Abram, the Father of Our Faith

Abram once dwelt in Marduk's slough

In the land of the Chaldee

Till Jah said "Get thee from thy house

That with you I may be.

I shall give thee many a son

In the land that I show

Toward the setting of the sun

Is the way you must go."

Through desert sands and foreign lands

He wandered to and fro

Believing in God's promised plans

His wonders to forth show.

Many years in tents he did live

A stranger with no claim

Not seeing yet what God would give

Still trusting in His name.

(Romans 4:11, Hebrews 11:8-10, 13-16).

Harmony of Testaments

The continuity of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible is such that, as a whole, the Bible is symmetrical in its teachings about creation, the fall, sin, death, forgiveness, and salvation. That is to say that both the Old and New Testaments are in harmony, they agree with each other.

Both Testaments teach that God made humanity in His perfect image, and that the universe also was perfect when He created it. Both Testaments teach that humanity fell into sin, and became alienated from our holy God who is love. Both Testaments teach that God is both holy and loving; that He is about justice and mercy. Both Testaments teach that sin (disobedience toward God) is evil, and deserving of death (Genesis 1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:29, Psalm 97:10, Psalm 11:7 Psalm 103: 6-10, Micah 6:8, John 1:1-5, Romans 1:18-2:4, Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23). 

Both Testaments teach that God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, but desires that sinners repent (turn away from sin and be reconciled to Him) so that they may live abundantly forever. Both Testaments teach that the unrepentant sinner will die (Ezekiel 18, with attention to verses 4, 20, 23,32; also read Matthew 3:1-2, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 11:20, and Luke 13:1-5). Sin deserves death; not only physical death, which is separation from the physical body, but spiritual death, which is separation from God who is the eternal First Source of all blessings, love, comfort and good things. If anyone rejects Christ, and dies both physically and spiritually, they can not blame God for that any more than they can blame food if they refuse to eat and consequently die of starvation. Both Testaments teach that everyone is a sinner, deserving of God's judgment (Ecclesiastes 7:20, Psalm 130:3-4, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23).

That is the whole entire reason that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and descended into the place of the dead (Sheol in Hebrew, Hades in Greek) before He rose victoriously over death to provide everlasting life for all who trust in Him (Isaiah 53, Matthew 20:28, Romans 5:8, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, 1 Peter 3:18-20). When we say that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin, we are in fact, implying that we really do deserve exactly what He got on the hill called Calvary. We are, in fact, implying that we personally deserve to be physically crucified, or executed in some dreadful manner, and go to Hell. 

Otherwise, why would Jesus Christ have to pay a penalty for our sin, which our sin does not actually merit? Why would Jesus die on the cross for our sin if our sin is not actually deserving of death by crucifixion? Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross for our sin is consistent with the Old Testament laws regarding sin and death. And all the animal sacrifices prescribed for sin in the Old Testament were foreshadows of the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (read Hebrews 9).

On the cross, Jesus Christ received the wages of our sin. "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a). He got exactly what we deserve, so that in turn we may get what He deserves. He offers to take away our sin and condemnation, so that He may share with us His righteousness and good standing with Him and the Father through the Holy Spirit. For "the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:23b).

Dissenters may criticize the way that God dealt with certain people in the Old Testament. I myself, a believer, also used to have trouble grappling with such things. But both Testaments teach that every one of us is deserving of physical and spiritual death because of our sin. And God is the Creator and Owner of all life anyway (Ezekiel 18:4). So when He takes a life, He only takes what rightfully belongs to Him in the first place. But through His Son, Jesus Christ, the heavenly Father has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him and receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Paradise with Him (read 1 Corinthians 15).

Willing To Die For Jesus Christ

The book of the Acts of the Apostles, was written by Luke, a Greek physician who had become a member of Paul's missionary team. His are the only two books in the Bible to have been penned by a Gentile. He wrote the book of Acts as a sequel to his account of Jesus' earthly life, ministry, death and resurrection. It is a record of the deeds or works (acts) of the apostles after Jesus had risen from the dead and ascended into Heaven. They began to do the work which He had commanded them to do - take His message of repentance and salvation through faith in Him to the world. In accordance with His instructions, they began in Jerusalem. And the Church quickly began to grow (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). 

During that period, a man named Stephen stood up and preached Christ to a hostile audience and when he had finished speaking they stoned him to death. And so Stephen became the very first to be martyred for the gospel of the risen Savior, Jesus Christ (Acts 6-7). This was the beginning of a wave of persecution, led by a Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus, who had been involved in the stoning of Stephen. The result was that the believers at Jerusalem were scattered all over Judea and Samaria, and the message of Jesus Christ spread with them. But the twelve apostles remained in Jerusalem (Acts 7:57-60, 8:1-4). Judas Iscariot had been replaced by a man named Matthias (Acts 1:15-26).  

Ironically, though, Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus with intent to arrest and kill Christians, would end up surrendering his life to Jesus Christ to become an apostle for Him, preaching the gospel all over the Mediterranean world (Acts 9:1-22). Years later, Saul (now going by the name Paul) was intent on returning to Jerusalem at the end of another missionary journey, and some Christians who were with him urged him not to go, for fear that he might be arrested if he did. It was then that Paul replied "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:13). 

Paul was arrested upon his return to Jerusalem, and remained there in chains for some time. But he found opportunies to preach the gospel of Jesus the Messiah and risen Savior of all who trust in Him. He gave his personal testimony in the presence of the Roman governors Felix and Festus, as well as king Aggripa. Then he ended up being put on a ship to go to Rome (having used his Roman citizenship to make a court appeal to Caesar). Along the way, Paul was shipwrecked on the island of Malta, along with the Roman guards and his companions who had been allowed to accompany him. There, Paul miraculously survived being bitten by a viper while he was loading wood into the fire (Acts 28:1-10). 

Finally arriving in Rome, he ended up under house arrest for two years; during which time he preached the gospel to those who came to visit him and hear him (Acts 2811-30). So Paul did not die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. But eventually he was beheaded by the sword of Rome for the name of the Lord Jesus (circa 64 A.D.). And he wasn't the only one. All but one of the apostles, who were eyewitnesses of Jesus' ministry, miracles, death, and post-resurrection ministry, and ascension into Heaven, died as martyrs. 

Peter was crucified at Rome, requesting that he be crucified upside down because he said that he was not worthy of the honor of dying in the exact same manner that Jesus did (circa 67 A.D.). Andrew was also crucified. James son of Zebedee was beheaded circa 44 A.D.  Thomas made his way to India, preaching the gospel. Eventually, though, he was put to death with a spear near Madras. The so-called Gospel and the Acts of Thomas are not included in the Bible because they were not written by Thomas, but were written in the third or fourth century A.D. 

Bartholomew, a.k.a Nathaniel, preached in Armenia (present day Armemia, eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran) as well as India, Egypt, Ethiopia, Arabia and Persia. He was flayed to death for the gospel of Christ. So also, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus a.k.a Jude, Simon the Zealot, Philip, and Matthias were all martyred for baring eyewitness to the works and teachings of Christ (1 John 1:1-4). 

John lived to an old age, though he was put under arrest and hard labor on the island of Patmos. There he wrote his gospel account and the book of Revelation circa 68-70 A.D., only about forty years after the resurrection of Christ. John died circa 100 A.D. The oldest existing fragment of the New Testament is a portion of the gospel of John chapter 18, dating to around 110 A.D. which was found in Alexandria. It is known as the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, or simply St. John's Papyrus.

Down through the last 2000+ years, many Christians have suffered and died for their allegiance to Jesus Christ. In the first century, Christians were crucified, stoned, burned, fed to beasts or killed by gladiators in the Roman arenas. Even today, in the Middle East, and the Far East, and other places, Christians face imprisonment, violence and death for their loyalty to Christ. But now here is something else on which to ruminate: everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ must die for Him. Perhaps not physically, but in a spiritual sense, we must die to the sinful nature that each of us has inherited from our first ancestors, Adam and Eve. 

I pray that I would be ready and willing to give my mortal life, if it were to come to that, for the Son of God who loves me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20). But I have come to the realization that the best way to be ready to physically die for Christ in the nebulous future is to live for Him right now, every day. Because to live for Christ is to put to death the sinful nature within; to put to death every desire that is contrary to complete surrender and allegiance to Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-6, Colossians 3:1-10). 

Paul said that every day, he died for Christ (1 Corinthians 15:30-31). Jesus Himself said, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23). I can only do that through the power of the Holy Spirit. And if I do that, then I will love Jesus Christ more than comfort, more than convenience, more than pleasure, and more than my life in this world; because I will have already surrendered all of those things to Him, the Creator/Owner of the universe and all life. So I will not be afraid to lose them. 

Voice of the Martyrs

Allowance

What an irony it is that humanity's fallen spiritual state of sin causes people to cling to the idea that they are in control. It is because humans are fallen creatures that many are unwilling to acknowledge the sovereignty of God over their every day. They claim to be the masters of their own destiny, and they strive to make that a reality; but they are not, and they can't. The happiest day in anyone's life is the day that they realize that, accept it, and surrender to God - reconcile with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20, 1 Timothy 2:5). 

As the Audio Adrenaline song says: 

"This life you live is really not your own

So where He Goes you go, you know

He leads and you follow"

Whoever, wherever you are; you have nothing that you did not receive from your Maker. Every heartbeat, every breath is an allowance from our heavenly Father. Every every day that we wake up alive and able to get out of bed; every good and perfect gift is from God (James 1:17). And in His great mercy and patience He allows human beings to continue receiving that allowance, even when they use it to mock, ignore, reject, hate Him. But it is those who receive God's gifts with gratitude and submit to the sovereignty of the Creator and Owner of all life who will spend eternity in Paradise with Him.

And when we realize that God is sovereign, that He is in control, and we surrender to Him in Christ; we learn to trust in His power and His purposes. We learn that whatever happens, our God who is love, is in control. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose". So by faith in Him we can live without fear, and without frustration.

"What a Friend we have in Jesus

All our sin and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer

Oh what peace we often forfeit

Oh what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer"

Love, God, Hate, Sin

There are some people in the Church who think that personal holiness and social justice are some how independent from each other. They think that the practice of personal holiness in accordance with sound, biblical teaching has nothing to do with loving God and each other. But if we, the Church, have sin and falsehood within ourselves, and we encourage it in others, then all the worldly aid that we offer to those in need is 100% worthless! Because while feeding hungry stomachs, we leave souls to die in the gutter that is sin.

There are some who actually think it is wrong to even speak against sin. They get upset if you so much as recognize sin as sin. But the truth is that one must hate sin in order to love God. Don't hate the sinner; all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But definitely do hate the sin. Christ's purpose in coming was to take away our sin; to lead us to repentance - reconciliation with God. If you love God and people, then you will long for yourself and others to be freed, by Jesus Christ, from sin. 

It is an inescapable reality: everyone must love, and hate. If one loves God, the same will hate sin. If one loves sin, the same will hate God. Whoever loves God, hates sin. And whoever loves sin, hates God. God and sin are diametrically opposed to each other so that no one can simultaneously embrace both. To love the one is to hate the other.

As Jesus taught, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other" (Matthew 6:24). No one can love God and sin, both at the same time. "For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness" (Psalm 11:7). "You who love the LORD, hate evil!" (Psalm 97:10). And what does the Holy Spirit say about the man named Job? That he revered God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). He despised sin. He hated it; because he was loyal to God who "is righteous, and loves righteousness". To love sin is vile, wicked, shameful, and disgusting. To love God is to love what is good and right and pure and holy. And that necessarily amounts to hating sin. 

Through Christ, the universe was made (John 1:1-3, Hebrews 1:1-2). Everything, life and all blessings and strength and beauty and love come from God (John 1:4-5, James 1:17). He is the eternal First Cause and Owner of the universe. And He is the Absolute Decider (Standard) of what is good. On the cross, He made the highest sacrifice to free us from our sin. 

Jesus did what He did at the cross because He loves people. He hates sin because it separates people from Him, the Originator of life, light, love, and everything that is good. He is very patient with humanity, allowing us to live when He would have been justified in pouring out His final judgement on the world centuries ago. Jesus said that our heavenly Father made and allows His sun to shine "on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust" because He is love, and He is patient. But eventually He must judge sin because He is righteous, and He loves righteousness. Sin has to be judged.

So Jesus gave His life on the cross to pay for your sin, and mine. None of us is without sin. But we can not be saved unless we confess - admit that we are sinners; that our sin is sin. We must do this in order to rightly trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sin. No one will enter the kingdom of God until they have their sin taken away from them. And no one will have their sin taken away from them until they admit that they have sinned against God, and are alienated from Him by their sin; and are willing to be reconciled to God by His Son Jesus Christ. "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). He is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin (John 1:29).

So yes, Jesus is about love, forgiveness, and compassion. But He is equally about repentance on our part and reconciling us to our immaculately holy, righteous God (Matthew 4:17, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21). And that means identifying - recognizing the sin that is in ourselves; and putting that sin to death (Romans 6:1-14, Colossians 3:1-10). Jesus had compassion on the adulteress. But He told her to leave her life of sin behind. She would have to in order to follow Him. In order to turn to God, one has to turn away from sin (John 8:1-12, James 4:7-8). 

I admit I am not perfect. But I love Jesus Christ enough to want to love Him more. And in order for me to love God more, I necessarily must learn to hate the sin within myself more. In order to love God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind; I must hate sin with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind. And I must strive, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to rid myself of sin, and urge others, for the love of Christ, to do the same. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). And if anyone has Christian love for me, they will not encourage me to harm my own soul with any kind of sin. 

Creation and Birth

An important point which I have only lightly touched on, or hinted at, in previous posts, is the difference between creation and birth. C.S. Lewis dealt with this subject in book four, chapter one of his book Mere Christianity. The title of that chapter is Making and Begetting. Adam and Eve were created; they were made. They were never born. They were not begotten. 

And it is more than interesting to note that all humanity was created in Adam and Eve. Led by the Holy Spirit, the author of the book of Hebrews explained that in some sense, whether genetically, spiritually, or both; Levi was present in his ancestor, Abraham, when he gave a tithe offering to Melchizedek, the mysterious high priest of the Most High God (Hebrews 7:1-5, Genesis 14:18-20). 

My point in bringing this up is that if Levi was present in his ancestor, Abraham, when he gave a tithe to Melchizedek, then every human being who ever has or ever will exist, was in the same sense present in Adam and Eve when they were in the Garden of Eden - and when they sinned. We who are physically living today were actually created in our ancestors, Adam and Eve, in the beginning - six thousand years ago. We were created by, and in the image of our holy God who is love (Genesis 1:26-27, 1 John 4:8). And in that sense, God is our Father. But we were not born, or begotten, in the image of God. 

In fact, since Adam and Eve were never actually born, but were created as mature, grown adults, there is a sense in which no human has been born until they are born of the Spirit; as Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he can not see the kingdom of God...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he can not enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:3-6). 

We were created in God's image from the beginning. But we were born by descent from Adam and Eve. We were born after sin entered the world by our first ancestors. That is why we are all born with a hereditary fallen, sinful nature; characterized by enmity against God. The only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, is begotten from eternity past. He has always been with the Father (John 1:1-5). And He came into the world, taking on human form, so that everyone who trusts in Him and welcomes Him may not only be forgiven of sin, but be born of God (John 1:10-14).

You, the Evidence.

You. Yes, you; sitting there reading this blog. How do you know that you are really sitting there reading this blog? Well you can see the computer screen full of letters and words in front of you. You can feel the seat beneath you. If you look around you can see your surroundings; whether you are in a room at a desk top, or at a coffee house or park on a lap-top. You can hear the sounds of people and/or things around you.

But everything you observe, you observe with your five senses - sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. And all of your senses depend on your brain and nerves to operate in an orderly, systematic manner. How do you know that they do operate in an orderly manner? How do you know that your five senses are reliable as means of observation. You might test one against another, but how do you know that any one of them is reliably relaying accurate information about your surroundings? As C.S. Lewis wrote, "All possible knowledge then, depends on the validity of reasoning...Unless human reasoning is valid no science can be true (Miracles; chapter 3, paragraph 5). 

And elsewhere he wrote, "If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents - the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds true for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as anyone else's. But if their thoughts - of materialism and astronomy - are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true?".
     
Atheism claims that your brain and nerve system are the product of random, unguided, unintelligent processes. But how could random, unguided, unintelligent processes produce an intricate system that can observe and interpret information in an orderly and reliable manner? It is simply irrational to believe that such order; such systems, and complex, intelligible information arose from random, unguided, mindless processes. If anyone believes that their brain is the product of such processes, and yet considers their brain to be a reliable means of observation, then they are not a rational thinker. Their worldview is irrational.

The truth is that you yourself are the only evidence that you should reasonably need in order to believe in God. It is only because you and your brain (which is merely the physical representation of your metaphysical mind) were purposefully made by an orderly Creator, sovereign Lawgiver, and loving God, that you are able to think and make valid observations about your surroundings. In fact, God is love (1 John 4:8). And He created all things to operate in an orderly, rational manner. "For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints" (1 Corinthians 14:33). And He created humanity in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27) for the purpose of love (Matthew 22:37-40).

All of your bodily functions; the ability to feed yourself, absorb nutrients, and expel toxins are designed by God for your good. The ability to breathe air; your lungs, your blood which then carries oxygen to the cells and tissues throughout your body, the heart, veins, arteries, capillaries working to pump the blood throughout your body, all of these were purposefully designed by God who is love, for your good. If your cells, tissues, organs, systems are in working order, that is because God made, and allows them to continue working. And that is something for which to be grateful.

According to some atheists, to say that God designed and sustains it is all just an "argument from silence" or "ignorance". According to them, it amounts to saying, "I don't understand how this could have happened so it must have been God". However, it is not an argument from ignorance. It is an argument from valid observations about the functions of the human brain and nerve system; as well as the digestive, respiratory, and circulatory systems. We creationists understand just fine that the universe (including the human brain and biology) operates according to orderly sets of laws, being made of intricate and orderly systems, encoded with intelligible information.

And if anyone says that "God designed it" is an argument from silence or ignorance, we creationist can just as easily say that "random processes did it" is an argument from ignorance or silence; because the wicked are ignorant of the Word and the power of God so that they are spiritually deaf to His truth (John 1:1-5, Matthew 22:29). In fact, I say again, if anyone believes that their brain is the product of random, unguided, unintelligent processes, and yet considers their brain to be a reliable means of observation, then they are not a rational thinker.

Sir Charles Bell (anatomist, surgeon, physiologist, and theologian; 1774-1842) wrote, "If we select any object in the whole extent of animated nature, (that would include your physical body) and contemplate it fully and in all its bearings, we shall certainly come to this conclusion: that there is Design in the mechanical construction, Benevolence in the endowments of the living properties, and that Good on the whole is the result". Concerning anyone who fails to recognize and appreciate design in nature, Bell wrote, "is not his insensibility to the Giver of these secret endowments worse than ingratitude?" (emphasis added).

There are some who consider all the brokenness in the world; sickness, disease, handicaps and suffering of every kind, to be an argument against God. But the truth is more complex than that. The brokenness that we find in the world is only recognized as brokenness because of its sharp contrast with the order and design that we also find prevalent in the universe. And so we can see that the world's brokenness is evidence of the Fall of Humanity, recorded in Genesis chapter three. 

Now this does not mean that all specific cases of suffering, disease, and death is punishment for a specific sin committed by a specific individual or group. Rather, it simply means that the only reason that suffering, disease, and death exist in the first place is because of sin in general. As the Scripture says: "So, in the same way that sin entered the world through one person, and death came through sin, so death spread to all human beings with the result that all sinned" (Romans 5:12; Common English Bible).

So now we see that the brokenness that we find in our world is evidence of the need for a Savior. And that Savior came two thousand years ago to die on a cross for our sin, just outside of Jerusalem. And He arose from the dead so that all who trust in Him also have the hope of the resurrection from the dead and eternal life with new, perfect, immortal bodies (1 Peter 1:3-5; also read 1 Corinthians 15). 

You see, even in the midst of all the world's brokenness, Christ's love takes opportunity to shine forth. As Shakespeare put it, "How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world". Jesus set this as our example, that we should find opportunity to do the work of His kingdom in the midst of all the world's brokenness (John 9:1-5, John 8:12, Matthew 5:14-16).

By the works that Jesus Christ accomplished in His earthy life and death, and by His resurrection from the dead; He has made it possible for sinners (we are all sinners, Romans 3:23) to be reconciled to the heavenly Father. That means turning away from sin, being freed from its control, and learning to live in harmony with the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-5). And as a result, we who trust in Christ will be restored to the perfection that was before the Fall. As Philip Yancey wrote, "Death, decay, entropy, and destruction are the true suspensions of God's laws; miracles are the early glimpses of restoration".