What a wonderful message yesterday from Psalm 2. Rodrigo showed us the rebellious plot of the wicked, the serious response of God, and His gracious offer towards us. Because of these truths, we shouldn’t be surprised at the unfolding of 2020 or news headlines that make us cringe. These are the reality of a fallen world rebelling against God and further proof that there is indeed nothing new under the sun. These seemingly uncertain times are not uncertain, people have been and will continue to rebel against God until our precious Savior returns. So even though things may seem uncertain in our estimation, God is still on the throne and everything is going according to His plan. As believers we can let go of worries about a mysterious virus, the next election or the next movement that attacks our biblical worldview because nothing can overcome the power and plans of God.

As I’ve had more time to reflect on yesterday’s sermon, I’d like to offer you three points of additional application:

Scripture is full of paradoxes. For example, how can God be one being, yet subsisting in three persons (i.e., the Trinity)? Or how can Christ be fully God, yet at the same time fully man? We are not talking about contradictions here. A paradox In the Biblical sense is a mystery not a contradiction. “A paradox is something we do not see how to put together, whereas a contradiction is something we do see cannot go together.”[1] Thus, there would be a contradiction if we said there is one God, yet three Gods. Monotheism (one God) cannot be Tritheism (three Gods). However, there is no contraction in saying God is one in essence but subsisting as three persons. This is Trinitarianism. There is mystery here, but no contradiction. Matthew 11:25-30 contains another Scriptural paradox (mystery) that may not be readily apparent at first glance. It is the paradox of divine sovereignty and human responsibility in the matter of salvation. We must not miss either one of these truths.

Pastor Chris’s sermon last Sunday was entitled “God’s sovereignty over salvation.” It was based on Matthew 11:25-27. In the previous context of this passage, we read of Christ’s severe denunciation of the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. Their unwillingness to repent and believe in Christ even though He performed many miracles in their midst is the reason he condemns them.

For today’s blog related to yesterday’s sermon, I’m going to go Question and Answer style, using a question sent to me shortly after the message and my response. I hope this clarifies a theological principle suggested by the text but not really developed in the sermon.

Here’s the question: 

Mike Tyson once famously quipped, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
 
In our text from Sunday’s sermon, John the Baptist had been punched in the mouth, figuratively speaking. He’d been unjustly imprisoned for speaking out against the sin of Herod Antipas. While under arrest, he sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah.