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).

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).

Tongue Bad

If you have never read it, you should read Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. It is a very good autobiography, eloquently written (unlike the intentionally silly title of this post). In the course of telling his story, Fredrick Douglass wrote about the various masters that he had before he escaped to freedom. And he told about an overseer named Mr. Severe. It was Mr. Severe whom Douglass described in this way:

"Mr. Severe was rightly named: he was a cruel man... He seemed to take pleasure in manifesting his fiendish barbarity. Added to his cruelty, he was a profane swearer... Scarce a sentence escaped him but that was commenced or concluded by some horrid oath. His presence made it both the field of blood and of blasphemy... and he died as he lived, uttering, with his dying groans, bitter curses and horrid oaths".

What an epitaph! How would you like to have that engraved on your tombstone? "Here lies a cruel and blasphemous man. He died cursing God". 

The Bible has a lot to say about the words that come out of our mouths. James, a half-brother of Jesus, called the tongue "a world of iniquity". He pointed out how with the same tongue that people use to praise God, they often also curse their fellow humans who are created in God's image (read James 3:1-12). 

King Solomon tells us that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat it's fruit" (Proverbs 18: 21). Like Mr. Severe's bloody cow-skin whip and hickory stick, so the tongue can become a cruel devise to lash out and wound people. And if anyone blasphemes God, that person wounds their own soul; which is not really their own, because every soul belongs to God who created it.

Jesus Himself said, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45). But this truth leaves no one unscathed, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Jesus confirms this when He calls everyone evil (Luke 11:13, Luke 18:19, John 7:7). 

And when we sin in any way at all, we demonstrate a lack of love toward our heavenly Father who is love, and who created us in His perfect image before the Fall. And so when we speak any kind of wickedness; whether cruel insults, hurtful gossip, deceitful lies, foul obscenities, or irreverent blasphemies, we speak against our holy God who is love. And it is a reflection of the condition of our hearts. 

When God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sin, Nathan spoke by the Holy Spirit and said to David:

"Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in His eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised Me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own" (2 Samuel 12:9-10; NIV, emphasis added).

So we learn from this passage of Scripture that all sin is a personal affront to our heavenly Father. And that of course includes any kind of sinful speech, because our words are a reflection of what is in our hearts. And one thing that David understood is that even though humans are fallen creatures, God desires righteousness to be in our inward being (Psalm 51:5-6).

David also prayed, saying, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, oh LORD, my strength and my Redeemer" (Psalm 19:14). Only by the power of the Holy Spirit, can our inward being become truly right and good and pure in the eyes of the LORD. And as Jesus said "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" (Luke 11:13; NIV).

Thankfully for David, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross paid retroactively for his sin, just as fully as it pays for the sins of all who trust in Jesus. And like Abraham before him, David looked forward to the arrival of God's salvation which came through Christ (John 8:56-58, Psalm 119:81). He even prophesied concerning the Crucifixion, a millennium before it happened (Psalm 22).

Now because of His sacrifice, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, those who trust in Jesus are no longer subject to that foul, lacerating, severe old man. Sin is no longer our master. We are free in Christ (John 8:31-36, Romans 6:6-23). And as we practice righteousness in Him, we grow in His likeness; the perfect image of God in which He originally created humanity (1 John 3:2-3). 

So we are admonished through the Holy Spirit to put away that dead, decomposing old man; and become the new man, created in harmony with God. Which, among other things, means to put away "corrupt speech", or "unwholesome talk" and use our mouths to praise our heavenly Father; and to bless, and build up others through the grace of God (Ephesians 4:21-32).   

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).

Made in the Image of God

It is an interesting irony that the Bible-believing Christian has a higher view of humanity than the humanist does. Yet the Christian does not place his or her faith in the power or greatness of humanity. The Christian realizes that whatever good that may be in humanity comes from God who created us in His image. Humanity is made in the image of Divinity (Genesis 1:26-27).

The humanist on the other hand, believes in humanity's ability and potential, but also that it is purely by accident. That is, that the origin of humanity is random, unguided processes whereby material rearranged itself over vast eons to become what we are today.

It is claimed that goodness and conscience are simply intrinsic in humans, for no other reason than that they just are. But I am glad to know that you and I are made in the image of God who is love (1 John 4:8), and is righteous, and loves righteousness (Psalm 33:4-5).

God's commands are not arbitrary rules and regulations. They are expression of who He is. They are expressions of His love and goodness. And since we are made in His image, we have His laws written in our hearts; in our inner being (Romans 2:14-16).

But because of sin, human nature is corrupted. The image of God in us is distorted. Peace has been severed between humanity and God. And as long as one is not at peace with God, that person is not at peace (Ecclesiastes 7:29, 2 Corinthians 5:20). 

But there is a great lyric in Audio Adrenaline's new song, "Change My Name", where Kevin Max sings "You reached me on a broken line". That is what Jesus does.

And that is why it matters to believe in God. He created us in His image to be His friends (Isaiah 41:8, John 15:15). He created us to be His sons and daughters (1 John 3:1). He created us to have a Father/child relationship with Him. He wants us to know who He is. He wants us to know Him personally. 

So He revealed Himself through the prophets; Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah to name some. But most of all, He revealed Himself through His Son, Jesus. He became a flesh-and-blood human though He is the Son of God, eternal with the Father (Hebrews 1:1, John 1:1, John 1:14). 

He lived in the time and space of human history. And as the old Christmas carol tells; "Truly He taught us to love one another". Because He is the perfect image of God in human form, He is our example of what we were created to be like; perfect in love and devotion to the Father. He showed His love for us by dying for our sins. And He showed that He is true by rising from the dead, victorious over death (Romans 5:8, Colossians 1:15, 1 Corinthians 15). 

Because of His sacrifice of love, when He died on the cross, Jesus is able to unbreak the peace between us and Him. We can turn away from our sin and be His friends again! And thus begins that process (theologians call it sanctification) of being remade into that perfect image again (1 John 3:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

God is love. 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 are created by, and in the image of God who is love.

The Wives of Cain and Seth

"Where did Cain and Seth find their wives?" This is a question that is sometimes asked concerning the book of Genesis. (Seth was born to Adam and Eve after Cain murdered Abel). 

It seems distasteful to think that the sons of Adam and Eve were married to the daughters of Adam and Eve. Yet the Scriptures teach very clearly that all humanity is descended from one man and one woman - Adam and Eve (Acts 17:26, Genesis 3:20).

There is a reason why it was acceptable in those early times for the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve to marry. Contrary to evolutionary dogma, God created human beings in perfection. And in the earliest days of human history, the human gene pool was in a more pristine condition. 

The reason that marriage between close relatives is unacceptable in our time is because the human genome has degenerated since the creation and fall of humanity. In our time, if close relatives marry and reproduce together, there is a greater risk of mutated genes gaining dominance in their offspring. These genetic mutations then result in physical and mental birth defects.

We live in a broken world in which genes are susceptible to corruption. According to evolutionary dogma it has always been that way. But in truth, God created a perfect world in the beginning. Genetic mutations were not as significant in the earliest centuries of human history. And there were zero mutations in the genome prior to the Fall.

Even as late as the time of Abraham there was an acceptance of marriage between close relatives. Sarah was Abraham's wife, but she was also his half sister (Genesis 20:12). And Isaac was married to Rebekah, his cousin. Jacob too, was married to his cousins, Leah and Rachel. 

It should be noted, as an aside, that God merely tolerated polygamous unions like that of Jacob to Leah and Rachel in the past. "But from the beginning of creation" marriage was intended by God to be a lifelong, monogamous union between a man and a woman (see Jesus' words in Mark 10:5-9). 

By the time of Christ, polygamy had become antiquated in Israel. And in this Messianic age, God "commands all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30-31).

It was not until Moses' time that marriage between close relatives was abolished by God. One of the six hundred and some laws of Moses is a ban on close relatives being married (Leviticus 18:6-18). So it is quite unacceptable in the eyes of God, due to the corruption of the human genome, for close relatives to marry anymore.

For these reasons, and because marriage between close relatives has become unnecessary due to the increase in the human population; it also has become socially unacceptable, weird, and gross for close relatives to marry.