “How did I get into this job, marry this person, end up in this situation?” It is all Sovereignty… through all the twists and turns of your life, God has been the unseen hand directing your path and circumstances. For instance, in seeking a spouse, remember that God doesn’t line up the several billion eligible mates of the opposite sex and say, “good luck finding My sovereign will for you.” Instead, He puts you in a church and community with a relatively small number of godly possible mates. You may wonder why your first job was stocking a battery and film warehouse (my first job); but by God’s determination those circumstances were for my good and His glory.

[epq-quote align=”align-right”]My present circumstances are not a matter for me to “pray away.” Rather, they are hand-selected by my loving Father to more fully conform me to His image. [/epq-quote]My present circumstances are not a matter for me to “pray away.” Rather, they are hand-selected by my loving Father to more fully conform me to His image. This is why the present day gender-bending confusion is so saddening. It is primarily an assault on placing our faith in God’s wisdom in ordaining our circumstance. My gender was lovingly chosen by my sovereign Father, that I might honor and glorify Him through all the challenges, temptations, and trials that come with being a fallen man in a fallen world.

The Only Sense for Our Circumstances

Indeed, it is this child-like trust that allows us to view the present sufferings with joy (Rom. 8:18). I am where I am now, with all the challenges, pleasures, quirks, blessings and trials because God has seen fit to tell my story this way. Now, this isn’t fatalism: whatever will be will be. Rather, it is a trust that God is indeed the great Purpose and “Purposer” behind this whole story of human history. The people I’ve met, the challenges I’ve faced, the books I’ve read, the seemingly inexplicable moments of my life, and even the sins I’ve committed have not thwarted His purpose.

Indeed, as a Christian, born again by the Spirit, the only way for me to look forward in seeking to honor God with my future, is to look back at how faithfully He has led me thus far. So then, my present circumstances only make sense when I trust that God has brought me thus far. Not only that, but it helps clear up that nagging question we began with, “What is God’s will for my life?” Looking at the “right now” as circumstances that God has ordained for me, and which He intends to use to His glory and my good helps clarify for me what to do next. Namely, I’m called to trust Him as I go about living according to His Word and His ways, knowing that He has promised wisdom for every decision. He invites us to seek first Him and His kingdom, and to trust that all the essentials will be taken care of.

Passive fatalism, which resigns itself to the grinding gears of the forces of the universe, and arrogant self-destiny, which attempts to chart its own course with no need for the Almighty, are mistakes which will lead to despair. Only faith in God and His past faithfulness, will help us understand the present and therefore gives us wisdom for “what’s next”? I’m here, not there. Thus, away we go…to do His will.

Ben Zornes