Tag Archives: theology

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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January 11, 2015 · 10:30

When the Music Stops

Music Magic

The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. The joy of our heart is ceased; our dance is turned into mourning. (Lamentations 5:14-15)

The other day on my way to the office, I was listening to a song by The Doobie Brothers entitled “The Doctor.” (Yes, I do sometimes indulge in listening to that godless music!) A line in that song says, “Music is the doctor of my soul,” and the premise of the song is basically that no matter what ails you, music (in this case “rock” music) will make it all better. That made me think: what happens when the music stops? What of your soul then?

We live in a very sensual era, where (it seems to me) people constantly seek one thrill after another. I notice many people walking around with ear buds plugged into their ears and their faces simultaneously plugged into their personal communications devices. It’s as if they desperately seek to shut out the world around them and seclude themselves to a fantasy world of their own creation. Perhaps that explains why many are oblivious to what goes on in the world around them. After all, unless one is firmly grounded, the ugliness of this world gives good cause for depression. Who needs that! So, crank up the tunes, focus on mindless matter, and invent your own reality. But, what happens when the music stops? What happens when “the doctor of your soul” dies?

When Jeremiah wrote the passage above, the Jews had serious cause for depression. Their nation had been ravished by the Babylonians, and all but the feeblest had been carried away captive to a foreign land. They said:

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? (Psalm 137:1-4)

For them, the music had stopped, but note God’s response to their lament:

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace. (Jeremiah 29:5-7)

In other words, live your life where you are. Face it; the world around us is not getting any better, and trying to drown it out with music and entertainment will not make it go away. At some point, the music stops, and we have to deal with life – real life with all of its ills. Jesus reminds us, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Trouble and tribulation are just part of life, but for the child of God there is the assurance that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Paul knew about this.  He said, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13). Note that this is something that is learned; one does not come by it naturally, and one does not learn it without living through it. Music is not the doctor; life is, but for the child of God, the power comes from Christ who has overcome the world and gives us to power to face all of life’s circumstances.

I enjoy music – all kinds – but when the music stops, “My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:2).

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December 31, 2014 · 14:34

Fast Away the Old Year Passes

Nice-Happy-New-Year-Wallpapers

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)

Another year whizzes by in a blur. Earlier this month I lamented to my youngest son, who lives in the area, that I do not see him and my granddaughters often enough. So, perhaps out of guilt, he and my granddaughters came by to visit the other night. When he entered our home he commented on our new floors. “When did you get your new floors?” “Last January,” I replied. In his busyness, he did not realize that it had been that long since he had visited inside our home, but to grandparents, that is a long time. However, in all fairness, our schedules have been just as busy, and time takes no breaks.

It is once again time to make resolutions (that will not be kept) for the New Year. I have resolved to read the Bible through in a year once more – a resolution that I will keep. I have given up on resolving to lose weight. That never works and leaves me feeling like a failure. 😦 At least by reading the Bible through in a year I can put on some “spiritual” weight.

No matter what we resolve to do in the New Year, the admonition of our starting verse should rise above and take priority over all other resolutions.  Moses’ prayer request that God would “teach us to number our days” should be our prayer. In a previous verse he says, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (v. 10). By that estimation, my allotment of years numbers between six and sixteen years, but that is not what this verse is saying. The Hebrew word translated as “number” is mânâh, and it means to “weigh out” and by implication to “assign value to.” In other words, we need to ask God to teach us how to make our days count for something in God’s economy – in God’s economy. Of course, God is concerned for the well-being of His children. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, emphasis mine). Moses acknowledges this in the opening verse of this psalm: “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations” (v. 1). We are “housed” in His care and protection. We need not worry about our circumstances; God takes care of those details. We are to “occupy till [He comes]” (Luke 19:13).

Then as we learn to make our days count, we need to “apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Our “hearts” (not the organic pump that circulates blood through our bodies) is the motivating force of our being that drives us to strive for our desires. Our desires can be wicked: “For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth” (Psalm 10:3) or they can be righteous: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Psalm 73:25). If the latter, we can put them to work wisely. The word “wisdom” here is the translation of the Hebrew word chokmâh which can also mean “skillful.” Wisdom from a biblical perspective is the skill to practically apply the truths of God’s Word in our every-day lives. Jesus tells us to “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).  As we learn to make our days count for God’s kingdom, He will provide the skill to apply His Word in our lives. The material stuff – He will also provide according to our “need.”

So, in 2015, Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Happy New Year!

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November 30, 2014 · 10:30

Clothing In Heaven

King Jesus 2

And white robes were given unto every one of them; (Revelation 6:11)

Recently we were reading our daily devotional Days of Praise. The devotional for that day was entitled “Clothing.” In that article, the author, John D. Morris, Ph.D., points out the fact that Adam and Eve were naked when they were created, and only after they sinned did their nakedness become apparent to them. The last book of the Bible informs us that we will be clothed with white robes in heaven – that is, those of us who go to heaven. So the question came up, why are we not naked in heaven the way God created us in the beginning? The Bible tells us that we will be clothed “in fine linen, clean and white,” but it makes no comment about why we are clothed rather than naked. That made me think.

When Adam and Eve sinned, God had to clothe them in skins to cover their nakedness (Genesis 3:21). Someone suggested that before they sinned, Adam and Eve were “clothed” in light. The Hebrew word for light is ‘ôr (אור). This reminds me of the time when Moses was in the presence of God for forty days, and his face shone with a light so that the people were afraid of him. He had to veil his face (Exodus 34:29-35) so that the people would not fear him. Then there was the time at the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus, and all of them glowed (Matthew 17:1-2). Adam and Eve may have had a similar glow about them. Then when they sinned, they lost that glow so that their nakedness became apparent to them (Genesis 3:7). God then covered them with skins. The Hebrew word for skin is ‛ôr (עור). There may be a play on words here. Note that both Hebrew words are pronounced “or,” but they have different spellings in Hebrew. Before they sinned, they were clothed in אור (light), but after they sinned, God clothed them in עור (skin).

That may be a part of it, but what is of greater importance is that the skins were a covering for their nakedness which represented their sin. The idea of covering conveys the meaning of “atonement.” Throughout Scripture the shedding of innocent blood has always been the requirement for making atonement or the covering of sin.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11, emphasis mine)

The robes given to the saints in heaven are made “white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). Once again, the innocent blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), was shed, once for all, to cover our sin.

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:13-14, emphasis mine)

Perhaps this is why we wear robes in heaven. The robes will remind us for eternity that Jesus shed His blood to cover (atone for) our sin. Our clothing in heaven is His righteousness, not our own. “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I [Jesus] will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels” (Revelation 3:5, emphasis mine). “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked” (2 Corinthians 5:2-3).

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