Peace Is A Game, And I'm Not Playing.

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Jesus Christ; Matthew 10:34).

Churches sometimes try to go out of the way to please people and attract members. Their idea is to make the non-Christian world like them in hopes of peaceful relations in which everyone feels all nice and good. But those who faithfully walk with Jesus Christ are often met with hostility. And it only makes sense that it would be like that. The prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would be despised and rejected; so it stands to reason that whoever follows Him will be despised and rejected too (Isaiah 53:3). 

Faith in Jesus Christ reconciles sinners to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). And it produces peace among those who trust in Christ and follow His teachings (Ephesians 2). It is not, however, going to produce peace between the redeemed who have faith in Christ, and the unrepentant who do not. In fact, if one places his or her faith in Christ and follows Him, He guarantees that that person will be hated by the world, which is in discordance with God.

Jesus said to His disciples, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." (John 15:18-19). He said "Woe to you when everyone speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets." (Luke 6: 26). And, conversely, He said, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12). 

He said, "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 10:22). To be at peace with God is to be at odds with the world which hates God, and vice versa. Just as to be sensitive to the world is to be insensitive to God, and vice versa. As the Scripture says, "...Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4).  

It's not that God, or His people hate the world. Indeed, God's word says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." (John 3:16-17). The problem is that the world hates God, and therefore hates anyone who is at peace with God. 

Jesus Christ is God the Son. He has existed from eternity past with the Father. The world hated Him because it is in rebellion against God. That is why they crucified Him. That is why the world loves sin, and even tries to distort God's word to justify whatever kind of wickedness in which they are living. That is why Cain murdered his brother, Abel (1 John 3:12). That is why people of the world think it should be o.k. to murder unborn children. And that is why the wicked continue to hate anyone who trusts in Christ and stands faithfully on His word. I think of Meriam Ibrihim and many other Christians down through the ages.

Jesus Christ did not come to bring peace to the world. Well, He did; but He didn't. He came to make reconciliation and peace with God available to all who believe in Him and repent (turn away from sin, and turn to God). And His word says to us, "Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you." (1 John 3:13). Our business is to please God, not people (Galatians 1:10).

Did Jesus Teach the Practice of Snake Handling?

In some charismatic churches, snake handling is performed as an act of worship/faith. But is this practice scriptural? An examination of the context of the Scriptures reveals that it is not. But the biblical case against snake handling has nothing to do with the the physically dangerous nature of the practice. There may be a time when one must choose between their loyalty to Christ and their mortal life in this world. And it is never right to be disloyal to Christ. So the time may come when physically dying for Christ is the right thing for one to do. And that is nothing that love wouldn't do. 

The biblical case against the practice of snake handling is simply that it is not something that Christ has commanded us to do. Nor is it really an act of trusting God, as we will see. Those who practice snake handling, in their churches, base the act on a couple of passages which they have taken out of context and misconstrued. One of these passages is in Luke 10. The text records how Jesus sent out seventy of His followers to preach and to perform miracles all over Israel in His name. When the seventy returned to Jesus, they reported excitedly about how they were even able to cast demons out of their hosts in the name of Jesus. "And He said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven'" (Luke 10:17-20).

Given the context, it seems clear to me that Jesus is speaking figuratively. He is actually talking about spiritual warfare, not about playing with physical snakes and scorpions. Another passage to which snake handlers point is in Mark 16. The text recounts Jesus' final words before He ascended into heaven in the viewing of His disciples. "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover'" (Mark 16:15-18).

Now, some people doubt that verses 9-20 of Mark 16 should be included in the canon of Scripture, since that portion seems to have been added to Mark's gospel at a later time. I accept the passage as God-breathed, since it does not contradict the rest of Scriptures. However, context is the BOSS of interpretation. And that means not only the immediate context of Mark's gospel, but the extended context of all Scripture.

So let us examine the extended context of the Scriptures. In Acts 28:1-6, Luke reports that Paul the apostle and his companions were shipwrecked on the island of Malta. And while Paul was throwing more wood on the fire, a viper came and fastened onto his arm. At first, the natives of the island thought that Paul was a goner for sure. But he shook the viper off of himself and suffered no ill effect. Now take notice that Paul was not playing with the viper. He was simply putting wood on the fire. And I do not think that Jesus was saying that His followers should play with snakes. He was simply saying that there would be instances in which His followers would be miraculously protected from harm. But Christ's words, here, do not constitute a promise that it will always work that way. For He also said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Finally, consider the temptations of Jesus Christ (Matthew 4:1-11). Satan quoted the Psalms where it is promised, 

"For He will command His angels concerning you,

to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone"

(Psalm 91:11-12).

With this Bible verse, Satan urged Jesus to prove Himself by jumping off a cliff. But Jesus resisted the devil with another Bible verse - "Do not put the LORD your God to the test" (Deuteronomy 6:16). There is a difference between trusting God, and testing God. I would suggest that those who practice snake handling as an act of "faith" are actually not trusting God, but are really giving into the same temptation that Satan presented to Christ - the temptation to put God to the test. They should follow the example of our Lord and resist the devil.

Kingdom Work In the Here and Now

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).

Now then, we are ambassador's for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).

The other week I blogged about the futility of politics. Even the best human political system will fail to set human nature aright. Only Jesus Christ can set humanity aright. But I want to make it clear that this is not an apathetic stance to take. I do not believe in standing idly by while evil prevails. I simply reject politics as the answer to the problem. Politics is not the answer to the problem of fallen humanity's sin and depravity.

At best, even a seemingly good political movement can be nothing more than a temporary and cosmetic treatment for the real ongoing condition sin in human hearts as we draw ever closer to the necessary day of God's judgment. The Great Commission that Jesus Christ gave us, His followers, is the most important work with which we must be busy. That is the Kingdom work that we are assigned to do here and now in this world. 

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen'" (Matthew 28:18-20).

Evangelism and discipleship: that's where it's at. Kingdom work is not about political campaigns. It's not about protest demonstrations on the steps of some capitol building or courthouse. Nor is it even about voting or legislating. Our King, Jesus Christ has commanded us to evangelize and disciple people in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

It is necessary for God, in due time, to pour out His righteous judgment on all the wicked who refuse to turn away from sin and be reconciled with Him. But in the meantime we must be about our Father's business. We must be doing the work of evangelizing the people of the earth; and like student-teachers, teaching them to be Christ's disciples. 

We are to be going around and telling people that they are sinners and that they need Jesus to save them from their sin. We must be teaching people, by word and example, to turn away from sin and turn toward Jesus Christ to practice holiness and righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the work of the Church; not the government of any worldly empire, nation, state, or city. This is the work of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is our Father's business, about which we must be. This is the responsibility of every believer in His salvation by grace through faith in Him who died for our sin and rose victoriously over death.   

Judging

Some folks like quoting the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 7:1. He said "Judge not, that you be not judged". Jesus said that. So it is a holy command that must be obeyed. But in the same sermon, He also said that false teachers can be known by their fruits (i.e. deeds; Matthew 7:15-20). And that is a description of the act of judging - knowing that a person is fake, based on their actions. Is this a contradiction? No.

The Christian life requires one to distinguish between good and evil, for the purpose of rejecting what is evil in favor of what is right and good in the sight of God. You can not follow Jesus without discriminating against evil. You can not follow Jesus without cultivating the spiritual discernment to recognize and reject sin and falsehood when you encounter it. 

In order to obey Jesus, one must learn to determine who is a good example of Christlike holiness, and whose example should not be followed or encouraged. The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth and said, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). 

So you see the logic. If one is following Jesus, then that one, in turn, becomes a tangible example for others who want to follow Jesus. But this automatically involves recognizing who is not following Christ, and therefore whose example should not be followed or encouraged. 

The cultivation of this discernment is accomplished largely by reading and studying God's holy word, the Bible, and talking to God in prayer. Further cultivation is achieved by practicing what you have learned from God's teachings, as well as conferring with fellow believers who also prayerfully read and study the Scriptures.

So how is this not contrary to the statement "Judge not, that you be not judged."? When Jesus said those words, He was talking about a certain attitude that one should not have while following Him. One should not have an attitude of superiority over others in the Church, or even outside the Church for that matter. 

One must be able to distinguish the good examples from the bad examples. But one must also be humbled by the realization that we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. It is only by the grace of Jesus Christ that any of us are saved (Romans 3:23-24, Ephesians 2:8-10).

And so we have to realize that our power to judge is limited to deciding whose example is good to follow and encourage, and whose example is not good to follow or encourage. But only God Himself can really make the final, absolute judgement of what is going on in any person's heart and life.

We also have to be on guard against the tendency to be a fault finder. Some people sin by always intentionally seeking out flaws and short-comings in their neighbors, and never recognizing the work that God is accomplishing in them. And this fault finding tendency may distract the inordinate judge from surrendering his or her own self to God to be purified by Him. 

Or the fault finder might be just as hard, if not harder, on his or her self, and thus inordinately torment his or her self with excessive guilt and shame. Christ came to free you from shame and guilt, not to intensify it in you. If you are tormenting yourself with shame and guilt, you need to surrender that shame over to Christ. Let Him take it away from you. Let that guilt be nailed to the cross. You are not a prisoner to it anymore.

Dark Sayings? Dark Sayings. History! (Context and Consequence).

Introduction

Many people wrongly claim that the history recorded in Genesis (and especially the earliest history) is allegorical, and never actually happened. The reasons for such a claim are ideas that are not extrapolated from the Scriptures but are read into, or forced onto the Scriptures from outside.

There is the evolutionary worldview for example. Evolutionary doctrine is not science. It involve the use of patently atheistic assumptions about the past to interpret scientific data in the present. And then there is postmodern philosophy which asserts that there is no absolute truth, but that individuals can make up their own truth. Postmodern philosophy is really neo-paganism. But God's word remains the Truth (John 17:17, 14:6).

The aim of this entry is to show from the context of the Scriptures that the Genesis narrative is historical, and that an allegorical interpretation of Genesis is theologically destructive. Interpreting the Scriptures with the Scriptures, we can see clearly that they are God's word, and that their contextual integrity confirms the historicity of Genesis.

Dark Sayings?

Remember that Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are the Five Books of Moses. This Pentateuch ("Five Books") was written by Moses under the direction of God.

In Numbers chapter 12, we read about how Moses' brother and sister criticized him for marrying an Ethiopian woman. It is not clear why Aaron and Miriam objected to the marriage. The possibilities are another subject for another time. In any case, Aaron and Miriam went so far as to question Moses' authority as a prophet on account of his marriage to the Ethiopian woman.

God Himself answered Aaron and Miriam's criticism. Verse 6 reads:

"Then He said, 'Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD,  make Myself know to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream.'"

And here it is, verse 7:

"Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses" (emphasis added).

So here God is saying that He spoke plainly to Moses and not in dark sayings. And in this context the word "dark" means "cryptic" or "mysterious". So don't worry, I'm not going to get all Poe on you now.

Dark Sayings.

Several centuries after the time of Moses, the psalmist Asaph prophesied of the coming Messiah, writing:

 "I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old" (Psalms 78:2).

Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by using parables to illustrate His message about the kingdom of God. 

The verse also seems to be referring back to itself. Jesus frequently quoted poetic prophecies like this one, saying that His ministry was the fulfillment of the Scriptures. He read Isaiah 49:8-9 aloud when He began to teach and preach at a synagogue in Nazareth, and told the congregation that the prophecy had just been fulfilled in their hearing. (Luke 4:18-22)

The prophecy that was given through Asaph is similar to the prophecy that God would use strange language to communicate His message, since people wouldn't listen, but disobeyed when He spoke plainly through Moses (Isaiah 28:11-12). The apostle Paul highlights the fulfillment of this prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14:21.

So the reason that Jesus told parables, and the reason the early church spoke in tongues, is because Moses wrote plainly, without story-telling, and the message was disobeyed. However, by paying attention to the context of any passage, one can determine with a fair level of ease when a parable is being told and when the text is narrating actual events.

It is also important to read each passage within the context of the whole Bible. As the saying goes, "Interpret Scripture with Scripture." An understanding of all the Scriptures will aid the student in understanding the various passages within the Scriptures. This way the student is able to objectively determine the author's intended meaning.

History! 

As it has been noted, the contextual character of the Bible makes it fairly easy to distinguish the historical narrative from poetic passages, parables, dreams, and visions.

Jesus Himself made it very clear that the narrative of Genesis is historical. And by His constant quoting from the Old Testament, and saying things like "The Scriptures must be fulfilled" (Matthew 26:52-56, Mark 14:46-49), He unmistakably confirmed the Scriptures as the authoritative word of God.

Why would the fulfillment of the Scriptures be so important unless they are God's word? The fulfillment of the Scriptures has always been of utmost important to the Son of God because they are His word. And He will always keep His word.

When His critics prodded Him with questions about marriage, He answered "But from the beginning of creation, God 'made them male and female'" (Mark 10:6). 

In Matthew 23:29-36, Jesus referred to all the righteous martyrs, "from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah" as belonging to the pages of history.

On another occasion Jesus made it unquestionably clear that Abraham was a real historical person. He said to His critics "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad" (John 8:56).

How could that be if Abraham was a made-up fictional character? Jesus' critics got it. And they said "You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?" (8:57). They understood that Abraham really lived, and that he lived much more than just fifty years before their own time.

Jesus answered them with a stunning declaration of His eternal existence. He said "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM" (8:58).

Here He is claiming to be equal with God! He is identifying  Himself as one and the same with Him who spoke to Moses from out of the burning bush and said "I AM that I AM... Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you'" (Exodus 3:14). Indeed it was the preincarnate Son of God who spoke to Moses "face to face" (Numbers 12:7) and to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

When Jesus says "Before Abraham was, I AM" He is saying that Abraham had his place in time when he was living upon the earth, and that Jesus Himself always is from eternity to eternity! And He is saying that He saw Abraham when he lived upon the earth. It was the preincarnate Jesus Himself who visited Abraham and told him that he would be a father by his wife, Sarah. On that same visit He told Abraham about the impending doom that was to fall upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18).

After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus appeared to some folks on the road to Emmaus. They were distraught over His crucifixion. And they didn't know it was Jesus who was talking to them because He had transfigured His appearance.

When they expressed their sadness and disappointment, Jesus said to them "Oh foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" The text goes on, "And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Him." (Luke 24:13-32 emphasis added). 

Conclusion: Theological Consequence

So from the context of Scripture, and on the authority of the Son of God Himself we have strong confirmation that these things really happened just as the Scriptures tell. And to deny the reality of these events has tremendous theological consequences. The entirety of biblical Christian theology is built upon the reality of these events.

In order to be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that His death on the cross paid for our sin, and that God the Father raised Him up bodily from the dead (Romans 10:8-10, 1 Corinthians 15, Hebrews 1:1-4).

Jesus' death on the cross for our sin, and His resurrection from the dead are entirely because of the events recorded in Genesis 1-3. There was no death or suffering of man or beast until sin entered the world by one man (Romans 5:12-21).

If theistic evolution were true, that would mean that there were millions of years of suffering and death before humans ever even existed to sin. God would be unjust, and Jesus' death on the cross would be meaningless. When a person denies the historicity of Genesis, that person is butchering Scripture and denying the authority of Jesus Christ!