Division by Zero
History
Forward
Introduction
Chapter 01 Defining
Christianity
Chapter 02 God’s Requisites
Chapter 03 Creation and
Noah
Chapter 04 Abraham to
Joseph
Chapter 05 David and
Goliath
Chapter 06 Words of Wisdom
Chapter 07 Daniel
Chapter 08 Malachi’s
Indictment of the Religious
Chapter 09 John 9
Chapter 10 Following Christ
Chapter 11 John 11
Chapter 12 Mark 12
Chapter 13 Life Verses
Chapter 14 The Bridge
Chapter 15 A Reasoned Faith
Chapter 16 Understanding
Salvation
Chapter 17 God’s Injustice
Chapter 18 Our God is
Infinite
Basic Beliefs
When I was 14 years old and in the ninth grade, I began questioning my “beliefs”.
I remember that, while Mrs. Woods was lecturing on the principles of geometry,
I was rationalizing the difference between my own conscious thoughts and those
of my parents, my school, my church, my friends, etc. I had identified a
conflict in the various worlds of religious belief, logical reasoning, academic
study, and practical life itself. I had come to a crisis point in my life
when it was time to define who I am and much more.
In general, everyone, at some point in the maturing process, must divorce
oneself from parents and define oneself as an individual. We all reach
this point at different times in our lives, some earlier and some later than
did I. While external forces push each of us to ignore these deep,
philosophical questions, internally these questions burn within us. These
fundamental beliefs ultimately define not only one’s internal mindset but also
the way he/she sees the world and conducts him/herself. Some of us delay
the answers for a long time perhaps with games, education, love affairs, drugs,
business, religion, or family. The colliding worlds of conflicting values
rage inside us until at some point, we resolve them for ourselves or someone
else does.
For me, the conflicting questions were cumbersome and could not be placated by
geometric principles. Perhaps this is why I don’t like geometry to this
day; it seems so much less interesting than the more refined and pure science
of logical, algebraic, philosophical reasoning. So, at age 14, in my
geometry class, I began writing this book to define myself, my beliefs, how I
should function in society, and the ultimate purpose for man’s existence in the
universe.
While Jesus lauded simple, child-like faith (Matthew 18:2-4) and encouraged
belief without sight (John 20:19-29), Paul states in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When
I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a
child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.” Again in
Philippians 2:12-13, immediately after instructing us to take on Christ’s
self-sacrificing humility, Paul states, “… work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to
work for His good pleasure.” God gave us the faculties of reason for a
reason. It is my responsibility to seek God’s desire and live it
out. It is God who performs the saving work (John 3, Romans 3-6,
Ephesians 2, Hebrews 9-10).
Now for over 20 years I’ve been reasoning
like a man, weighing the mysteries of existence and the gospel. Let me
caution you who by scientific evidences assert the non-existence of God on the
basis of your argument. The premise of your argument is that you (or
mankind in general) must know and understand everything there is to know.
There is no knowledge outside of your comprehension.
Scientific evidence at various times led us
to believe that the world was flat, that the sun revolved around the earth, and
that the entire universe completely obeyed Newtonian mechanics. Based on
the observable evidences at the time, these were all credible scientific
positions held by the learned. To claim the absolute non-existence of God
is both fool and folly. Even the advancement of science itself has shown
its own inadequacy in defining and describing our existence and the behavior of
the universe. “For now, we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I
know in part, but then I will know fully…” (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Perhaps you chose to read this book because you are a math enthusiast and
thought that this was a new controversial dissertation. Perhaps you
thought that this book would prove that your high-school algebra teacher really
didn't know what he/she was talking about. If you've chosen this book for
either of those purposes, I'm afraid you are mistaken. This is not even a
math book.
Why did I choose the title, Division by
Zero? There is a sense of wonder, a certain mysticism associated with
things we cannot comprehend. The very nature of the title implies that
the subject matter is impossible to grasp. On the other hand, if we could
break down a difficult concept into the smallest possible finite pieces (such
as atoms and molecules for substances), perhaps we could understand it.
Dividing a number by zero is impossible and the result infinitely large in
magnitude because the part is non-existent. The subject of this book is
equally infinite, and the attempt to break it down into the smallest pieces is
equally impossible.
Consider
the following classic “proof”.
Let x = y
x2 = xy
: Multiply both sides by x
x2 – y2
= xy – y2
: Subtract y2 from both sides
(x – y) * (x + y) = y * (x
– y) : Factor both sides
x + y = y
: Simplify
2*y = y
: Substitute y for x (since x = y)
2 = 1
: Divide both sides by y
QED
This logic is fallacious since when we
divided both sides by the term (x – y), we were actually dividing by
zero. Empirically, every child knows that 2 does not equal 1 when there
are 2 children and only 1 cookie. If the proof were legitimate, then we
could believe in Universalism of the number system and (I would suggest)
religion as well as life in general. If 2 = 1, then I could add 1 to both
sides and show that 3 = 2, 4 = 3, and so on. Actually, by inductive
reasoning, i + 1 = i, we are all one and the same person, we are all god (i + 1
approaches infinity but never reaches it). As I have stated however, this
is not the case; the concept of Universalism is as fallacious as dividing by
zero (as are any religions that teach we are god, one with the universe, etc.).
As we consider the limit of the function f(x)
= 1/x as x approaches 0, we find that it does not exist. As x approaches
0 from the left (-1.00, -0.10, -0.01, etc.), f(x) approaches negative
infinity. Likewise, as x approaches 0 from the right (1.00, 0.10, 0.01,
etc.), f(x) approaches positive infinity. The limit of the function as x
approaches zero therefore does not exist, and it is not continuous at the point
x = 0. Equally disjoint are those who teach that all religions are the
same or that all roads lead to heaven.
Is this book, Division by Zero, then a
presentation of faulty logic? No. The title of the book is
indicative of my search to resolve the fallacious arguments against
faith. I’m not interested in the unexamined, untested, or house-of-cards
religious beliefs of the mass populous. I’m interested in concrete,
life-changing faith that is well thought out and explained.
Now that I've expounded on the title of the
book, let me press on to its content.
Introduction
I began writing this book because I had been
misunderstanding the Bible and God since I was a young child. I decided
to write down in this format the things that I believe. If you've read
the Foreword, then you understand that this is not a math book, and if you
haven't read the Foreword, then you know now. In the Basic Beliefs section,
I've listed three basic fundamentals of my Christian faith. The rest of
this book is based primarily on those truths taken from the Bible, God's holy
and inspired word.
I believe many Christians who have grown up
in church have really missed the boat on what God desires for their
lives. We toil endlessly at seeking and trying to know God's will
for our personal lives. This is a common fallacy. It's not
unusual for a young person to say, “I'm seeking God's will for my life.” I
don't think it's wrong to say that, but the emphasis of this statement is
problematic. James in the fourth chapter notes something along these
lines.
“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we
will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business
and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like
tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears a little while and then
vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will
live and also do this or that.” (James 4:13-15 see also Proverbs 27:1).
Do you see what I mean? What James is
promoting is that we should choose what we feel best suits us individually, and
say, 'If God will, then I'm going to be or do this.' In the sixteenth
chapter of Acts, Paul desired to go to Bithynia, “the Spirit of Jesus did not
permit them,” (Acts 16:7). This is an example, I believe, of Paul having
been willing to submit to God's will. Paul's desire was to preach the
gospel in one direction where he felt that the door was open. When Paul
got there, he realized that the door was not open. Was it a mistake to
go? No. Paul chose to do something and said to himself, “If God
will, then I'm going to go and preach there.” Sometimes God permits us;
sometimes we choose God's will right off the bat, but sometimes we don't – as
was in this case. God didn't want Paul to go to Bithynia, so He said, “No,
Paul, go to Macedonia.” The same thing will happen in my life if I should
say, “If God will, then I will be a __________________.” (God does have
specific plans for each of us, see Jeremiah.)
In our churches today, we've been raised to
painstakingly try to live up to some Godliness through our own human
capabilities.
We see that we are not able to be perfect. Many “Christians” have decided
that a Godly life is just not possible to live, so in order to avoid being a
hypocrite, they stay out of the church. Many others grow up and assume
leadership roles for which they are not matured, prepared, or ready. They
accept these roles to fit “Christian” society standards, and never live up to God's
standards. Deaconship for instance, is not a position of power, but
rather of service—the word deacon means 'a servant or waiter'. But, how
many churches are “run” by deacons? We have forsaken God's laws, and
bowed ourselves to man's expectations and what is convenient. We are
much like Peter at the end of John 13, when he proclaims that he is ready to
die for Jesus. Jesus responded that Peter was not yet ready. He
still had more to learn. Peter, like many of us today, was ready to give
his life for Christ but was not yet ready to live his life for
Christ. How many people have died for great causes such as the abolition
of slavery? Now I ask you, if there had only been martyrs for this cause,
would it have become a reality? There had to be people who lived for that
cause and not just died for it. Too many of us are willing to be
crucified for Christ, but not as many of us are willing to take the small
stands for His cause. We've got to stop relying on our own desires and
beliefs and recall, “Thus says the Lord.”
If the average Christian in your church were
asked, “What does God want for you today?” Many may answer, “God wants me
to be happy.” If the question were asked, “Why were you created?”,
would the same response make sense? No. Why do these
two seem like such different questions? God did not create humans because
He loves us and wants us to be happy. We did not exist at that
time. There was no reason to create us for our own happiness when we did
not yet know life. God created us for the sole purpose of worshipping
Him. God created us for His joy and His pleasure. He wants us to
seek and honor only Him. God is jealous (Exodus 20:5). God is
entitled to His jealousy because He is our Creator and worthy of our praise.
There is no one equal to Him (Revelation 4:11 and 5:12).
Since God created us, He has the right to demand our praise. The only
reason that anything exists is because of Him (John 1:3, Revelation
4:11).
The problem in our Christian circles,
however, is that we focus on ourselves. “What is God's will for my
life?” “What does God want me to do?” ”What is God's plan
for me?” These are all legitimate questions to ask, but when it
comes right down to it, they lack the correct focal point. We have “…exchanged
the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible
man…” (Romans 1:23). When we take the focus off of Christ and what
He is and who He is, we have become idolaters. God does want us to
be happy—don't get me wrong. God wants us to be happy, but He wants us to
serve Him and be happy in that. God told Isaiah to walk around naked for
three years (Isaiah 20). Was this going to make Isaiah happy? God
instructed Hosea to marry a prostitute (Hosea 1:2). Do you think
that this was something that would make Hosea happy? The law prohibited
priests from marrying such a woman (Leviticus 21:7), but God instructed Hosea
to do so and told him that his wife would be adulterous. This was not
God's way of making Hosea happy; it was for God's glory. Paul instructed
the Corinthians to throw out of the church one adulterous young man living with
his father's wife. Paul said, “to deliver such a one to Satan for the
destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus,” (1 Corinthians 5:5). This is the instruction for such
sin. Does Paul say, “Stop loving him”? Does Paul say, “You should
condemn him”? No. Paul says, 'for the good of this young man, kick
him out of the church, (get him out of the watch-care of the church), so that
the world can have him and he will see his evil behavior.' He says, 'let
Satan have his flesh, so that his soul can be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus (or in God's time).' What do you think the young man's friends said
to this idea? What would his brothers and sisters say to this seemingly
'harsh' punishment? Would it make them happy? This sin was not to
be supported or condoned in the church. As Proverbs 13:24 says, “He who
withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him, disciplines him
diligently.” If we focus on God and His holiness, then what is important
to me is no longer whether I should appease others but how to please God.
Paul says in the first chapter of Galatians:
“But even if we, or an angel from heaven,
should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is
to be accursed! As we have stated before, so I say again now, if any man
is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to
please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a
bond-servant of Christ,” (Galatians 1:8-10).
Before saying these things, he mentioned that
Christ gave Himself for our sins. How can we condone or permit the very
thing for which Christ died? I know that we are all imperfect as seen
from Paul’s writings in Romans 7:15-25. But we are to strive for holiness
and perfection (Leviticus 11:44-46 and 20:22, Galatians 5:13-25, 1 Peter
1:15-16), and we should encourage and correct others (Galatians 6:1-10, 2
Timothy 3:12-4:5). We have to emphasize in our own lives the things that
God's word teaches, and we have to put them into practice by living them out.
Now that you know the things that I believe,
you also know the theme of this book. Man's purpose for existence is
to glorify God. You may not have any problem with that statement and
so may wonder why you should read the rest of the book. That is up to
you. While the remainder of this book is firmly rooted on Biblical
teachings, the message is profoundly logical.
Defining Christianity
I am no historian, and I do not claim to know or accurately delineate the
history of the Christian Church. What I can see, however, is that the
Christian religion has been used, misused, and abused to attempt to control and
manipulate people under the guise of serving God. Perhaps these events
began from a pure heart of one person or a small group devoting themselves to a
closer walk with the Almighty, but at some point, they became instruments for
evil. Religion is man’s attempt to get to God; while Christianity is God’s
design for man. “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and
Father,” according to James 1:27, “is this: to visit orphans and widows in
their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Religion is
my attempt to please God. Religion is a personal and private matter - “to
keep oneself unstained by the world” (see also Chapter 2); it is not a question
of denominational affiliation.
Religions and denominations have come in to being for many reasons. One,
as I have previously mentioned, is to control people. Yes, the Christian
religion has been used politically and otherwise for many centuries. The
body of this work is not particularly interested in the misuse of Christianity
to control or manipulate people. To the contrary, this book has been
written to clarify what God’s design is for mankind. To that end, here
are a couple of examples of how a good personal practice led to religious
institutions defining the practices of a people, and, as a result, people no
longer disciplining themselves.
According to traditional history, monks would pray through the 150 chapters of
Psalm with a rosary. Uneducated, illiterate lay people began to imitate
the practice substituting a ritual prayer 150 times using the beads of the
rosary to keep count. A good practice for remembering what is important
in prayer life has become a ritual that has little more meaning today than the
traditions of the Israelites in Jesus’ day. John and Charles Wesley
determined to discipline themselves with certain guidelines, and then began to
disciple a small group of believers. But at some point, these guidelines
became the definition of what it meant to be a Christian or a “method” to an
end. Look at any of the American church programs of the past 40 years:
tape ministry, bus ministry, youth choir ministry, 40-days of Purpose,
etc. All of these were successful programs in certain settings, but God
has not anointed programs, liturgical practices, special words, or
institutions. God anoints people.
We’ve defined religion as my attempt to please God, and we’ve defined
Christianity as God’s design for man. We’ve also identified some of the
wrong perspectives of Christianity as a “religion”. Now, let’s further
delve into what God’s design for man is. Think back to the
beginning. God created man in His image of His own volition; He was not
compelled to create man (Genesis 1:26). He cared for man (Genesis
2:18). He had a purpose for man (Genesis 2:4-17). God had a plan to
redeem man (Genesis 3:15-allusion, Genesis 12:3-promise to Abram, countless
others in the Old Testament). God gave the Law to the Israelites in the
form of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and established many other statutes
and ordinances for His chosen people (Exodus 21-31).
Moses charged the new generation of Israelites, “These words, which I am
commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently
to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you
walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall
bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your
forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your
gates,” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9).
He went on to warn them, to not get arrogant
and forget God’s Law once they got into the Promised Land and God blessed
them. Finally, Moses instructed the people to respond to their children’s
inquisitions about the meaning of the Law, “…the Lord commanded us to observe
all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our
survival, as it is today. It will be righteousness for us if we are
careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He
commanded us,” (Deuteronomy 6:20-25).
Righteousness was going to be imputed to the people if they could perfectly
follow the Law. This is interesting since Abram was imputed righteousness
(looked upon as perfect) for believing God (Genesis 15:6) long before the Law
was given. Is this contradictory? No, in fact, how did Abram
demonstrate that he believed God? He was obedient to God’s
instruction. James tells us that faith without works is dead (James
2:14-18). This is not to say that righteousness is earned by our
actions. No, our faith in Christ’s action is imputed as righteousness and
manifests itself in our actions. This is also true for the Israelites;
the Law was not given to bring salvation.
God gave the Law, and He instructed them to teach the Law to others.
After many battles, judges, kings, failures, restorations, exiles, and
prophets, God made a new promise through the prophet Jeremiah. “‘I will
make a new covenant with them...’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put My Law within
them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and
each man His brother, saying, Know ye the Lord, for they will all know
Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them...’” (Jeremiah
31:31-34). This prophecy is quoted in Hebrews 8:7-13 when the writer is
making the point that God’s grace through Jesus Christ is superior to the Old
Testament Covenant (the Law).
The problem with the religious form of Christianity is that we are always
attempting to measure ourselves. What measuring stick do we have other
than a certain set of rules and obligations? We measure ourselves using
the old system. However, God says, ‘I’m most interested in the inward
condition.’ The outward manifestations are important to demonstrate the
inward condition. However, they are evidences of a life that is pleasing to
God; they are not the object of God’s desire themselves (see Chapter
2).
Paul tells us in Galatians 3:24-27 that the purpose of the Law was to point out
our need for a Savior. He goes on to state that now that the Messiah
(Christ) has come and fulfilled the Law, we no longer need the tutoring of the
Law because we have a direct relationship with the Master of the Law. The
author of Hebrews states that the New Covenant has come, so “He has made the
first obsolete,” (Hebrews 8:13). He has established the New Covenant of
which Jeremiah prophesied. Furthermore, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians
3:1-6 that the Spirit leads us in the way of God. The letter of the Law kills,
but the Spirit gives life. Jesus stated that He would send the Spirit who
would convict of sin and lead us into all truth (John 16:8-12).
Humanly, we cannot measure spiritual growth. Institutions (denominations,
established churches) focus on practical guidelines to foster discipline and
discipleship in members, however these have become little more than the
traditions of the ancient Israelites. Though the Law was to lead them to
Christ, Jesus called the Pharisees out on their hypocrisy in John 5:39-40, when
He said, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have
eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.” Ultimately, Jesus
summarized the Spirit of the Law with two commandments in Mark 12:29-31:
1) Love God and 2) Love People. If every believer were to seek to do
these with a pure heart, we would all be Christ-like. But,
- How can I love people until I love God?
- How can I love God until I know God?
- How can I know God until I study His Word and learn His character?
Christianity is a way of life that affects
every aspect of who I am. It is not a set of rules or regulations.
As Jesus says in John 8:32, “…the truth shall set you free,” and as Paul
states in 2 Corinthians 3:17, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom.” Christianity is living by the Spirit. Christianity is
taking off the ‘old self’ and walking in the ‘new self’, “which in the likeness
of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth,” (Ephesians
4:22-24). Christianity is living according to the divine nature granted
to us by God’s power and manifested by our actions (2 Peter 1:2-11).
The writer of Hebrews has this to say to
carnal believers, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have
need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of
God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who
partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is
an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have
their senses trained to discern good and evil,” (Hebrews 5:11-14). Have
you trained your senses to discern good and evil? The divine nature that
Peter describes does not happen accidently. You must train your senses to
seek God’s glory. The Christian life glorifies God because it is not
natural to the human; it is a supernatural behavior.
Christianity is, by definition, the imitation of Christ’s character. In
Acts 4:13, the Pharisees recognized that Peter and John had been with
Jesus. That is what it means to be a Christian – other people recognize
that I have been with Jesus. I cannot depend on a church or institution
to define the Who and What of Christianity. I must claim this promise for
myself because the establishment of the New Covenant dictates that God makes
Himself known to each of us personally. His Laws are written on our
hearts. I must personally come to know, love, obey, and imitate
Him. That is Christianity. That is my religion.
This is not to say that we should write off the established church
altogether. This seems to be a growing trend in our culture today.
The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to
stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking the assembling
together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the
more as you see the day drawing near,” (Hebrews 10:23-25). We need
other believers to keep us on track. Even Jesus sent His followers out
2-by-2 (Mark 6:7-13 and Luke 10:1-10). Proverbs 27:17 says, “Iron
sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Yes, we need other
believers, but my faith must be personal.
God’s Requisites
The entire purpose of this book is to provoke logical thought and deep
spiritual evaluation in order to disciple and lead us to more
Christ-likeness. What does God want from us? The prophet Micah
rhetorically asks (Micah 6:6-7),
“With what shall I come to the Lord and bow
myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in
ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my
rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
This question seems so daunting to us.
If God would just tell me what He wants, I would do it. Never mind the
fact that God tells us several times in scripture to “Be holy, for I am holy,”
(Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 20:26, and 1 Peter 1:14-19) or “You are to be
perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matthew 5:48). Those are
difficult commands, but God did tell us what to do. How do I live out
those commands?
Conveniently for us, Micah continues with the
words of the Lord and answers these questions for us. However, the
clearest picture of what Christianity is and how to please God is defined not
only by Micah but also several other scriptures.
How does Micah answer the question?
Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord
require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with
your God?” It’s that simple. Hosea 6:6 states very plainly, “I
delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than
burnt offerings.” These 2 prophets have very similar messages about what
God wants. David says in Psalm 51:16-17, “You do not delight in
sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt
offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart.”
Also, in Psalm 37:27-34, David says, “Depart from evil and do good… For the
Lord loves justice…” Proverbs 21:1-3 states, “…the Lord weighs the
hearts. To do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than
sacrifice.”
God tells us that the only proper reason to
boast is in knowing and understanding Him. Jeremiah 9:24 says, “Let him
who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord
who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight
in these things.” Later, in the book of Jeremiah 22:3, 15-16, God says, “Do
justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the
power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the
stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this
place... Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and
righteousness? Then it was well with him. He pled the cause of the
afflicted and the needy; then it was well with him. Is not that what it
means to know Me?” God echoes these words through the mouth of Zechariah
(7:9-10), “Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to
his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the
poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.” James
(1:27) defines true religion (see also Chapter 1), “Pure and undefiled religion
in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in
their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Even Jesus
states in Matthew 23:23, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier
provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness…”
In Deuteronomy 10:12-21, God speaks through
Moses saying, “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but
to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve
the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, and to keep the Lord’s
commandments and His statutes...” Ah, now we’ve introduced the concept of
obedience. In line with obedience, take note of Samuel’s indictment of
Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22-23, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and
sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better
than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the
sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry…”
Consider what God says through Isaiah (1:11-20), “…Bring your worthless offerings
no longer… Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil deeds from
my sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the
ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
God, through Amos, says (5:4-24), “Seek Me
that you may live… Seek good and not evil that you may live… Hate evil, love
good, and establish justice in the gate… Take away from Me the noise of your
songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. But let justice
roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” The
writer of Hebrews (10:4-9) in describing the sufficiency and supremacy of the
new covenant under Christ, makes reference to Psalm 40:6-8, “Sacrifice and
offering you have not desired… I have come to do Your will.” Elsewhere in
scripture we are told to humble ourselves, to draw near to God, to return to
Him, or seek His face (2 Chronicles 7:14, Zechariah 1:3, James 4:7-10).
We could also look at Isaiah 58:6-7, Daniel 4:27, Ezekiel 18:15-17, Ecclesiastes
12:13-14, Mark 12:28-34, Romans 12:1-3, and 1 Peter 1:2-11.
God has completely defined what He wants from
mankind. There is a consistently proclaimed message in the Old and New
Testaments indicating that God has expectations. Far from arbitrary or
undefined, the Bible’s message is clear on God’s design for mankind.
These passages do not create a checklist of
requirements for salvation but rather delineate the attitude we should have in
our lives. These characteristics tell us who God is and consequently who
He wants us to be. Our inability to fully live out these principles
points to our need for the Savior.
These
passages mention various items, such as:
- Justice
- Mercy
- Humility
- Loyalty
- Faithfulness
- Kindness/compassion
- Righteousness
- Obedience
- Broken and contrite heart
- Stop evil practices
- Do good
- Care for oppressed, widows, orphans, strangers, and poor
- Correct wrongdoers
- Know God
- Love God
- Serve God
- Seek God
- Draw near to God
- Walk in God’s ways
All of these actions reflect a heart
condition. These outward expressions, if exercised solely for the sake of
looking like we are good people, will mean little more than the ritualistic
sacrifices and offerings God despises. God is looking at the heart of man
(Deuteronomy 10:16, Jeremiah 4:4, Leviticus 26:41-42, Joel 2:12-13, Romans
2:28-29, Colossians 2:11). These actions can only properly be expressed
with a right attitude. For further discussion on this, see Chapter 1 and
Chapter 8. These attitudes do not tell us how to be saved, they explain
how to live a Godly life. We could also infer these attitudes from Jesus’
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).
Creation and Noah
Before the heavens and earth existed, God
was. God existed before those things. He exists outside of time,
because He was in the beginning, and before the beginning (clearly words are
inadequate to accurately express this concept). Genesis 1:1 says, “In the
beginning God…” If that is a problem to you, then the whole Bible will be
controversial. God existed before all things. He was alone in the
beginning. Then, God created light, land, and life. If you believe
in evolution, then you're going to have trouble swallowing the first chapters
of Genesis. If so, I urge you to re-evaluate your beliefs. If you
do not believe that Almighty God created the earth from the nothingness, then
why do you believe that He sent His Son to die for you? If God is
all-powerful and all-knowing, then He could have created the universe just as
stated here in Genesis, if the Bible is the perfect, infallible, God-breathed
word, then this is the way it happened. God spoke all of the universe and
our world into existence. Animals and men were created on the same day,
according to scripture. Evolution and creation cannot both be
true. If you try mixing evolution with Christianity, the end result will
be perverted and polluted doctrine and actions. According to the Bible,
death did not take place until after Adam and Eve had sinned. The theory
of evolution teaches that dinosaurs were at least partially extinct before the
existence of the first man. Biblically, death is a result of sin, as
stated throughout the entire Bible (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23, James
1:13-15). If death existed before man’s sin, then what is mankind's real
problem? Even if Adam and Eve hadn't been disobedient, they would have
died. God must have lied to them, which would make Him unjust.
Disobedience to God’s law is what led to our need for a Savior; God provided
that Savior through Christ. The theory of evolution contradicts the
fundamental spiritual problem of mankind, and thus undermines Christianity all
together. They are not compatible.
Why was man created in the first
place? Hopefully, you have read the introduction, so that you know what
this book is all about, but in case you haven't, this book rationalizes faith
in God and what His design for mankind is based on the entire word of
God.
Man was made from the dust of the ground, and
God breathed life into his nostrils according to Genesis 2:7. In Genesis
1:26, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our
likeness…” Was God truly alone, or was there another god with Him?
Was Jesus a separate being, or was Satan another god? No.
a) Jesus was the same “Jehovah” as the great “I
Am” who spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:14) according to John 1:1-10. He is
existence. That verb is 'to be', 'to exist', like “I AM.” “…apart
from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was
life, and the life was the Light of men,” (John 1:3-4).
b) Satan or Lucifer was a created being, a
fallen angel (See Isaiah 14:12-14 wherein he is used in an analogy describing
the king of Babylon; see also the final defeat in Revelation 12).
Why then did God say, “Let Us”? The
Bible teaches that God is three parts, God the Father, God the Son, and God the
Holy Spirit. (Some religions teach contrary to this.) God was in
the beginning, and He said, “Us,” so there had to be more than one in His group
of Him. Jesus, as we have stated along the lines of John 1, was with Him
and was/is part of that “Us,” so that would satisfy our requirements for the
plural pronoun. However, the Holy Spirit, according to John 16:5-15,
was/is also part of God, because Jesus was going to send Him. He is the
Spirit of Truth. A created being would not suffice as the Spirit of Truth
because created beings are not innately perfect (ie. man, Lucifer). The
Holy Spirit is also God (1 John 5:7). We tend many times to question who
God is, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is. However, God created us
in His own image. We are three parts just as God is three parts. We
are mind, body, and soul. God is, in the same way, a three-part
Being. We were created eternal and innocent beings just like God.
When Adam sinned, death entered the world. Our minds are no longer
innocent. Our bodies are no longer eternal. Our souls are no longer
in communion with God. Our souls are condemned to the humanly inexorable
eternity in hell. When Christ died for us, we were given the option of
having renewed minds, new bodies, and eternity in communion with God. God
made man in His own image, so that we could share and enjoy friendship and
fellowship with Him.
The last thing that God created is man
(Genesis 1). It is man that God chose to make in His own image (Genesis
1:26-27). It is man that God chose into which to breathe life through his
nostrils and form into a living soul (Genesis 2:7). God took special
interest in humankind. Adam was placed in charge of all creation.
He was given responsibility (Genesis 2:19-20). Then we see how truly
great God's love for Adam was. God noticed that Adam was alone just as
God was alone in the beginning. God formed a “help meet” for Adam because
it was not good for Adam to be alone. Why did God create the
universe? He could have just as well left everything void, but instead He
created the entirety of the skies that you and I see. Why?—So that all of
creation could give honor to Him. Why do people have kids? Is it
because they like kids? Maybe, but mostly it's because they want someone
to love and someone to love them in return, someone to care for and someone to
bless. God constructed all of our world and its surroundings for His
glory. He created us for the very same purpose. We were meant to
praise God and worship Him with all our lives; He wanted to have someone to
bless and with whom to spend time. Here, we can very clearly see that God
wanted Adam and Eve to be happy, but that is not why God created them.
God set boundaries for Adam and Eve in the
form of a fruit tree. Adam and Eve were not to eat from one specific
tree; eating from all others was permitted. Why did God allow Adam and
Eve to be tempted? Many people may ask the question, “Why did God put
that tree in the garden in the first place?” [From the Arminian or
free-will perspective] God is not a puppeteer. Adam had to have the
choice of whether or not to honor and trust God, or he would have just been a
dummy for God—the divine Ventriloquist. God does not desire robots to
follow Him without choice. When God made us living souls, He gave us the
choice to decide to obey and worship Him (the purpose for which we were
created) or to disobey and do whatever we pleased.
We were created in the image of God. I
believe God has what is for Him a good characteristic and for us a negative
characteristic; that is self-exaltation. We are created with a desire to
exalt God, but we are also created with a desire to exalt self. When the
latter overpowers the former, sin occurs in our lives.
At this time all of man's food was
vegetation, and man's fall came in the form of fruit from a tree; his
forgiveness came as a blood sacrifice. For eternity, our redemption comes
in the form of the fruit from Calvary's tree (the cross where Jesus died); as
the sacrifice of Christ's blood. The Cross is the new Tree of Life.
Now, we have a new question of whether we
still have free will or not. Am I able to choose to follow God, or am
I always doing what God has planned? Is my life planned out for me, or do
the choices I make every day affect the outcome of my life? Are we
predestined to be saved or lost, or do we have the choice of whether to be
saved or not?
Am I able to choose to follow God, or am I
always doing what God has planned? God does not like sin, and therefore does not
like disobedience, so God did not want Adam to sin. On the other hand,
God knew that men are imperfect creatures, and He knew that Adam was going to
sin, so God had a plan for that. So was it God's plan for Adam to sin, so
that He could save the world by dying on the cross? God told Jonah to go
and preach at Nineveh, but Jonah chose to not do so (Jonah 1). Was it
God's will that Jonah disobey His instruction? That seems silly, but
Jonah disobeyed, and God punished him. God had already prepared a great
fish to swallow Jonah. God had a plan for the Israelites to be a blessing
to the entire world, but did the Pharisees and religious leaders take this task
upon themselves? No. Since the Pharisees did not teach the
Israelites to do so, God had an alternate plan. God does not delight in
sin, and so, whenever we sin, it is not part of God's will. If I sin,
then I'm not doing God's will or following His plan.
Is my life planned out for me, or do the
choices I make every day affect the outcome of my life? God told Jeremiah
that He knew Jeremiah before he was even born, and that He had called Jeremiah
to be a prophet and had sanctified him (Jeremiah 1:5). God had already
planned for Jeremiah to do great things, so did Jeremiah have the choice of
whether to do them or not? If we believe what the Bible says about God
being no respecter of persons (see Deuteronomy 10:17 and 16:19, 2 Samuel 14:14,
2 Chronicles 19:7, Job 34:19, Proverbs 24:23, Matthew 5:45, Acts 10:34 and
15:9, Romans 2:11 and 10:12, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:11, 25, James 2:1, 1
Peter 1:17, 2 Peter 3:9, Revelation 20:11-15), then God knows each of us, calls
us to tasks, and sanctifies us before birth. God did not go to Jeremiah
with this news until he was a young man, probably after he was seeking God
diligently. In chapter 20, Jeremiah says, “But if I say, ‘I will not
remember Him, or speak anymore in His name,’ then in my heart it becomes like a
burning fire shut up in my bones; and I am weary of holding it in, and I cannot
endure it,” (Jeremiah 20:9). He said, ‘I quit!! I'm not going to do
this anymore.’ But in the life of a Christian, God's goodness and power
are so prevalent, that just as Jeremiah states, they become a burning fire
in our hearts that is shut up in our bones, and we cannot keep
silent! This is not true for carnal Christians, but if you are seeking
God earnestly, then I believe God's word is eating you up inside to be spoken,
just as it was in Jeremiah's case.
Are we predestined to be saved or lost, or do
we have the choice of whether to be saved or not? God desires everyone to be
saved according to 1 Timothy 2:3-4 and 2 Peter 3:9, and likewise salvation is
made free to all who call upon His name (Romans 10:13). So, what is meant
when the Bible speaks of predestination? The word predestine (or
predestinate) is used only four times in the Bible, and yet it has led to many
disputes. Romans 8:28-34 says this:
And we know that God causes all things to
work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according
to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become
conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many
brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He
called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also
glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who
is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over
for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will
bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the
one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who
is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
Whom did God desire to be conformed to His
image? All of mankind was created in the image of God. If we go
back to the Jeremiah illustration with no respect of persons in mind, then God
has chosen all of mankind and has foreknown all of mankind. He has
sanctified all humans. Christ's sacrifice on the cross paid the price of
sin for all of mankind, so everybody has been justified before God. The
question is: “Will everyone accept this payment?” The obvious answer is, “No.”
Ephesians 1:3-14 also uses our choice word in the following way:
Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him
before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before
Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ
to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the
glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all
wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to
His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable
to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ,
things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an
inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all
things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to
hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also,
after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having
also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is
given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view of the redemption of God’s
own possession, to the praise of His glory.
In the beginning of this passage, we can see
that God has chosen some people. Now, whom did God choose? After
the fall, God chose Israel out to be a separate and holy nation unto God.
What was the purpose for choosing them? God chose Abram, and Abram was
obedient (Genesis 12:1-9). The call is found in Genesis 12, where God
says to Abram, “…I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I
will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed,”
(Genesis 12:3). The Israelites were to be a blessing from God to the
entire world. They were to be the example of Godliness that we were to
follow. Ultimately, all nations in the world were to be blessed by the
Messiah who was to come from that genetic line.] God desired all of
mankind to worship and glorify Him. (This is evident by the fact that God
judged the sin of the world in Noah's time; He punished the world at trying to
build the Tower of Babel; He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and all through the
Old Testament, God punished the Canaanites, the Babylonians, and many other
nations. God expected worship from these nations and held them
accountable whether or not they were the part of the “elect”.) All of
mankind was created for this purpose, so in effect we were all predestined “to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace…” Does
this mean that we will all wind up in heaven? No. Redemption is the
key word. Verse 7 emphasizes that Christ's blood—not God's selection
(random or otherwise)—is what redeems us. Verse 13 states: “In [Christ],
you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of
promise…” We must also hear, believe, and be sealed. According to
verse 14, the reception of the Holy Spirit as the seal on our lives is where
the rubber meets the road. He is the “pledge of our inheritance, with a
view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His
glory.” Christ paid in full the debt owed by mankind; He purchased us,
but we must be redeemed, and that comes by what we do with Christ. We are
bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Peter 1:18-19). We do not
belong to ourselves. We become redeemed, purchased possessions when we
accept Christ as Savior. Until a person is born again, he/she remains
paid for by Christ, but he/she is not redeemed by Christ. Just as Jesus
told the rich young ruler in Mark 10:21, you too must be willing to sell out
and follow Him in order to inherit eternal life.
If I have a coupon for a free ice cream cone, when can I eat the ice cream
cone? I don’t possess the ice cream cone until I go and redeem the
coupon. In the same way, God has promised all of mankind abundant life,
but until we are redeemed, we remain unfilled, black-and-white facsimiles of
what God designed.
Until a person sells out to Christ (receives
His sacrifice as the atonement for his/her sin and dedicates him/herself to
Christ's service), he/she remains a sinner on the road to hell. Look at
what Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:16-18. The emphasis is not on
whether God chose a person or not, the emphasis lies on the belief of
people. God sent His Son to save the world not so that He could condemn
it. In verse 18, Jesus makes it clear that God does not condemn
people. God does not send people to hell. There are two reasons
people go to hell. Number one, people are not perfect; “all have sinned,”
(Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a). Our sin
sends us to hell. Number two, people do not accept God's gift. “…but
the gift of God is eternal life,” (Romans 6:23b). In John 14:6, Jesus
says, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but
through Me.” John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing the one and only
true God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Acts 4:12 says that there is no
other way. Imperfect people must accept the Christ-sacrifice in
order to go to heaven. Scripture teaches that “… without shedding of
blood there is no forgiveness,” (Hebrews 9:22) and “… it is the blood by reason
of the life that makes atonement,” (Leviticus 17:11).
[From the Calvinist perspective] The truth of God’s election of specific
people is taught in the Bible in these previous passages and in others.
If you look at Romans 9, you will see the very explicit statement that God
chose Jacob and passed over Esau (vs. 11-13; see also Malachi 1:2-3). In
Romans 9:11, Paul states that even though the children had not yet been born,
God favored Jacob over Esau according to His purpose. In verse 15, Paul
quotes Exodus 33:19, where God declares to Moses that He will have mercy on
whomever He chooses. Romans 9:20-24, “… who are you, O man, who answers
back to God? … What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to
make His power known, endured with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared
for destruction…” God has the prerogative to create some people
specifically for damnation if He so chooses.
When Paul gave his sermon on the
inexcusability of humankind in chapter 2 of Romans, he was not speaking merely
to believers. He was speaking to a mixed group as identifiable in his
mention of compensations in verses 5-10. This means that whether man has
free will or God chose some of us and damned others of us, we are still
ultimately held accountable individually. Based on Ephesians 1:7, the key
to salvation is Christ's blood, and according to John 3:18, man is condemned
for not believing. Each person is held responsible for his/her own fate.
Simply put, God is not a debtor to
humankind. God does not owe salvation to anyone. Of His own
volition (free will?), He opted to extend grace, but who will be God's judge?
[From either perspective] On this side of
eternity, all we can do is urge others, through the preaching of the gospel, to
accept the Christ-sacrifice. Since each person is to be held individually
accountable for his/her acceptance or rejection of this free gift, we must
evangelize as if each person has free will. We must pursue every human as
if he/she is one of the elect or has the choice to accept salvation.
The root question is, “How does evil come
into a world created and maintained by a perfect God?” Call it free will,
or call it fore-ordained by God; whatever the case, evil and sin are in the
world. The battle ground is not between the Calvinist and the Arminian;
it is in fact in front of us in the form of what we can do about these through
the power of Christ.
I look at it this way. God created man
in His image. Within that image is the desire to worship the greatest
being in the universe and self. Since God is the greatest being in the
universe, these two do not find contradiction for God. However, when I,
in God’s image, desire to worship self, it contradicts my desire to worship the
greatest being (God). Thus, my sin stems from my innate desire to exalt
self (as a central truth of many theologies states, pride is the original
sin). For God, it is not sin to exalt self because He is the Almighty;
for me, when I exalt self, it is sin because I am not the Almighty.
Adam was man’s representative, and he chose
to exalt self over God. All of humanity has already strayed. In
Adam, all of humanity had salvation, but once Adam sinned by disobeying God,
all of humanity was lost. Now, God will redeem those who believe.
Chapter 04
Abraham to Joseph
In Genesis 13, Abram and Lot parted ways because their households were not
getting along. Abram said to Lot in verses 8 and 9, ‘Don’t let there be
strife between us or our herdsmen because we are family. Look out over
the entire land; choose where you want to go out there, and I’ll go the
opposite direction.’ You may be familiar with this story. Lot
looked across the plain of Jordan, and seeing how green and well watered it
was, he decided to take his house that direction. He pitched his tent
toward Sodom (verse 12). Lot was led by sight. He looked out and
saw what he perceived as a prosperous direction and chose that. In only a
short time, he would see the destruction that his decision had caused.
His decision affected his entire house.
In the 15th chapter of Genesis, verses 1-5, we see Abram and God
conversing. God told Abram that he would be rewarded and blessed.
Abram replied back, ‘But God, You haven’t given me any children, how will You
bless me?’ God responded that his future children would be as many in
number as the stars in the heavens. Verse 6 says, ‘Abram believed God,
and God counted it to him as righteousness.’ The gospel message here is
pointed out, just as Martin Luther finally realized reading Romans 1:17, we
become righteous not by our actions, but by our faith! This very act of
Abram’s trusting God is used to show us that salvation is by faith not works.
Paul refers to this in Romans 4 and Galatians 3. When we put our trust in
God, He gets the glory. That is exactly the point of Christianity.
Many religions teach that salvation is earned through what a person can do for
God. That ideology is sacrilegious. So independent are we that we
believe we can earn our own way to heaven. Look at what God says in Psalm
50, ‘I own the world and everything in it. If I were to get hungry, I
wouldn’t come to you.’ Then verses 14 and 15 command us: “Offer to
God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High; call upon
me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.’ God
does not need anything from us—we need Him. Christianity is all about
what God has done—it has nothing to do with what I can do.
In Genesis 16, Abram and Sarai made a poor decision. Sarai decided to
help God by encouraging Abram to have sexual relations with Hagar, Sarai’s
maid. Hagar got pregnant, and there was jealousy in Abram’s house. When
God said that a man should leave his father and his mother to cleave unto his
wife (singular) in Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:31, He was protecting us from
the danger and pain that is caused by multi-partner sexual relations.
[Premarital sex causes similar damage.] There are consequences for our
disobedience—even more so through time. This poor choice by Abram and
Sarai is still causing problems today (the Muslim lineage is traced back to
Abram’s son by Hagar, Ishmael, whom they consider to be the child of promise
rather than Isaac). One small sin has had detrimental
ramifications in, not only our history, but our present and our future as
well. When we let sin into our lives, it not only affects us, it affects
those around us. Look at Genesis 12 and 20 where Abram lied to kings
about who Sarai was. See also Joshua 7 and Daniel 6 where entire families
were eradicated because of one member’s sin. Momentarily we’ll see the
effects of Lot’s sin on his family. Paul, in a parallel subject,
admonished us to be careful that we do not cause others to stumble by things
that may appear wrong (Romans 14 and 1 Thessalonians 5:22). The things
you allow to be part of your life will affect other people. “No man is an
island,” as John Donne noted.
Abram was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael. Thirteen years
later, God visited Abram and changed his name to Abraham and Sarai’s to
Sarah. [Other name changes in the Bible include: Jacob to Israel
(Genesis 32:27-28), Simon to Peter (Matthew 16:18), and Saul to Paul (at his
conversion see Acts 9 or Acts 26). Whenever a person becomes a believer,
he/she is given a new name. See 2 Chronicles 7:14, Daniel 9:19, and
Ephesians 3:15. The new believer belongs to the Christian family, and so
bears the name of Christ (Christian). Don’t miss this: God
proclaims that He does many things for His name’s sake – we are that name
sake. This also gives new weight and meaning to the commandment, “You
shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not
leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain,” (Exodus 20:12).] Aside
from name changing, a significant event in and of itself, Abraham was
instructed to begin a legacy of circumcision. All the males in Abraham’s
house from then on were to be circumcised.
In our secular society today, think of what the measure of manhood is. In
many venues, that basis is the size of the male genital. If you watch TV
programs or even listen to commercials, you will see and hear many references
to the size or increasing the size of a man’s penis. If you visit foreign
cultures (such as the Quechua in western South America), you will see statues
depicting the masculine anatomy significantly out-of-proportion. What God
was requesting as a sign of this covenant from Abraham was going to reduce his
manhood. Not only that, Abraham still had not been able to impregnate
Sarah, even though God promised him that she would bare him a son. By
being circumcised, Abraham was making himself extremely vulnerable to
God. Abraham was called to be different (see Chapter 2 for a list of God’s
requisites). God was separating Abraham from society just as He requires
from us; He only requested this physical symbol, so that Abraham could see and
remember God’s promise. Don’t you think that Abraham could sense a
difference the next time he had to relieve himself or the next time he had
intercourse with Sarah?
As a sign of our conversion today, we are
baptized. When a new believer is baptized, in some sense, he/she is
vulnerable. Along with this analogy, we symbolize our dependence on the
One who washes our sin away. From that point on, each time we bathe, we
should remember and reflect on the true cleansing of the Holy Spirit. The
Jews came to understood circumcision solely as part of the law; it was
something that took place when the boys turned 8 days old, but later they (and
we) were instructed to be circumcised not of the flesh, but of the heart (see
Deuteronomy 10:16, 30:6, Jeremiah 4:4, Romans 2:25-29, and Colossians
2:11-13). While this was a practice that God gave to the Jews as an act
of obedience to symbolize the covenant between them and God, it became nothing
more than tradition to the Jews. Ultimately, it is not the physical state
of our bodies but rather the condition of our hearts that most interests God
(see Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 for a better understanding of what Christianity
is).
The next two chapters of the Bible show the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
but what they also show is God’s patience with us. Many times we believe
that we know what is best. Abraham was in this situation. God told
Abraham that He would be destroying these two wicked cities. Abraham,
knowing that Lot had gone to Sodom, thought that surely Lot had some influence
on others and would have influenced others to live just lives. Abraham
then debated with God and said, ‘God, what if there are fifty righteous people,
would you destroy the just with the unjust? Wouldn’t you spare the cities
for fifty righteous people?’ God agreed, and Abraham continued to
negotiate with God, and finally God agreed to spare the cities if ten people
could be found who were righteous. Of course, there were not ten
righteous people found. There were none even seeking after righteousness
including Lot, who had become someone of importance living in the gate of the
city.
When two angels went into the city to judge
and destroy it, the men of the city tried to take them and use them as sex
objects. Lot offered to send out his daughters who were still virgins
instead, but the wicked men became angry with Lot. Finally, the angels
pulled Lot back into his house and instructed him to leave taking anyone who
would go with him. Unfortunately, he had had no influence on his sons-in-law
(his daughters’ fiancées) who must have been as wicked as the other men in the
city. Even his wife was so taken by this place that she turned to grieve
a moment and was turned into a pillar of salt. It is only reasonable to
expect that Lot would’ve taught his daughters right and wrong so that after
having seen this judgment on the wicked and their mother, they would have
desired now to repent and become fearful of God. Sadly, Lot’s daughters
were just as wicked as the culture in which they were raised. Lot’s sin
of following what his eyes saw as prosperity cost him not only his entire
wealth, but also his wife, and the moral fiber that should’ve been in his
family line. Instead of being blessed by God, he wound up fathering
children by his children. His two daughters gave birth to sons of
wicked lineages who fought against Israel all of their days (Zephaniah
2:8-9). I’m reminded of a Max Lucado quote: “A man who wishes to
lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.” Lot was not leading
an orchestra; he was one of the crowd. Our actions have consequences for
us and for those around us.
In Genesis, chapter 21, Sarah conceived and gave birth, so that God’s promise
to Abraham was fulfilled. Sometime after the birth of Isaac, God told
Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering. God was testing Abraham
to see whether or not he really trusted God. Abraham was willing to
sacrifice his only son to God, therefore God renewed His promise to bless
Abraham just as He had promised before. Despite what some people may say,
God does test His children. Where does your hope lie? Abraham had
only one chance, at this point, to carry on his lineage, but he was willing to
give that up for God’s glory. Are you willing to do the same? Look
at the first two chapters of the book of 1 Samuel. Hannah was willing to
‘sacrifice’ her son if God would only give her one. Many in our culture
today sacrifice their children on the altars of personal goals or selfish
plans. Why are we not as eager to offer them to God for His
purposes? He did not spare His own Son (Romans 8:32).
Time past, and as the natural order of things
goes, Sarah died. Abraham instructed his servant to go and find Isaac a
wife. This servant went off to Abraham’s people, and in a miraculous way,
God provided a wife (Rebekah) for Isaac (Genesis 24). Rebekah was barren,
so Isaac prayed for her, and she conceived and gave birth to twins. Esau
and Jacob, the twins, had a falling out when Jacob (the younger) stole Esau’s
birthright; Esau foolishly traded it away. Then Jacob high tailed it out
of there, to go find himself a wife among Rebekah’s family (Genesis
27-28). He went and met Laban who had a beautiful daughter named Rachel;
Jacob loved Rachel and agreed to work for Laban to have her hand in
marriage. Well, the story goes on how Laban swindled Jacob, and Jacob
swindled Laban, but finally, Jacob left Laban with both of Laban’s daughters as
wives and a host of servants, livestock, and goods (Genesis 29-31). God
continued to bless Jacob, changed his name to Israel (Genesis 32:28), and gave
him many children. Israel’s favorite son, however, was Joseph, the first
son born to him by his favorite wife, Rachel.
Now, Joseph was a special kid. God gave
Joseph dreams. His elder ten brothers hated him because he was daddy’s
favorite. The dreams Joseph had and explained to everyone did not help
his popularity among them. Israel gave Joseph a beautiful coat of many
colors. [Parents take note: having favorites is not a good
idea.] Fed up with Joseph’s dreams and special treatment, Joseph’s
brothers conspired to kill him, but Reuben, the eldest cared deeply for his
father. He convinced them not to kill Joseph, but to throw him into a
pit. Later while Reuben was away, the other brothers, led by Judah,
decided to sell Joseph into slavery. Reuben went back to free Joseph,
but, alas, it was too late. Doing the right thing is dependent on
timing. God requires obedience in His time not at our leisure. The
saying, “Better late than never,” may be true in some things, but when it comes
to our adherence to God’s direction, it is absolutely false. Joseph could
not truly depend on Reuben; can God depend on you (see Proverbs 25:19)?
As my son learned in pre-K, “Slow obedience is no obedience.” Israel was
taken a bloodied coat of many colors and was led to believe that Joseph was
dead (Genesis 37).
Bad things happen to God’s people!
Joseph was enslaved! Anyone who preaches that God’s people will always
live in perfect peace from trouble is lying to you. Jesus says that we
will have trouble in this world (Luke 10:3; John 16:33). Some religions
and teachers tell us that this world will bow to us because we are God’s
people—that we will find favor in everything we do. If that were true,
then Jesus would not have been crucified. If Jesus had taught this, then
it would only follow that His being God, not just Godly, would most assuredly
have brought this about for Him. Jesus says however, “A disciple is not
above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the
disciple that he become like his teacher and the slave like his master”
(Matthew 10:21-25). We as Christians will be hated. Those who tell
you otherwise are mistaken and are misleading you, whether intentionally or
inadvertently.
Joseph was enslaved! However, Joseph
recognized that God was in control; it was only his job to be faithful where he
was. He served justly where he was and found favor in Potiphar’s (his
master) eyes. He became the caretaker of Potiphar’s entire house.
Potiphar’s wife, however, also thought highly of Joseph, but for another
reason. She lusted after him, and when he refused to have sexual
relations with her, he fled her presence leaving his coat in her hands.
She accused him of trying to rape her, and Potiphar threw Joseph in jail
because he believed her (Genesis 39). This is something else that we as
Christians must realize. Even if we act with integrity all of the time,
one single negative word from someone else can completely discredit us.
This is why we are instructed so often to be careful of our speech (Psalm
19:14, 141:3 Proverbs 18:21; Matthew 5:37; Ephesians 4:15, 29 Colossians 4:6;
James 3). Many times, it is not due to a fault of our own, as in Joseph’s
case, that we lose our testimony, but we should be all the more cautious to
avoid all appearances of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). As the saying goes,
“Reputations are built in a lifetime and destroyed in a moment.”
Well, Joseph was now in jail, but he still
served faithfully. One day two of the Pharaoh’s servants were thrown in
jail with Joseph. By being in prison, Joseph wound up meeting these men
whom God would use to change his life. Both men dreamed frightening
dreams, and Joseph interpreted the dreams for them. One (the butler) was
to be restored to his position of service while the other (the baker) was to be
beheaded. Joseph was quick to acknowledge that God is the interpreter of
dreams (Genesis 40:8). When Joseph’s interpretations came true, the
butler who was restored, forgot all about Joseph until Pharaoh had a dream that
none of his wise men could interpret. Pharaoh called Joseph in and asked
him if he was able to interpret the dream. Joseph responded very
dogmatically that God does the interpreting (Genesis 41:16, 28). Because
Joseph had been so diligent to serve God where he had been, he learned humility
and faithfulness. The dream was about the future. There were to be
seven years of plentiful harvest and seven years of famine. Pharaoh saw
very high and respectable qualities in Joseph and appointed him to be the
administrator of an elaborate plan to prepare for the time of famine.
This is a classic demonstration of the parable Jesus tells about the talents in
Matthew 25:14-30.
God orchestrated this plan, so that He could
place Joseph where He wanted him. This story demonstrates so vividly what
is meant by Paul’s words in Romans 8:28. Many times we would prefer that
God merely place us in our ultimate stage of service. In geometry, the
shortest distance between two points is a straight line). When we address God’s
will, the shortest distance from the point where we are and the point where He
wants us, is not always a straight line, but God is the Master of
geometry. Joseph had quite a bit of maturing to do from childhood to
second in command under Pharaoh. Sometimes in order for God to get us
where He wants us, He pushes us in the opposite direction. Joseph wound
up in a position where he was the deciding factor in whether God’s chosen people
were to remain living. If Joseph had not been where he was, there would’ve
been no food for Egypt or for Israel’s family. Another thing to notice is
that had Joseph not decided to forgive his brothers, Satan could have used him
to squash the bloodline to Christ (through Judah), but Joseph had learned not
to usurp power.
Joseph could have abused his position to
serve his own purposes, but he walked with integrity. He also understood
the promise given in Romans 8:28. Joseph made the comment, that God used
the evil plots and even his own errors to glorify Himself. Joseph
realized that he was not in charge of anything; what his brothers meant for
evil, he himself had no power to change, but God, in and of Himself, used it
for good (Genesis 50:19-20). We as children of God must also realize that
things are indeed out of our control. We have no power, but everything
that happens in our lives, though perhaps not part of God’s original plan,
EVERYTHING will work together for His ultimate glory.
David and Goliath
David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:13-14, Acts 13:22),
demonstrated God’s desire for us through several events in his life.
David and Goliath is one of the best known stories in the Bible. One of
the principle tools of reason is dialog. Much can be confirmed or
rejected simply by stating it aloud. Much can also be deduced about other
people by listening to what they say. As we consider this well-known
passage, let us focus on the dialogs as these will point us very clearly to man’s
purpose. Take note specifically of who is speaking, and what is being
said through this event found in 1 Samuel 16 and 17.
Goliath’s
Words
In 1 Samuel 17, the first thing we hear is the arrogance of Goliath. Read
the words Goliath used in verses 8 and 10, “Am I not the Philistine and you the
servants of Saul?” and “I defy the ranks of Israel this day.” Goliath was
full of himself. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and
a haughty spirit before stumbling.” If there are 7 things that God hates
(Proverbs 6:16-19), arrogance tops the list. Goliath’s words stirred
David to anger (verse 26) while the rest of the army was driven to fear (verses
11, 24). Goliath had more to say when David showed up on the battle
field. [Perhaps before he spoke, he should have consulted Galatians
6:3.] “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” he asked in verse
43. He cursed David and threatened him for intimidation. Based on
the words Goliath wielded, it is easy to see that he had a pompous attitude.
Jesse’s
Words
What about Jesse’s instructions to David? In this account, we have
limited insight into Jesse’s relationship with David. In verses 17-19, we
see Jesse instructed David to perform delivery and messenger boy tasks.
‘Take this stuff to your brothers, take this other stuff to their leader, bring
news back to me of their welfare, because they are with Saul and all the men of
Israel doing battle against the Philistines.’ Despite Jesse’s attitude toward
David, perhaps revealed in the previous chapter, Jesse felt that he could trust
David with the task at hand. He knew that David was trustworthy.
David had been faithful in the fields as a shepherd, and Jesse knew David’s
history.
Soldiers’
Words
It seems that as soon as David arrived on the battle scene, Goliath’s daily
taunting began. What is interesting here, however, is how the soldiers
responded. In verse 25 the men said, “Have you seen this man who is
coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel.” They went on to
delineate how the king had promised to reward the man who would take on this
battle. They acknowledged the reward several times again as David asked
(verses 27, 30). These men of war, recognized that this opponent was
defying and taunting them and that there was great reward for answering the
challenge, but they were not motivated to ‘man up’. David heard the
challenge, was angered, and then heard that King Saul had issued a large reward
for whoever would answer the call of battle.
Eliab’s
Words
Eliab, the eldest son of Jesse was perhaps
jealous of David. After all, Eliab looked kingly (1 Samuel 16:6-7), but
he was not God’s anointed king. In chapter 17, verse 28, “Eliab’s anger
burned against David and he said, ‘Why have you come down? And with whom
have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence
and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the
battle.’” Wow, what a critical spirit! Eliab had issues. He
claimed to know David so well, yet, he was blind to what Jesse saw in David as
a faithful servant. Perhaps this was the very reason he was not chosen by
God as king of Israel. What he claimed to know was David’s insolence and
the wickedness of David’s heart. Could it be that he actually knew
insolence and wickedness of heart in his own life rather than in David’s?
Eliab could have benefited from Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:3.
Saul’s
Words
Saul’s first words in this passage are not
recorded. The soldiers were discussing the reward that King Saul had
offered to the champion who would fight Goliath. His first words were
spoken out of fear. He was not willing to face the giant in battle, and
his fear plagued the army of Israel. Furthermore, when David accepted the
challenge, Saul’s immediate response (verse 33) was negative, “You are not able
to go against this Philistine to fight against him.” Finally, Saul was
convinced that David was the man to go, and his words of encouragement are
recorded at the end of verse 37, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” At
the very least, Saul acknowledged that God fights with the Israelites.
The next words we read from Saul’s mouth are found in verses 55-58, where it is
revealed that he didn’t recognize David, nor had he seriously inquired about
him before he was sent off to battle. “Whose son are you?” This
indicates that Saul was willing to send an unknown youth to fight a man’s
battle because he was too afraid himself.
Abner’s
Words
Abner doesn’t have a huge role in this
passage. His only comment is in response to King Saul’s inquiry on David’s
identity. He plainly responded in verse 55, “I don’t know.” It
seems simple enough, but remember that just prior to King Saul’s question in
this same verse, Abner was identified as the commander of the army.
Forget for a moment that neither the king nor the commander of the army was
willing to fight a battle on behalf of their nation. Forget for a moment
that the king didn’t know who this kid was and was still willing to send him
off for a battle that he was severely overmatched in physique. How did
this young man come to stand before the king and agree to fight a battle on
behalf of the nation? He was obviously not part of the army because the
commander of the army didn’t recognize him. Surely the commander of the
army would have tested this soldier before allowing him to step out and fight
his army’s battle. Abner’s few words speak volumes, ‘I don’t know who we’ve
sent out to fight our battles, but I hope we win.’ This shows weakness of
character.
David’s
Words
David’s first words in this chapter must be
inferred by his obedience to his father’s instructions. Verse 20 tells us
that David “went as Jesse had commanded him.” Do you want to know what it
takes to be considered a man after God’s heart? It takes obedience to God’s
commands. David had made a habit of being obedient to his father, so as
he matured, it was natural for him to subject himself to God’s desires (see Chapter
2 for a discussion of God’s requisites).
David overheard the men of Israel talking
about what reward would be granted to the one who would defeat Goliath.
David then clarified with several sources, “What will be done for the man who
kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach of Israel?” David’s response
to the giant’s words was, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should
taunt the armies of the living God?” David was indignant.
As he continued to clarify the king’s
promised rewards, his older brother, Eliab, accused him of nosing into the
affairs of others. David’s response to Eliab was classic, in verse 29, “What
have I done now? Was it not just a question?” In the recorded
exchange David did not entertain Eliab’s accusation.
In verses 32-37, David signed up for the
giant’s challenge. His words to King Saul, were eloquent, “Let no man’s
heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this
Philistine.” After Saul’s attempt to talk him out of it, David responded,
“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised
Philistine will be like one of them since he has taunted the armies of the
living God. The Lord … will deliver me…” The words from David’s
mouth clearly identify the source of David’s confidence. He was not
relying on his own strength. When Saul tried to put his own armor on David, he
wisely responded in verse 39, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested
them” (also see Psalm 20:5-7). Someone else’s armor will never protect
you in battle.
David’s encounter with Goliath is extremely
revealing of his reliance on God rather than his own ability. David
declared that he was not trusting in his weaponry or skill, but rather in the
name of the Lord. He then stated, “This day the Lord will deliver you up
into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head.” David
recognized that God is responsible for the victory, and we can do nothing more
than He allows. But we must be faithful to do what God calls us to do—get
our hands dirty. He continued, “And I will give the dead bodies of the
army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of
the earth, that all of the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and
that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by
spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”
Why did God grant victory? Was it for David’s glory? No, David
realized that God does miraculous things through us for His own glory. In
the book of Ezekiel, the prophet declares over 50 times, that God would do
something so that the earth or some group would “know that I am the
Lord.” David also noted that while God was granting him the victory over
Goliath, He was granting victory over the Philistines to the entire (albeit
fearful) nation of Israel. It’s not about David. God’s glory is for
all of His people.
Finally, David responded to Saul with
humility, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” David
didn’t declare his own name as if to bring honor to himself. He answered
the question, “Whose son are you?” by stating his family name. Realize
that Eliab was also the son of Jesse. His entire family was to be set
free from taxation including the older brothers that looked down on him.
He was still proud of his family, and he honored them appropriately.
Paul’s
Words
In 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Paul writes these
words that help to explain God’s choice of utensils:
“For
consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things
of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world
to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the
despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the
things that are, so that no man may boast before God. But by His doing
you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness
and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him
who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”
Is it any wonder that God chose someone
young, unknown in battle, and of low family status to win a major victory?
Words of Wisdom
The wisest man who ever lived, had it all, and tried everything to find
fulfillment (including work, pleasure, and riches). He surmised that all
of life was vanity because no matter how a person lives, his life is going to
end the same way everyone else's does—in death. At the end of the book of
Ecclesiastes however, Solomon said, “The conclusion, when all has been heard,
is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every
person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is
hidden, whether it is good or evil,” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Having
performed a lifelong experiment on what brings happiness and purpose the
savviest of all mankind concluded with this profound discovery.
If you are like most people, you do not learn from other people's mistakes or
research. But let me encourage you with these facts. If upon the
death of Louis Pasteur, humanity had to rediscover penicillin, our society
would not be where it is today. If no one had built upon Henry Ford's
ideas, we would not be driving around in vehicles, nor would we have a system
for mass production. If our society did not pass along information and
learn from others, we would not succeed as a whole.
So, what exactly did the wisest man say? Let us explore the book of his
Proverbs. Chapter 1 opens up with instructing a son on how to attain
wisdom. He starts off telling us where to seek wisdom, “The fear of God
is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7, see also 9:10; 15:33). In
Proverbs 1:20-25, Solomon describes what happens when people do not obey God in
various fashions. Wisdom says, 'You haven't heeded my correction; I have
instructed, and you have not listened; I have called things to your attention,
but you have not regarded my words; You have counted my counsel as
nothing…' In the verses following (Proverbs 1:26-32), Wisdom tells the
wayward persons that she will mock them in their downfall. She vows that
those who once disregarded her words would come to seek her but would not find
her. WHY? “Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the
fear of the Lord. They would not accept [her] counsel, they spurned all
[her] reproof,” (Proverbs 1:29). But what happens to those who heed God's
commands? Verse 33 says, “But he who listens to me shall live securely
and will be at ease from the dread of evil,” (Proverbs 1:33). [Let's make
a side note here. If you believe that God created mankind, then this
passage alone identifies our purpose. God says, 'If you disobey, I'll
punish you, but if you obey, then I'll reward you.' In a nutshell it's
the same thing that Solomon concluded in the book of Ecclesiastes. Our
purpose is to serve and obey God. See also God's requisites for our
lives, discussed in Chapter 2.]
Chapter 2 of Proverbs sets out the same basic principles. The first half
explains that if we will 'seek [wisdom] as silver, and search for her as for
hidden treasure (something precious and valuable), then [we] will understand
the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.' Later the author
progresses to explain that the contrary is true for “those who leave the paths
of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who delight in doing evil and
rejoice in the perversity of evil; whose paths are crooked, and who are devious
in their ways,” (Proverbs 2:13-15). These wicked people will “be cut off
from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted from it,” (Proverbs
2:22). God desires that we gain wisdom. He offers it freely to
those who seek it, so that we may be blessed for eternity. When Amos sees
a vision from God about how God's people measure up to His standards, he sees
God setting a plumb line in the midst of His people to determine which are
straight and which are crooked (Amos 7:7-8). God is the One who evaluates
our lives, and He is the One who executes punishment or reward.
Chapter 3 begins, “Do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my
commandments; for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to
you,” (Proverbs 3:1-2). God had a clear purpose for giving
commandments. They were not just whimsical concepts that He sat down and
figured He would forbid in order to prohibit our fun; they are for our benefit.
Other commandments are found in verses 3, 5-6a, 7, and 9, while their promises
are found in verses 4, 6b, 8, and 10. These are similar commands and
promises to those we have already reviewed. Verse 11, instructs us not to
despise God's punishment, because God loves those whom He chastens (see also
9:6-9; 10:8, 17; 12:1-2; 13:1-2; 15:10, 31-32; 17:10; 21:11; 29:1). As
one speaker stated, ‘We don't discipline the neighbor’s children, we only
discipline our children.’ Hebrews 12:5-11 states very clearly that if you
are living in sin, and God is not chastening you, then you must not belong to
God. God disciplines us, so that we can grow to full maturity.
Parents discipline their children, so that they will grow up to function
properly in society. God also uses discipline in His spiritual children's
lives, so that we will learn to function properly in His kingdom.
What is the value of wisdom? Paul says
in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Paul was not specifically addressing God's discipline, but it definitely falls
into the category of the sufferings of this time. Solomon was teaching us
to seek wisdom no matter what the cost. It is more valuable than “the
profit of silver, and her gain better than fine gold… more precious than
jewels,” (3:14-15, see also 2:4; 8:10-11, 19; 16:16; 20:15). Solomon knew
the value of silver, gold, and jewels (Ecclesiastes 2:8). The value of
God's wisdom is alluded to also in Jesus words, “… seek first His kingdom and
His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” (Matthew
6:33). The message of these two speakers in these two passages is that
God's wisdom and kingdom are so much more important than riches and even daily
needs.
These principles that we are seeing are
applicable in any person's life. Some would call these the written rules
of common sense. Obtain understanding and wisdom (as it comes from God);
stay away from wickedness; do not associate with evil people. If our
society practiced these things, we would have a Godly society. The point
to be pondered, however, is that the advice offered by Solomon builds a life of
someone who is not similar to society but rather a life of someone who is completely
different from the norm. Think for a moment about the prominent subjects
of this book:
- seek God (1:7; 3:9; 9:10; 15:33; 22:19) — we are taught that there is no God.
- heed your parent's advice (1:8-9; 2:1; 3:1, 11; 4:1-5; 5:1-2; 6:20-21; 7:1-3; 10:1; 13:1; 19:26; 22:17; 23:22-26) — our society's mottoes include: do what you want to do; if it feels good, do it ; as long as it makes you happy and doesn't hurt anyone, nothing is wrong with it; and just do it.
- stay away from evil people (1:10-19; 2:12-22; 4:14-19; 7:5-27; 13:20; 22:24-27; 23:20; 28:7; 29:24) — many teachers and even religions today are pushing the idea on us that people are naturally good; there are no evil people; everything is relative.
- stay on the straight and narrow; walk in your integrity (3:3-4; 4:12-13, 23-27; 6:20-23; 7:25; 9:6; 10:6-9; 11:3-9, 18-20; 12:22-28; 13:5-6; 14:2, 16:17-18; 20:7; 21:21; 28:18) — how many religions are trying to teach that all roads lead to heaven; how many teach that as long as you are sincere in what you believe, you'll get there?
- do not trust in your own knowledge (3:5-7; 12:15; 14:12; 16:3, 9, 25; 23:4) — how many self-help books must we read before we learn that nothing I can do will make me a complete person?
- do not be promiscuous (5; 6:24-32; 7:6-27; 23:27-28) — our society teaches sex education and until recently refuted the idea of teaching abstinence; even now, it is not respected as a viable option (remember, if it feels good, do it).
- be humble; do not exalt yourself (6:17; 11:2; 12:9; 13:10; 16:5, 18; 18:12; 20:6; 21:4, 24; 22:4; 25:6-8, 14; 27:2; 28:25; 29:23) — aren't we taught today that we have to 'toot our own horns'? One of my favorite sayings is: “If you have to tell someone how great a Christian you are, then you're not as great a Christian as you think you are,” (see also Isaiah 2:11, 17 and 5:21).
These are just a few of the simple principles
taught in this book. Do you still think that it is filled with common
sense? It is more like uncommon sense. The key to wisdom according
to the wisest man on earth consists of these basic ideologies. If a man
desires to be wise, then he should practice these principles (plus the others
taught in Proverbs). Why would a person want to seek wisdom, and where
should one start? Today, there is a very large focus on knowledge.
The slogan from a popular video game, Mortal Kombat, is “There is no knowledge
that is not power.” The heart of Eastern religions and the New Age
movement is total enlightenment. If you seek wisdom, Solomon (the wisest man
to ever live) says, “Follow these basic rules.” Where should you
start? Proverbs 18:1 says this, “He who separates himself seeks his own
desire, he quarrels against all sound wisdom.” Isolating yourself from
all others is not only antisocial, it leaves you vulnerable to pursuing only
selfish desires. Larry King said, “Nothing I say today will teach me
anything.” You must not attempt to seek wisdom all on your own. As
we’ve described, however, if you are to be spiritually wise, you must separate
yourself from the world around you.
Let's take a look at people in the Bible who
separated themselves from the world. First let's consider the Vow of a
Nazarite. In Numbers 6, we see that if a person chooses to take a vow of
the Nazarite, he/she has decided to separate him/herself by certain actions,
namely these three: 1) not drinking wine/alcohol or eating fruit, 2) not
cutting his/her hair, and 3) not touching a dead body [this includes the eating
of meat]. Wine was the main drink of the day; it was nearly the only
drink available. If a person did not drink wine, he/she was completely
distinct from others. If a person didn't cut their hair, it would grow
long and unseemly. If a family member were to die while a person had
taken this vow, he/she could not go and mourn the loss. The Nazarite
would also be a vegetarian. These people were truly set apart.
Samson is said to have been a Nazarite (Judges 13). John the Baptist was
also a Nazarite, set apart, and God used him to proclaim the coming of the Messiah.
God did not call the Nazarites to a vow of exclusion from society.
Nazarites were not to be as the Separatists were, completely cut off from the
rest of the world. Similarly, we as Christians are not called to be
elitists; we are called to be separate from, but not excluded from our
cultures.
Now let's look at God's direct call on His
people's lives. Leviticus 11:44, says, “For I am the Lord your God.
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be, for I am holy…” Verse 45
reiterates this command. 'You shall be holy because I am holy.' 1
Peter 1:15-16, repeats these words. In Leviticus 20:26, God says, “… I
have set you from the peoples to be mine.” In Matthew 5:48, Jesus
commands us, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Read Exodus 19:5-6, and you will see that God's intent was for His people to be
peculiar. Why does He want this? Because when we do what God
instructs us to do, God is glorified. Our society is corrupt, and the
society of the Israelites' day was corrupt, meaning evil, deceitful, dishonest,
CROOKED. Society seeks its own glory. God wants us to seek His
glory. By separating ourselves from normal actions, we are
distinct from society's normal evil behavior.
If you and I begin to live our lives
according to the book of Proverbs, we will gain wisdom, but it comes at a high
cost socially. It is a part of the 'givers and livers' concept.
Many Christians are ready to give their lives for Christ's sake, but how many
are ready to live their lives for Him? How many are willing to be
ridiculed for not speeding, not cheating on taxes, carrying and reading a
bible, or standing up for what is right in a controversial situation? How
many Christians find it more important to be politically correct than to be
honest? Proverbs 29:26 says, “Many seek the ruler's favor, but justice
for man comes from the Lord.” Remember what Paul said in Galatians 1:10:
'Who are we trying to please?'
Far from common sense, this makes no sense to
our culture today. Our world today consists of people who prefer to carry
their belts and let their pants sag to their knees. Our mainstream is a
group of individuals who wish to be uniquely the same as everyone else,
while telling kids, “Do what you want to do,” and “Be what you want
to be.” Can you see the irony? It is exactly this that Paul states
in Romans 1:22, “Professing to be wise, they became fools.” Blackie
Sherrod said, “History must repeat itself because we pay such little attention
to it the first time.” This fact is evident in the number of times that
the Israelites went their own way and worshipped foreign gods.
Unfortunately, today, God's people have not paid attention to that
history. These principles of wisdom are too old fashioned and too far-fetched
for our society today.
Daniel
The book of Daniel is very straightforward in showing that all God wants is our
praise and devotion. The basis of God's blessing in Daniel's life is
found in verse 8 of chapter 1: “But Daniel made up his mind” to obey
God. Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) were taken
captive from Judah, and they were forced to obey and pledge allegiance to a new
system of government. Daniel and the others, however, did not devote
their allegiance to the gods of this new environment and so were blessed.
The first thing we notice from the Ten Commandments is that God desires all our
worship and that none belongs to other people, things, or gods. These
four Hebrew slaves knew that the best thing for them to do was to obey God, not
man (something that Peter stated in Acts 5:29).
In our day and time, many Christians are
willing to be givers, but not so many of us are willing to be livers. The
difference between a professing Christian and a possessing Christian is just
that. It's not just that I claim to be willing to give my life for
Christ (or do the great things that Christ would call me to do), but rather I'm
willing to live my life for Christ (that's on a daily basis—meaning that
I will take a stand to tell the truth, live with integrity, not cheat on my
taxes). That is the lifestyle that these Hebrew slaves chose.
In Daniel 2, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream,
and as was the superstition of the day, he wanted the interpretation of
it. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember the dream. Though not
always the case, God was indeed speaking to Nebuchadnezzar through this
dream. None of the king's wise men or astrologers could conjure up what
the dream was and then interpret it, so the king ordered that all the wise men
be killed.
Daniel heard this and decided to pray about recalling and understanding the
dream. Daniel's actions, above all else, showed his humility.
First, Daniel called his three friends to his house for a prayer meeting, and
they prayed that God would show mercy to them, so that they would not be
killed. God revealed the secret to Daniel, and before running off to King
Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel stopped and said, ‘Praise You, Lord God,’ (Daniel
2:19-23). That is the very reason that God continued to bless and exalt
Daniel—because Daniel never failed to remember that it was God who gave him
wisdom; it was God that supplied his strength. We actually see Daniel
applying the principles that are taught in the New Testament even though he did
not know of Jesus, the man (Philippians 4:19, Colossians 3:17, James
1:5).
Aside from Daniel's actions before talking to King Nebuchadnezzar, we see the
humility shown before the king's face. Chapter 2, verses 27 and 28 are
very beautiful words: “… As for the mystery about which the king has
inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to
declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals
mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in
the latter days…” In verse 30, Daniel opened his heart of humility when
he said that it was not by his own wisdom that the dream came to him.
Daniel made sure the king knew that the praise belonged to God. How do we
know that Daniel's witness was effective? [Many times we wonder how we
can properly credit God, and how we can be sure that we've given God the glory
for our achievements. This is something to be practiced.] Look at
King Nebuchadnezzar's words in verse 47. “Surely your God is a God of
gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able
to reveal this mystery.” God blessed Daniel, and in return Daniel did
what he was expected to do—glorify God. When we glorify God, God will be
faithful to bless us.
In the very next chapter of the book of Daniel, we see another example of how
God is faithful to take care of us when we are faithful to honor Him.
Daniel's three friends got into trouble with the king because they did not obey
his commandment to worship an idol that he set up. Once again, the
principle is demonstrated that obeying God is much more important than obeying
man (see also Psalm 56:11, Matthew 10:28, Acts 5:29, Romans 8:31). Their
answer was: “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us
from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand (What
faith!!), O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O
king, that we are not going to serve your gods, or worship the golden image
that you have set up,” (Daniel 3:17-18). This is the true commitment of a
follower of Christ! This is deep dedication. This is the example of
service that we should show in our daily lives. These young men decided
that they were ready to serve God at all cost; they were sold out. 'We
know that our God can save us from your hand, King Nebby. But even if He
doesn't save us, we still want you to know that He is God, not some foolish
image that you built and consecrated.' They were faithful in honoring
God, and God faithfully honored them. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
were tied up, and the biggest, strongest men of Babylon died throwing them into
the fiery furnace. Nevertheless, these three young men fell down unharmed
and unbound in the fire.
Astonished that the three men and an extra man were walking around and chatting
inside the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar questioned a nearby counselor, about
the quantity of men thrown into the fire. Sure enough, the fourth man
didn't belong, and Nebuchadnezzar noticed that 'He looks like a son of the
gods,' (Daniel 3:25). God walked through the fire with His
servants. Was this God, Himself, or an angel? That question is
interesting but non-critical. God delivered the three Hebrews boys.
The king then called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to come out of the
furnace. Upon leaving, everyone was puzzled to find that not even the
clothes they were wearing so much as smelled like smoke. What was
Nebuchadnezzar's response to this event? In verse 29, we see that the
king made a decree exalting God. Once again, God desires our praise and
adoration.
Chapter 4 is the last recorded illustration that God showed
Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebby, just like the Pharoah of Egypt, had become
great and exalted himself above God. The king had another dream, and once
again no one was able to interpret it. Daniel was called in, and revealed
the secret. Daniel interpreted the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar would
go crazy and live in the wild as a beast. With a sincere and loving
heart, Daniel was hurt for the king. He would rather this dream occur to
the king's enemies. God revealed through Daniel's words why all of this
would take place. All this will happen, “... until you recognize that the
most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He
wishes,” (Daniel 4:25). In order to prove this point, God not only
performed these things, but He also promised to and actually did restore King
Nebby's kingdom. Does that not show God's power? Not only did God
prophesy and cause the greatest living king to lose his wits and live as a
beast eating grass in the wild, but He also restored the kingdom to the very
same man!! Why would people follow this man after his apparent
insanity?
Daniel admonished the king to repent of his
sins and iniquities by acts of righteousness and by showing mercy to the poor
(see Chapter 2 for a discussion of God’s requisites). But why was this
all going to happen in the first place? Verses 29-30 show that
Nebuchadnezzar had become conceited and that he boasted of his
accomplishments. Then God, Himself, spoke from heaven reminding King
Nebby of the dream, what would take place, and why. And so, Nebuchadnezzar
became as a beast with hair that resembled the feathers of an eagle and
fingernails that were as a bird's claws. Then, after all these things,
his understanding returned to him, and he blessed the most High. He wound
up praising and extolling and honoring the King of heaven, Whose works are all
truth and Whose ways are judgment, and he ultimately said, “… those that walk
in pride, He is able to abase,” (Daniel 4:37).
Down the lineage of Nebuchadnezzar came King
Belshazzar. He, like Nebuchadnezzar, was a proud and arrogant man who did
not recognize God's authority. He threw a party one day and had all of
the lords and ladies come over to make merry. While he was drinking some
wine, he decided to bring in the vessels, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from
the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:7). He and the invited guests
began using them to drink when, all of a sudden, there were fingers of a hand
writing on the wall of the palace (Daniel 5:5). Verse 6 states that the
king was human, not above fear; “The king’s face grew pale … and his knees
began knocking together.” When you mock the Most High God, you will be
recompensed. Belshazzar made a choice to defy God's glory.
Belshazzar had taken the precious items of God's temple and used them for
common, unruly practices. His actions backfired on him; “Do not be
deceived; God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap,”
(Galatians 6:7).
The king offered a reward of great promise
for interpreting this writing. Whoever translated the words was to become
the third ruler in the kingdom, and be clothed in nice apparel. He sent for his
wise men and astrologers, but finding no one able to decipher the written
words, he became increasingly more troubled. The queen came into the
banquet, and told the king that there was a man in the kingdom, “in whom is a
spirit of the holy gods,” (Daniel 5:11). The queen recounted the history
of Daniel's abilities in the days of Nebuchadnezzar and told him that most
assuredly, Daniel would be able to interpret the writing.
Daniel was indeed called for this
project. The king made small talk with Daniel asking about his past,
whether he was who the queen mentioned, and then the king made his promise of
gifts and power that Daniel would receive if he could tell the meaning of the
words. Daniel's response was simplistic and truthful. He said,
'Keep your gifts, and give your rewards to somebody else, but I will tell you
what these words say.' He then proceeded to explain that the Most High
God was the One Who gave Nebuchadnezzar his power and kingdom, and King
Nebuchadnezzar could do as he pleased only because God had given him that
authority. But, when he became proud, his glory was removed from him.
Daniel explained the facts about Nebby going insane and living in the
wild like a beast, but only until he recognized that the Most High God is the
One who rules the kingdom of man, and He is the One who appoints authorities
(Romans 13:1-7). “Yet you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your
heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the
Lord of heaven; …” you have praised these other gods who are not alive nor
powerful. ”But the God in whose hand your life-breath is and all your
ways, you have not glorified,” and this is what the writing says: 'God
has measured/counted out your kingdom and days and terminated them; you are
weighed in the balances, and you are found wanting; your kingdom is
divided.'
The king's response to this message is the
saddest part of this entire book. Did he fall to his knees humbly and beg
for forgiveness, confessing this truth? Did he cry out, repenting of his
conceited behavior? Did he even react in anger, denying God's
words? No, he merely moved on with his life. He fulfilled his promise,
to reward Daniel, and continued with his life. The worst response a
person can give to God's call is complete and utter indifference.
Apathetic to Daniel’s history lesson and eminent prophecy, Belshazzar chose to
ignore God’s words.
The reality of it all is that each of us
[before choosing Christianity] is in the same sad state as was King
Belshazzar—though king of our own lives, we have no power that God has not
given us, we also have the history of those that have gone before us. We
too have days that are numbered—we've been judged and prosecuted. We too
have been weighed and have been found wanting. Our lives (kingdoms) have
also been doomed. But we have the choice to make. Do we choose the
path that seems right in our own eyes (see Proverbs 14:12), or do we choose to
allow Christ to change our lives and become the conductor? Not making a
choice is synonymous with making the wrong choice. Ignoring the right
answer is the same as rejecting it. Not many people choose to go to hell,
many, however, remain on that path by apathetically not responding to the road
signs. As I like to say, “I’d rather be a pawn on God’s chessboard than
the king of my own house of cards.”
In chapter 6 of the book of Daniel, a new
king took over. King Darius of Median set up a system of government in
which there were 120 rulers over the whole kingdom and three presidents over
them; Daniel was the chief of them. Daniel was a well-respected fellow,
why? Because he had an excellent spirit. This is the mark of a
truly mature Christian. The other rulers didn't like Daniel because the
king was considering making him the ruler over all the kingdom, so they
searched for something to attack in Daniel's character. Unfortunately for
them, they could find nothing. Why do I believe that Daniel is an example
of a truly mature Christian? Simply because he was Christ-like.
When the Pharisees sought to find something against Christ, what did they
find? They could not even find an appropriate false witness against Jesus
(Matthew 26:59-60).
The rulers enticed the king to make a decree
that no one should be allowed to worship any god other than the king himself
for 30 days or that person would be thrown into the lion's den. Of
course, Daniel, according to his faith, only worshipped the Most High
God. As was his practice three times per day, Daniel opened his window
toward Jerusalem and knelt to pray and thank God. The rulers happened
to pass by and caught him. They then proceeded to remind the king of his
proclamation. The king had not forgotten his unbreakable decree, then the
rulers identified Daniel as the wicked law-breaker.
King Darius was heartbroken. He had
made a decree, and who was found in contempt of this law? None other than
Daniel, his loyal and well-liked servant. The king desired to deliver
Daniel, but since a king's seal was unbreakable, he was unable to do so.
Now, we see Daniel's witness to King Darius. The king was forced to abide
by his own word, but before commanding that Daniel be thrown into the lion's
den, he spoke to Daniel saying, “Your God whom you constantly serve will
Himself deliver you,” (Daniel 6:16). Do you see the power of God's spirit
in the life of a Christian? Daniel had a testimony that pierced even the
heart of the king! Reading further, we see that the king went back to the
palace, and spent the entire night in sleepless fasting. The next morning
he got up and ran to the lion's den, “When he had come near the den to Daniel,
he cried out with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel,
‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you constantly serve been
able to deliver you from the lions?’,” (Daniel 6:20). In this situation,
if the king did not believe that Daniel's God could deliver him, why would he
have gone out in the first place? The king must have had some
faith. Daniel's reply, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel
and shut the lions’ mouths and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found
innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no
crime.” Why did Daniel come out of the pit, without a scratch? Two
reasons are given. One, he had done nothing wrong (verse 22). Two,
he trusted in God (verse 23). The rulers who had betrayed Daniel, were
thrown into the lion's den with their entire families. What purpose did
this serve? This shows that our actions have consequences and hurt others
around us, even destroying lives (Psalm 1:5-6).
Darius' next decree was that all men were to
tremble and fear the God of Daniel, why? “For He is the living God and
enduring forever, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and his
dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and
wonders in heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of
the lions,” (Daniel 6:26-27). Daniel's life was a very powerful testimony
to God's glory. When we are faithful to give God the glory in our lives,
He is faithful to provide and take care of us. This is not to say that
God will always deliver us; Jesus did have to die on the cross, for
instance. At His discretion, He chooses to glorify Himself in our
suffering or in our deliverance.
Malachi’s Indictment of the Religious
The first chapter of the book of Malachi is an indictment of the attitudes of
the people of God. It is a powerful message condemning feigned religious
practices and calling us out to serve God whole-heartedly. These words
are congruent in meaning with the message of other prophets who stated,
‘Circumcise the foreskins of your heart’ and those who clearly defined God’s
requisites (see Chapter 1 and Chapter 2). This message is particularly
convicting as it paints a slightly different picture of what our dishonoring attitudes
toward God really mean.
The first and most important foundation that God lays is stated in verse 2, “I
have loved you.” This is significant because the rest of the conversation
concisely argues that this love is not reciprocated. God has loved His
people and has demonstrated that love in many ways. Continuing on, verse
6 reasons that fathers and masters deserve respect. This is very
logical. The terms, “Father” and “Master” are used in referring to God,
and He appropriately expects to be respected. However, He asks, ‘if these
constitute my position, then where is the respect due me?’ In Isaiah
29:13, God says, “this people draw near with their words and honor Me with
their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their
reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote.” The people of
God were only honoring God through tradition. There was no attitude of
reverence toward God.
This lack of reverence is further substantiated when the people are called out
for the quality of their offerings. “You are presenting defiled food upon
My altar,” (Malachi 1:7). Tradition taught them to bring offerings, but
tradition could not motivate them to sacrifice their best. Clearly, they
felt obliged to offer something because it was their customary practice, but
was it any deeper than a ritualistic observance? One could argue that
many superstitious beliefs are more moving to those who hold them than the
Jewish customs were to the Jews. Malachi went further to identify their
gifts as the least and worst (in lieu of the best). They were offering
the blind and lame to God. Then God said, “Offer that to your governor
and see what he has to say to you.”
Herein is the greatest revelation. If
the President of the United States were to call me and request that I spend
some time showing him the sites of my city, would I try to squeeze him in
between meetings and lunch? No, I would adapt my schedule to his or her
availability. Why? Because I esteem the office of the President of
the United States very highly. In Romans 13, the apostle Paul tells us
that God has established the authorities over us, and that we are to render to
everyone his or her due (honor to whom honor is due). If I am not willing
to give my second best to the President of the United States, then what could
possibly explain my disregard for presenting my best to the almighty God and
Creator of the universe? The only possible explanation is that I do not
regard Him as worthy of my best. This is an attitude problem.
Why does God want our best? Does He really need it? No, (as
mentioned in Chapter 18), God is infinite in His possession. He doesn’t
need anything from us. However, He deserves everything from us. God
even states in verse 11, “My name will be great among the nations,” and
again in verse 14, “for I am a great King, … and My name is feared among the
nations.” If He deserves everything, and He has required the best, then I
ought to lovingly give what He requires (2 Corinthians 9:7). When I do
not, it reflects on what I believe about Him.
Not only does it reflect on my attitude
toward God, Himself, it reflects on my belief of God’s interaction with
me. God states that He has loved us. In the foregoing discussion,
we reasoned that the only explanation for why we offer God our second best (or
worst) is that we do not respect or reverence God (or we do not return God’s
love). Going one step further, if I do not love and reverence God, it
must be based on my beliefs of Who He is. Clearly, I have devalued Him,
but I also must devalue His gifts. Ed Stetzer states in his book, Compelled
by Love, that ‘Jesus didn’t come and die for us because He had nothing
better to do on a Friday afternoon.’ Jesus didn’t give us His leftovers.
He sacrificed everything.
When what I offer God is the leftovers of my
life, the quality of my gift reflects on my perception of the quality of God’s
gift. In our culture, we have a sense of debtor’s giving.
Christmastime is plagued with concerns of the giving of gifts of equal value,
so that we demonstrate that a particular relationship is equally important to
us as it is to that other person. It’s awkward. Jesus was clearly
the crème de la crème. Ephesians 1:7-8 tells us that God lavished forgiveness
on us “according to the riches of His grace.” God spared no expense when
it came to redeeming us. How do I respond? Do I give Him my spare
time? Do I offer Him the scraps from my table? No! In Romans
12:1-3, Paul tells us that our only reasonable response is to submit our entire
lives as a sacrifice to God, intentionally pursuing holiness through the
refusal to conform to the world and actively transforming our thoughts to know
the mind of God. Further Paul instructs us to have a proper understanding
of ourselves – ‘do not esteem yourself more valuable than is appropriate.’
This is the essence of Christianity (see Chapter 1).
In short, God is not pleased with
half-hearted, ritualistic worship. God is interested in the condition of
our hearts. When I have a proper understanding of Who God is, I have a
better understanding of who I am. When I understand who I am and I
realize how much God values me, I can begin to appreciate the love of God in
new and exciting ways. This is just the beginning of what Paul prays for
us in Ephesians 4:14-19, that we, “being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend … what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and
to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.”
The Blind Man (John 9)
This chapter is one of my 2 favorites in the Bible. It a classic portrait
of the wise being foolish and the uneducated becoming the hero. As Paul
states in 1 Corinthians 1:27, God's ways are foolishness to man; “but God has
chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen
the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” He
continues in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “… a natural man does not accept the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand
them, because they are spiritually appraised.” This is exactly what takes
place in John 9.
The blind man's encounter with Christ comprises one of the most profound
chapters of the Bible. In all honesty we do not know the circumstances
surrounding the man’s life—we do know that he was a beggar. When Jesus
showed up with His disciples, this man was there. The disciples asked,
‘Why was this man born blind, is it because of his parents sin or his own?’
This question reflects a common belief even today. Bad things happen
as punishment for wrongdoing. While I will agree that negative
consequences do sometimes occur because of sin in the here and now, I must say
that on a whole, all bad things do not happen because of our sin (look at what
happened to Job). Bad things happen because we live in a fallen
world. The fact is, as Jesus proclaimed, this man was born blind, so that
God could be glorified in his life (John 9:3). There was no other
reason.
In general, no one would have wanted to associate with this man, treat him with
any dignity whatsoever, and furthest from anyone's mind would be touching him.
But Jesus, made clay with spit, and touched the clay to the blind man's
eyes. The fact that Jesus cared enough to touch the man, probably made a
significant impact. Jesus not only touched the man, He touched the very
source of the man's infirmity. Touching another man's eyes is not a
common practice. It could not have been accidental; Jesus intentionally
reached out to this perceived-to-be lowly scum of a human, and touched the
heart of his disease. This is picturesque of what Christ did by becoming
human. He put on flesh (our sinful nature itself, yet overcame). In the
end, He took all of our sins upon Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21). What
significance this holds for us today! No one is so dirty that Christ will
not touch him/her. No one is so sinful that Christ will not forgive
him/her. He reached out and touched the blind man, but He also took all
the sins of the world upon Himself.
The blind man had a choice to make. He could have gotten angry because
some guy had come by and put mud in his face, or he could obey the command to
go and wash. The blind man chose to obey, and his obedience was rewarded
with sight. This miracle caused quite a stir. The neighbors and
others questioned whether or not this was the same blind beggar that they'd
seen so many times before. Some said that it was, others said that he was
similar, but he said, “I am he,” (John 9:8-9). So, they asked how he was
cured. His answer was simple. “The man who is called Jesus made
clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam, and wash’; so I
went away and washed, and I received sight,” (John 9:11). How many times
have we said, ‘I cannot witness; I do not know any scriptures. I can't
tell about God or Jesus; I just don't have the right words.’ This man is
the prime example of sharing the gospel. He simply explained what
happened to him. He did not have to be overly educated. He did not
have to know the Bible backwards and forwards. He needn't have shared one
iota of doctrinal material. He merely conveyed his own life story.
The man who was blind was taken to the Pharisees, the wise, religious leaders
of the day. It was the Sabbath day, the day of rest when no one was
allowed to work according to Jewish law. The Pharisees asked the man who
was blind how he was healed. The once blind man, responded the same way
as before. The religious guys were divided. They argued amongst
themselves, 'This man doesn't keep the law because he works on the day of rest,
so he cannot be of God,’ and, ‘But how can a man perform such a miracle if he
is not in tune with God?' Then they asked the healed man (as if they
really cared what he had to say), and he replied, 'He must be a prophet.'
Then they doubted the blindness of the man altogether, and called his
parents. The parents testified to his having been born blind but would
not respond to how he came to see (John 9:16-23). Note: When we
stand strong on our beliefs, no matter how great God has demonstrated Himself,
there will be those who once stood with us, who fail us. The parents of
the blind man had been with him through all the years of hopeless attempts of
giving him sight. They had more than likely spent a significant amount of
money and passed hours with the religious people in prayer to no avail.
Yet, when God manifested Himself and healed the man, they failed to stand
upon this victory. Be advised, others will fail you.
Now, we are about to look at the greatest logic ever displayed, and it is
presented by an ignorant man to arguably the most savvy of opponents. The
Pharisees again called the man who was blind and said, “Give glory to God; we
know that this man is a sinner,” (John 9:24). His response in verse 25
is: “Whether he is a sinner, I do not know: one thing I do know, that
though I was blind, now I see.” They demanded of him again to tell how
Jesus healed him, and he responded, 'I've already told you, and you did not
listen, why do you want to hear it again? Will you also believe as I do
and be followers of Him?' Then they laughed at him and mocked him and
said, 'You are his follower, but we are followers of Moses. We know that
God spoke to Moses, as for this guy, we don't know where he comes from.'
[Here it is; don't miss this!!] The simple man who was once blind
responded, 'Well, isn't this something that you don't know where this guy is
from, and yet He opened my eyes, so that I could see it!!! 1) We know
that God does not hear sinners, but if any man is a worshipper of God, and does
His will, then God hears him. 2) Since the world began, no one has ever
been able to bring sight to eyes that have never seen. From my grade
school math, 2+2=4. If this man were not of God, He could not open my
eyes, nor could He do anything.’ When the Pharisees saw that they had
lost the argument, they kicked him out of the church and accused him of being
born into sin (John 9:26-33). The things of God are foolishness to the
carnal man, and God's wisdom confounds the wise. This poor guy couldn’t
win. When he was blind, he was accused of being born into sin which
caused his blindness. When he was healed, since he didn’t have all the
desired answers, he was accused of being born into sin for his ignorance.
The blind man's situation may seem unjust. His whole life revolved around
this pivotal point. In mathematics, a critical point is a point of change
in the derivative of a function. You can identify a critical point in a
graph because the trend of the function generally changes. Everything
that had happened to the blind man was leading up to this critical point in his
life. Everything he had experienced was focused on this moment - his
opportunity to believe and receive Christ as the Almighty or to reject Him as
the religious leaders had done. It was his choice whether or not to go
with the flow of the mainstream religion of the day or to grasp at what he did
not understand. All he knew was that he once was blind, but now, he could
see! Jesus later found him and asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of
Man?” When Jesus revealed Himself, the man responded, “Lord, I believe,”
(John 9:35-38). The simple faith of a poor, ignorant man is worth more
than all the knowledge of thousands of thousands of Bible scholars.
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see
may see, and that those who see may become blind.” A couple of Pharisees
were hanging around and overhearing this, they asked, “We are not blind too,
are we?” Jesus responded: “If you were blind, you would have no
sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains,” (John 9:39-41). If
they would've been able to humble themselves, and admit their ignorance, that
they did not understand all things as they believed, they would've been able to
receive Christ as being from God. But, they believed that they had it all
together. Spiritual pride is the downfall of many. They thought
that by keeping the law of Moses they would be saved, but as Paul points out in
Romans 3:20, the law does not justify people. It only opens eyes to sin.
Romans 5:13, “…until the Law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when
there is no law.” In John 15:22, Jesus says, “If I had not come and
spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their
sin.” As John 8 shows us, the truth is meant to set us free, but when we
hide our eyes from it, we are blind because we think we see. Proverbs
14:12 says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way
of death.” Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty
spirit before stumbling.” How sad to think that these wisest in the law
and religion did not understand the depth of the man they rejected. Oh,
what a loss!
The question for you is: Are you the seeing blind or the blind
seeing? The circumstances that we go through here on earth are for 2
purposes. One is to draw us to God, and the other is to give God
glory. Every situation we meet in life is to lead us toward God or to
glorify Him. Everything that God allows/causes to happen in your life is
to fulfill one or both of these purposes. Can God go too
far—allowing/causing things that we don't deserve? No! We deserve
hell! We have no right to claim that we deserve any positive
things. Romans 9:18-21 tells us that we don't have the ability to
question God. We are like clay, and God is the Potter. How will a
trashcan reply to the Maker saying, 'Why have you made me a trashcan?'
Romans 8:18 says that whatever we go through in this life cannot even begin to
compare to the glory of the afterlife. It's difficult for us to
understand what the afterlife holds, but according to Paul's words, the
negative we experience here on earth is not worthy to be compared to the
positive we will experience on the other side.
The blind man's situation was not about him, nor are our circumstances about
us. When we begin to understand that everything in our lives is all about
Christ, we will be able to fulfill the purposes for which God has created
us. You may have several critical points in your life. The question
is whether or not you will change direction to follow Christ.
Chapter 10
Following Christ
In Matthew 16:24, Jesus says, “…If any man wishes to come after Me, he must
deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” First let us
note that when a person decides to live his/her life following someone else’s
example, it shows great respect for the role model. When the first
followers of Christ were called Christians, ‘Christ-like,’ it was meant to be
derogatory, but as you notice, others could see whose life was being
imitated. Who gets praise when I live my life like Christ? Christ
does. Following Christ’s example is how I glorify Christ (see also Acts
1:8).
How do I do the things Jesus said that I should do in order to follow
Him? He gives us three steps. First, He said, ‘Deny yourself.’
This isn’t the same ideology as that of the Eastern religions of Hinduism and
Buddhism. Those religions teach that you reach some level of inward
enlightenment by denying your own needs and desires. In those religions,
one seeks to exalt him/herself by neglecting him/herself. Jesus is
telling us not to deny ourselves for our own benefit, but rather to deny ourselves
for the benefit of God’s kingdom. What exactly does denying oneself
mean?
It means denying your personal goals and
plans. When the rich young ruler approached Jesus, he asked Jesus, ‘What
should I do to have eternal life?’ (Matthew 19:16). The man’s goal was to
have a right relationship with God, eternal life. Based on the rest of
the conversation, however, it was not his top priority. Jesus said, “… go
and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow Me,” (Mathew 19:21). The young man walked away
saddened, because he was very wealthy. His number one goal was not
eternal life. Certainly he desired it, but upon counting the costs, he
decided that eternal life was not as precious to him as his possessions.
Matthew 6:33 also teaches this principle when Jesus said, “… seek first His
kingdom, and His righteousness…” Jesus wasn’t saying, ‘Go out and look
for God’s kingdom, because it is lost somewhere, and we need to find it.’
He was saying, ‘Your first priority is to enhance God’s kingdom, not take care
of yourself.’ The book of Haggai depicts a time in history when the
Israelites were seeking their own comfort and pleasure rather than honoring
God. Jim Elliot once said, “No man is a fool to give up what he cannot
keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jesus also said something similar in
Matthew 16:26, ‘What does a man get if he wins the whole world, but loses his
own soul?’
Denying yourself also means denying your
family. When Jesus was teaching about discipleship in Luke 9:57-62, one
man spoke up and said, ‘I will follow you, but first let me go and bury my
father (or wait until my dad dies).’ Jesus answered back, “Let the dead
bury their dead…” In Matthew 10:37, Jesus said, “He who loves father or mother
more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me
is not worthy of Me…” Elsewhere, Jesus declared, ‘Who is my family, but
those who do the will of God, my Father (Mark 3:31-35)?’ To deny one’s
self really encompasses all of the totality of self-identity. Does God
want us to stop being who we are? No, God created us to be who we are,
but we are to be willing to make ourselves, our needs, our lives, and even our
families a lesser priority than pleasing God. Remember that Abraham was
instructed to go and offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God (Genesis 22). Do
we serve a God who delights in child sacrifice? Certainly not! God
was testing Abraham to see if Abraham trusted Him. In the same way, we
are called to sacrifice many things in our lives. Our love for these
things and personal relationships must, by necessity, pale in comparison to our
love for our Heavenly Father. Paul sets an excellent example with his
discourse in 1 Corinthians 9:16-23.
The second step Jesus gave was to ‘Take up
your cross.’ Many people have mixed-up ideas of what Jesus meant by
‘taking up the cross.’ Some people will say that a specific sin is their
cross or a dysfunctional relationship is their cross. Let me remind you
what the cross represents. Christ was perfect, therefore He was without
sin. The cross does not represent sin (if it did, then I shouldn’t have
to bear it, lest I become the slave to sin and carry again the body of death,
Romans 6); it depicts the punishment for sin. The cross is the means by
which Jesus died; death is the fruit of sin (Romans 6:23a). In 1
Corinthians 1:18, Paul stated, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of
God.” The cross represents God’s power of salvation. Our cross is
the preaching of the Cross itself. We have a responsibility to preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ. In Romans 1, Paul stated that he is a debtor to
all peoples. In 1 Corinthians 9, he detailed how our lives should be
lived out displaying the gospel. Paul even went so far as to declare, “…woe
is me if I do not preach the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). In Matthew
28:19-20, Jesus gave us the Great Commission compelling us to go make
disciples. In Luke 10:3, Jesus declared that He was sending us out like
lambs among wolves. In Acts 1:8, Jesus prophesied that we would be
witnesses to His name.
We are to take direct responsibility for
proclaiming the gospel. Whether evangelism is your spiritual gift or not,
you have the responsibility to take up your cross by living a life that clearly
demonstrates Christ’s example, so that other people take interest in the way
you live. You need to live an intentional life, so that people ask you
questions like the one asked of Job in Job 15:9, “What do you know that we do
not know? What do you understand that we do not?” How do you live
such a life? Study the way Christ lived, and imitate it (see Philippians
2:1-8, and Philippians 4:4-9). Living this intentional lifestyle does not
exempt us from active, verbal witnessing. Our lives should be such that
in carrying on a normal conversation, the mention of God, Christ, and Christian
principles is natural. When Paul and Silas wound up in prison, they
shared the gospel with the jail keeper (Acts 16). When Paul arrived at
Mars Hill, his normal lifestyle built a platform for sharing the gospel.
He could take the surrounding environment and make comfortable conversation
about having a personal relationship with the one true God (Acts 17).
That is what we are instructed to do by Jesus’ words, “Take up your cross.”
The third step in being Christ-like is to
follow Him; Jesus said, ‘Follow me.’ There is a three-fold basis
to consider within this context. How did Jesus live? He lived a
life of obedience and one of servanthood (Matthew 26:36-46, John 13:1-17, and
Philippians 2:1-8). Where did Jesus go? Jesus went to church
(Matthew 21:12-17, Luke 2:41-52, Luke 4: 16-30). Jesus went to parties
(John 2:1-12). Jesus went to funerals (John 11). Jesus lived a normal
life that involved a variety of activities in which we also partake, such as
conversing, eating, fishing, sleeping, teaching, walking, etc. His life
was common in these menial tasks. Our lives should also be common.
We should be living and experiencing things that put us in contact with other
people. With whom did Jesus hang out? Jesus made several
acquaintances, such as: Adulterers, Blind People, Dishonest People,
Lepers, Maimed People, Political Leaders, Prostitutes, Unfaithful People,
etc. Jesus did not approve of all the lifestyles of these people, but He
lived in the real world among real people. He did not make a habit of
living in a bubble or in an ivory tower as we Christians tend to do. Christ
spent time with people from all walks of life. If we truly wish to be
Christ-like, we must do the same.
What is meant by Paul’s instruction found in
Romans 12:1? “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is
your spiritual service of worship”? This is the heart of what Jesus said
in Matthew 16:24. Paul says that we should be ‘living sacrifices.’
This is an oxymoron isn’t it? A sacrifice is something that is
dead. If we are to be sacrifices, we must die in some way. Paul
says, “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20), and “I die daily”
(1 Corinthians 15:31). We are to die to ourselves just as Jesus
instructed, ‘deny yourself.’
Christ only receives glory from our lives if
we are willing to follow His example. Why is this?—A life that is like
that of Christ’s takes work; it is intentional, proactive, and
purposeful. Our ambition is to be pleasing to the Lord (2 Corinthians
5:9).
Chapter 11
Lazarus' Death (John 11)
Lazarus and his sisters (Mary and Martha) were close friends of Jesus.
Lazarus became ill, and his sisters sent for Jesus saying, 'Hey, Jesus, your
good buddy, Lazarus, our brother, is sick.' Mary and Martha had seen
Jesus do some miraculous things. He had fed two crowds of people with
provisions meager for one, healed people of all kinds of illnesses, opened the
eyes of the blind, etc. They expected Jesus to come and take care of
Lazarus, the one Jesus loved. Jesus hearing this news, responded to
Himself, 'This sickness is not going to kill Lazarus except that it glorify
God, so that I, the Son of God be glorified.' Jesus knew that Lazarus was
going to die; Jesus let Lazarus, the one whom He loved, die (John
11:1-5). David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and other humanist philosophers have
wasted their time asking about why God would allow innocent children to
starve. Here is an even clearer example of God allowing someone He claims
to love die. Had they read the Bible and done a bit more reasoning, the
answer would have been clear.
Why would a loving God allow such a thing? He could have cured Lazarus,
just as He had cured the Centurion's servant from a distance. The
Centurion's faith was strong, however. There wasn't a need to go to the
Centurion's house. He sent friends to Jesus, who carried this message,
'Lord, don't go out of your way or anything, because I'm not even worthy to see
you face to face, but if you'll say the word, my servant will be healed.
I know, because just as everything is set under you, I have people under me who
do as I bid them, so I know that if you were to speak the word, all things
would obey you,’ (Luke 7:1-10). There was also the Canaanite woman's daughter
(Matthew 15:21-28); and there was the son of the nobleman (John 4:46-54).
Why didn't Jesus just speak the word of healing as He had done in these
cases? Well, He told us in these words, 'but for the glory of God…'
Just as the book of Job demonstrates, Jesus tells us things happen for God’s
glory. These events don’t always make sense to us.
Jesus waited two more days, then He decided that it was time to go visit
Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. When He explained to his disciples that
Lazarus was dead, He added, “I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so
that you may believe,” (John 11:15). Jesus basically said, 'I am glad
that Lazarus has died (I wasn't there, so I couldn't be compelled to heal him),
so that you can see more than my power over sickness, you can see my power over
death'—remember: Lazarus died for God's glory, so that the Son of God could be
glorified (John 11:6-16).
While Jesus was approaching Judea (the home
of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary), Martha went out to meet Jesus. Martha
said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even
now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Martha
approached Jesus with upfront confrontation. Jesus replied with mere
facts, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said, “I know that he will
rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus responded, “I am
the resurrection, and the life: he who believes in Me will live even if he
dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you
believe this?” Martha said, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the
Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world,” (John
11:17-27). Martha's confession of faith here is the exact same as that
which we must make. She understood better what it meant to be 'Christ' in
the Jewish sense than do we, but we have a better understanding of what God
intended Him to be because we have this history written down for us. She
understood that the Christ would deliver God's people from bondage, but the
Jews thought this was a political deliverance. In reality, God intended
for Christ to deliver all people from spiritual bondage to sin. By
saying, “I am the resurrection and the life,” Jesus was claiming to have
authority over sin. Death is caused by sin (Genesis 2:17, Romans 6:23,
James 1:13-15), therefore, if we are to overcome death, we must overcome the
cause, thus we must overcome sin. Jesus said, “I am come that they might
have life…” (John 10:10).
Martha left and told Mary, “The Teacher is here
and is calling for you.” Why did Martha say this to Mary? It could
be that Jesus really called for her, and it is not recorded in scripture.
I have two other theories about this. The first is that Martha was
genuinely concerned for Mary, and wanted Mary to be able to see Jesus face to
face, so that she could confront Him and work out forgiveness. Perhaps
she knew how deeply hurt Mary was that Jesus had not come to heal Lazarus and
thought that she really needed to go and talk it out with Jesus. The
second is that Martha wanted to use Mary for her own means. Perhaps she
realized that she could not get Jesus to do what she wanted and figured Mary
could. Perhaps she wanted Jesus to react differently to her than He
did. Maybe Martha wanted Jesus to feel remorse and be apologetic.
As Christians, we will do things that appear sometimes as selfish, but they may
be out of purely innocent motives—even if others misjudge what we do, God sees
our hearts. It is not our responsibility to judge others' motives, only
inspect their fruit (Matthew 7:20; Luke 6:43-45). That is to say, watch
the action, so that we as fellow Christians can discern how we should respond
to each person individually. At any rate, whatever Martha's motive, Mary
went to see Jesus (John 11:28-29).
Mary approached Jesus, fell at His feet, and
said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Do you recognize these words? They are the exact same words that Martha
spoke to Jesus. Something that is noteworthy: Remember that
Jesus had healed people from a distance without being physically present as
previously mentioned. Both Martha and Mary, however, believed that Jesus
needed to be physically present to heal Lazarus. They both said, 'Lord,
if you would've been here, Lazarus would not have died.' The truth of the
matter is that their faith was not as strong as it should have been. As
Jesus said of the Centurion, “… not even in Israel have I found such great
faith,” (Luke 7:9). Lazarus needed to die, so that Jesus could use this
experience [about to be miracle] to build faith in His followers' lives. Something
we need to learn: Trust God through the circumstances of our lives;
they are for His glory. God does not ask us to understand our situations;
He only asks us to believe.
Let's look also at the way Jesus responded to
Mary. Mary came to Jesus in tears, fell at His feet and cried, 'Lord, if
only you had been here…' Jesus was moved. He asked to see where
they laid Lazarus' body. Jesus wept, (John 11:30-35). Jesus reacted
two very different ways to two people who said the exact same thing. That
is bizarre, isn't it? Was He more compassionate to Mary; did He have a
closer bond with her? No. Jesus knew that Martha and Mary were
different people with different needs. In Luke 10:38-42, we can take note
of the different personalities between the two sisters. Mary wanted to
sit at Jesus feet and soak in His teaching while Martha wanted to serve
Jesus. Also, note that it was Martha who was critical and confrontational.
Mary's attitude was one of humility. When she met Jesus, she did not meet
Him to accuse Him as did Martha; she met Him to grieve. She needed
compassion, while Martha needed challenge. This is something that we as
Christians must take into account when we deal with people.
Why did Jesus weep? There are many
different opinions about why Jesus (God) would have wept. Paul tells us
that to be “absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord (2 Corinthians
5:6-9, see also Philippians 1:21).” Why would God weep at the death of
the physical body? Perhaps, since He was human, He could not control His
emotions. Maybe, He wept to identify with Mary to show that He cared as
much as she did. It even could be that He was being culturally sensitive
to His people. Theories abound, but I once heard a youth minister propose
an alternate explanation; I do not know where the thought originated whether
with him or with someone else, but it is extremely deep. Death comes
because of sin. God, in the face of death, remembers the fall of His
creation that He called “very good,” (Genesis 1:31). Only God can
remember exactly what happened that day in the Garden of Eden. Only He
can perfectly recall the rejection of truth and goodness that mankind
chose. When God sees death, it reminds Him of His original plan for a
beautiful relationship with man. God warned Adam and Eve just as a parent
warns children, ‘If you do this, bad things will happen.’ To see the
consequences of man's choice, hurts God personally, because we did not heed His
words. He thinks to Himself, ‘It didn't have to be this way.’
Jesus wept. Some of the Jews said,
'Wow! Jesus really loved this guy! Couldn't this man, who even
opened the eyes of the blind, have healed Lazarus, his friend?' What kind
of question is this? As we (and even the speakers) have already
acknowledged, Jesus had done some miraculous things up to this point; OF
COURSE, Jesus could have healed Lazarus. This is typically the way we
respond to situations that we do not understand or do not like. Couldn't
God just prevent this? Sure, He could prevent it, but God's original will
was that we would have perfect lives filled with complete intimacy with
Him. Since that will was broken (by us), God has allowed and continues to
allow things to happen to us, not because He is unable to prevent them, but
because we need to experience the consequences of our actions. Take for
example a child who is never disciplined as a youngster. When he goes to
the store with his parents, he cries and throws a temper tantrum until they
give him what he wants. When he grows up, how will he behave when he does
not get his way? He will do the same thing. I have met this
adult. Perhaps he/she doesn't throw temper tantrums, perhaps he/she sits
and pouts, or selfishly ignores everyone else, or just becomes unresponsive and
self-absorbed. Haven't you met these people? How pathetic!
Our relationship with God is the same as that of a child to a Father. If
we never have to suffer the consequences of our bad behavior, then when will we
ever mature (see Chapter 6)?
At the tomb, Jesus said, 'Remove the stone
from the tomb.' Martha objected, 'Surely he stinks by now!' Jesus
responded, 'Didn't I tell you that if you would believe, you would see the
glory of God?' Then they removed the stone. After praying, Jesus
called out, “Lazarus, come forth.” Lazarus exited the grave, and Jesus
commanded, “Loose him, and let him go,” (John 11:38-44).
We talked earlier about Martha's profession
of faith in Christ, and here we see her lack of faith. She didn't want
the grave opened because she knew only logical facts. When a person dies,
his/her body begins to decay, and it stinks. Much like us today, she
reacted to Jesus' illogical/absurd command to open the tomb based on what she
could grasp. 'It's not a difficult concept, Jesus, Lazarus has been dead
for 4, count them, 4 days. If you wanted to see him, you could have come
several days ago. He stinks by now!' Jesus knew how to respond to
Martha; remember Martha's personality demanded challenge. Notice that
Mary said nothing. She was a go-with-the-flow kind of person. She
cared deeply for Lazarus as well as Jesus, and even should Lazarus’ body stink,
if Jesus wanted to see it, why would she deny Him? I do not know that
Mary knew why Jesus wanted the grave opened. The faith question for us
today is: How do we respond when God tells us to do something? Are
we like Martha, logic-based decisions, or are we like Mary, obedient without
regard to understanding? Mary didn't necessarily have it all together,
mind you, but she was willing to let Jesus call the shots.
Why did Jesus raise Lazarus from the
dead? Verses 41 and 42 show exactly why. Jesus prayed to God, so
that the onlookers would know that the power comes from the Almighty and that
He was not working from His own motives or desires but rather from God's
purposes and so that they would know that God sent Him.
About the resurrection itself, I find that it
symbolizes our entire salvation experience. Aside from the obvious
analogy that we are all dead in our sins, and Jesus is the Life Giver, I find
these five points of similarity.
1) Jesus commands that the stone be
removed from the grave. This is not something that a non-Christian
can do alone, nor is it something that a Christian can do for a lost person
without the specific instruction of Christ. A Christian can explain the
gospel, but until the power of the Holy Spirit works in a lost person, that
Christian will not be removing the barriers. Some possible barriers to
salvation are: a) Lack of knowledge and understanding of the plan for
redemption. Notice that I do not say that a person can lack the knowledge
of present state. Romans 1 and 2 explain very clearly that we are without
excuse; we know that we are dead, but perhaps a person does not understand the
gospel. b) Presently seeking a false plan. This is predominant in
our culture and is many times linked to the previous obstacle. c) Lack of
desire for redemption. Sin is pleasant for a passing time (Hebrews
11:25), and it deceives us (the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy…- John
10:10). Barriers must be overcome or moved out of the way, so that a
person may come into this relationship with Christ.
2) We as Christians cannot be afraid of
approaching lost people. People living in sin are not pleasant, and
many times are even physically repulsive. Few people like to hang out
with drunks or prostitutes. Just as Martha said, 'Lord, he stinks,' we
many times object to Christ's bidding in our lives. Very rarely do
non-Christians become believers without God using physical Christians to remove
the barriers from a lost person's life. Lazarus was unable to move his
own tombstone; a living person had to do it. Lost (dead) people do not
know what to seek; God uses Christian (living) persons to remove the obstacles
prohibiting salvation. [As I have just stated, however, we cannot do it
without God's instruction.] It took the obedience in spite of their doubt
to remove the stone from Lazarus' tomb, just as it takes our obedience to
approach a lost person at Christ's bidding.
3) It is always for God's glory, so that
we may believe in Christ the Son. The salvation of every person is a
testimony to the power of Christ and the fact that God sent Him. Before
Jesus called Lazarus to life, He identified the source of the supreme power and
stated that the purpose was that we would know that He had come from God.
4) Jesus calls the dead to life.
Many evangelicals forget when proclaiming the gospel that it is Jesus who
brings salvation, not the messenger. It is Jesus who calls sinners to
repentance; it is Jesus who convicts people of their sin; it is Jesus who gives
life eternal; it is Jesus who is praised by conversion; and it is Jesus who is
denied by rejection. When we as Christians present the gospel, we are not
responsible for the decision, nor are we being accepted or rejected, so that we
would receive praise or scorn. Ultimately, we are ambassadors (Ephesians
6:20), merely representatives of the one true God, only holding the
responsibility and power that He grants us. An ambassador does not have
the power to declare war, nor does he have the power to sign peace treaties
except that he is given the power by the government of the country he
represents. He is not responsible for the way another nation receives
him, he is responsible for the way he represents his country. It is Jesus
who makes the call to life (Luke 19:10).
5) It takes the help of other Christians
to free a lost person from the bondage of sin. Jesus didn't just
leave Lazarus alive walking around in grave clothes. Jesus told others to
“Loose him, and let him go.” Believers are influential in a new
Christian's life. Many recent converts have been left to walk around in
their old rags. How do they know what Paul meant when he said, “lay aside
the old self … and put on the new self” (Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians
3:12)? If I were a new convert, I would not have a clue what Paul was
talking about. I wouldn't know that our new clothing is described in
Ephesians 6. Mature and maturing Christians are essential to helping new
Christians remove these old, nasty, deceitful, dead rags. New believers
need to learn new behaviors, new thinking, new manners, new beliefs.
These things cannot be learned without teaching.
After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead,
many people believed in Him, but not everybody did. Some of the onlookers
went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. The Pharisee
council discussed what to do with this problem. ‘What do we do?
This guy is out of control doing miracles. If we don't do anything, then
everyone will believe in Him—and Rome will come and push us (the Pharisees) out
of power,’ (John 11:45-48). Then the high priest (probably at this point
in history a political position gained through corrupt means), Caiaphas, said,
'You don't know anything. Don't you see that it is expedient that one man
should die for all the people, so that the whole nation is not lost?' (John 11:49-50).
Caiaphas was right on target although he didn't really get it. The
Pharisees decided that Jesus had to die in order to save their own country from
being overrun by the Romans. What they did not know is that it was God's
plan behind them that decided that Jesus should die, not just to save Israel
but also the whole world. Remember the promise to Abraham was that the
whole world would be blessed through his lineage (Genesis 12:3). God's
plan was for the redemption of mankind. Men have other plans, but no
matter what we may think, God's plan will be accomplished. All men will
praise God in the end (Philippians 2:9-10).
Chapter 12
Mark 12
This chapter is my other favorite chapter in the Bible (in addition to John
9). These 2 chapters are so significant to me for a few reasons.
One is that they deal specifically with the life and ministry of Jesus
Christ. Another is that while many scriptures require a deeper
understanding of God’s eternal purpose and/or a deeper knowledge of the
scriptures themselves to adequately comprehend the story, these 2 chapters do
not for the most part. Many biblical passages need backgrounds which
necessitates research. In general, a non-believer can be given these 2
passages of scripture alone, read them, and emerge with the understanding that
Jesus Christ was a ‘Rebel with a Cause.’ That is not to say that
background and study are of no value with respect to reading these
passages. On the contrary, with a bit of Old Testament knowledge, Mark
12, in particular becomes even more rich and exciting than any other passage in
my estimation. Mark 12 is divided into 6 sections, each of which could
stand on its own. I will address these sections as, ‘The Parable’, ‘The
Payment’, ‘The Puzzle’, ‘The Principle’, ‘The Prince’, and ‘The Pauper’.
Each of these sections presents Jesus as one who is gifted in storytelling,
discernment, reasoning, and riddles. Jesus was as deep a thinker as ever
lived.
The Parable. Jesus tells a story about a certain wealthy man who
planted a vineyard. This wealthy man invested his own time and money to
build the vineyard—he is the one that set a wall around it, dug a wine vat, and
then built a tower. All the work was his. Everything that was the
vineyard belonged to him. Take note of this. No one could lay any
claim to any portion of the vineyard because the wealthy man had all of the
work done at his own expense or by his own hand. The wealthy man then left
the vineyard and went to another country, but he left it in the hands of a few
choice vine-growers. No doubt these were trusted men. “Vine-growers”
implies that they understood this trade. When the time came for the
vineyard to bear fruit, the owner sent a servant to collect, but the
vine-growers took him and beat him. The owner then sent more servants,
but the vine-growers beat and killed all those sent. Then finally the
owner sent his only son, with the understanding that the vine-growers must have
respect for the son of the owner. Maybe they knew him, maybe they
recognized him, or maybe he just informed them that he was the son of the
owner. In any case, the vine-growers had no more respect for him than for
any of the servants sent. With devious hearts, they decided to kill the
son. In their minds, if the son were dead, there would be no heir to the
wealthy man, so they would inherit the vineyard. The story ended before
any further action was taken. The son was dead, and Jesus asked and answered
a rhetorical question to those listening: “What will the owner of the vineyard
do? He will come and destroy the vine-growers, and will give the vineyard
to others,” (Mark 12:9). In English, the scriptures leading up to this
verse are written in past tense, as if to say, ‘this is the background to what
I’m about to tell you about.’ What is Jesus telling about?
Jesus was creating an elaborate analogy to the prophets of the Old Testament
and the people of Israel being led by the priests. Initially, God trusted
the priests to deliver His messages. Under Aaron and his descendants, God
received the praise He deserved. Then, the priests began leading the
Israelites astray. The spiritual leaders were not giving God what was due
Him. So, God sent prophets to call them to obedience. Read any of
the Old Testament prophets. Many of them were ridiculed, imprisoned, and
shamed for preaching the word of God. Some were even killed. The
meat of this parable, however, is that now God has sent His beloved Son.
The same evil vine-growers will kill the Son, but God will destroy those
‘caretakers’ and take away the care of His vineyard and give it to
others. What exactly did God take away? Looking back on history,
after Jesus died on the cross, we can see that the priests and religious
leaders of the Jews no longer were God’s instruments for the spiritual nurture
of His followers.
Why did this parable bother the Jewish religious leaders? Did they really
believe that Jesus was God’s Son? They understood that the parable was
spoken against them, but they didn’t grasp the gravity of what part they were
about to play in this parable. Jesus was claiming to be on the side of
the ancient prophets whose writings would’ve been scripture to them. He
was stating that they themselves killed the prophets, and they would kill Him
as well. The religious leaders, who studied and taught the scriptures of
the ancient prophets were also those responsible for killing them? Why,
that’s absurd! If it weren’t true, however, the religious leaders would
have just laughed at Jesus; He must have been insane. But since it was true,
they were convicted. Jesus says, in John 15:22, “If I had not come and
spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their
sin.”
Jesus then prophesied of Himself through the
quotation of Psalm 118:22-23, “The stone that the builders rejected is become
the chief cornerstone: This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous
in our eyes,” (Mark 12:10-11). Let me paraphrase Jesus words, ‘Even
though you subcontractor builders reject me, I am the cornerstone of God’s
church. God is the Master Builder, and His work is marvelous to those who
behold it.’ Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. The
religious leaders of Jesus’ day were not building the same type of structure
that God wanted to construct. They certainly weren’t building on God’s
foundation. God’s structure, however has stood the test of time.
The Payment. The religious
leaders sent a few of their people to ask Jesus a trick question. Those
who went were not complete fools when it comes to dealing with people.
Their trickery began with an attempt to flatter Jesus. Perhaps, they
understood Proverbs 29:5, “A man that flatters his neighbor is spreading a net
for his feet.” The tricksters approached Jesus as if they were truly
interested in the answer to their question. ‘Good teacher, we know that
you will not lie to us, and that you must know the truth to our earnest
question…’ “Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Shall
we pay, or shall we not pay?” (Mark 12:14). Jesus, of course, knew their
deceitful ways, and appropriately instructed them to obey the laws of the
land. Similarly, Paul in Romans 13:1-7 taught us to “Render to all what
is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear;
honor to whom honor.” The snare of this particular question of payment is
simple. The religious leaders expected Jesus to want to appease His
followers. By simply saying, “No,” Jesus would have been violating Roman
law, and could have been seized and imprisoned, but this is what would be
required to appease His followers completely. By saying, “Yes,” Jesus'
followers would have been upset with Him, and perhaps He would have lost His
following altogether because the government was not the established Jewish
government but rather the pagan Roman government. Instead of falling into
their snare, however, Jesus answered wisely, that we should consider to whom
the currency belonged. Thus, using logic, Jesus helped the people
comprehend why they should pay taxes, and chided the religious leaders for
attempting to trap Him.
The most interesting part of this passage, “The
Payment,” however is not the logical dispute, but rather the logical result
Jesus presented. His conclusion is this, ‘If the penny bears the image of
Caesar (or the government), then it is only logical that we pay tribute to that
government because the penny itself belongs to that government – not to us.’
Had Jesus stopped there, the logical dispute is profound, but the logical
result is that we should render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God
what is God’s. This is a lovely analogy. Since the penny bears the
image of the government it belongs to the government. God, when He
created the world, placed His image on one thing—man (Genesis 1:27). You
see, God is not interested in my money, He is interested in me. Not only
did God create us in His image, He also gave to believers His seal, the Holy
Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:22; 1 John 4:13). When we read about ‘The
Principle’, we will see a little more about committing one’s self rather than
one’s stuff.
The Puzzle. Foiled plans lead to tougher
strategies. Certain other leaders approached Jesus, and presented a complex
situation, and asked Him to solve it. It is important to understand,
however, as verse 18 indicates, that these leaders didn’t believe in the
resurrection of the dead. Their elaborate puzzle was this: One guy
died and left his wife with no children. According to Jewish law, the guy’s
oldest brother was supposed to marry the wife and give her children. The
story continues that the guy had 6 brothers who all married the woman, but none
of them gave her children. After all of them died, the woman also
died. Their devious question was: ‘In the resurrection, whose wife would
she be?’ Remember, the posers of the question did not believe in the
resurrection at all. Jesus’ answer, then, was not really pointed at whose
wife she was going to be, it was more targeted to their real problem, that the
resurrection is real.
Jesus’ responded, “Is this not the reason you
are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?”
(Mark 12:24). What an accusation from a guy who did not have all of their
scriptural training! He answered their question with some information
that they did not have, “when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor
are given in marriage, but are like the angels in heaven,” (Mark 12:25).
Then, He addressed their real issue in verses 26 and 27, “But regarding the
fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the
passages about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God
of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.” The apostle
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:19, “If we have hoped in Christ in this life
only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” Obviously, he is discussing
the Christian life, but I believe the message applies to the situation of these
religious leaders. That entire chapter (1 Corinthians 15) deals fully
with the resurrection of the dead which these spiritual leaders rejected, and
they, as Jesus indicated, were greatly mistaken.
The Principle. In this
section there is another question posed to Jesus. A final religious
leader posed this one to Jesus after realizing He had successfully responded to
‘The Payment’ and ‘The Puzzle’. ”Which is the first commandment of all?”
(Mark 12:28). To answer this question, Jesus merely quoted scripture,
namely Deuteronomy 6:4-5, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our
God is one Lord; And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and
with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The
second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no
other commandment greater than these,” (Mark 12:29-31). For a master of
the law, this question should have been a slam dunk, so why did the religious
leader ask this question? In Matthew’s account of this event, Jesus is
quoted as stating, “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the
Prophets,” (Matthew 22:34-40).
I am certain that there are differing views
on this passage. Some may suggest that this was another plot to trick
Jesus, but I believe that this inquisitor was not seeking to trap Jesus, but
merely to test the validity of the speaker. It seems to me, especially
given the man’s response in verses 32 and 33, “Right, Teacher; You have truly
stated …”, that this was a man who really did have the right heart and motives
for asking Jesus this question. Now, what would be the right reason to
ask a question like this? Peter tells us in 2 Peter 2:1 that there were and
will be false teachers to come. What are we to do? Are we to
believe every wind of doctrine that comes our way? We should not
according to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (see Ephesians 5:6), and we are not
supposed to follow foolish teachings as the Galatians did, (see Galatians
1:6-10 and 3:1-4). We are to test the spirits and see whether they are
from God (1 John 4:1-6).
It seems to me that this teacher was testing
the spirits; he acknowledges that these two commandments combined are “much
more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” This leader understood
what King Saul did not (1 Samuel 15). He understood the message
proclaimed in Micah 6:6 (see Chapter 1 and Chapter 2). Paul also tells us
in Romans 13:8-10, “… and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in
this saying, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The Old Testament
scriptures clearly indicate that Jesus’ answer was the correct one, and it
seems so obvious especially given the supporting references. Clearly,
Jesus and the New Testament writers all agreed on this point as well. If
this were common knowledge, then why would this guy ask this question?
If Jesus answered any way other than the way
He did, He would have been pegged as a false prophet. You see, this question
was not without answer. ‘The Payment’ and ‘The Puzzle’ were both unsolved
mysteries. There was no clear cut response for the teachers of the
law. Those were gray areas prepared to be turned against Jesus no matter
what He said. This was an easily measurable fill-in-the-blank question
that Jesus could either answer correctly (as He did) or incorrectly. This
question determined whether Jesus was speaking truth or lies. This is why
I believe the question was asked out of a true heart. Jesus responded
after noticing the man’s attitude, “You are not far from the kingdom of
God.” “After that no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.”
The Prince. The religious leaders were
at a loss. They could not trick Jesus into losing His followers or into
renouncing the government. They had failed to trick him with their
foolish “How many angels fit on the head of a needle” questions. They
proved His knowledge of the heart of scripture. At this point, the
religious leaders were truly fearful. They realized that talk would not
win their battles, and it was making them look bad, so they no longer asked Him
any questions. But Jesus posed a question. Jesus' question troubled
me for many years, until the Spirit clearly answered this question through
other scripture. It was there all the time!
The question is 'Why do the religious leaders
say that Christ is David's son since David specifically called Christ, Lord?'
(Mark 12:35-40). The reason this scripture bothered me is that Christ was
indeed David's son, and yet Christ is David's Lord. It seemed to me that
Jesus' question did not make sense or was a trick question which I believe
would have been uncharacteristic of Him.
The answer is found in Acts 2:30-36.
Peter proclaimed that David, the prophet and great king had received a promise
from God that Christ would come from his lineage and would sit on his throne
forever. David was promised that one of his descendants in the flesh
would sit on his throne. Yes, Christ was David's son, according to the flesh.
Now, I too, understand this puzzle. David called Christ, Lord in the
spiritual realm; though Christ was his physical descendant. Jesus was
explaining that the Christ was not coming into the world to be a physical king,
which is what all of the people and the leaders believed. The Christ was
coming as the spiritual king. Christ came as the spiritual
liberator.
I can understand why the people of Jesus'
time did not quite grasp this concept, however, what is sad is that we do not
grasp it today. How many times do we expect God to make our physical
conditions comfortable? I don't mean to imply that God doesn't care about
our physical lives, but I think we forget that Christ came to set us free from
sin and this world. Christ didn't come to give us an easy life; He came
to give us life itself (and purpose). He came to rescue us from the
spiritual death in which we were (are) living.
In his sermon, Peter clearly contrasted David
and Christ. Peter stated that David was dead, and his tomb was there with
them. While David was a great king, Christ was no longer in the tomb,
making Him, though David's son, superior to David. Back in our text,
Jesus also presented a contrast of characters. His contrast however, was
David to the Pharisees. Jesus stated that David, the king, recognized
Christ as Lord. In the next few verses, He stated that the scribes were
arrogant, selfish, and hypocritical. You see the contrast is that of an
humble king who could have “rightfully” been boastful and the scribe who should
have been by nature, humble. This is a very sneaky contrast.
The Pauper. The story of the widow's mite is one
of the most well-known events in the Bible. Many people were giving to
the church on this day. I find it interesting that Jesus was watching
people as they gave their money. This is true even today. In 2
Corinthians 9:7, Paul stated that God loves a cheerful giver. This
particular story relates directly to the contrast of givers and livers.
Am I willing just to give of my abundance, or will I give out of my want?
Do I trust that God will provide for me if I do what He asks?
Another thing that impresses me about this
story is that Jesus points the woman out to His disciples. Jesus, as God,
took note of the woman's actions because God looks on the heart, but He didn't
stop there. Jesus pointed the woman out to His disciples. Jesus
took this opportunity to show an actual example of someone whose actions spoke
of their inward devotion to God. In Matthew 15:1-20, Jesus explained that
what you see a person doing reflects who he/she is on the inside. His
actions clearly indicated that we as believers are to inspect people's lives to
see if what they claim to believe is bearing fruit.
There were many people coming and dropping
money into the offering plate, but only one caught Jesus' attention. I
want to be like that one.
Chapter 13
Life Verses
Luke 24:1-6. This passage is about
Easter Sunday when the ladies went to anoint Jesus’ body with oil. When
they arrived, the stone was rolled away, and angels said to the ladies, “Why do
you seek the living One among the dead?”
Those words became the most meaningful words
I’d ever heard when I was in college. Why? I’m glad you
asked. I was struggling with things in my life at that time, particularly
not having a girlfriend, interpersonal relationships with others, and sins such
as lust. What message did God speak to my heart?
“Why do you seek the living One among the
dead?” When I read these words, I heard the voice of God, asking me this
question: “Why are you seeking living fulfillment, living joy in dead
places?” I’m convinced that our world is seeking the living joy that only
God can give in dead places. How many people look to alcohol, drugs,
friends, sex, jobs, school, etc. to gain everlasting pleasure? These
things do bring pleasure, don’t get me wrong; the Bible declares that even sin
is pleasurable for a passing time (Hebrews 11:25). [Not all of the items
mentioned are sin, but the point is that even sin is pleasant for a time.
Just because something brings pleasure does not give it value or make it
right.]
What is the true source or fountain of
everlasting pleasure or fulfillment? It is serving the one and only
Living God. Ecclesiastes is a great indicator of this. “The
conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments,
because this applies to everyone,” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Alcohol and drugs will destroy you.
Friends will fail you. The high from sex, even within God-ordained
boundaries is short-lived. You will not always be successful with your
career or in school. You must seek the only source of true joy, Jesus
Christ.
Several years later I found myself looking at
my accomplishments and my life circumstances for fulfillment. I didn’t
realize that I had slipped back into self-reliance. I spent time studying
this passage again thinking back on the lessons God had taught me.
”Remember.” That's the word that
follows the key phrase, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead?
He is not here, but has risen.” The fact that the angel said, “Remember,”
next implies that the ladies seeking Jesus had forgotten something. What
had they forgotten?
The passage indicates that they had forgotten
what Jesus had said to them, but I'd suggest that not only had they forgotten
what Jesus said, they had forgotten what Jesus did and who Jesus is.
In my life I found that I too had forgotten what Jesus said, what He did, and
who He is.
- Jesus said “I am the way the truth, and the life...” (John 14:6). See also Matthew 12:40; Mark 10:32-40; John 4:14, 7:46, 8:11, 8:32 for other references to the things Jesus said and the way He spoke.
- Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11: 38-44). See also Matthew 14:13-21, 14:22-36; Mark 5:41-42; Luke 8:25; John 5:8-9; John 9 for other references to miracles Jesus performed.
- Jesus is the Christ (John 4:25-26). See also John 8:58, 10:30 where Jesus declares that He is God.
Chapter 14
The Bridge
Much like the graph of the function y = 1/x as has a huge disconnect at x = 0,
there are 2 great chasms with Christianity. One is a real chasm as
described in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Abraham
tells the rich man that there is a “great gulf” between where he has found
himself in hell after dying and where Lazarus has ended up after death.
This disconnect is very real.
Isaiah states, “all our righteous acts are as
filthy rags,” (Isaiah 64:6). Consider the graph of y = 1/x. Let us
begin far away from x = 0 at negative infinity (-∞) where we can consider
ourselves. As we are far away from x = 0, we seem to be close to the
y-axis, but just below it. If we look far beyond the point x = 0 in the
other direction where we can esteem God to be (+∞), He too appears to be close
to the y-axis but just above it. Are we really that bad? We are
only off by a little bit really; what was Isaiah talking about? As we
approach the line of comparison though, from either our perspective or from God’s,
we clearly see that there is a vast separation between us. Notice that
between God and man on our graph there is a cross (the origin). The only
bridge for this real chasm between us is the Cross of Christ (see Chapter 16
and Chapter 17 for further discussion on this disconnect).
Now that we’ve addressed the first chasm of
Christianity, which is real, let us address the other which is only
imaginary. I believe the source of this disconnect is primarily
attributable to the over-simplification of Christianity. Much like the practice
of the rosary by people who were not educated on the full purpose of the
practice, our religious teachings have focused primarily on the New Testament
messages of Jesus and have neglected the harsher history of the Old
Testament. Children’s Sunday School lessons tend to focus only on
miraculous, benevolent stories in the Old Testament and nearly exclusively on
action-packed Jesus, Peter, or Paul stories in the New Testament.
If a random sampling of average, somewhat
Bible-savvy people off the street (self-identified Christians or no) were asked
to choose one word to describe the God of the Old Testament, I suggest that the
word “judgmental” would top the chart. On the contrary, if that same
random sampling of people were asked to choose one word to describe the God of
the New Testament, I suggest that the words “loving” and “forgiving” would be
most prominent. This chasm is as apparently as great as the real one we’ve
previously addressed. I have performed no such study, but the proposed
results would be puzzling since scripture itself says, "I the Lord do not
change," (Malachi 3:6) and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever,” (Hebrew 13:8). Let us then attempt to reconcile the God of the
Old Testament and the God of the New Testament.
Passages like Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis
19), the Ten Commandments – thou shalts and thou shalt nots (Exodus 20), and
the prophets (see Amos 1-3 as an example) all substantiate the judgmental
characterization of God in the Old Testament. On the other hand, Jesus
teaches us to “turn the other cheek” and “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:38-44),
Jesus does not fight back when arrested and taken to the cross (Matthew
26:47-56), and Stephen, the apostle is stoned to death without repercussions
from God (Acts 7).
Is God bipolar, or does He suffer from some
sort of multi-personality disorder? Did He all of a sudden change His
approach to dealing with mankind? Let us venture back and look at the
purpose of the Old Testament as evidenced by scripture itself.
The Old Testament begins with God’s creation
of man for His own glory. From that point forward, the Old Testament
chronicles how man is incapable of meeting God’s standards beginning with Adam
and Eve (Genesis 3) and continuing to Noah (Genesis 6), Sodom and Gomorrah
(Genesis 19), the Egyptians (Exodus 1-13), God’s delineation of the Law in the
Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), and Israel’s failures to keep these commandments
as well as the wickedness of many nations culminating in God’s judgment.
Our inability to meet God’s standards points to our need for a Savior.
The Old Testament also demonstrates, however, that salvation comes by faith
which is evidenced by obedience: Abraham believed God, and it was counted as
righteousness to him (Genesis 15:6). Moses instructed the Israelites to
obey God’s laws trusting that He would bless them (Deuteronomy 6:6-25).
Jonah was sent to preach to the people of Nineveh who were to repent as a
sign of obedience to God (Jonah 1-4). To summarize, the Old Testament serves
3 purposes:
1)
to identify our inability to meet God’s standards
2)
to point out our need for a Savior
3)
to demonstrate that salvation comes through faith evidenced by obedience
What is the purpose of the Law? Paul
states, “I would not have come to know sin except through the Law…” (Romans
7:7). The Law served to point out our sin just as the Old Testament had
chronicled our inability to meet God’s standard. The sacrificial system
prescribed by the Law illustrates our need for a Savior (Hebrews
9:13-14). The Law leads us to faith in Christ. According to Paul, “…
the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified
by faith,” (Galatians 3:19-26). To summarize, the Law itself serves 3
purposes:
1)
to identify our sinfulness
2)
to point out our need for a Savior
3)
to demonstrate that salvation comes through faith
Why did Jesus come in the first place?
Jesus says, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but
now they have no excuse for their sin,” (John 15:22-24). Jesus came to
point out our sin. Jesus also came to save the world because God loves
the world (John 3:16-18, 1 John 4:14, Luke 19:10). This implies that the
world is in a state of lostness and is in need of a Savior. Jesus came to
bring truth to a world of lies and life to a world of death (John 18:37, John
10:10). Jesus says to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who
believes in Me will live even if he dies,” (John 11:25). To summarize,
Jesus came to serve 3 purposes:
1)
to point out our sin
2)
to be the Savior
3)
to bring life through our faith
The Old and New Testaments really are not
different at all. As we stated in Chapter 2, God’s desires for mankind
are clearly and consistently documented throughout the Old and New
Testaments. The Old Testament illustrates God’s nature and principles
through His expectations of His people. He extends His grace through the
sacrificial system. The New Testament illustrates God’s nature and principles
through the person of Jesus Christ. He extends His grace through the
sacrifice of Christ.
Chapter 15
A Reasoned Faith
Often, the term blind faith is used to
describe trusting Jesus. What is the true definition of blind
faith? Is it really believing without any evidence, uneducated?
Thomas is called the doubter or Doubting Thomas. What exactly was his
downfall? Is it wrong to seek confirmation of God’s design? Is it
wrong to seek evidence supporting faith in Christ? That seems absurd
given the explicit and implicit historical narrative of the Bible. God
laboriously painted a pristine analogy as a premonition foreshadowing Christ’s
sacrifice on the cross and resurrection. “‘Come now, and let us reason
together,’ says the Lord, ‘Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be white
as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool,’” Isaiah
1:18. God desires to reason with His people.
Why then would God expect us to “check our
brains at the door of the church”? He doesn’t. God gave us the
faculties of reason for a reason. He wants us to process through and
appreciate the beauty of His story. Obviously, we are created with
different personalities, each unique with individual needs, talents, and
desires. Some of us have an innate trust, others were created with a
desire to know deeply, to touch and taste the mysteries of the gospel.
In Matthew 4:18-22, Jesus was walking by the
Sea of Galilee, and He saw Peter and Andrew. The two brothers were
fishing. Jesus had been preaching in the area for some time; this was not
the first time Peter and Andrew had seen and heard Jesus. When Jesus
opened His mouth and spoke to them, He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you
fishers of men.” The two men immediately followed Him. A little further
on, Jesus saw two other brothers, James and John with their father,
Zebedee. Jesus called to them as well, and they immediately
followed. In Matthew 9:9, Jesus walked by a tax collector, Matthew, and
called to him, “Follow Me.” He immediately got up and followed Him.
In Luke 9:23-26, Jesus preached, “If anyone
wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and
follow Me” (v23). Why is it that these 5 men, as well as 7 others, were
so willing to immediately dessert family and livelihood to follow this normal
man named Jesus? Why would anyone choose to pattern his/her own life
after that of Jesus Christ?
Ultimately, man desires a transcendent
purpose, a cause to live for, something beyond the everyday hustle and bustle
of family, sleep, work, food, and hobbies. This man, Jesus, spoke with
confidence, authority; He was unique, a leader. There have been many
gifted orators over the course of recorded history. Charismatic leaders
have the potential to lead others toward selfish or selfless causes. Jim
Jones and David Koresh are examples from recent history. Was Jesus one of
these cult leaders?
Apparently, the Jews were concerned with this
very question. After His death and resurrection, Peter and John were
arrested for preaching Jesus’ message in Acts 5:17-32. In the verses
following this passage, a respected, religious leader named Gamaliel aptly
responded to this issue. In versus 35-38, Gamaliel, stated:
Men
of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago
Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men
joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed
and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of
the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those
who followed him were scattered. So in the present case, I say to you, stay
away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men,
it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow
them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.
This is a well-reasoned argument.
Gamaliel’s logic is impeccable. If Jesus were like any of the other
self-proclaimed revolutionaries, His cause would die with Him, and His
followers would be dispersed. If on the other hand, Jesus’ cause were to
successfully survive His own demise, then His cause must be ordained by God,
Himself. Gamaliel reasons that the religious leaders merely need to wait
and see what the results of this sect’s teachings would be. The premise
of the argument is that all selfish, self-made leaders wind up with causes that
conclude with their own lives. Therefore, if Jesus’ cause outlives Him,
then the supposition that Jesus was a selfish, self-made leader must be
false. Gamaliel is pointing out that a man cannot establish his own Truth
claims and have them carried on to perpetuity because followers are not loyal
to causes once the leader has died. It is only when the Truth claims are
from God that followers will remain loyal to the cause. The cause must
transcend mankind.
John 20:26-29 recounts the story of when
Thomas beholds the risen Christ. Jesus calls to Thomas with knowing,
loving words, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here
your hand put it in my side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
When Thomas responds by acknowledging Jesus as God, Jesus says, “Because you
have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and
yet believed.” Let us pause for a moment and consider the fact that the
other 10 disciples believed, but they had also seen Jesus. Thomas is the
only one who didn’t believe, but he’s also the only one who had not seen Jesus
since the crucifixion. Putting that aside, it seems apparent that Jesus
expected Thomas to believe He had resurrected without having seen Him for
himself. But is this uneducated faith? In a technical sense, this
is blind faith, however, it was far from uneducated.
Jesus had spent 3-plus years with the
disciples teaching them and even preparing them for this very
eventuality. The fact is Thomas had an overwhelming amount of evidence
staring him in the face. He had just forgotten (as had the ladies who
went to the tomb Luke 24:1-6). Jesus expected Thomas to rely on his
experience with Jesus as well as the testimony of the 10 other disciples.
This leads me to believe that Jesus was not asking for uneducated faith, but
practiced, informed, cultivated, experienced, confident, blind faith.
Even so, what is notably missing from Jesus
words is this express, ‘Thomas you are cursed for not having believed without
seeing.’ Take a look again, Jesus implicitly desired Thomas to believe
without having seen, but Jesus does not condemn Thomas for not believing
without sight. Jesus met Thomas where he was and led him to the
Truth. How, then, is Thomas’ need for confirmation different from the
Pharisees request for a sign in Matthew 16:1-4? To answer this question,
let us consider another passage of scripture.
In Mark 9:14-29, we read the following
account:
When
they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some
scribes arguing with them. Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they
were amazed and began running up to greet Him. And He asked them, “What are you
discussing with them?” And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought
You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and whenever it
seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds
his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they
could not do it.” And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation,
how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”
They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him
into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and
foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, “How long has this been
happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. It has often thrown him both
into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything,
take pity on us and help us!” And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things
are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and
said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly
gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute
spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.” After crying
out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became
so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” But Jesus took him
by the hand and raised him; and he got up. When He came into the house, His
disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” And
He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”
In this passage, we find a father who has
sought deliverance for his son. The disciples were unable to help, and the
father is finally able to address Jesus, Himself. The father has
sufficient faith and hope to bring his son to Jesus because he has heard about
miracles that Jesus has performed, perhaps he has even witnessed some first
hand. In a moment of doubt, however, the father's faith wavers, and he
says, ‘If you can do anything, please do so.’ Jesus’ response is to call
the man up (not out) as He says, ‘What do you mean if You can? Anything is
possible if you believe.’ The father responds for many of us who seek to
reason out our faith, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” Jesus then
proceeds to fulfill the request.
The father’s faith actions and doubt seem to
be echoed by Thomas. Thomas had enough conviction and faith to follow
Jesus’ teachings and even continue congregating with the other 10 disciples
waiting for Jesus to appear to him. Thomas was in fact saying, “Lord, I
believe; help my unbelief.” This is the response of a reasoned
faith. Were the Pharisees making this same type of request?
No. They were seeking to discredit Jesus. In Jeremiah 29:13, God
promises, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your
heart.” The condition for finding God is that we seek Him with all our
hearts. The father in this story and Doubting Thomas were seeking God
with all their hearts while the Pharisees were seeking their own personal gain.
Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the
assurance of the things we hope for or expect and the conviction of the things
we cannot see. The author goes on to tells us that the patriarchs gained
righteousness or favor in God’s eyes through practicing faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God. This chapter continues to name some of the
patriarchs who by faith obeyed God. In each case, however, the individual
had some relationship with God, personally on which this faith was based.
Faith in the lives of these individuals is evidence of their experiences in
which God had provided in the past and gave them confidence that God would
continue to provide in the future. In Hebrews 12, the author then
challenges the reader to exercise our own faith based on the evidence of those
who have gone before us.
In 1 Samuel 7, the Israelites fought against
their enemies, the Philistines. The Lord granted them a great
victory. The prophet, Samuel set up a standing stone, naming it Ebenezer,
to commemorate the event. The stone stood to remind the Israelites in
time of discouragement that God had led them this far, and since He has been
faithful thusfar, we can trust Him in the future. Faith is the evidence
and confidence in the things not seen, but it is based on historical,
empirical, experiential evidence. Blind faith is not ignorant; on the
contrary, blind faith is educated, bold, and reasoned. It may appear in
various forms in different people’s lives, but it marks a mature man or woman.
Chapter 16
Understanding Salvation
Imagine that you show up at a party, and the host asks you, “Who invited
you?” What would be your response? Many people would become name
droppers and try to get in by using who they know. Well, I want to assure
you that the Christian life really is about “Who” you know. The party
that we are trying to attend is eternity in communion with God. If God
were to ask us who invited you, the only important person, yeah even
significant words from our mouths, would be 'Jesus Christ.'
God is perfect, and therefore if anyone is to occupy any part of His presence,
then that one must be perfect as well. Man is not perfect as seen in 2
Chronicles 6:36, Isaiah 64:6, and Romans 3:23. Therefore, man cannot be
in the presence of God. The opposite of eternity in communion with God is
called “hell.” Since we are not perfect, we cannot be in God's presence,
so we are destined to be separated from God for eternity. Unfortunately,
I'm doomed—end of story, with no ray of hope on my own. Just as we
discussed in the previous chapter, there is a great chasm between ourselves and
God much like the disconnect of the graph of the function y = 1/x at the point
x = 0.
Sins are the blemishes that prohibit us from perfection, and consequently they
prohibit our communion with God. If we could remove these sins, then we
would be perfect. The only thing that washes those stains out is the
blood of a life. [Sin causes death – Romans 6:23a.] My blood is not
good enough to remove the debt; I can pay for my sin by going to hell for
eternity, but I will never be able to be with God. So, God gave us a way to
pay for our sins with the blood of unblemished, flawless, innocent
animals. If the animal were not pure, then its blood would not atone for
my sin. If I sacrificed the life of an acceptable animal, then my life
was freed from the blemishes of the sin that I committed, and I was free from
death—until I sinned again. Under this system, I could be in communion
with God as long as I made a blood sacrifice of a pure animal after having
sinned. Once I sinned again, though, I had to make a new sacrifice.
The system was much better than spending eternity in hell, but I had to work
for this cleansing. This is why it is said that we are in “bondage to
sin” and “under the law.” If we were always under the threat that we
would die and be separated from God because of sin, then we would continually
be trying to make amends for our sins.
When Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a perfect life, He became the
flawless Lamb and sacrificed Himself for the entire world including me.
He died and shed His perfect blood just like any other animal sacrifice.
If He had stayed dead, however, I would be in the same predicament as with the
first type of sacrifice. Each time I sinned, I would wind up in bondage
to the sin which would lead to the sin-death pattern, and I would need to make
a new sacrifice. Jesus Christ conquered death when He rose again.
Because Christ was able to defeat death, anyone who accepts His sacrifice no
longer needs to fear the sin-death trap. Accepting the blood of the
perfect sacrifice, not only pays in full our sin, but also gives victory over
the consequences; I have overcome sin and consequently death. Since my
sacrifice conquered death, the blood that covers me defeated altogether the
sin-death trap, and I am now free.
Read Romans 5:9-11. We were the enemies
of God, but we are now justified by Christ's blood. We are saved by His
life because of the same argument presented in 1 Corinthians 15. If
Christ was not raised from the dead, then He would be no better than any other
lamb. However, He became the perfect Sacrifice because He defeated death
(1 Corinthians 15:14-26). Through His life, we have the promise to
triumph over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:52-58). This pardon of our
sins comes only through the blood of Christ. People who still practice
the Old Testament laws of sacrifice do not receive atonement. Why?
If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8), how
can this be? Christ is the same yesterday, today, and
forever. The Old Testament laws were a shadow of good things to come
(Hebrews 10:1). The old covenant or testament was God's promise to give
the new covenant or testament. When Christ died on the cross and rose
from the grave, the old covenant or testament was fulfilled, and took place.
The new covenant was that fulfillment of the old covenant. Hebrews 10:1
speaks of the better covenant, but says, “For the Law since it has only a
shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never
by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make perfect
those who draw near.” Hebrews 10:9 says that He takes away the first to
establish the second. So Christ is the same. Salvation comes only
through Him. This has always been true. The people in the Old
Testament looked forward to the promise, and we look back to the promise.
The Old Testament is the same as the New Testament. They are different
only by timing. The first is the promise, and the second is the
fulfillment of that promise.
At this point, a question arises about the
security of salvation. Salvation is granted by belief and acceptance of
the sacrifice that Christ made for me. How can I lose that? Some
contend that should a person sin after having received salvation, he/she loses
salvation. How can this be so? If it were, then why would Christ
have died for my sin? His sacrifice would be no better than that of any
other sacrificed animal. Besides that, the author of Hebrews writes that
if a saint could lose his/her salvation, he/she would not be able to be
re-saved (Hebrews 6:4-6). Well, this leaves unclear the answer. So
far, all that is stated is: If a saint could lose his/her salvation, then
he/she can never attain salvation again. For further clarification, the
question is: “What is the basis of salvation?” Ephesians 2:8-10,
states that we are saved by grace—not our works, but rather His
grace!! Note: God's grace is not dependent on me. God is faithful
to His promise; His faithfulness is not dependent on mine. But what about
Hebrews 10:26-31? This passage seems to address the loss of
salvation.
“For if we go on sinning willfully after
receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for
sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which
will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses
dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much
severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the
Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he
was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who
said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His
people.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living
God.
According to various scholarly
interpretations and commentaries, the verses in Hebrews speak of a willful sin
implying that a choice has been made to sin as a final apostasy; it's not a sin
of weakness or ignorance, it is habitual, not a one-time offense. The
nature of the sin in Hebrews 10:26, involves a willing defiance of God,
rejection of Christ, and a resistance to the Spirit. The offender chooses
rather to chase after other gods. The passage, however, does not imply
that any believer had committed or could commit such a crime but rather simply
states that if such a situation were to occur, the person would be cut off from
salvation.
Philippians 2:13 states: “It is God who
works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Both of these
passages were written to believers. If the latter is true, then how can
the first situation ever come about? How can a born-again believer reject
God? I believe these passages were written to help us to not take God's
grace for granted. Paul says in Romans 3 and 6 that we should not
continue in sin. John tells us in 1 John 2 that if we do sin, we have an
Advocate to the Father who is Jesus Christ the righteous One. God is
faithful. He promised salvation, but just as Romans 11:19-26 says, He cut
off some of the children of Israel, and He would do the same to us. A
believer would have to go beyond his/her capabilities, though, in order to lose
his/her salvation, because it is God who works in us to create the desire to
follow Him. So, now, I've said all this to say the following:
A Christian can lose his/her salvation if and
only if he/she refuses to allow God to work in and through him/her by rejecting
and hating Christ, denying His Lordship, and living an intentional, habitual
lifestyle serving other gods. These verses seem to describe more an attitude
rather than an action. Such a person could not aspire to achieve
salvation again. That is what God promised, and that is what He would
do. God also promised to carry out the work He began in us until the day
of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). This then means that God is working in
Christians (as Philippians 2:13 said that God is the One who works in us), if
that is true, then how can we deny Christ? How could we possibly do the
things that warrant loss of salvation if it is God who works in us? We
cannot. Therefore, a Christian cannot lose his/her salvation, unless God
is a liar and does not keep His promise to work in us to will and do of His
good pleasure. God is not a liar.
Aside from this, God promises the new
covenant in Jeremiah 30:31-34. In the very last part of verse 34, God
says that He will forgive our iniquities and remember our sin no more.
This passage is referenced in Hebrews 10:16-18. In the last part of verse
18, the exact same promise is made. Look at the imagery of the
passages—the original law was written in stone, but the new covenant will be
written on our hearts. This is also seen in 2 Corinthians 3:3-6, we are
the epistle written not with ink, but with the 'Spirit of the living
God.' We are not sufficient in and of ourselves, he says, but our
sufficiency is in Christ Jesus. The letter of the law [or the old
covenant] kills, but the spirit [or the new covenant] gives life (see also Romans
7:6). Once again, how can this be if they are the same? Read John
8:1-11. This passage speaks about the woman caught in the act of
adultery. The law said she was to be stoned, but Christ's words were, 'I
do not condemn you.' The old covenant revealed our sin, pointed out our
need for a Savior, and passed judgment. John 15:22 and Romans 5:13 both
show that righteousness is condemning of sin. Jesus said that had He not
come and fulfilled the law to perfection, the Pharisees would not have realized
that they were sinning. Paul says that sin is not imputed where there is
no law. This old covenant of the law pointed out our wickedness and our
need for redemption. It was a shadow of the redemption through
sacrifices. This old covenant was fulfilled in Christ, the perfect
sacrifice, and no longer has power over us (see 1 Corinthians 15:55-58).
Chapter 17
Holiness + Love = Injustice
For many centuries, philosophers have tried
to prove with human reasoning that God is unjust. The age-old question is
“How could a loving God allow innocent children to starve?” Another
popular question is “How can God send people to hell?” Well in reality,
two things should be considered before we can address this theme: God's
holiness and God's love.
God's holiness does not permit Him to be in
the presence of imperfection or sin, but God's characteristic love yearns to be
with His creation (mankind). Since God loved us, He allowed His holiness
to be satisfied by His love through the sacrifice of the perfect, Jesus
Christ. God does not allow innocent children to starve. “There
is none righteous, not even one,” (Romans 3:10, see also 2 Chronicles 6:36,
Isaiah 64:6, and Romans 3:23). By our human standards, children may be
innocent but not according to God's standards.
Man has condemned himself by doing what is
wrong and can only choose to get right with God. “He who believes in Him
is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has
not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God,” (John 3:18).
Sin brings about death, but God offers life in Christ (Romans 6:23).
God sent His Son to the world to save the
world (John 3:16-18, 1 John 4:14). Jesus came to seek and save the lost
(Luke 19:10). “He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was
crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
and by His scourging we are healed,” (Isaiah 53:5). While we were
helpless, Christ died for us, the ungodly (Romans 5:6-11).
So, is God unjust? God's holiness must
be satisfied, and His love made a way to appease His holiness by substituting a
just life for our unjust lives. The only logical conclusion then is, “Yes.”
Undoubtedly, God is unjust by human standards. How could a holy and
loving God allow an innocent and perfect life to be sacrificed for everything
that is completely the opposite? God’s ‘injustice’ is what makes it
possible for us to experience life.
But you may ask yourself, if I'm so bad, then why would God allow this
injustice to take place? The fact is that God loves us in spite of our
flaws, and He wants us to glorify Him even though we are imperfect. Jesus
died on the cross to give God glory in Himself. In John 12:32, Jesus says,
“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
Jesus was here to draw humans to Himself because through Him we get to God the
Father (John 14:6).
Our God is Infinite
If you were asked to choose a single word to characterize God, you may choose
some very noble words such as: love, holy, just, merciful, and the list could
go on. There is one other word which I suggest is the most descript and
complete definition of God's character, and that word is “Infinite.” The
function y = 1/x as x approaches 0, gives us the simplest form of division by
zero, and this function tends to negative and positive infinity at that point.
Thus the title of this book alludes to our wickedness and God’s
nature. We do not understand division by zero; it is not something we can
put in a box and concretely or discretely define. Nor can we do so with
God. The subject of infinity has been a topic of study and research by
well-known mathematicians and philosophers alike since before the time of
Christ. While many of those works are beyond comprehension for those of
us who are not deep thinkers or well-versed in the subject matter, when simply
pondering the subject, even the average person can appreciate the complexities
of the existence of an infinite set, series, or Being.
Galileo noted that though we desire and
therefore attempt to discuss the infinite, we cannot really comprehend it with
our finite minds. Georg Cantor, a mathematician in the late 19th
century, defined “Absolute Infinite” as God. In this chapter, scriptures
are presented to demonstrate that God is infinite in specific aspects.
God is infinite in His Existence. In Exodus 3:14, God declares to
Moses that His name is “Existence.” He tells Moses that His name is the “To
Be” verb. What does that mean? There is a popular Christian song
that makes this puzzling claim, “You were King of the creation before there was
time.” The reason this is puzzling is that the word ‘before’ references
time, so to say ‘before there was time’ is nonsensical. God exists
outside of time, so He was not King of creation ‘before there was time,’ He is
eternally King of creation. Has time always existed then? I'm going
to say no, and you will then ask me, so what do you call that point when time
did not exist? My answer will be: “Eternity.”
In Job 38:1-7, God tells Job that He laid the
foundations of the world. In John 1:1-3 and Revelation 4:11, God
indicates that without Him nothing was made and nothing exists.
Colossians 1:16-17 says that all things consist in Him. Revelation 1:8,
God is the Beginning and the End; He is the Almighty One. Is God saying
that there are fixed points A and B, a start and a finish? Isaiah 57:15
states that the high and lofty One inhabits eternity. Psalm 90:2 says
this, “Before the mountains were born, you gave birth to the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” How profound
is that? Point A is everlasting, and Point B is everlasting. You
see there was no “before there was time” for God. To say that “God was,” “God
has been,” or “God will be,” etc. is preposterous. God is. Of
course, our minds are finite, and I cannot claim to really comprehend these
thoughts.
God is also infinite in His Possession. Psalm 24:1-2 states
that the earth and everything in it is the Lord's. In Philippians 4:19,
Paul says, “my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory
in Christ Jesus.” God isn't barely making ends meet; He has riches. Paul
tells Timothy that God gives us richly all things (1 Timothy 6:17). He
doesn't give us many things; He owns and gives us all things. In Psalm
50:9-12, God states that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and every
living beast belongs to Him. If He were hungry, He wouldn't come to you
and me and ask for food. I sometimes consume myself with a project I'm
going to do for God. What a joke! God doesn't need my services or
my stuff. He lovingly allows me the opportunity to give myself to glorify
Him.
God is infinite in His Presence. 2 Chronicles 6:18
says that heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain God. In Isaiah
29:13-16, the Lord states that men sometimes doubt that God can see us, but
Jeremiah 17:10 declares that God tries our hearts. Psalm 139:7-12 is
perhaps the most compelling scripture that supports this claim. David
asks, 'Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your
presence? If I ascend into the heavens or make a bed in hell, You are
there. If I dwell in the deepest ocean, You will be there to guide my
steps. If I try to hide in the dark, You have perfect infrared
vision.'
God is infinite in His Knowledge. The best illustration of
this point is found in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. We claim to have knowledge,
but Paul challenges, “Where is the wise man? … Has not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world?” God declares in Isaiah 29:14 that the wisdom of our
wise will perish. In Ephesians 3:19, Paul prays that we may know the love
of Christ, which surpasses knowledge. James 1:5 states that if we lack
wisdom, we just need to ask God for it because He gives it generously to all
men. We already mentioned that God knows us and our hearts.
God
is infinite in His Mercy. Christ on the cross cried out, “Forgive them, for they
do not know what they are doing,” (Luke 23:34). After what He had
experienced, this event alone demonstrates God's infinite mercy. Psalm
100:5 states that the Lord is good, and His mercy is everlasting. My
favorite verse describing God's mercy however, is Psalm 103:17 which states, “But
the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who
fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children.” Just like He is
from everlasting to everlasting, so is His mercy. This is not to
imply that all will be forgiven. According to 2 Peter 3:9-10, “The Lord
is not slow about His promise, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any
to perish but for all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the
elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will
be burned up.”
Basic Beliefs
I have a few basic beliefs that I find fundamental to Christianity, and on these bases is the entire argument presented in this book founded. These basic beliefs are as follows:
1. The Bible is perfect, infallible, and God-breathed.
2. God is all-powerful and all-knowing.
3. God is perfect and holy.
If you do not agree with these basic truths, then you are going to have serious trouble believing the content of this book. I do not intend to prove these things; I accept them on reasoned faith. These three statements are somewhat circular.
1. “The Bible is perfect, infallible, and God-breathed.” Of the basic beliefs listed here, this is probably the most difficult for people to accept. Many people believe not that what God said was imperfect, but rather that through the years (and many translators) the Word of God has been distorted. To me, that is like saying, “I believe that God is able to inspire (or has inspired) people to write what He said, but I don't believe that God is able to inspire (or has inspired) the people who have taken care of His word over the years.” If I believe the second and third basic truths, then honestly, there is no question whether God is able to protect His word, the question is: “Would He?” If God cared enough to send His only son, Jesus, to die brutally for my sins, (if that is true—John 3:16), then I believe that the much easier task of protecting His word has been done. That is my choice—to have faith that God cares enough, not just to send His messenger but also to keep perfect the message.
2. “God is all-powerful and all-knowing.” These two attributes go together and are demanding one of the other. If you believe the first principle, then this second principle will be easily accepted. If “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” then God must, by necessity, be all-powerful. In other words, if He created something, then He must have all power over it. As faulty as human-drawn analogies will prove to be, I will go ahead and give one at this time: Is the computer able to do something that we have not programmed it to do? Can it take over without us knowing it? Whoever holds the plug, holds all the power over the computer. The computer can destroy information, or viruses and bugs can attach themselves to the hard drive, but when it comes right down to it, the programmer has the power over all that goes on inside the computer. So, in the computer realm, the programmer is all-powerful. If God is to be all-powerful, then He must know everything. If there is another programmer who has changed a password or two, then the original programmer is no longer all-powerful in his computer realm because he is no longer all-knowing. In order to be all-powerful, one, even God, must, by necessity, be all-knowing as well.
The question that arises naturally is: “Has some other programmer meddled with a password or two so that God is no longer all-knowing and consequently no longer all-powerful?” This is a good question. In our computer analogy, other people play a very large role in whether the programmer stays all-knowing and likewise all-powerful. In our example, there is always someone else who knows enough to throw a wrench in our machine. Here is where our analogy breaks down. In the case of God, there is no other programmer that could distort His work. Once again, if you believe the first fundamental principle, then this is easy to see. Read Job 1:8-12. Satan, a created being, came and had to ask to tempt Job. Read Luke 22:31; Satan desired to tempt and harm Peter, and Jesus replied, “but I have prayed for you.” The miracles that Jesus performed show His all-powerful nature. He said in John 14:13, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” He promised to do whatever we asked. Could He make such a promise if He were not all-powerful? Perhaps He could make such a promise without the ability, but if you believe the third basic truth then He wouldn't have done so.
3. “God is perfect and holy.” The first basic belief teaches this. The Bible teaches that God is holy. In the eleventh chapter of Leviticus, (we will see later God's desire for us), we are told that God is holy. If God is not holy, then there is no reason to seek Him or try to please Him. Deuteronomy 32:4 says that God's work is perfect because all His ways are judgment; He is the God of truth without iniquity, and He is righteous and just. His actions define what is right and good (see also Psalm 33:4). If our God is not perfect, He is not superior to man, and there is no reason for my life to be centered around Him. There would be no need for me to trust Him for salvation. If He is not perfect and holy, then there is no standard to define sin, and I have no need of a Savior. If He is not holy and just, I don’t need redemption, and He cannot promise it to me. However, He is the One who wrote the Law; He is the standard of perfection; His work is perfect; He is just and right.
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