You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. (Hebrews 1.9)

There are three phrases which deal with passion.

1. You have loved righteousness;
2. You have hated iniquity;
3. God has anointed you with the oil of joy.

Although Christ came to be our Lord and our Saviour, He also came to be our perfect example; the man worthy of following. ‘Disciples’ learn to be like their Master.

1. The apostle John declares that ‘God is light,’ meaning that God is perfectly holy and righteous. Jesus Christ perfectly manifested this righteousness in His earthly life. Compassion and patience, love and mercy, giving attention to the poor and needy, to women and children, so often marginalised in the culture of the day. We, His followers, are called to manifest those same qualities in our day-to-day lives.
2. I wonder what specific incident(s) from the life of Christ were in the writer’s mind when he wrote that Christ ‘hated wickedness.’ Among His strongest words were the rebukes to those who bought and sold in and around the temple, first in John 2; in a later incident, recorded in the other three gospels, Christ announced that the temple had been made a ‘den of thieves.’

In our ‘politically correct’ culture, such an emotive response to what we see around us can appear insensitive. But that is why love for righteousness is also listed. Christ loved righteousness AND hated iniquity. We are called to do the same. We might argue that they cannot be separated. If we love those who are marginalized, then we hate the system that creates such marginalization.

3. It is striking that the writer to the Hebrews twice refers to Christ being joyful, the other statement being in chapter 12; ‘who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising its shame.’ Joy is an eternal quality. It is a proper response to the utter generosity of God. It is mentioned alongside suffering, since joy remains even in our experience of suffering.

Followers of Jesus Christ cannot be miserable! We are recipients of immeasurable bounty from God Himself through Jesus Christ. We are utterly unworthy of the least of this bounty. Our response must be gratitude and joy.

And so, we bring the very character of Jesus Christ into this dark and needy world.

“To know what would have happened, child?” said Aslan. “No. Nobody is ever told that.”

So writes C S Lewis in Prince Caspian.

The Bible rarely tells us what would have happened if a person had taken a different decision. One exception is found in 2 Kings 13. Elisha instructed the king to strike the ground with his arrows. The king stopped after doing so three times. Elisha rebuked him for this, “You should have struck five of six times. Then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it.” But generally, in His mercy, God keeps from us what would have happened, or what might have happened.

But, there is another exception, the most important matter of all. Paul writes about the resurrection of Jesus Christ in 1 Cor 15.12-19;

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If Christ had not been raised from the dead, this life becomes worthless. But, Paul insists, Christ has risen from the dead, and that changes everything!

I am interested to hear the views of Christians about the use of social media and other modern technologies to advertise Church events, to proclaim the gospel, to enter into wider debate on moral issues, etc.

The time of the Reformation was a significant time in world history. Through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, there was a massive conflict between those who wished to maintain the medieval religion and those who sought to reform it. One of the most important tools was printing, ie: the use of the latest technology.

The first book to be printed (in 1455) was a Bible. Hitherto, all Bibles were hand copied.

When Martin Luther nailed his ’95 Theses’ to the door of Wittenberg Castle, it was said that it reached the whole of Germany in 2 weeks, and the whole of Europe in a month. The reason was simple: it was printed.

One of my personal heroes is William Tyndale, who produced the first printed English New Testament. He based this on Erasmus’ Greek NT, rather than the Latin Vulgate, which had been the source of previous versions. This ensured a much higher degree of accuracy. His aim, using everyday language, was to produce a Bible than anyone could read; “I wish that the husbandman may sing parts of them at his plough, that the weaver may warble them at his shuttle, that the traveller may with their narratives beguile the weariness of the way.” In course of time, Tyndale had his English NT printed on the continent, and imported into England. Demand was huge, and the availability of the NT in plain English contributed massively to the progress of the Reformation.

Having mentioned Erasmus, his Greek New Testament was, of course, also printed. And many of the theological and moral debates of the Reformation were pursued through books. This gave the protagonists the ability to have their words widely published much more quickly and cheaply than had previously been possible.

Every age has seen technological developments. Genesis 4.21-22 record the use of musical instruments and the creation of bronze and iron tools. Man is an inventor, and always has been. Whether such developments are used for good or evil is the choice of those who use them.

And today is no different. We may bemoan the evil fruit of religious extremism and pornography. But that does not make the technology evil.

My opinion? Simple. Engage with this world using the technology that is available. Be pioneers not hermits. Use the tools available to us; use them in excellent ways; be bold; be creative; be compassionate. Proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Stand for truth and mercy in our broken world. Announce your next Alpha course.