"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom" (Psalm 51:5-6).
"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God'" (John 3:3).
Many people try to excuse their particular type of sin by saying that they were born that way. It has even been claimed by some geneticists that a person can be born with a genetic propensity toward a particular kind of sinful behavior; such as domestic violence, adultery, promiscuity, or homosexuality. I don't know if that's true though. And I think some, including creation scientists dispute that claim.
But whether genetics has anything to do with it or not, the Scriptures do teach that we are all born sinners. But the psalmist, David did not use that as an excuse for his sin. He realized that God "desire[s] truth in the inward parts". And so, from a biblical standpoint, it is laughable for any person to try to excuse their sin by saying they were born that way.
Our holy God, who is love, created us in His perfect image. But sin (disobedience toward God) has corrupted the image of God in us. We are all born with corrupted human nature; handed down to us from our first-parents, Adam and Eve.
The Bible calls it the "old man", or "old nature", or "sinful nature". It is just a part of the brokenness that disobedience toward our heavenly Father has caused to the created order. This corrupt nature, by nature, alienates us from God; who created humanity in the image of His own Divine nature (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
But we are not without hope. As the Scripture says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Christian life is a continual process of surrendering to Christ to put away the old nature, and have the new nature brought to fruition in our inmost being (Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:8-10, 2 Peter 1:3-4).
And all the while we have reason to be glad and rejoice. The more we put off the old nature, and put on the new nature; the more we grow to delight in the things in which God delights (Philippians 3:1, Philippians 4:4, Psalm 9:2, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 32:11, Psalm 118:24).
Because of the sacrifice of love that Jesus made for us on the cross, we are able to receive forgiveness of, and freedom from sin. All we have to do is trust Him.
If we do trust Him, we have this promise in the Scriptures:
"Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been reveal what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him, purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
God Is Not Desperate
Some Bible skeptics taunt at the idea of belief in God, asking "If God exists, where is He? Why doesn't He show Himself plainly, for all to see?" Such scoffers are just like those who challenged Jesus to "show a sign" if He were truly the Son of God. They said this after He had already given a plethora of signs and miracles.
The truth is that God has already revealed Himself adequately for any honest seeker to find Him. He has revealed Himself through nature. He has revealed Himself through the biblical prophets. He has revealed Himself through the testimony of the apostles. And He has revealed Himself especially through His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2, Romans 1:20, Psalm 19).
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Both men die, and Lazarus goes to be with Abraham in Heaven. The rich man who lived a life of selfish pleasure, unmindful of Lazarus and of God, went to Hell.
Afar off across a chasm, the rich man sees Lazarus with Abraham. He calls out and selfishly asks Abraham to send Lazarus over to give him a drop of water. Abraham tells him no. Then the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers, so they wouldn't end up like him in that place of torment.
Abraham tells the rich man that his brothers have the writings of Moses and the Prophets to warn them. But the rich man pleads saying that if Lazarus would return from the dead, then his brothers would believe. Abraham replies in verse 31 "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead".
So Jesus makes it clear that He is not desperate to convince anyone of His truth. He has already done everything He needed to do to reveal Himself to us. Now it's on us to be receptive. "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear", as Jesus often says (Mark 4:9, 4:23, Luke 8:8, 14:35, Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22). And so we do not change the message to attract the masses. People must change their hearts and minds to receive the truth; not the other way around.
Interestingly, Jesus did raise a man named Lazarus from the dead. And afterwards, His enemies wanted to kill them both (John 11:43-53, 12:9-10). So He was right. And even to this day, there are those who continue to reject Jesus despite His clear revelation of Himself in the time and space of human history, recorded in the Scriptures, as well as His revelation of Himself through design in nature.
God is love (1 John 4:8). So why not love the One who is love? The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love is because we were created by, and in the image of God who is love (Genesis 1:26-27). So to surrender to Him is to surrender to love. If anyone rejects Him, they demonstrate that they have a lack of love, because they do not love God who is love (Matthew 22:37-38). And whoever loves the Father will love the Son as well (1 John 5:1, 1 John 2:22-23, John 3:36).
The truth is that God has already revealed Himself adequately for any honest seeker to find Him. He has revealed Himself through nature. He has revealed Himself through the biblical prophets. He has revealed Himself through the testimony of the apostles. And He has revealed Himself especially through His Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2, Romans 1:20, Psalm 19).
In Luke 16:19-31, Jesus tells the story of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Both men die, and Lazarus goes to be with Abraham in Heaven. The rich man who lived a life of selfish pleasure, unmindful of Lazarus and of God, went to Hell.
Afar off across a chasm, the rich man sees Lazarus with Abraham. He calls out and selfishly asks Abraham to send Lazarus over to give him a drop of water. Abraham tells him no. Then the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers, so they wouldn't end up like him in that place of torment.
Abraham tells the rich man that his brothers have the writings of Moses and the Prophets to warn them. But the rich man pleads saying that if Lazarus would return from the dead, then his brothers would believe. Abraham replies in verse 31 "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead".
So Jesus makes it clear that He is not desperate to convince anyone of His truth. He has already done everything He needed to do to reveal Himself to us. Now it's on us to be receptive. "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear", as Jesus often says (Mark 4:9, 4:23, Luke 8:8, 14:35, Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22). And so we do not change the message to attract the masses. People must change their hearts and minds to receive the truth; not the other way around.
Interestingly, Jesus did raise a man named Lazarus from the dead. And afterwards, His enemies wanted to kill them both (John 11:43-53, 12:9-10). So He was right. And even to this day, there are those who continue to reject Jesus despite His clear revelation of Himself in the time and space of human history, recorded in the Scriptures, as well as His revelation of Himself through design in nature.
God is love (1 John 4:8). So why not love the One who is love? The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love is because we were created by, and in the image of God who is love (Genesis 1:26-27). So to surrender to Him is to surrender to love. If anyone rejects Him, they demonstrate that they have a lack of love, because they do not love God who is love (Matthew 22:37-38). And whoever loves the Father will love the Son as well (1 John 5:1, 1 John 2:22-23, John 3:36).
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Knowledge, Tech, and Creation
"I will fetch my knowledge from afar;
I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker" (Job 36:3).
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4; emphasis added).
The popular belief of our time is that the wild technological advancements of our modern time are a clear display of evolution in action. Allmusic.com even has a misleading t.v. commercial that gives a synopsis of the alleged evolution of music. According to the commercial, music evolved from Gregorian chants into songs with instrumental accompaniment.
What the commercial ignores is that musical instruments, including complex stringed instruments, percussion, and woodwind instruments were in use in the most ancient times. David, second king of ancient Israel was a talented harpist, a thousand years before Christ was born in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:14-23). And there are many exhortations in the Scriptures to play musical instruments as an act of worship (Psalm 33:2-3, Psalm 150). And musical instruments of all kinds were in use throughout ancient history (1 Samuel 10:5-6, Daniel 3:4-5,7-25, Matthew 9:23-24, Matthew 11:15-19).
Recently I had a conversation with someone about wine consumption in ancient Rome. This person pointed out that back then, wine had a lower alcohol content, which is true. It was roughly the same as the alcohol content of the average beer today. But the person went on to assert that the ancient Romans did not understand fermentation, but that they understood "buzz". That part is untrue.
Advancements in the technology of fermentation have been made. But the ancients were not oblivious. One of Jesus' parables revolves around the fermentation process. To illustrate the complete newness of the covenant that He would bring about, Jesus pointed out that no one puts new (unfermented) wine into old wine-skins, because the old wine-skins would burst and the wine would be wasted. The ancient peoples, dating back to the beginning, knew about the fermentation process. They were skilled in it.
Job is believed to be the oldest book in the Bible; having been written before Moses wrote Genesis-Deuteronomy. The man, Job, may have lived contemporaneously with Abraham. In Job chapter 28, Job gives a speech that describes in detail the work of miners, mining deep in the earth for precious stones and valuable metals. He is using it as a metaphor for the more important search for wisdom.
The ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans all achieved amazing technological feats and evinced vast treasures of knowledge in such fields as mathematics, astronomy, engineering, and architecture. There are even trace evidence of more advanced civilizations in the forgotten past. Those who reject the Genesis account of early world history speculate that these trace evidence of advanced technology might have been left by ancient aliens, before humans evolved from lower animals.
Creationists like myself, however, are not baffled by the thought that God made humans in His own image. Humans have always been intelligent creatures. Moses tells us that the pre-Flood era saw advancements in agriculture, the making of musical instruments, and metal working (Genesis 4:20-22). Trace evidence of advanced ancient technology may be the remains of civilizations that existed before the Genesis Flood.
Furthermore, the awesome technological advancements of our modern time are not a display of evolution either. Instead, such forward strides are a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. God told the prophet Daniel that in the last days, "knowledge shall increase". And that is exactly what we see happening.
It is the arrogance of every generation to think itself better than all previous generations. The evolutionary myth appeals to this generational arrogance. As the Scriptures say elsewhere: "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies" (1 Corinthians 8:1). The only cure is love. We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). And that means more than just that we are intelligent, as He is; but God is love (1 John 4:8). He created us to be capable not only of intelligence; but more importantly, capable of love; toward God who is love, and toward each other who are made in the image of God who is love (Matthew 22:37-40).
I will ascribe righteousness to my Maker" (Job 36:3).
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase" (Daniel 12:4; emphasis added).
The popular belief of our time is that the wild technological advancements of our modern time are a clear display of evolution in action. Allmusic.com even has a misleading t.v. commercial that gives a synopsis of the alleged evolution of music. According to the commercial, music evolved from Gregorian chants into songs with instrumental accompaniment.
What the commercial ignores is that musical instruments, including complex stringed instruments, percussion, and woodwind instruments were in use in the most ancient times. David, second king of ancient Israel was a talented harpist, a thousand years before Christ was born in Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:14-23). And there are many exhortations in the Scriptures to play musical instruments as an act of worship (Psalm 33:2-3, Psalm 150). And musical instruments of all kinds were in use throughout ancient history (1 Samuel 10:5-6, Daniel 3:4-5,7-25, Matthew 9:23-24, Matthew 11:15-19).
Recently I had a conversation with someone about wine consumption in ancient Rome. This person pointed out that back then, wine had a lower alcohol content, which is true. It was roughly the same as the alcohol content of the average beer today. But the person went on to assert that the ancient Romans did not understand fermentation, but that they understood "buzz". That part is untrue.
Advancements in the technology of fermentation have been made. But the ancients were not oblivious. One of Jesus' parables revolves around the fermentation process. To illustrate the complete newness of the covenant that He would bring about, Jesus pointed out that no one puts new (unfermented) wine into old wine-skins, because the old wine-skins would burst and the wine would be wasted. The ancient peoples, dating back to the beginning, knew about the fermentation process. They were skilled in it.
Job is believed to be the oldest book in the Bible; having been written before Moses wrote Genesis-Deuteronomy. The man, Job, may have lived contemporaneously with Abraham. In Job chapter 28, Job gives a speech that describes in detail the work of miners, mining deep in the earth for precious stones and valuable metals. He is using it as a metaphor for the more important search for wisdom.
The ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans all achieved amazing technological feats and evinced vast treasures of knowledge in such fields as mathematics, astronomy, engineering, and architecture. There are even trace evidence of more advanced civilizations in the forgotten past. Those who reject the Genesis account of early world history speculate that these trace evidence of advanced technology might have been left by ancient aliens, before humans evolved from lower animals.
Creationists like myself, however, are not baffled by the thought that God made humans in His own image. Humans have always been intelligent creatures. Moses tells us that the pre-Flood era saw advancements in agriculture, the making of musical instruments, and metal working (Genesis 4:20-22). Trace evidence of advanced ancient technology may be the remains of civilizations that existed before the Genesis Flood.
Furthermore, the awesome technological advancements of our modern time are not a display of evolution either. Instead, such forward strides are a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. God told the prophet Daniel that in the last days, "knowledge shall increase". And that is exactly what we see happening.
It is the arrogance of every generation to think itself better than all previous generations. The evolutionary myth appeals to this generational arrogance. As the Scriptures say elsewhere: "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies" (1 Corinthians 8:1). The only cure is love. We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). And that means more than just that we are intelligent, as He is; but God is love (1 John 4:8). He created us to be capable not only of intelligence; but more importantly, capable of love; toward God who is love, and toward each other who are made in the image of God who is love (Matthew 22:37-40).
Thursday, August 8, 2013
A Mindful Love
"What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?" (Psalm 8:4 NKJV; emphasis added).
"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind'. This is the first and greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV; emphasis added).
Why is sound doctrine important? What difference do theology and apologetics make to Christian living? The apostle Paul certainly placed a lot of emphasis on the importance of these things. The fifteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians is devoted to the importance of believing in the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And in his letters to Timothy and Titus he also urged them to teach sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:9-10, 2 Timothy 4:2-4, Titus 2:1).
There are at least a few reasons why sound doctrine is important. For one thing, if the Church strays from teaching the truth, we will no longer be presenting the gospel that is able to save souls. The distortion of the gospel makes it ineffective. It loses its, shall we say, structural integrity. Then if anyone does believe what is taught, they will not believe the truth that leads to eternal life. But they will be less likely to believe in Christ, or God, or the Scriptures at all.
And as Paul often showed in his letters to all the churches, there is a correlation between what we believe and what we do. His letter to the Colossians is a good example. In that letter, Paul stresses the importance of sound teachings about Christ. Then, in the third chapter he says, in effect, "Now because of these truths concerning Jesus, set your mind on Him, and live this way instead of that way".
The bottom line is that love is a mindful thing. God is mindful of us because He loves us. He doesn't sit on His throne and say to Himself, "Oh, I don't believe in the literal human being. I don't interpret prayers as literal petitions and supplications. Humanity is just a metaphor for stuff that I like. So as long as I'm feeling good that's all that matters."
You know, God doesn't construct stupid, careless, false ideas about who and what we are. It is true that He does all things for His own glory. But His glory is in His love and goodness toward us as well as in His power, His wisdom, His knowledge, and His eternal, holy nature.
And if we love our heavenly Father, we will be mindful of Him. We will think honestly about Him as He has revealed Himself to us through the Old Testament prophets, the apostles, and His Son - Jesus Christ. We will recognize who and what He is - The Creator and Owner of the universe, and of our lives. And so we will honor Him and seek His glory in our lives. And a part of what that means is using the mind He has given us, to the best of the ability He has given us.
God is love. So why not love the One who is love? He has made us in His image to love and be loved by Him.
And the son of man that You visit him?" (Psalm 8:4 NKJV; emphasis added).
"Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind'. This is the first and greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38 NKJV; emphasis added).
Why is sound doctrine important? What difference do theology and apologetics make to Christian living? The apostle Paul certainly placed a lot of emphasis on the importance of these things. The fifteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians is devoted to the importance of believing in the literal, bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And in his letters to Timothy and Titus he also urged them to teach sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:9-10, 2 Timothy 4:2-4, Titus 2:1).
There are at least a few reasons why sound doctrine is important. For one thing, if the Church strays from teaching the truth, we will no longer be presenting the gospel that is able to save souls. The distortion of the gospel makes it ineffective. It loses its, shall we say, structural integrity. Then if anyone does believe what is taught, they will not believe the truth that leads to eternal life. But they will be less likely to believe in Christ, or God, or the Scriptures at all.
And as Paul often showed in his letters to all the churches, there is a correlation between what we believe and what we do. His letter to the Colossians is a good example. In that letter, Paul stresses the importance of sound teachings about Christ. Then, in the third chapter he says, in effect, "Now because of these truths concerning Jesus, set your mind on Him, and live this way instead of that way".
The bottom line is that love is a mindful thing. God is mindful of us because He loves us. He doesn't sit on His throne and say to Himself, "Oh, I don't believe in the literal human being. I don't interpret prayers as literal petitions and supplications. Humanity is just a metaphor for stuff that I like. So as long as I'm feeling good that's all that matters."
You know, God doesn't construct stupid, careless, false ideas about who and what we are. It is true that He does all things for His own glory. But His glory is in His love and goodness toward us as well as in His power, His wisdom, His knowledge, and His eternal, holy nature.
And if we love our heavenly Father, we will be mindful of Him. We will think honestly about Him as He has revealed Himself to us through the Old Testament prophets, the apostles, and His Son - Jesus Christ. We will recognize who and what He is - The Creator and Owner of the universe, and of our lives. And so we will honor Him and seek His glory in our lives. And a part of what that means is using the mind He has given us, to the best of the ability He has given us.
God is love. So why not love the One who is love? He has made us in His image to love and be loved by Him.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Rethinking Reality
Last month, I wrote a post titled Subjective/Objective Reality. In it, I made the point that subjectivity is equally an important part of reality as objectivity is. My position in that post was that moral and spiritual laws are subjective because they can not be seen with the eye, touched with the hand, or examined under a microscope. Yet, as I maintained, moral and spiritual laws are real since they proceed from the mind of God who is absolute.
I now, however, take pause to reconsider, whether or not right and wrong are indeed subjective after all. The reason for this second thought is that, as I have said before and say again, God is love. The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love; the reason that it is an essential part of the human being, is that we are created by and in the image of God who is love. Love is not just an idea. Love is not even confined to being an action. Love is Persons. God is love (Genesis 1:26-27, 1 John 4:8).
Now God is Spirit (John 4:24). But I'm not entirely certain that that means He is non-objective as a Being or Entity. Perhaps we may conclude that a spirit, and also the Spirit, is another kind of objectivity though transcendent over and apart from the natural universe. We are spirits who have bodies, and we are persons. And God is Spirit, and Personal. And God is love. And love is the fulfillment of the Law of God (Romans 13:8-10).
I conclude then that God, from eternity past and forever, is a kind of love in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is, that the subjective idea of love actually comes from the objective Persons of God who is love. And we being made in His image are in the image of love, though because of sin, the image of God in us is distorted. That is, God who is love has made us to have the subjective concept of love, which comes from Him and leads to Him. As an old Christmas carol says "Let loving hearts enthrone Him". If we do not love Him, then we do not love, even if we claim to.
And furthermore, Jesus, being the Son of God, also became a flesh and blood human to die for our sins which alienate us from God. So being God incarnate, He is perfect love, from eternity past with the Father, incarnate also as a flesh and blood human. And so it might be said that in God, and also in humanity (since we are created in the image of God) that which would otherwise be subjective, is found instead to be objective.
However, until one comes to be reconciled with God through Christ, one can not personally know God who is love. And as stated above, God is Spirit. And whoever would worship Him must do so in spirit. As the apostle Paul, through the Holy Spirit, pointed out; the carnal, or natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit. The natural man can not receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 1 Corinthians 2:14).
I now, however, take pause to reconsider, whether or not right and wrong are indeed subjective after all. The reason for this second thought is that, as I have said before and say again, God is love. The reason that we as human beings even have a concept of love; the reason that it is an essential part of the human being, is that we are created by and in the image of God who is love. Love is not just an idea. Love is not even confined to being an action. Love is Persons. God is love (Genesis 1:26-27, 1 John 4:8).
Now God is Spirit (John 4:24). But I'm not entirely certain that that means He is non-objective as a Being or Entity. Perhaps we may conclude that a spirit, and also the Spirit, is another kind of objectivity though transcendent over and apart from the natural universe. We are spirits who have bodies, and we are persons. And God is Spirit, and Personal. And God is love. And love is the fulfillment of the Law of God (Romans 13:8-10).
I conclude then that God, from eternity past and forever, is a kind of love in three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That is, that the subjective idea of love actually comes from the objective Persons of God who is love. And we being made in His image are in the image of love, though because of sin, the image of God in us is distorted. That is, God who is love has made us to have the subjective concept of love, which comes from Him and leads to Him. As an old Christmas carol says "Let loving hearts enthrone Him". If we do not love Him, then we do not love, even if we claim to.
And furthermore, Jesus, being the Son of God, also became a flesh and blood human to die for our sins which alienate us from God. So being God incarnate, He is perfect love, from eternity past with the Father, incarnate also as a flesh and blood human. And so it might be said that in God, and also in humanity (since we are created in the image of God) that which would otherwise be subjective, is found instead to be objective.
However, until one comes to be reconciled with God through Christ, one can not personally know God who is love. And as stated above, God is Spirit. And whoever would worship Him must do so in spirit. As the apostle Paul, through the Holy Spirit, pointed out; the carnal, or natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit. The natural man can not receive the things of the Spirit because they are spiritually discerned (2 Corinthians 5:18-21, 1 Corinthians 2:14).
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