Tag Archives: Christianity

March 8, 2015 · 10:30

What You Don’t Know

Genesis1

And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? (Mark 12:24)

Jesus faced His crucifixion just days away. Jerusalem was already in full Passover mode as Jews descended on the capital city from all over the Roman world. This was one of three holy convocations where Jews were to gather to celebrate the Feasts of the Lord (Leviticus 23). The Jewish religious leaders were already plotting to have Jesus killed, but because of His popularity, they couldn’t just kill Him. They had to bring up charges against Him that would warrant execution, so they tried to trip Him up with questions regarding their Jewish laws and traditions.

So it was in this case. First they approached Him with a question on paying taxes to Rome. They first tried to butter Him up with false flattery: “Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth” (Mark 12:14). They addressed Him as “Master,” i.e., “teacher,” yet they disregarded His teaching even though they stated that He “taught the way of God.” Their question failed to challenge Jesus. The answer was easy: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17).

The Sadducees, who “say there is no resurrection” (Mark 12:18), followed up with a question concerning the resurrection. Their question was well thought out – they thought. Seven brothers had the same wife, and they all died including the wife. In the resurrection, whose wife shall she be? Aha! Answer that one, Jesus! Jesus replied that there is no marriage in heaven, but before giving His answer, He chided them for their ignorance of Scripture and consequently the power of God (our verse above).

We do often err because we “do not know the Scriptures.” It’s no great challenge to find this ignorance working in a non-believing world, but it’s sad to find the same ignorance, albeit perhaps not as pronounced, among “believers.” One common example is the controversy over creation. Did God cause the Big Bang and then use millions of years of death and suffering to create life by means of evolution? Or did God create in six 24-hour days as clearly recorded in Genesis 1?

Those believers that support the Big Bang and evolution come in different varieties, but they all prefer “science falsely so called” (1 Timothy 6:20) over the clear teaching of Scripture. They hold the word of man in higher regard than the Word of God. They do err because they “know not the scriptures, neither the power of God.” The power of God! God says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:10). “I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it” (Ezekiel 36:36). “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27). If God cannot do what He clearly said He did in Genesis 1, then neither can He part the waters of the Red Sea, cause the Sun to stop, or turn back ten degrees, make an ax head float, cleans a leper’s spots, turn water into wine, walk on water or calm the raging sea. If God cannot create as He said He did in Genesis 1, neither can He raise the dead, much less raise Himself from the dead. You do err because you do not know the Scriptures, and because you do not know the Scriptures, you do not know the power of God. What you don’t know can lead you astray. Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

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February 22, 2015 · 10:30

Reaping What You Sow

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)

The idea that you sow what you reap has been around for a very long time, even before the time of Christ. The Hindu version is karma. You sow good karma, you reap good karma in return. The Chinese have the philosophy of the “yin and yang” which is “bahlahns, Danielson” (think of “Karate Kid”) between good and evil. Star Wars conjoined these ideas into “The Force” with its good or “light” side and its dark side.

In Jesus’ time, the Jews had similar ideas. For example, they extrapolated from the Levitical Law “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” (Leviticus 24:20) and used it to exact revenge. That was not the intent of the law as Jesus, the Author of the original, explained:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. (Matthew 5:38-42)

Allow me a moment just to chase this important rabbit. Notice how Jesus responds to “Ye have heard.” His response is, “But I say unto you.” Throughout scripture any OT prophet or NT apostle who relays a message from God always qualifies his message by “Thus saith the Lord,” but not Jesus. He speaks by His own authority. He is the Lord. I just thought that’s a good thing for you to know.

The Jews of Jesus day also had the idea that good health and material prosperity were a sign of God’s favor, i.e., good karma, as a reward for righteous living. Poor health and poverty were a sign of God’s disfavor, i.e., bad karma, as punishment for a sinful life. (See Deuteronomy 29:9; 1 Kings 2:3)  Jesus debunked these perversions. For example, Jesus came across a man blind from birth and His disciples asked Him, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2) They shared the prevailing thought that if one keeps the law, i.e., does not sin, they will prosper and enjoy good health, but a sinner will be punished with poverty or a debilitating disease. To put a stop to their stinking thinking, “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him … When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing” (John 9:3, 6-7).

The point is that there is not necessarily a direct correlation between your actions and the good or bad you receive in this world. There are many really bad people in this world – most of them in Washington D.C. – that enjoy great wealth and good health. On the other hand, there are many really good people who have low income and/or poor health. Yet the prevailing belief among many people remains that if one does good, one will receive good in return. This further translates into their view of eternity. They believe that in the end God will weigh their good deeds against their sin, and if their good outweighs their bad, they’ll make it into heaven. What they do not understand is that their deeds will indeed be weighed, but their deeds will be weighed against the Word of God (Revelation 20:12-13). Finding themselves painfully short of perfection, their names will be searched for in the Book of Life. Then when their names are not found there, their doom will be sealed for eternity (Revelation 20:15).

Our lead verse above reminds us not to trifle with God – He will not be mocked. But this is not talking about karma in the sense the world understands. In fact, this verse is not necessarily talking about eternity, and it is not directed at non-believers. Paul was writing to Christians – the church in Galatia. He begins this final chapter by addressing church discipline for a brother “overtaken in a fault” (Galatians 6:1). He encourages the church to support one another in prayer (v. 2). He discourages misplaced pride (v. 3). He exhorts everyone to judge their own actions and not those of others (v. 4). He admonishes everyone to pull their own weight (v. 5). Then he entreats them to financially support those who teach them (v. 6). After all this he says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). In other words, God sees, not only what you do, but the motives behind the actions – He will not be mocked. One who is a twice-born child of God, will not lose his “sonship,” but just like any good father disciplines his child to correct wrong actions, so the Heavenly Father corrects His misbehaving child. “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? … Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?” (Hebrews 12:7, 9)

Paul elaborates on the law of sowing and reaping: “For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:8). The “flesh” here should be understood as our sinful nature. While we live in this fallen world, we retain that sinful nature. When we place our trust in Christ, our dead spirit is made alive. “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). “The last Adam” refers to Christ who has been made a “vitalizing spirit” or a “spirit that brings life.” The meaning of the second birth is that Christ has made our dead spirit come to life. That spirit constantly battles the sinful nature that we carry in our flesh. Paul describes this struggle in Romans 7:14-23. In the end he cries out, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:24-25).

As children of God, we have both a sinful nature and an eternal spirit. We understand from nature that what is fed will grow, and what is starved will wither or atrophy. We can feed our flesh by indulging our worldly desires like spending too much time on entertainment, watching or listing to worldly programming on television or the radio, listening to worldly music, reading worldly materials, etc. (I am not addressing non-believers, so my word choices should be clear to believers.) Alternately, we can feed our spirit by listening to Godly programming on television or radio, listening to sacred music that honors God, spending time in God’s Word, etc. If we feed our flesh, our desire for worldly pleasures will increase while our spirit will grow weak. Paul warns that we will reap the consequences for “sowing to the flesh.” God does believe in spanking His children. On the contrary, if we feed the spirit, God will enrich our lives (not necessarily in material ways) so that those blessings will reach into eternity. You reap what you sow.

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February 1, 2015 · 10:30

It’s Not That Bad

But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  (Matthew 24:37-39)

Unless you have totally detached yourself from all society, isolated yourself in a cave, or numbed your brain with drugs, you know that the world is in moral decline. We have ejected God from the public square, spurned His law and called what is good evil and what is evil good (Isaiah 5:20). We accept that which is unnatural and hold it up as something to be praised and held in honor. We castigate those who hold firm to their passé morality, and stigmatize them as evil haters. We hail outlaws as heroes and call true heroes cowards. We slaughter our progeny and fearlessly defend the life and welfare of animals. We fight against polluting the planet and think nothing of the moral pollution of our minds. Boy! Are we screwed up!

We hear of wars and rumors of wars. Natural and man-made catastrophes are increasing all over the world, and for the most part, life, for the vast majority of people, goes on as usual. The words of Jesus recorded by Matthew above make me wonder. Just how bad were things at the time of Noah? Genesis records that “it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth … for it repenteth me that I have made them” (Genesis 6:6-7). Things must have been pretty bad for God to take such extreme measures. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth” (Genesis 6:11-12). Is that not what we see today? Mankind is corrupt and the earth is filled with violence. So, why does Christ delay His return? Surely, things are as bad today as they were in the days of Noah.

It seems that there have been periods in world history that were far worse than they are today, and Jesus did not return then either. When Jesus spoke these words, He was not referring to the moral condition of the world, but rather the suddenness of the destruction that fell upon them. Note that they were conducting life as usual, “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.” There is nothing particularly sinful in that, but as they carried on life as usual, destruction came on them suddenly, “And [they] knew not until the flood came, and took them all away” (Matthew 24:39). But there may be more to it than they were just carrying on life as usual. The world was violent then and evil was so rampant that God said, “Enough!”

For Christians (and I always feel that I need to qualify that with the adjective “true”) the world does not have to get as bad as in the days of Noah. Paul would remind us, as he did the Christians in Thessalonica, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, emphasis mine). That “falling away” is the Greek word apostasia, which means a “defection from the truth.” We see that happening today, but God still has a remnant. I heard today that the number of “true” Christians, according to Barna, is down to about 7%, but that remnant is still strong. Paul says that the “son of perdition,” a.k.a. “Antichrist,” will not be revealed until “he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thessalonians 2:7, emphasis mine). That word “lets” (“letteth”) is actually two Greek words: katechō meaning “to hold down,” and arti, meaning “suspension.” That “He” is the Holy Spirit who indwells every child of God. When the Bride of Christ is “taken out of the way,” there will be nothing left to restrain evil.

It’s bad now, but it’s not that bad. Christ will call for His Bride at any moment. As in the days of Noah, life will be going on as usual. Then suddenly, millions of people – Christians – will disappear from all over the earth, and the trouble begins. It’s not that bad now, but it’s going to get bad. I hope you are ready!

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January 25, 2015 · 10:30

Remember?

Loaves and Fishes

Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? (Matthew 16:9-10)

Jesus and His disciples left the village of Magdala and crossed the Sea of Galilee. Mark tells us that they landed at Bethsaida (Mark 8:22), but before they arrived, Jesus thought aloud about an encounter they had in Magdala with a group Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:1-4). This bunch demanded “a sign from heaven” to validate His teachings. Obviously, the miracles Jesus performed were insufficient for these religious experts. So as Jesus thought on this, He offered His disciples an object lesson. “Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6). However, the disciples were preoccupied with the fact that they forgot to pack a lunch (v. 5), “And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread” (Matthew 16:7).

In their preoccupation with their stomachs, they missed the spiritual meal their Master had prepared for them. So, to refocus their minds to receive the real meal, Jesus reminded them of the miracle where He fed the 5000 (Matthew 14:13-21), and more recently, the feeding of the 4000 (Matthew 15:32-38). They need not concern themselves about what they were going to eat. Indeed, Jesus spoke on this very thing in His Sermon on the Mount. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (Matthew 6:31). They were not about to go hungry with Jesus in their company.

We often behave just like the disciples. We get caught up with the worries and troubles of this world, and we forget all the times that God carried us through those troubled times. Remember when you were abandoned, and God brought that special person into your life to mend your brokenness? Remember when you lost your job and somehow God provided for you until He had a better job for you? Remember when you sacrificially gave to a cause God placed on your heart, and somehow you never missed that sacrificial gift? Remember?

When you are in the company of Jesus, all your needs (not wants) will be met, “for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:32). Remember how God provided for you in the past, and “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Remember.

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January 18, 2015 · 10:30

No Time Like the Present

timeflies

… behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

We understand time in three phases: past, present, and future. We receive wise counsel not to live in the past while at the same time we are advised to plan for the future. Indeed, even the Apostle Paul exhorts, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Our minds help us in regard to the past by minimizing bad memories and enhancing the good ones. This is healthy for when we latch on to bitter memories, the effects degrade both our physical and mental health. If we focus too much on the future, we can set ourselves up for disappointment, if we fail to accomplish unrealistic goals.

Either dwelling too much on the past or focusing too much on the future can both have negative effects on our lives, so we are encouraged to live in the present. “Take time to smell the roses,” we are told. Recently, this has given me cause to ponder. Just how long is the present that we should dwell therein? A minute? A second? A millisecond? A nanosecond? Time constantly moves forward with no stops. In the blink of an eye, the present becomes the past, while in the same instant we arrive in the future and then that is gone. The question is really an existential one since it deals with our existence and experience. We experience life through our senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, and smell. These all employ our nervous system with the brain and all of its complex network of nerves. So I thought perhaps the present has to do with the speed of nerve impulses. “Scientists have an idea how fast nerves send signals. It varies among different animals and humans, but in general, one can say it is very fast, on the order of 115197 ft/sec (3560 m/sec).”[1] That is amazingly fast, but even at that the nerve impulse itself has a start and stop time, so it too moves from the past into the future with no hesitation.

So, how long is the present? Apparently, the present cannot be measured by time, so this must be a philosophical question. I asked a coworker, whose opinion I value highly, how long he thought the present could be. He said the present does not exist. Similarly, I asked an astrophysicist friend, and he said suggested that it was zero. Both of these answers make sense to me because time is constantly moving forward. I envision standing on the zero point on a line graph that continually moves beneath me from positive to negative-positive being the future and negative being the past. I operate from the zero point as time whizzes by me, but what I do at the zero point – the present – influences the future that comes at me.

I posed the same question to my oldest son. He’s pretty smart in his own right, and he gave me the most provocative response of all. He said, “The present is eternal.” I do not know if he fully understood the ramifications of such a profound statement. For starters, God is eternal, and He identifies Himself to Moses as “I AM THAT I AM” (Exodus 3:14). He is ever-present. We understand that God is unfettered by time, so He is present at every point in time. He is present in the past and in the future simultaneously. That is why He could say to the Prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). God can accurately foretell the future because He exists in the future. He is eternally present.

Unlike God, we are confined by time. We can only experience time at point zero, and that only for the briefest of moments. We experience the future as it passes us by, but our actions in that brief moment affect the unseen consequences that lie ahead. God created us in His image (Genesis 1:26), and as such we are eternal beings. Unlike God, we have a beginning and no end, and again, we exist at point zero. Our actions, therefore, incur eternal consequences. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), they caused an eternal rift between God and mankind (Genesis 3:22) that affected all of their posterity – you and me. Their offense and our subsequent sins offend an eternal and holy God, and the offense is eternal. Since the offense is eternal, the consequence is also eternal, and therefore must be atoned for eternally. Hell is eternal because the offense is eternal, therefore the punishment must be eternal.

The good news is that God granted a way of escape from the eternal punishment that we all deserve. I AM is present in all of time from creation to re-creation; so that

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. (1 Peter 1:18-21, emphasis mine)

At the perfect time (Galatians 4:4), God stepped out of eternity into our present time in the form of the first, sinless Adam, to offer up Himself as the perfect atoning sacrifice for all of mankind. That sacrifice had the eternal effect of mending the eternal rift between God and mankind.

But the remedy is not universal, and it is not automatic. Each individual must make the choice for himself. Making the right or wrong decision in the present will settle your fate for all eternity. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:14-16, emphasis mine)

The present is eternal after all. There is no time like the present to change the course of your eternity.

 Notes:

[1] From http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=1950, accessed January 16, 2015.

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