Jared Cochrum’s Ordination Paper

DRAFT Ordination Paper

Jared Cochrum

2024

“Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.” - J.I. Packer

This quote from Packer is helpful in remembering the value of this exercise of summarizing my beliefs. While Packer is describing the danger of neglecting study of God, he is making the opposite point as well. Carefully regarding the study of God offers insight into reality, a vision of the Creator and, when performed with humility, can provide a means towards deeper awe and worship of the Lord God. I hope that this process continues to unfold in my own heart, mind and life, and the hearts, minds and lives of those in my ministry as I and they grow to know God more deeply.

Doctrine of Scripture

In Scripture, God reveals himself, his will, and his plan of redemption to mankind. Scripture is how human beings come to know God, and know what is necessary for salvation. Scripture speaks of the Word of God in two ways: Scripture as the Word of God, and Jesus Christ as the incarnate Word of God. It is through Scripture and through Jesus Christ that God reveals himself to mankind (John 1:14-18, Hebrews 1:1-2).

The Canon of Scripture

Holy Scripture is comprised of the 66 books contained in the Bible. These books were written by human authors under the authority and inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16), and no one may add to or subtract from these books or what is written in them without bringing eternal peril onto themselves (Revelation 22:18-19). Historically the Protestant Church has recognized these 66 books as those that belong to Scripture through recognition of divine authorship, preservation within the church, consistency with the rest of Scripture, and the self-attestation as being breathed by God.

The Authority of Scripture

Since Scripture is the Word of God, given to us through the Holy Spirit, then it follows that reading God’s Word is one and the same as hearing from God himself (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Thus Scripture carries the authority of God and, when rightly interpreted and applied, is to be what guides and rules faith and life.

The Efficacy of Scripture

Scripture is effective for teaching the mind and shaping the heart and life of the believer (2 Timothy 3:16). Scripture is effective in teaching about God, convicting of sin (Hebrews 4:12), comforting the believer (2 Corinthians 1:4), and conforming the believer’s life to one of increasing holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8).

The Sufficiency of Scripture

Scripture contains all that mankind needs to know about God, and thus contains everything necessary to equip the believer for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16). No additional special revelation is necessary for the Christian life. Consequently, Scripture also contains what is necessary to rightly interpret Scripture. This does not negate the need for inward illumination by the Holy Spirit, which is also necessary for true knowledge and belief (Ephesians 1:18). This also does not negate the helpfulness of tradition to wisely understand and apply Scripture so long as that tradition is subjugated to Scripture’s authority.

The Truthfulness of Scripture

Since Scripture is God’s Word, and God cannot lie, then Scripture must be truthful in all that it says (Titus 1:2). Scripture is not only true, but is the standard of truth (John 17:17). As such, Scripture, in the original autographs, is without error (2 Peter 1:21).

The Clarity of Scripture

Scripture, since it is effective, true, and sufficient for life and godliness, is also understandable. The ordinary Christian, using ordinary means, may, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and without extraordinary revelation, come to a true understanding of the meaning of Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:12).

It is of utmost importance that ministers recognize that Scripture is God’s authoritative, effective, sufficient, inerrant, and clear revelation. Without this foundation, all manner of errors will inevitably creep into both the teaching and the shepherding of the pastor. Confidence that Scripture is God’s true, inerrant and authoritative Word is what undergirds our hope as Christians that God has in fact revealed his plan of salvation to us, and we can trust that his promises of rescue for his followers are certain (Numbers 23:19).

Doctrine of God

Romans 11:33 states:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

This is a worthy starting point when considering God’s attributes. There are endless riches to be found in studying God’s character, and yet it must be marked with the humility befitting a finite creature attempting to understand the infinite Creator. As such, the place to begin speaking of God’s attributes and character is his knowability.

Knowability

As Paul states in Romans 11:33, there are aspects of God’s nature that can be known, because he has revealed them through Scripture and creation. Yet there is no part of God that humans will ever fully understand, because God’s ways and thoughts are higher than those of mankind (Isaiah 55:9). While that is the case, God has still chosen to bestow the honor of not only knowing true things about him, but also knowing God himself relationally. It is in that relationship that humans enjoy eternal life (John 17:3).

Simplicity

God is not divided within himself, nor can any of these attributes be truly separated from any of the others. Likewise, God’s entire being includes all of his attributes.

The Trinity

God eternally exists as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Each person is distinct, and each person is fully God. The persons of the Trinity are equal in their attributes and substance, and differ in their relationships to creation. This is seen most clearly in the plan of redemption. The Father sends the Son (who obeys the Father perfectly), the Son accomplishes the redemption, and the Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son (and obeys perfectly) to apply that redemption to Christians. There is perfect harmony and communion among the persons of the Trinity, and one will amongst the persons of the Trinity.

There is a mysteriousness to this doctrine. It is impossible to grasp the nature of God, and so all we can do is describe what has been revealed to us. The mysterious nature of the Trinity is a strong apologetic for the Christian faith, as it would be far more difficult to explain an infinite God that was fully understandable to the finite human mind. Nonetheless it is important to understand the nature of our God, as far as it has been revealed to us. Efforts to simplify this doctrine, or to extrapolate beyond what has been revealed in Scripture are paths that can lead to heresy. But adherence to the orthodox teaching of the Trinity ought to lead us to wonder and worship.

Aseity & Immutability

God is entirely independent of anything in creation. He does not need creation in any way, and yet still chooses to take joy in and show love to human beings (Acts 17:24-30). This is closely related to God’s infinity, or God’s independence from time. God is unlimited and unchanged by time, because he exists outside of time and is equally conscious of the past, the present, and the future.

Relatedly, God is immutable, meaning that nothing of God’s being, perfections, purposes or promises change (Malachi 3:6). This is critically important for the Christian walk to have confidence in the promises of God to his children. It is also the reason that human beings can find rest in God. We are constantly changing, and since God never changes, he can then be our Rock.

Omnipresence

God is omnipresent insofar as he is not limited by space. Since God is spirit, he does not have limitations related to size or dimension, and is present at every point of space with his whole being. This is not to say God acts the same in every place, but is present in every place. As such, no physical location or building can contain God, and there is no geographic place where humans can gain improved access to God or can escape his presence (1 Kings 8:27).

Omnipotence

God is omnipotent, meaning he has total control over everything, and is fully able to do all he wills to do. All things are possible with God, so long as those things are not in contradiction with his nature (Matthew 19:26). For example, God cannot lie, since he is the definition of truth (Hebrews 6:18).

Omniscience

God is omniscient, meaning he knows all things actual and possible at once. He fully knows everything that exists and happens, and also all things that could possibly be (1 John 3:20, Matthew 11:21). This is closely related to God’s wisdom, which means that God always chooses the best goals, and the best means to those goals (Romans 16:27).

Truthfulness

God is perfectly true in all that he says (Proverbs 30:5). What God says, as revealed in Scripture, is the final standard of what is true (John 17:17). This means that God is always and perfectly faithful in all he promises to do, a crucial reality for Christian confidence.

Goodness & Love

God is also the ultimate standard of what is good, or worthy of approval. As such, all that God does is, by definition, good. He is the only being that is truly good (Luke 18:19). He is also the source of all good for creation (James 1:17).

God is love, which means God eternally gives of himself to others (1 John 4:8). God’s love takes place within the Trinity eternally, as God the Father loves God the Son, and God the Son loves God the Father (John 17:24, 14:31). God has chosen to extend that love to the world, most clearly in the plan of redemption accomplished by life, death, resurrection and ascension of God the Son (John 3:16). As a result of this love, we are to respond with love to God, and then love other human beings as well (Matthew 22:37-39).

Mercy, Grace & Patience

These attributes are closely related to God’s goodness and love, and are perhaps best understood as how God’s goodness and love are particularly communicated to human beings.

God is merciful; meaning, he is good and loving towards those in misery. It is God’s mercy that he does not deal with us according to our sin (Psalm 103:10). God is gracious; meaning, he shows goodness and love toward those who deserve only punishment. It is God’s grace that allows Christians to be saved and live the Christian life (Ephesians 2:8-10). Finally, God is patient;  meaning, God often withholds punishment for a time toward those who sin because of his goodness and love. It is only because of God’s patience that any may be saved (2 Peter 3:15).

Holiness & Righteousness

God is holy; meaning, he is both distinct from his creatures, and morally pure (Exodus 15:11; 1 Peter 1:14-16). The introduction of sin in the Fall led to mankind’s separation from God, and the need for a plan of redemption. Christians are to respond to God’s holiness by separating from sin as they seek to honor God (Leviticus 19:2, Romans 12:1). God is also righteous, meaning that God always acts in accordance with what is right, and is himself the final standard of what is right. This is closely related to God’s justice, insofar as God always acts justly in accordance with what is right, and both punishes sin and rewards virtue (Deuteronomy 32:4). God’s righteousness has a transferable (or imputable) quality to it, as Christians receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a result of faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 4:22-25).

Jealousy

God is jealous, meaning he rightly seeks his own honor. There is no envy in God’s jealousy because he rightly seeks what belongs to him. Since God is the most glorious being, it is right for him to seek his own glory and honor.

Wrath

God is also wrathful against sin, meaning that he intensely hates all sin, and responds to it rightly out of his holiness. Since sin is worthy of the Christian’s hatred, this is something Christians are to emulate insofar as it relates to despising sin and its effects (1 John 3:4-6).

Will

God’s will consists of him approving and determining to bring about every action necessary for the existence and activity of himself and all creation. In God’s providence, he upholds and governs every aspect of creation according to his will. God works all things in accordance with his own will, and in the counsel of the Trinity (Ephesians 1:11). This attribute requires faith on the part of the Christian, since the Christian’s entire life is subject to God’s will, and often God wills that Christians suffer (James 4:13-15, 1 Peter 4:19). And yet, if God is good, loving, and sovereign, the Christian can rest in the comfort that God’s will is the best possible plan for the best possible outcome.

This is a different matter than what is often referred to as God’s revealed will and God’s hidden, or secret, will. God’s revealed will is what he has revealed in Scripture (Deuteronomy 29:29). God’s secret will consists of all that he has not revealed in Scripture or history about his plans. For example, God does not reveal the names of all the elect (secret will), but in Scripture has revealed the way in which men and women can be saved (revealed will).

Creation

Genesis 1 makes it clear that creation is the handiwork of God, who made the universe and all that is in it out of nothing by the word of his power, and that he made it very good. Creation’s purpose is to glorify God (Psalm 19:1-2). This will be fully consummated one day when all creation is brought into subjection under Jesus, who will finally eliminate death and effects of sin from creation, and then be himself brought into subjection under God the Father (1 Corinthians 15:28). In the meantime, creation groans as it waits for this last day of redemption (Romans 8:22). Creation is also a source of God’s revelation, or General Revelation. Creation testifies to God’s power and divine nature, so no one can say he never knew anything about God (Romans 1:20).

Mankind

God created man and women as unique image bearers among all his created works (Genesis 1:27). Adam and Eve were historical people, specially created by God, not via evolutionary activity. While all creation reflects something of its Creator, man and woman most fully represent God’s image on earth. That is both a descriptive and a functional title. Men and women uniquely bear God’s image, and have the ability to reason, understand, communicate, enjoy beauty and pleasure, and enjoy a relationship with God. Men and women are also charged with caring for God’s creation in such a way that represents the Creator (Genesis 1:26).

Male & Female

Given the current cultural moment, it is worth noting the fundamental significance of God creating humans as male and female (Genesis 1:27). Each person is made either male or female, and that is neither negotiable nor flexible. A man cannot become a woman, try as he might to change his body to match a female body. The distinction is fundamental for the human identity, and maintaining this distinction is critical for human flourishing. Ignoring or attempting to dismantle this distinction will inevitably end in frustration and pain.

Angels & Demons

Angels are spiritual creatures that dwell in the spiritual realm (Revelation 5:11). They are capable of making moral decisions that are either obedient or disobedient to God (2 Peter 2:4). While they are spiritual beings that are invisible to humans, in extraordinary circumstances, they can either take on bodily form (Hebrews 13:2), or can be seen with God’s help (2 Kings 6:17). Angels’ role, from what we know in Scripture, is give praise and worship to God (Revelation 4:6-8), serve as God’s messengers and servants on earth (Acts 10:3-8; 12:23), guard believers (Psalm 91:11-12) and carry out warfare against fallen angels (Daniel 10:13). Demons are angels that have rebelled against God. Satan is the chief demon, and is mentioned in numerous places in Scripture in his attempts to sow evil, accuse God’s people, and subvert God’s purposes. Satan and the demons will ultimately be defeated by God, and will be thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur to be tormented forever (Revelation 20:10).

Age of the Earth

In regards to the age of the earth, based on the evidence from Genesis 1-2 as well as the geological record, I lean towards a version of the Framework view, which views the description of the days of creation as a literary framework. That framework’s primary goal is to teach about God’s character, and is not attempting to offer a scientific account of the time periods of creation. It seems that Genesis 1-2 is primarily concerned with teaching that God is the source of and Lord over creation (contra the contemporary pagan descriptions of the creation of the world in the Ancient Near East) and is not attempting to answer questions about the age of the universe. However, as discussed above, Christians must recognize Scripture as the final standard of truth. As long as that priority is maintained in any interpretive discussion of the length of the days of creation, there is room for disagreement on the age of the earth.

Jesus Christ

The Person of Jesus Christ

The Son has existed eternally, is eternally begotten of the Father, and is not a created being (John 8:58). At his incarnation, Jesus took on human flesh to enact God’s plan of redemption for the world (John 1:14), and to rescue Christians in a way the law was unable to accomplish (Romans 8:3-4).

The Deity of Jesus

Scripture is quite explicit that Jesus is fully God. This means he is of one substance with God the Father, and his incarnation and existence as the second person of the Trinity in no way suggest otherwise. Jesus is referred to as God (theos) on several occasions in the New Testament. Jesus himself makes this assertion when he claimed the title of YHWH in John 8:58. The numerous miracles and displays of power all attest to his divinity and power over the created order. Finally, his resurrection from the dead proves his divine nature and authority (John 10:17-18).

In the incarnation, Jesus gave up none of his deity. As J.I. Packer has put it, Jesus laid aside no divine powers or attributes, but instead laid aside divine glory and dignity. While at times he may have chosen not to exercise his divine capacities (Matthew 24:36), he was capable of exercising them when he chose to do so (John 4:17-18).

The Humanity & Life of Jesus

Jesus also became fully human at the incarnation, and is and will be both truly God and truly human forever (Acts 1:11). The gospel accounts show in various ways that Jesus was fully human. He was born as a baby, experienced hunger and thirst (Luke 4:2), human emotions (John 11:35), weakness and frailty (Matthew 27:32), and temptation, yet was entirely without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

As fully God and fully man, Jesus is able to representatively obey the Father for us (Romans 5:18-19), suffer and die on our behalf (1 Peter 2:21; Galatians 2:20), rule creation in the way God intended (Ephesians 1:20-23), sympathize with our struggles and temptations (Hebrews 4:15), act as our heavenly high priest (Hebrews 8:1-2), and set an example of perfect living (1 Peter 2:21) and pattern of resurrection life for Christians to follow (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

The Resurrection of Jesus

Three days after Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, he was raised to life again. All of the gospels bear witness to this event, and the remainder of the New Testament’s teachings depends upon this as an historical event (1 Corinthians 15:13-19). When Jesus rose from the dead, he was the “firstfruits” of a new kind of human life, with a body made perfect and no longer subject to human weakness, aging, disease or death. His resurrection body was both a spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:44), and a physical body that could still walk, talk, eat, and presumably experience all aspects of human existence, but without aging, disease or any of the adverse effects of the Fall (Matthew 28:9; Luke 24:30).

Jesus’ resurrection is the guarantee for Christians that we will also be resurrected one day, with a body like his (Romans 6:5). The resurrection is also the guarantee that Jesus’ atoning work on the cross was sufficient, and that we are truly and completely justified before the Father (Romans 4:25). While we won’t experience the physical benefits of the resurrection until Jesus returns, we do get to experience the same resurrection power that raised Jesus in our spiritual walk (Ephesians 1:19-20). That power is primarily manifested in the work of the Holy Spirit to defeat sin in our lives (Romans 6:14), and to carry out the work of ministry (Acts 1:8).

The Ascension of Jesus

Luke records Jesus’ ascension, both in his gospel and the book of Acts (Luke 24:51; Acts  1:6-11). Scripture tells us that, after Jesus ascended into heaven, he was seated at the right hand of God the Father, and was glorified with a glory that will be complete after his second coming (Hebrews 1:3; Philippians 2:9-11). Since we have been raised with Christ, and, as Ephesians 2:6 puts it, seated with him as well, that suggests not only that our final home will be with Jesus, but also that we now share in part of his ruling authority, which will also be made complete after his return.

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, and eternally proceeds from both the Father and the Son (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit is the primary manifestation of God’s presence among the church today. In particular, the Spirit’s work among the church can be summarized as follows: The Holy Spirit purifies the church by cleansing us of sin and producing spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-25); He unifies the church by joining together the community of the redeemed in fellowship and resolves disunity (2 Corinthians 13:14); He reveals God’s Word and will by speaking to and through the prophets and apostles (2 Peter 1:21), confirming God’s presence in and among believers (1 John 4:13; Acts 2:1-4), guides believers for Christian living and direction (Acts 8:29), and illuminates the minds and hearts of believers to understand God’s Word (John 16:13); He gives physical life and animation to all flesh (Psalm 104:30); He gives new spiritual life to the elect (John 6:63); He gives power for service to God (Acts 1:8) and gives gifts to the church for the work of ministry (1 Corinthians 12:11); He empowers the prayers of believers (Romans 8:26); He helps believers overcome spiritual opposition (Acts 13:9-11).

Christians today can either grieve or please the Holy Spirit. There are a variety of instances in Scripture of warnings against grieving or resisting the Spirit (Acts 7:51; Ephesians 4:30), and a strong warning against blaspheming against the Spirit (Mark 3:29). On the other hand, Christians please the Spirit by keeping in step with the Spirit by seeking to repent of and kill sin in our lives (Romans 8:13), and walk in a manner pleasing to God (Galatians 5:25).

It is worth touching briefly on the debate as to whether all of the gifts of the Spirit are active today, particularly the miraculous gifts of the Spirit such as speaking in tongues, prophecy, healing, and performing miracles. I am not convinced there is a biblical case for cessationism, although I would be cautious about attending a church that actively practiced the miraculous gifts in corporate worship. However, I will quote J.I. Packer on this topic, as he imagines what John Owen might say that “…one can never in any particular case have more than a tentative and provisional opinion, open to constant reconsideration as time and life go on.” While I am cautious about the use of miraculous gifts in corporate worship settings, I am not closed to it.

Redemption

God’s Election & Call

The first step in redemption is God’s choosing of the elect, which took place before the world was created (Ephesians 1:4). The elect person is regenerated by the Holy Spirit to respond to God’s call (Titus 3:5). God’s saving call is extended to the person through the ministry of the Word (Romans 10:14). God’s call is effectual to salvation, and irresistible by the recipient of the call.

Justification

Justification is God’s declaration that one’s sins have been forgiven, and that he has applied, or imputed, Christ’s righteousness to the Christian. This justification is the result of a response to the saving call of God. The one called responds with faith. The result is God’s decisive, irreversible application of redemption to the believer. This means that the Christian is no longer under the condemnation of the law, and is no longer liable to be punished for his sin, because Jesus took that punishment (Colossians 2:14). It also means that the Christian is not just blameless before God, but has also been given the righteousness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). This lies at the foundation of what Paul means when he says that salvation is by grace, through faith alone, and not a result of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). While the believer must endure life’s trials with faith, God does not allow his saints to fall away, and thus guarantees that they will experience full redemption (Philippians 1:6; 2:12-13).

Sanctification

Sanctification is the process of the Christian becoming increasingly free from sin, and increasingly like Christ (Colossians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 3:18). It is a cooperative process between God and the Christian (Hebrews 12:1) that begins with regeneration when we are set free from the power of sin (Romans 6:17-18), and continues until death. This cooperation requires the Christian to both trust God for the power to defeat sin, and also to actively fight sin (Romans 8:13). This process will reach its final goal when all the saints are given new, resurrection bodies (Philippians 3:21).

Glorification

Glorification is the final step of our redemption, when Jesus will raise all believers from the dead (who are not alive at the time of his return), and give them new resurrection bodies like his own. From then on, none of them will die again, since death will be finally destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:54-56). While the prospect of aging and death is inevitable for all human beings, the promise of glorification is a great comfort throughout that process.

The Church

The Church is the new covenant term for all of God’s elect. While the term “church” is primarily a New Testament term, the Church includes all the saints both alive today and all the elect from the beginning of the world. While we cannot see the Church as God does (which is the invisible Church), we are able to observe the gathered people who claim to follow Christ (the visible Church). This Church consists of many local gatherings of believers, or churches which are expressions of the universal Church. A true, local church is where God’s Word is preached and heard, and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper are administered (1 Corinthians 11:23-34; Matthew 28:19-20).

The Sacraments

These activities are given to the Church as a gift from God to believers. Herman Bavinck helpfully explains: “[the sacraments are] instituted and distributed by God so that believers might understand more clearly and be reassured of God’s promises and benefits in the covenant of grace.” As such, these must be treasured by the Church as God’s kindness to us as his children.

Baptism

Baptism represents a symbol and sign of saving faith in and union with Christ. The act of baptism symbolizes the believer’s death, burial, and resurrection with Christ (Romans 6:3-4). It is the sign of entrance into the new covenant, and was prefigured by circumcision as the sign of entrance into the old covenant community. However, much as there are discontinuities between the old and new covenants, there are discontinuities between the signs of the covenants. For example, entrance into the new covenant follows repentance and an expression of faith in Christ. As such, the sign of the covenant is only given to believers once they have taken this step, and thus is not to be given to the children of believers.

My conviction is that the weight of Scriptural evidence points decisively towards a credo-baptist position. Two passages that have been important for my conviction are Jeremiah 31:29-30 and Acts 15. In the first passage, Jeremiah looks ahead to the new covenant which will inaugurate a time when the father’s decisions will no longer affect those of his children. I take this to mean that the new covenant establishes the need for a personal saving faith in Christ as Savior in order to enjoy the benefits of the new covenant. In Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council gathers to discuss whether or not the Gentiles of Antioch and Syria and Cilicia need to be circumcised. Not once is baptism mentioned, either in the deliberations of the council, nor in the letter that is sent to the Gentile believers. While this is an argument from silence, it is a sufficiently significant omission to indicate a great deal of discontinuity between the old and new covenant signs. As a result, I find it convincing towards the credo-baptist position.

The Lord’s Supper

The Lord’s Supper is the communal meal that takes place within the Church when believers eat the bread and drink the cup together. Jesus instituted this sacrament during his last supper with the disciples, and it has been carried on since that time (Matthew 26:26-29). The act of observing the Lord’s Supper both recalls the broken body and shed blood of Jesus on our behalf, which was prefigured in the Passover, and anticipates the final Marriage Supper of the Lamb promised in Revelation 19:9.

Jesus’ words to the disciples in instituting the Lord’s Supper were clearly meant figuratively (as they would come to understand immediately after this supper) and, as such, Christ’s body and blood are not literally present in the bread and cup. However, there is particular spiritual nourishment that comes from participating in this sacrament, beyond simply recalling Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross. The believer communes with Christ in a special, spiritual way when taking the sacrament (1 Corinthians 10:16).

There is also a unifying effect that the Lord’s Supper has within the church body when it is administered (1 Corinthians7 10:17). Following 1 Corinthians 11:29-30, any believer who is part of a gospel-preaching church, who is baptized, and after discerning the body (considering others and their welfare within the context of taking the bread and cup) should participate.

Eschatology

Richard Sibbes once wrote that “God reserves the best for the last…A Christian’s last is his best. God will have it so, for the comfort of Christians, that every day they live, they may think, my best is to come, that every day they rise, they may think, I am nearer to heaven one day than I was before, I am nearer death, and therefore nearer to Christ.”

I find that both true and challenging inasmuch as it is a reminder of the comfort available to believers in this doctrine of what is yet to come.

Scripture clearly states that there is coming a time when Jesus will make a bodily and visible return to earth (Revelation 1:7), and that no one knows when that return will take place (Mark 13:32-33). There is (or will be) some period of time in which Jesus reigns on earth (Revelation 20:6). All people will be resurrected, and all people will be judged, unbelievers to eternal damnation and believers to eternal joy as we reign with Christ over the earth (Revelation 20:11-15). Jesus will renew the earth, and there will be an end to all sin, death, disease, pain and sadness (Revelation 21:1-4). Regardless of the timeline of these events, we can follow Richard Sibbes in declaring that the best is yet to come for all those who have trusted in Christ.

The Millennium

As to the interpretations of the thousand years of which John speaks in Revelation 20, I lean towards the amillennial perspective that the thousand years referenced in Revelation 20:6-7 refers to the church age, in which we are living right now. However, I hold that view lightly, and am comfortable with the historic premillennial perspective as well.

There are many arguments in favor of the amillennial viewpoint, but there are two reasons in particular that have caused me to find this perspective most appealing. First, it strongly highlights the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the pivotal turning point in all human history, and the fulfillment of many of the Old Testament prophetic hopes. Second, it seems to best capture the prophetic tendency in Scripture to compress future events into a single vision, rather than a sequential, linear time frame.

With that said, I do not find the many of the arguments about the particular millennial perspectives to be overly concerning so long as the essentials are maintained. Jesus is going to return, and his return is imminent. There will be a final judgment, and a re-creation of the heavens and the earth that follows. Finally, as Sibbes wrote so well, we will be using the promises of Revelation rightly if we maintain our vision of what’s to come as both a great comfort to the Christian, as a way to anticipate Jesus’ return, and as a prod towards our evangelizing the world.

Call to Ministry

My call to ministry has taken shape over several years, and with the help of several godly mentors. I had the privilege of sitting under the ministry of Kent Hughes for much of my childhood. The benefits of those years were never fully evident to me until I interacted with other believers who did not experience a similarly faithful diet of Scripture. The Lord shaped my mind and heart from a very young age to love his Word, and to desire future church ministry to have a similarly solid foundation.  I graduated from Wheaton College with a degree in Applied Health Sciences. While I had begun the degree expecting to pursue further medical studies, my desire to pursue medicine steadily decreased during my four years in college, while my desire to pursue ministry steadily increased.

After graduation, I spent three years working as a fundraising consultant, while also leading the youth group at Hope Fellowship Church, and also helped to lead music as well. Jeff Brewer was highly influential during this time, and was encouraging me to consider seminary as a next step towards the pursuit of ministry. During this time I felt increasingly confident that I wanted to pursue some kind of ministry career, but did not yet have a clear sense of what type of ministry. I began attending Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and simultaneously began working at Hope Fellowship as a Pastoral Resident. Throughout my time at Trinity, I was conflicted about whether to pursue pastoral ministry, some kind of music ministry, or some other undefined kind of ministry position, but felt certain that I was where the Lord wanted me to be for that time.

Near the end of my time at Trinity, an opportunity arose to lead a church-based college ministry in Philadelphia. I spent three years there, during which time I grew increasingly confident that I felt a clear internal call towards pastoral ministry. My supervisor Gavin Lymberopoulos, my friends who knew me well, and several people in the ministries in which I served consistently encouraged that call, and affirmed my desire to continue in pastoral ministry.

In 2021, my family moved to DuPage County to work for Hope Fellowship Church again. That position has provided me with a number of opportunities to grow in my church leadership experience, preaching, pastoral counseling, and many other areas. The Lord has been very gracious to me to guide my path towards pastoral ministry, to expose areas of sin and needed growth, and to encourage me in his love and empowering presence for ministry. I hope to use the gifts God has given me to serve his people in the church, to grow in my ministry abilities, and to keep a close watch on my own life and my teaching (1 Timothy 4:14-16). I am grateful to be a pastor, and grateful to serve in this way for as long as the Lord deems fit.