Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26, 27
Recently, a caller asked about the image of God. He wanted to know what exactly the Bible means when it says that people are created in His image. Does it mean that God looks something like human beings?
I appreciated his willingness to ask the question, because this is an important concept that forms an important basis for our understanding about God.
To start with, since God is a spirit we can eliminate the possibility that God’s image has anything to do with the physical appearance of Adam or anyone else. So what then does it mean?
First, it means that God’s nature is reflected in human beings.
The Hebrew word translated image refers to something that has been carved or cut off like a statue. It is used 16 times in the Bible, and 5 of those refer to the creation of man in God’s image. The text goes on to say that man was made in the likeness of God.
Man bears both the image and likeness of God. This is a word that describes the similarities between two things in the same way that an artist will recreate the image of a living person in another completely different medium like marble or brass. The medium that God used to reflect Himself is the human spirit. We are an accurate representation of what God is like.
We resembled God’s image structurally, the way in which he was put together – body and spirit, glory, and His likeness in qualities that make us what we are in personality.
Secondly, God’s image is reflected in man’s dominion over nature.
Man was given complete control over the earth itself and everything living in it. The extent of man’s dominion included fish, birds, cattle and wild animals.
“Over all the earth” means more than just that man had control over things in other parts of the world, but that he had control over all the different parts of creation that include things like laws of nature, electromagnetism, chemistry.
This is God’s explanation of what it means to be created in His image – dominion. Adam was not a Neanderthal, but was a man with amazing intelligence and abilities.
That’s why we have the ability to manipulate and control nature. And it’s also why we have a responsibility to care for the environment as good stewards over God’s creation.
Thirdly, God’s image is reflected in man’s creativity.
The Hebrew word ‘created’ refers to making something out of nothing. The emphasis is always on starting a new thing, and you’ll notice that Genesis mentions it three times in this text. Why a triple account? To emphasize the significance of this truth. Our God is a creative God.
Just as verse 26 related the image of God to man’s dominion, verse 27 related God’s image to man’s creativity
We should not be afraid of creativity. In our jobs, art, music, worship evangelism, in all areas of life, creativity is one of the ways in which we are like God. We should use and develop our creativity to the glory of God.
I understand that you may not be convinced at this point that the Bible is truly the word of God, but your thinking about God can start with what you know best – yourself. There is something about you that doesn’t quite fit with everything else. Yes, it’s true that human beings are composed of a collection of fairly common chemical compounds. And yet there is something different about you. You have the capacity for self-consciousness and self-determination. You have a capacity for love and self sacrifice. These are all qualities that we can’t observe anywhere else. They can’t be produced with any combination of chemicals, and yet they clearly are there and are an important part of what it means to be human.
It’s only the Bible gives us a cogent explanation for those qualities when it affirms that we have been created in the image of God.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
How Four Turkeys Survived Thanksgiving
It was corn dogs almost every day. We were living on a Forward Operating Base (FOB) where food was not as easy to come by as it is on larger, more accessible bases and corn dogs were available. I suppose some nameless supply sergeant was able to obtain a great deal on them, so that’s what we ate, day after day. There was the hope, however, that we’d have a special Thanksgiving meal because someone found four live turkeys which became residents of our FOB. We fed them canned corn to fatten them up and looked forward to having an actual turkey dinner when the day came. The birds weren’t in cages and were free to roam anywhere around our camp, but never seemed to show any interest in running (or flying) away. Every day when I left my tent to greet the day and get ready for an early morning Bible study, there were our turkeys usually perched on a trailer or sometimes just strolling around and enjoying their new home, always together in a group of four.
Finally, the day before Thanksgiving arrived and it was time to do what needed to be done to have our turkey dinner. It was time to sharpen the old ax. But that’s not what happened. Understand that we were an infantry unit and when it was time to fight, these were the men you would want on your side, but not one of us had the heart to turn our new friends into dinner, so a decision was made that we’d keep feeding them a little longer and use them for a special Christmas dinner. Yes, that would be the new plan.
For another month we shared our FOB with turkeys, growing fatter every day as they walked the grounds or perched on our vehicles. As Christmas approached, however, it was clear that our dinner date was just not going to work out. So we donated them to some people from a nearby village who I’m sure made the most of our gift.
Do you wonder why a group of hungry soldiers would have compassion on the guests of honor at their holiday meal? Is this a conditioned response where we are consistently rewarded for compassion and punished for a lack of it? That doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact compassion not only deprived us of the reward of tasty turkey, it also meant that we had given ourselves the burden of feeding and caring for four large birds.
Is this a quality that evolved over millions and millions of years? I can’t image how. There is certainly no compassion in nature where the fast eat the slow, the big consume the small, the strong devour the weak. In fact compassion seems to be a quality that we can’t observe anywhere else in the natural world – other than in other human beings.
Often, when we say, “I’m only human,” we are excusing the worst of our behavior, but the reality is the opposite. It’s not carnal appetites, self-centered behavior or violence that distinguishes us as human beings. Qualities like compassion are what make us unique in this world because only people, even hard charging soldiers, are made in the image of God.
Wherever you find it, compassion exists in this world because God is compassionate. As the Bible tells us, “You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15) Since our Creator is compassionate, we should expect to see that quality somewhere in the world He made, and we do.
In my next blog I’ll have more to say about the image of God, in answer to a caller’s question, but today I want to encourage you to be thankful for the compassion God has shown to you this year.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Finally, the day before Thanksgiving arrived and it was time to do what needed to be done to have our turkey dinner. It was time to sharpen the old ax. But that’s not what happened. Understand that we were an infantry unit and when it was time to fight, these were the men you would want on your side, but not one of us had the heart to turn our new friends into dinner, so a decision was made that we’d keep feeding them a little longer and use them for a special Christmas dinner. Yes, that would be the new plan.
For another month we shared our FOB with turkeys, growing fatter every day as they walked the grounds or perched on our vehicles. As Christmas approached, however, it was clear that our dinner date was just not going to work out. So we donated them to some people from a nearby village who I’m sure made the most of our gift.
Do you wonder why a group of hungry soldiers would have compassion on the guests of honor at their holiday meal? Is this a conditioned response where we are consistently rewarded for compassion and punished for a lack of it? That doesn’t seem to be the case. In fact compassion not only deprived us of the reward of tasty turkey, it also meant that we had given ourselves the burden of feeding and caring for four large birds.
Is this a quality that evolved over millions and millions of years? I can’t image how. There is certainly no compassion in nature where the fast eat the slow, the big consume the small, the strong devour the weak. In fact compassion seems to be a quality that we can’t observe anywhere else in the natural world – other than in other human beings.
Often, when we say, “I’m only human,” we are excusing the worst of our behavior, but the reality is the opposite. It’s not carnal appetites, self-centered behavior or violence that distinguishes us as human beings. Qualities like compassion are what make us unique in this world because only people, even hard charging soldiers, are made in the image of God.
Wherever you find it, compassion exists in this world because God is compassionate. As the Bible tells us, “You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” (Psalm 86:15) Since our Creator is compassionate, we should expect to see that quality somewhere in the world He made, and we do.
In my next blog I’ll have more to say about the image of God, in answer to a caller’s question, but today I want to encourage you to be thankful for the compassion God has shown to you this year.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
In the Desert
I wasn’t sure where I was that night, only that our patrol was stranded somewhere in Afghanistan’s high desert.
Our mission had been to help a remote village plan for its first election. That changed when the lead vehicle in the convoy was hit with a roadside bomb on the trip back to our FOB (Forward Operating Base). We lost two good men, SSG Craig Cherry and SGT Bobby Beasley, as well as Ajamal, our 20 year old interpreter in the massive blast. The bomb was actually two mines designed to blow up tanks, stacked one on top of the other and then buried in the road. It was detonated by a cell phone that was activated by someone watching us.
Our dead and wounded were evacuated by helicopter within an hour and we were left to wait until a truck and heavy equipment could arrive to remove what was left of the HUMVEE. Our men spent the day going house to house in a nearby village, rounding up possible suspects. One would be coming back with us.
As night began to fall I gathered our soldiers and held an impromptu memorial service for the friends we had lost, spent some time just talking with our men, and then we made our plans to spend the night in the desert.
There actually wasn’t much preparation involved other than finding a soft spot in the sand. As I stretched out in the darkness, using my body armor as a pillow, I was amazed by the beauty of the night sky. The Milky Way was resplendent as I had never seen it before. Stars, planets and galaxies gave us a dazzling display of beauty and light. Every few minutes a meteor would burn itself out with a dramatic streak of light.
I was also struck by the surreal contrast. On my left, not fifty yards away stood the charred and twisted remains of our vehicle, while above me the sky was ablaze with glory. There was man’s work – death, chaos and destruction. And there was God’s work with its beauty, symmetry and light.
It was then I thought that if you look closely, the same contrast surrounds us every day. Man’s work versus God’s work. We see it when law competes with grace. We see injustice chosen over justice. Men choose depravity and reject holiness. And yet how many understand this distinction and realize how much we lose when we do things our way? To be honest, I think there are very few.
Does it surprise you that the murderer who planted the bomb was acting out a religion of “good works?” It shouldn’t. The Bible clearly teaches, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Throughout history, ever since Cain murdered his brother, man centered, works based religion has been the excuse for much of the violence in this world. It’s popular today to claim that it must be a spirit of religious intolerance or divisiveness that leads to violence. The Bible, however, teaches that the cause is a little more basic. The problem is within us, our own depravity, which is why man centered religion produces a result similar to man centered atheism: murder.
If the problem is within us, the solution must come from outside ourselves. It’s only when God’s grace produces a new creation that we can escape our tendencies. It’s only when our faith is God’s work that we can become the light of the world.
Our mission had been to help a remote village plan for its first election. That changed when the lead vehicle in the convoy was hit with a roadside bomb on the trip back to our FOB (Forward Operating Base). We lost two good men, SSG Craig Cherry and SGT Bobby Beasley, as well as Ajamal, our 20 year old interpreter in the massive blast. The bomb was actually two mines designed to blow up tanks, stacked one on top of the other and then buried in the road. It was detonated by a cell phone that was activated by someone watching us.
Our dead and wounded were evacuated by helicopter within an hour and we were left to wait until a truck and heavy equipment could arrive to remove what was left of the HUMVEE. Our men spent the day going house to house in a nearby village, rounding up possible suspects. One would be coming back with us.
As night began to fall I gathered our soldiers and held an impromptu memorial service for the friends we had lost, spent some time just talking with our men, and then we made our plans to spend the night in the desert.
There actually wasn’t much preparation involved other than finding a soft spot in the sand. As I stretched out in the darkness, using my body armor as a pillow, I was amazed by the beauty of the night sky. The Milky Way was resplendent as I had never seen it before. Stars, planets and galaxies gave us a dazzling display of beauty and light. Every few minutes a meteor would burn itself out with a dramatic streak of light.
I was also struck by the surreal contrast. On my left, not fifty yards away stood the charred and twisted remains of our vehicle, while above me the sky was ablaze with glory. There was man’s work – death, chaos and destruction. And there was God’s work with its beauty, symmetry and light.
It was then I thought that if you look closely, the same contrast surrounds us every day. Man’s work versus God’s work. We see it when law competes with grace. We see injustice chosen over justice. Men choose depravity and reject holiness. And yet how many understand this distinction and realize how much we lose when we do things our way? To be honest, I think there are very few.
Does it surprise you that the murderer who planted the bomb was acting out a religion of “good works?” It shouldn’t. The Bible clearly teaches, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) Throughout history, ever since Cain murdered his brother, man centered, works based religion has been the excuse for much of the violence in this world. It’s popular today to claim that it must be a spirit of religious intolerance or divisiveness that leads to violence. The Bible, however, teaches that the cause is a little more basic. The problem is within us, our own depravity, which is why man centered religion produces a result similar to man centered atheism: murder.
If the problem is within us, the solution must come from outside ourselves. It’s only when God’s grace produces a new creation that we can escape our tendencies. It’s only when our faith is God’s work that we can become the light of the world.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Did Christ Die for Everyone?
The extent of Christ’s atonement has been debated so much that I felt compelled to weigh in on the issue today.
To start with, let me say that my theology has some loose ends in it. For example, I have no doubt that the free will of man and the sovereignty of God have a place of common ground even if that place exists outside of the limited understanding of my finite brain. A toddler may not understand what electricity is or how it works, but he can know that if you flip the switch, the lights come on. In a similar way, when it comes to explaining God’s truth, I’m like a child, content to affirm what the Bible teaches and willing to trust God for the things that are beyond me.
There are four basic ways of looking at the atoning work of Christ on the cross.
1. The cross provided atonement for no one. To some, the story of the cross is a myth or a tragic story of man’s inhumanity to man and nothing more. Islam teaches that it’s blasphemy to suggest that Allah would punish the innocent so the guilty could go free.
2. The cross provided atonement for everyone. This is the teaching that everyone will eventually be saved since the penalty for sin has been eliminated for every sinner on earth. Evangelism is simply letting people know the good news that they are already saved.
3. The cross provided atonement that is limited in effectiveness. With apologies to Arminians who might object to the term “limited”, this view teaches that while the work of Christ on the cross made it possible for everyone to be saved, it is not adequate to save anyone unless combined with the faith of a sinner.
4. The cross provided atonement that is limited in extent. This is the view that the cross did all that is necessary for salvation, but that it is applied only to the elect.
Did you know that atonement is actually an Old Testament term? It comes from the Hebrew word that means to cover something over. When the Jewish priest would complete the process of sacrifice and announce that atonement had been made, he was saying that the sins of the worshipper had been covered over. Guilt had been removed.
We make the issue more difficult than it needs to be by looking at the atonement as a theological monolith that must be all one thing or all another. The Bible itself doesn’t treat it that way. In fact, the New Testament never uses the word atonement, but instead is much more precise and uses terminology that describes different aspects of atonement that our Lord accomplished on the cross.
Is it possible then, that the New Testament teaches that some aspects of Christ’s atonement are unlimited and some are limited? I think it is. My goal is to keep this simple, so we won’t consider every verse in the Bible that deals with the issue. I’d simply like to clarify the matter for those who would like to see how the Bible can teach both at the same time.
First, it seems clear that the New Testament teaches that the death of Christ was for every sinner, at least to some extent. John says, in 1 John 2:2 that Christ, “ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 2:6 that Christ, “gave Himself a ransom for all.” Then there is Peter who warned about false teachers (clearly unsaved) who deny “the Lord who bought them.” (2 Peter 2:1) Each of these aspects of the atonement falls into the category of what we might call “redemptive” aspects. Because of sin, there is a price that must be paid and there is penalty that must be endured and our Lord paid that price and endured the penalty for all the sin of the world.
And it is just as clear that Jesus taught that His death on the cross was only for the elect, at least to some extent. In John 10:11, for example, He said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” And who are His sheep? The Lord defined that a few verses later when He addressed those who did not believe in Him, “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.” (See John 10:26-28.) The Lord also told His disciples in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” Who are His friends? Again, they are His disciples, those who obey His commandments.
In both of these passages Jesus used a Greek preposition that means “in place of.” His death on the cross was “in place of” the sheep, and it was “in place of” His friends. Substitution is another aspect of His atonement and that was what the Lord had in mind. He died on the cross in place of sinners, but not all sinners. He was a substitute specifically for those who belong to Him.
Charles Spurgeon put it this way in one of his sermons: "To think that my Savior died for men in hell, seems a supposition too horrible for me to imagine. That He was the substitute for the sons of men, and that God having first punished the substitute, punished these same men again, seems to me to conflict with any idea of justice.” (From “The Mission of the Son of Man.”)
We’ll study the cross throughout eternity and never come to the end of it, but here are a couple of things we can know with certainty. To pay the penalty for all sin the Lord tasted death for every man. And to bring many sons to glory, He took the place of those sons under the wrath of God.
To start with, let me say that my theology has some loose ends in it. For example, I have no doubt that the free will of man and the sovereignty of God have a place of common ground even if that place exists outside of the limited understanding of my finite brain. A toddler may not understand what electricity is or how it works, but he can know that if you flip the switch, the lights come on. In a similar way, when it comes to explaining God’s truth, I’m like a child, content to affirm what the Bible teaches and willing to trust God for the things that are beyond me.
There are four basic ways of looking at the atoning work of Christ on the cross.
1. The cross provided atonement for no one. To some, the story of the cross is a myth or a tragic story of man’s inhumanity to man and nothing more. Islam teaches that it’s blasphemy to suggest that Allah would punish the innocent so the guilty could go free.
2. The cross provided atonement for everyone. This is the teaching that everyone will eventually be saved since the penalty for sin has been eliminated for every sinner on earth. Evangelism is simply letting people know the good news that they are already saved.
3. The cross provided atonement that is limited in effectiveness. With apologies to Arminians who might object to the term “limited”, this view teaches that while the work of Christ on the cross made it possible for everyone to be saved, it is not adequate to save anyone unless combined with the faith of a sinner.
4. The cross provided atonement that is limited in extent. This is the view that the cross did all that is necessary for salvation, but that it is applied only to the elect.
Did you know that atonement is actually an Old Testament term? It comes from the Hebrew word that means to cover something over. When the Jewish priest would complete the process of sacrifice and announce that atonement had been made, he was saying that the sins of the worshipper had been covered over. Guilt had been removed.
We make the issue more difficult than it needs to be by looking at the atonement as a theological monolith that must be all one thing or all another. The Bible itself doesn’t treat it that way. In fact, the New Testament never uses the word atonement, but instead is much more precise and uses terminology that describes different aspects of atonement that our Lord accomplished on the cross.
Is it possible then, that the New Testament teaches that some aspects of Christ’s atonement are unlimited and some are limited? I think it is. My goal is to keep this simple, so we won’t consider every verse in the Bible that deals with the issue. I’d simply like to clarify the matter for those who would like to see how the Bible can teach both at the same time.
First, it seems clear that the New Testament teaches that the death of Christ was for every sinner, at least to some extent. John says, in 1 John 2:2 that Christ, “ is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 2:6 that Christ, “gave Himself a ransom for all.” Then there is Peter who warned about false teachers (clearly unsaved) who deny “the Lord who bought them.” (2 Peter 2:1) Each of these aspects of the atonement falls into the category of what we might call “redemptive” aspects. Because of sin, there is a price that must be paid and there is penalty that must be endured and our Lord paid that price and endured the penalty for all the sin of the world.
And it is just as clear that Jesus taught that His death on the cross was only for the elect, at least to some extent. In John 10:11, for example, He said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” And who are His sheep? The Lord defined that a few verses later when He addressed those who did not believe in Him, “But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.” (See John 10:26-28.) The Lord also told His disciples in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.” Who are His friends? Again, they are His disciples, those who obey His commandments.
In both of these passages Jesus used a Greek preposition that means “in place of.” His death on the cross was “in place of” the sheep, and it was “in place of” His friends. Substitution is another aspect of His atonement and that was what the Lord had in mind. He died on the cross in place of sinners, but not all sinners. He was a substitute specifically for those who belong to Him.
Charles Spurgeon put it this way in one of his sermons: "To think that my Savior died for men in hell, seems a supposition too horrible for me to imagine. That He was the substitute for the sons of men, and that God having first punished the substitute, punished these same men again, seems to me to conflict with any idea of justice.” (From “The Mission of the Son of Man.”)
We’ll study the cross throughout eternity and never come to the end of it, but here are a couple of things we can know with certainty. To pay the penalty for all sin the Lord tasted death for every man. And to bring many sons to glory, He took the place of those sons under the wrath of God.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Are Angels Watching Over You?
Gemma Galgani was an Italian saint who claimed that she had conversations with her guardian angel. I’m not sure what they talked about, but if she was like many of us the discussion may have been something like, “Where were you?” Some of us question the concept that angels are standing guard over us, usually when something bad happens. If we have a spiritual protector, we ask, where was he when we needed him?
To begin a quick survey of the Bible’s teaching on the subject, I’d like to take you to one teaching moment in the life of Christ. The disciples were concerned about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (You may have noticed that this issue seemed to have been on their minds a lot!) Jesus answered their question by calling a little child and using him as an object lesson. Entrance to the kingdom would be only for those with childlike humility. Receiving a child is the same as receiving Christ. And then He warned the disciples about the danger of “despising” little children because of their angels. “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10) It does seem, doesn’t it, that our Lord is saying that every child has an angel assigned to him or her? Even more, however, is the fact that when in heaven, those angels see the face of God. Angels have access to both heaven and earth, but in heaven, those angels are always near the throne. I would take that to mean that the angels assigned to children are among the most powerful, higher ranking angels. The Lord may assign a PFC angel to hand out judgment on a city, for example, but kids have Four Star General angels watching over them.
The Bible often speaks about angels watching over believers at various times in their lives. For example, when Abraham was concerned about a good wife for Isaac, he told his servant, “The LORD God of heaven … swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.’” (Genesis 24:7) Or when Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, God didn’t control the animals Himself. Instead He dispatched an angel to provide the protection Daniel needed. (Daniel 6:22) Or how about the apostles who were in prison and were delivered by an angel who opened the prison doors at night and led them out? (Acts 5:19) Again and again we see that an angel was there to protect God’s people in a time of need.
The Bible also tells us that for believers, angels will be there for us when we die. When Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, He said that when the beggar died he didn’t simply shoot up to heaven, but was led there by angels. It may have seemed to a bystander that the beggar died alone, but in reality angels were there with him to aid in the transition from competing with dogs for scraps of food to enjoying the glory of the Lord in Paradise. (See Luke 16:22.) It’s also interesting that the rich man did not have an escort to hell, which raises a final observation we can make.
There does seem to be a limit. It’s not Church dogma, but a common Roman Catholic teaching is that a guardian angel is assigned to every person on earth. We don’t see that in the Bible, however. Angels are seen watching over children and caring for the redeemed, but there is no indication that the lost have angels who care for them. In fact, Psalm 34:7 tells us, “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” If you need another reason to fear the Lord, you will find it in the help you need every day.
How many times have you experienced “close calls” when you needed help? You may have said, “If I had been in that intersection seconds earlier ….” But you weren’t. “If that bullet had been an inch lower … . “ But it wasn’t. In fact, there are many close calls that you never even know about, but if you fear the Lord an angel was there just the same watching over you.
So where is your guardian angel when bad things do happen, even though you may be a faithful Christian? He’s right there with you. All the biblical examples of deliverance through angels teach us that when the believer does experience illness or pain or persecution he can be sure that it has met the approval of God first, and He’ll use it for good. And when the time comes that your life on this earth is over, you can look forward to an angel who will be there to escort you to glory.
To begin a quick survey of the Bible’s teaching on the subject, I’d like to take you to one teaching moment in the life of Christ. The disciples were concerned about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (You may have noticed that this issue seemed to have been on their minds a lot!) Jesus answered their question by calling a little child and using him as an object lesson. Entrance to the kingdom would be only for those with childlike humility. Receiving a child is the same as receiving Christ. And then He warned the disciples about the danger of “despising” little children because of their angels. “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10) It does seem, doesn’t it, that our Lord is saying that every child has an angel assigned to him or her? Even more, however, is the fact that when in heaven, those angels see the face of God. Angels have access to both heaven and earth, but in heaven, those angels are always near the throne. I would take that to mean that the angels assigned to children are among the most powerful, higher ranking angels. The Lord may assign a PFC angel to hand out judgment on a city, for example, but kids have Four Star General angels watching over them.
The Bible often speaks about angels watching over believers at various times in their lives. For example, when Abraham was concerned about a good wife for Isaac, he told his servant, “The LORD God of heaven … swore to me, saying, 'To your descendants I give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.’” (Genesis 24:7) Or when Daniel was thrown into the den of lions, God didn’t control the animals Himself. Instead He dispatched an angel to provide the protection Daniel needed. (Daniel 6:22) Or how about the apostles who were in prison and were delivered by an angel who opened the prison doors at night and led them out? (Acts 5:19) Again and again we see that an angel was there to protect God’s people in a time of need.
The Bible also tells us that for believers, angels will be there for us when we die. When Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus, He said that when the beggar died he didn’t simply shoot up to heaven, but was led there by angels. It may have seemed to a bystander that the beggar died alone, but in reality angels were there with him to aid in the transition from competing with dogs for scraps of food to enjoying the glory of the Lord in Paradise. (See Luke 16:22.) It’s also interesting that the rich man did not have an escort to hell, which raises a final observation we can make.
There does seem to be a limit. It’s not Church dogma, but a common Roman Catholic teaching is that a guardian angel is assigned to every person on earth. We don’t see that in the Bible, however. Angels are seen watching over children and caring for the redeemed, but there is no indication that the lost have angels who care for them. In fact, Psalm 34:7 tells us, “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” If you need another reason to fear the Lord, you will find it in the help you need every day.
How many times have you experienced “close calls” when you needed help? You may have said, “If I had been in that intersection seconds earlier ….” But you weren’t. “If that bullet had been an inch lower … . “ But it wasn’t. In fact, there are many close calls that you never even know about, but if you fear the Lord an angel was there just the same watching over you.
So where is your guardian angel when bad things do happen, even though you may be a faithful Christian? He’s right there with you. All the biblical examples of deliverance through angels teach us that when the believer does experience illness or pain or persecution he can be sure that it has met the approval of God first, and He’ll use it for good. And when the time comes that your life on this earth is over, you can look forward to an angel who will be there to escort you to glory.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
A Hymn for Islam
As a soldier, my mission was to stop the militant wing of Islam through my role as a “combat multiplier”. As a minister of the gospel my desire is to save Muslims. In the world in which we live both missions are necessary, but I have no doubt that conversion will bring about the peace we desire much more effectively than our weapons. So it was of interest to me when a hymn on the subject recently came to my attention. (My thanks to George Grant and his blog.) Here are the lyrics to “For the Mahometans” by Charles Wesley.
1. Sun of unclouded righteousness,
With healing in thy wings arise
A sad, benighted world to bless,
Which now in sin and error lies,
Wrapped in Egyptian night profound,
With chains of hellish darkness bound.
2. The smoke of the infernal cave,
Which half the Christian world o'erspread,
Disperse, thou heavenly Light, and save
The souls by that impostor led,
That Arab-thief, as Satan bold,
Who quite destroyed thy Asian fold.
3. O might the blood of sprinkling cry
For those who spurn the sprinkled blood!
Assert thy glorious Deity,
Stretch out thy arm, thou triune God,
the Unitarian fiend expel,
And chase his doctrine back to hell!
4. Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Thou Three in One, and One in Three,
Resume thy own for ages lost,
Finish the dire apostasy;
Thine universal claim maintain,
And Lord of the creation reign
In some ways, little has changed when it comes to Islamic impact on world events. Even in the 1700’s, during Wesley’s lifetime, there was a militant, violent wing of Islam. Moslem piracy on the high seas was common (which was why our Marines landed on the shores of Tripoli). Muslims were a major part of the African slave trade. The sword was often used to bring entire cities or nations under the domination of Islam.
Isn’t it interesting that Wesley’s approach in facing the same doctrine (“the smoke of the infernal cave”) that plagues the world today was his prayer that God would save Muslims and show them the truth? Yes it’s true that men like Osama bin Laden preach that it is the duty of every Muslim to kill Americans, and they must be stopped. But I wonder how often we pray for the salvation of our enemies.
Don’t dismiss the possibility that a Muslim can turn to Christ for salvation. They already consider Jesus to be a prophet so it’s not a major leap for them to seriously consider what their own prophet has to say. From there, believing and receiving can only come through the aid of the Holy Spirit, which is why our prayers are so important. So you can consider this rant to be a prayer request. Please pray for laborers in that difficult harvest. Pray for hearts to be softened. Pray for minds to be enlightened. Pray for saving faith to take root.
1. Sun of unclouded righteousness,
With healing in thy wings arise
A sad, benighted world to bless,
Which now in sin and error lies,
Wrapped in Egyptian night profound,
With chains of hellish darkness bound.
2. The smoke of the infernal cave,
Which half the Christian world o'erspread,
Disperse, thou heavenly Light, and save
The souls by that impostor led,
That Arab-thief, as Satan bold,
Who quite destroyed thy Asian fold.
3. O might the blood of sprinkling cry
For those who spurn the sprinkled blood!
Assert thy glorious Deity,
Stretch out thy arm, thou triune God,
the Unitarian fiend expel,
And chase his doctrine back to hell!
4. Come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Thou Three in One, and One in Three,
Resume thy own for ages lost,
Finish the dire apostasy;
Thine universal claim maintain,
And Lord of the creation reign
In some ways, little has changed when it comes to Islamic impact on world events. Even in the 1700’s, during Wesley’s lifetime, there was a militant, violent wing of Islam. Moslem piracy on the high seas was common (which was why our Marines landed on the shores of Tripoli). Muslims were a major part of the African slave trade. The sword was often used to bring entire cities or nations under the domination of Islam.
Isn’t it interesting that Wesley’s approach in facing the same doctrine (“the smoke of the infernal cave”) that plagues the world today was his prayer that God would save Muslims and show them the truth? Yes it’s true that men like Osama bin Laden preach that it is the duty of every Muslim to kill Americans, and they must be stopped. But I wonder how often we pray for the salvation of our enemies.
Don’t dismiss the possibility that a Muslim can turn to Christ for salvation. They already consider Jesus to be a prophet so it’s not a major leap for them to seriously consider what their own prophet has to say. From there, believing and receiving can only come through the aid of the Holy Spirit, which is why our prayers are so important. So you can consider this rant to be a prayer request. Please pray for laborers in that difficult harvest. Pray for hearts to be softened. Pray for minds to be enlightened. Pray for saving faith to take root.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
A Long Way to Fall
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance.” Hebrews 6:4-6
People ask about this passage so often that I’ve noticed that the moderator sometimes places that question on the bottom of the stack. I suppose he grows weary listening to the same answers again and again.
Are these verses saying that a believer can be saved one day and lost the next? Does it mean that a Christian who backslides can never be restored? We can understand why there is confusion over the text when we consider some of the teachings on the subject. Often we preachers make the text more difficult instead of bringing clarity. So perhaps this will help.
First of all, let me say that this is one of those passages that requires us to understand the context. The author has been challenging his readers to grow as Christians. At the end of Chapter Five he told them that they needed to go beyond spiritual milk and start to chew on some spiritual steaks. When they needed to go on to sound theology, when they should be studying Melchizedek, for example, they were constantly reviewing the basics of Christianity.
In the first three verses of Chapter Six, he challenged them to move beyond the basic teachings (faith, repentance, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection, final judgment), and experience some growth. Then these verses were added to explain why spiritual growth is important. So keep in mind that the correct interpretation must relate to the issue of growth in the Christian life.
First, notice that verse four is clearly describing salvation in specific terms. The theory that this describes people who are almost, but not quite saved doesn’t fit with this description. Those who are “enlightened” have been given the ability to understand and believe the gospel, in contrast to the lost who are in “darkness”. (See 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4.) Heavenly gifts are bestowed on God’s people. Only the saved partake of the Holy Spirit. The lost can read the Bible, but it’s the Holy Spirit who brings Scripture to life. The power of the kingdom of God is only available to the people of God.
Yes, the author could have simply said, “those who are saved,” but he chose to emphasize some of the amazing things salvation means. Every Christian has had a taste of these things, but why settle for a taste, we might ask, when we can have the whole pizza? Christian maturity makes it possible to enjoy these things and much more to the fullest extent possible.
Likewise, “fall away”, doesn’t mean to backslide. The Greek word means to defect or change sides. It means that one who once was truly saved is now truly lost. And of course, that’s one of those issues that have divided Christians for many years. So many teachers make eternal security, or the lack thereof, the point of emphasis in this passage, incorrectly in my opinion. This is a passage that shows a cause and effect relationship. If A happens, then B is the result.
Taken in context, the point of emphasis is not on the words, “if he falls away.” The emphasis is on the result, that once a person falls, it is impossible “to renew him again to repentance.” Some insist that a Christian can truly be lost. I would insist that the author is describing a hypothetical situation. But the interpretation is the same for both points of view. To put it simply, a person can only be saved once. That’s the second reason why it’s important to move beyond the basic principles. They will never lead Christians to another salvation.
So we need to continual grow spiritually, because we can only be saved once. Why? Because if we fall away,
1. Repentance is impossible.
2. There will be no second cross.
3. Christ will not be disgraced by you.
Here’s a way to illustrate this principle. For some of us the Christian life has been like walking on a pier that leads out into a vast ocean. We have light for the next step but aren’t sure what is ahead. But then we look behind and realize that there is no way back, we can only go forward. It’s time to move on:
People ask about this passage so often that I’ve noticed that the moderator sometimes places that question on the bottom of the stack. I suppose he grows weary listening to the same answers again and again.
Are these verses saying that a believer can be saved one day and lost the next? Does it mean that a Christian who backslides can never be restored? We can understand why there is confusion over the text when we consider some of the teachings on the subject. Often we preachers make the text more difficult instead of bringing clarity. So perhaps this will help.
First of all, let me say that this is one of those passages that requires us to understand the context. The author has been challenging his readers to grow as Christians. At the end of Chapter Five he told them that they needed to go beyond spiritual milk and start to chew on some spiritual steaks. When they needed to go on to sound theology, when they should be studying Melchizedek, for example, they were constantly reviewing the basics of Christianity.
In the first three verses of Chapter Six, he challenged them to move beyond the basic teachings (faith, repentance, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection, final judgment), and experience some growth. Then these verses were added to explain why spiritual growth is important. So keep in mind that the correct interpretation must relate to the issue of growth in the Christian life.
First, notice that verse four is clearly describing salvation in specific terms. The theory that this describes people who are almost, but not quite saved doesn’t fit with this description. Those who are “enlightened” have been given the ability to understand and believe the gospel, in contrast to the lost who are in “darkness”. (See 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4.) Heavenly gifts are bestowed on God’s people. Only the saved partake of the Holy Spirit. The lost can read the Bible, but it’s the Holy Spirit who brings Scripture to life. The power of the kingdom of God is only available to the people of God.
Yes, the author could have simply said, “those who are saved,” but he chose to emphasize some of the amazing things salvation means. Every Christian has had a taste of these things, but why settle for a taste, we might ask, when we can have the whole pizza? Christian maturity makes it possible to enjoy these things and much more to the fullest extent possible.
Likewise, “fall away”, doesn’t mean to backslide. The Greek word means to defect or change sides. It means that one who once was truly saved is now truly lost. And of course, that’s one of those issues that have divided Christians for many years. So many teachers make eternal security, or the lack thereof, the point of emphasis in this passage, incorrectly in my opinion. This is a passage that shows a cause and effect relationship. If A happens, then B is the result.
Taken in context, the point of emphasis is not on the words, “if he falls away.” The emphasis is on the result, that once a person falls, it is impossible “to renew him again to repentance.” Some insist that a Christian can truly be lost. I would insist that the author is describing a hypothetical situation. But the interpretation is the same for both points of view. To put it simply, a person can only be saved once. That’s the second reason why it’s important to move beyond the basic principles. They will never lead Christians to another salvation.
So we need to continual grow spiritually, because we can only be saved once. Why? Because if we fall away,
1. Repentance is impossible.
2. There will be no second cross.
3. Christ will not be disgraced by you.
Here’s a way to illustrate this principle. For some of us the Christian life has been like walking on a pier that leads out into a vast ocean. We have light for the next step but aren’t sure what is ahead. But then we look behind and realize that there is no way back, we can only go forward. It’s time to move on:
Monday, February 14, 2011
Egypt's Place in Biblical Prophecy
People have been rioting in the streets and three hundred have died in the chaotic violence. The president is gone. The military has dissolved parliament and suspended the constitution. What’s next for Egypt, and does it have a place in Biblical prophecy? We were thinking about this at First Baptist last Sunday evening.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Egypt is mentioned quite a bit in prophecy, especially when you consider the long connection between Egypt and the Jews. It goes back to Abraham and his trip to Egypt to escape a famine. Joseph spent years in Egypt, found favor with Pharaoh and saved the entire family by bringing them down from Canaan. Four hundred years later the family was there, and the 70 who came down had grown to 2.5 million. Even Jesus was there for a time to escape Herod and to fulfill Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I have called my son”.
And yes, the Bible does indicate that Egypt has a place in prophecy. Today I’ll call your attention to Isaiah 19, one of several places we could turn. This chapter interests me because its prophecies show us Egypt near the time of the Lord’s Second Coming. I’m not making predictions about when these things will take place, but it does seem that recent events have a least set in motion the things read about here.
First, Isaiah reminds everyone that God is in control of Egypt when he shows us the Lord riding into the country on a cloud. (19:1) “Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence.” The ancient Egyptians worshipped gods and goddesses of their own imagination, but today most Egyptians worship one idol, Allah. When Muhammad lived in Mecca 360 idols were worshipped, and one of those was al-ilah, the moon god. The name was shortened to Allah and became the only god of Islam. And that god will be no more help than Ra, Isis or any of the other Egyptian gods of the past, because the Lord reigns.
Next we can expect chaotic violence and perhaps even civil war. Isaiah 19:2,3 reads, "I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers.”
We can certainly observe this kind of discord, chaos and violence today, and can expect in more in the days to come. With a void of substantive civil leadership, there will be “spiritual” advisors who will step in to offer wisdom that will lead to even further disorder. People will commit to a religious worldview of idolatry, mysticism, useless idolatry, false gods and the occult.
Next a ruthless dictator will rise to power. Yes, these people have had many dictators in the past, but this man seems to stand above the rest. Isaiah 19:4 tells us, “The Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them." There are several other prophetic passages that seem to describe the same leader, called the King of the South in Daniel 11. Ezekiel 38 describes this leader using a coalition of nations from the North, South, East and West of Israel to conspire together to kill the Jews, but they will be supernaturally defeated.
This will be the beginning of disaster for Egypt because Isaiah 19:5 says that the Nile River will dry up, resulting in a massive series of ecological, economic and agricultural crises. Did you know that the Nile has already begun to dry up? NASA satellites track water levels around the world and they have reported that this has been going on for years now. Farmers in Egypt are struggling to find places to water their cattle and even wild animals are moving into populated areas to find water along the Nile.
These are all signs that things are being prepared for the Lord’s return. We know this because of the way Isaiah 19 ends, which is the best and most amazing prophecy of all. (See Isaiah 19:18-25.) After the Second Coming, Egypt will turn to the Lord! That transformation is seen in four future, remarkable events; Egyptian cities will begin to speak the Hebrew language; an altar is built, on which offerings are given to Jehovah. God will hear the cries of the Egyptian people and will deliver them; a sacred superhighway will be built—linking Egypt, Israel and Assyria—guaranteeing the unity and safety of all three countries!
No one else would predict this, but this chapter that begins with the Lord sweeping in on a cloud to demonstrate His sovereignty ends with the words, “Blessed is Egypt my people.”
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Egypt is mentioned quite a bit in prophecy, especially when you consider the long connection between Egypt and the Jews. It goes back to Abraham and his trip to Egypt to escape a famine. Joseph spent years in Egypt, found favor with Pharaoh and saved the entire family by bringing them down from Canaan. Four hundred years later the family was there, and the 70 who came down had grown to 2.5 million. Even Jesus was there for a time to escape Herod and to fulfill Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I have called my son”.
And yes, the Bible does indicate that Egypt has a place in prophecy. Today I’ll call your attention to Isaiah 19, one of several places we could turn. This chapter interests me because its prophecies show us Egypt near the time of the Lord’s Second Coming. I’m not making predictions about when these things will take place, but it does seem that recent events have a least set in motion the things read about here.
First, Isaiah reminds everyone that God is in control of Egypt when he shows us the Lord riding into the country on a cloud. (19:1) “Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud, And will come into Egypt; The idols of Egypt will totter at His presence.” The ancient Egyptians worshipped gods and goddesses of their own imagination, but today most Egyptians worship one idol, Allah. When Muhammad lived in Mecca 360 idols were worshipped, and one of those was al-ilah, the moon god. The name was shortened to Allah and became the only god of Islam. And that god will be no more help than Ra, Isis or any of the other Egyptian gods of the past, because the Lord reigns.
Next we can expect chaotic violence and perhaps even civil war. Isaiah 19:2,3 reads, "I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbor, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. The spirit of Egypt will fail in its midst; I will destroy their counsel, And they will consult the idols and the charmers, The mediums and the sorcerers.”
We can certainly observe this kind of discord, chaos and violence today, and can expect in more in the days to come. With a void of substantive civil leadership, there will be “spiritual” advisors who will step in to offer wisdom that will lead to even further disorder. People will commit to a religious worldview of idolatry, mysticism, useless idolatry, false gods and the occult.
Next a ruthless dictator will rise to power. Yes, these people have had many dictators in the past, but this man seems to stand above the rest. Isaiah 19:4 tells us, “The Egyptians I will give Into the hand of a cruel master, And a fierce king will rule over them." There are several other prophetic passages that seem to describe the same leader, called the King of the South in Daniel 11. Ezekiel 38 describes this leader using a coalition of nations from the North, South, East and West of Israel to conspire together to kill the Jews, but they will be supernaturally defeated.
This will be the beginning of disaster for Egypt because Isaiah 19:5 says that the Nile River will dry up, resulting in a massive series of ecological, economic and agricultural crises. Did you know that the Nile has already begun to dry up? NASA satellites track water levels around the world and they have reported that this has been going on for years now. Farmers in Egypt are struggling to find places to water their cattle and even wild animals are moving into populated areas to find water along the Nile.
These are all signs that things are being prepared for the Lord’s return. We know this because of the way Isaiah 19 ends, which is the best and most amazing prophecy of all. (See Isaiah 19:18-25.) After the Second Coming, Egypt will turn to the Lord! That transformation is seen in four future, remarkable events; Egyptian cities will begin to speak the Hebrew language; an altar is built, on which offerings are given to Jehovah. God will hear the cries of the Egyptian people and will deliver them; a sacred superhighway will be built—linking Egypt, Israel and Assyria—guaranteeing the unity and safety of all three countries!
No one else would predict this, but this chapter that begins with the Lord sweeping in on a cloud to demonstrate His sovereignty ends with the words, “Blessed is Egypt my people.”
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Does an atheist reflect the image of God?
A caller recently wanted to know about the image of God and how it is reflected in the human race. The Bible tells us that Christians are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ, but what about those who don’t believe? He wanted to know if the image of God is present in an atheist. To answer that question, we need to go back to the Genesis account of creation.
The image of God is what makes the human race unique. A person who doesn’t accept the reliability of the Bible can still know something about God by simply considering what he knows best - himself. Because there are qualities in man that can’t be observed anywhere else in universe it’s not unreasonable to consider the possibility that those qualities came from outside the universe. That’s what the Bible teaches us in the story of creation.
Adam and Eve were the last creatures God made, and the first to be created in His image. In other words, they were made to resemble God in some way. Because God is a spirit we can say that His image is reflected in the spirit of man that sets him apart from the animals. It’s the spirit of man that makes it possible for him to have fellowship with his Maker. And it’s the spirit that bears God’s likeness.
Like God, man has the intellectual ability to reason and choose. When someone creates a new computer program, writes a book, composes a new song or names a child, he is reflecting (on a small scale) the intellectual ability and freedom of God. He’s providing evidence for the image of God.
Sometimes we say that Adam and Eve were created innocent, but the moral reality is deeper than that. They were created holy and righteous. That’s why God saw this couple and proclaimed that they were “very good”. And that’s why even the most committed atheist will speak of good and evil or feel guilty. When he does, he demonstrates the reality of God’s image in his own sense of morality.
The human race was created with the capacity, like God’s nature, for love. When Adam was created God knew he would need Eve because it was, “not good that man should be alone.” When someone marries, makes a new friend or acts against his own self interest for the benefit of another we can see God’s nature in that person.
You know the rest of the story, however. God’s image was distorted by sin. Adam used his ability to choose to reject God’s command. His righteous nature was lost by an unrighteous act. His love for God and his wife were replaced with selfishness. On every level, God’s image was marred and he passed that depravity on to all his descendents. So what we see is that even someone who doesn’t believe reflects elements of God’s image, and at the same time shows that image corrupted by a sinful nature.
You saw both man’s greatness and his depravity graphically demonstrated on September 11, 2001. You may wonder how can anyone could be so consumed with evil and hate that he would use his last moments on earth to bring death and destruction to people he had never met? And you may wonder how someone could risk his own life by charging into a burning building to rescue strangers? The only clear and cogent answer you will find is in Genesis where it explains how God’s likeness and man’s sinfulness can exist in the same creatures.
That’s why people today, even those who don’t believe in God, reflect the greatness that comes with His image and at the same time the capacity for the worst acts of evil in our fallen nature.
The good news of the gospel is that when God saves a person, He begins a work of restoration. He creates a new nature in the Christian that changes him from glory to glory until the disfigured image of God is replaced by a true likeness.
“Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:24
The image of God is what makes the human race unique. A person who doesn’t accept the reliability of the Bible can still know something about God by simply considering what he knows best - himself. Because there are qualities in man that can’t be observed anywhere else in universe it’s not unreasonable to consider the possibility that those qualities came from outside the universe. That’s what the Bible teaches us in the story of creation.
Adam and Eve were the last creatures God made, and the first to be created in His image. In other words, they were made to resemble God in some way. Because God is a spirit we can say that His image is reflected in the spirit of man that sets him apart from the animals. It’s the spirit of man that makes it possible for him to have fellowship with his Maker. And it’s the spirit that bears God’s likeness.
Like God, man has the intellectual ability to reason and choose. When someone creates a new computer program, writes a book, composes a new song or names a child, he is reflecting (on a small scale) the intellectual ability and freedom of God. He’s providing evidence for the image of God.
Sometimes we say that Adam and Eve were created innocent, but the moral reality is deeper than that. They were created holy and righteous. That’s why God saw this couple and proclaimed that they were “very good”. And that’s why even the most committed atheist will speak of good and evil or feel guilty. When he does, he demonstrates the reality of God’s image in his own sense of morality.
The human race was created with the capacity, like God’s nature, for love. When Adam was created God knew he would need Eve because it was, “not good that man should be alone.” When someone marries, makes a new friend or acts against his own self interest for the benefit of another we can see God’s nature in that person.
You know the rest of the story, however. God’s image was distorted by sin. Adam used his ability to choose to reject God’s command. His righteous nature was lost by an unrighteous act. His love for God and his wife were replaced with selfishness. On every level, God’s image was marred and he passed that depravity on to all his descendents. So what we see is that even someone who doesn’t believe reflects elements of God’s image, and at the same time shows that image corrupted by a sinful nature.
You saw both man’s greatness and his depravity graphically demonstrated on September 11, 2001. You may wonder how can anyone could be so consumed with evil and hate that he would use his last moments on earth to bring death and destruction to people he had never met? And you may wonder how someone could risk his own life by charging into a burning building to rescue strangers? The only clear and cogent answer you will find is in Genesis where it explains how God’s likeness and man’s sinfulness can exist in the same creatures.
That’s why people today, even those who don’t believe in God, reflect the greatness that comes with His image and at the same time the capacity for the worst acts of evil in our fallen nature.
The good news of the gospel is that when God saves a person, He begins a work of restoration. He creates a new nature in the Christian that changes him from glory to glory until the disfigured image of God is replaced by a true likeness.
“Put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:24
Monday, January 24, 2011
Can We Be Silent?
In the early 19th Century abortions were allowed in the United States before “quickening”. Is that a surprise to you? When the AMA was first formed in 1847 it began to work toward outlawing abortions, along with (even more surprising) feminists groups until abortion became illegal everywhere in the U.S. by 1900.
The key reversal of this came on January 22, 1973 when the Supreme Court “found” a right, hidden deep within our constitution, to abortion in the U.S. Since then that right has been expanded and we have killed, on average, 1.5 million unborn children per year since then.
Physicians who can make a million dollars per year doing abortions are backing this. Politicians will support it as long as it gets them elected. Feminist groups seem to consider abortion a sacrament. And added to the noise and pressure in support of abortion are the many, some of them our brothers and sisters in Christ, who say they are personally opposed to abortion, but politically pro-choice. Does the Bible support that point of view?
Every generation of Christians has the prophetic task of bringing God’s truth to their culture. In the not so distant past, Christians have taken a stand when it came to slavery, anti-Semitism, materialism, racism. Today Christians have the task of confronting the violence against unborn children. For those who are pro-life AND pro-choice, I’d like to share Proverbs 24:11.
“Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”
This proverb is not addressed to the murderer but to those who are not involved in the crime but simply know that it’s taking place. God cares about life. He created it and places such a high value on life, that He commands people to defend it. That’s the kind of situation this passage is warning us about.
Perhaps you hear that someone placed a pipe bomb in the mall. You should warn someone. Perhaps you notice that there is a huge sinkhole in the middle of a highway that would swallow up several cars and lead to some horrific accidents resulting in death. You should warn other drivers.
It’s unlikely that you will encounter those situations, but we all know that a million unborn children will be killed in the next year. Keep in mind that this proverb was not given to the abortionist, or to the women who are considering an abortion, This is a command to those who stand by and watch.
The Bible commands us to rescue our neighbor who is being unjustly led away to death. Does an unborn child qualify as our neighbor? Consider the next verse.
“If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”
The lame excuse: “I didn’t know.” But he did know. He simply chose not to do anything to deliver the one in danger. The excuse implies that the planned murder may be cloaked or hidden enough to allow a person with knowledge to deny it. But God knows. He not only knows the truth, He knows your heart and how it works.
No one today could literally say that he doesn’t know that killing takes place in an abortion. In fact killing is what defines the procedure. If the child survives, it’s not an abortion – it’s his birthday. The problem is that Roe v. Wade has stripped unborn children of their humanity.
There are many more reasons for considering an unborn child as fully human than I can give you today, but here are four.
1. He has been conceived by two human beings.
2. The Bible teaches that in the womb God is forming a person. Psalm 139:13 says, "You formed my inward parts; You covered ME in my mother's womb:”
3. In the Bible the unborn are referred to in personal terms. For example, in Genesis 25:22 Rebekah's pregnancy is described like this: "The children (the ordinary word for children or sons outside the womb) struggled together within her."
4. Being tiny does not make them less human. We know this because we don't regard born infants as less human than adults even though they are humorously out of proportion with their big heads and short arms.
In other words the things that are unusual about the life of the unborn do not disqualify him or her from the human family. There is no scientific, medical, social, moral or religious reason for putting the unborn in a class where this text doesn’t apply to them. We can argue all day about when life begins or if an unborn child is truly human, but there is no doubt that the Bible treats the unborn exactly as it treats those who have been born.
And as a result God, knowing the truth about what we have done or not done, what we have said or not said, will judge us according to our actions. Christians may expect God to judge the killer, but this text makes it clear that God’s judgment will also be applied to those who passively allowed violence to happen.
So let me ask the question again. In the light of this text, can a Christian be “personally pro-life” and at the same time “politically pro-choice?”
Let’s summarize.
First, we need to be clear that unborn children are fully human and as a result when they are in danger it’s our Biblical duty to intervene and try to rescue them.
Second, we need to understand that murder can be camouflaged with medical and political terminology that may allow someone to make a case that they didn’t know what was happening. God knows the truth about what is in our hearts and what we have willfully determined not to know.
Third, God is just and must respond to those who passively allow the slaughter of more than a million unborn victims every year.
Is that clear enough for everyone? My brothers and sisters, let’s all take God’s side on this issue and help bring an end to the violence.
The key reversal of this came on January 22, 1973 when the Supreme Court “found” a right, hidden deep within our constitution, to abortion in the U.S. Since then that right has been expanded and we have killed, on average, 1.5 million unborn children per year since then.
Physicians who can make a million dollars per year doing abortions are backing this. Politicians will support it as long as it gets them elected. Feminist groups seem to consider abortion a sacrament. And added to the noise and pressure in support of abortion are the many, some of them our brothers and sisters in Christ, who say they are personally opposed to abortion, but politically pro-choice. Does the Bible support that point of view?
Every generation of Christians has the prophetic task of bringing God’s truth to their culture. In the not so distant past, Christians have taken a stand when it came to slavery, anti-Semitism, materialism, racism. Today Christians have the task of confronting the violence against unborn children. For those who are pro-life AND pro-choice, I’d like to share Proverbs 24:11.
“Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”
This proverb is not addressed to the murderer but to those who are not involved in the crime but simply know that it’s taking place. God cares about life. He created it and places such a high value on life, that He commands people to defend it. That’s the kind of situation this passage is warning us about.
Perhaps you hear that someone placed a pipe bomb in the mall. You should warn someone. Perhaps you notice that there is a huge sinkhole in the middle of a highway that would swallow up several cars and lead to some horrific accidents resulting in death. You should warn other drivers.
It’s unlikely that you will encounter those situations, but we all know that a million unborn children will be killed in the next year. Keep in mind that this proverb was not given to the abortionist, or to the women who are considering an abortion, This is a command to those who stand by and watch.
The Bible commands us to rescue our neighbor who is being unjustly led away to death. Does an unborn child qualify as our neighbor? Consider the next verse.
“If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”
The lame excuse: “I didn’t know.” But he did know. He simply chose not to do anything to deliver the one in danger. The excuse implies that the planned murder may be cloaked or hidden enough to allow a person with knowledge to deny it. But God knows. He not only knows the truth, He knows your heart and how it works.
No one today could literally say that he doesn’t know that killing takes place in an abortion. In fact killing is what defines the procedure. If the child survives, it’s not an abortion – it’s his birthday. The problem is that Roe v. Wade has stripped unborn children of their humanity.
There are many more reasons for considering an unborn child as fully human than I can give you today, but here are four.
1. He has been conceived by two human beings.
2. The Bible teaches that in the womb God is forming a person. Psalm 139:13 says, "You formed my inward parts; You covered ME in my mother's womb:”
3. In the Bible the unborn are referred to in personal terms. For example, in Genesis 25:22 Rebekah's pregnancy is described like this: "The children (the ordinary word for children or sons outside the womb) struggled together within her."
4. Being tiny does not make them less human. We know this because we don't regard born infants as less human than adults even though they are humorously out of proportion with their big heads and short arms.
In other words the things that are unusual about the life of the unborn do not disqualify him or her from the human family. There is no scientific, medical, social, moral or religious reason for putting the unborn in a class where this text doesn’t apply to them. We can argue all day about when life begins or if an unborn child is truly human, but there is no doubt that the Bible treats the unborn exactly as it treats those who have been born.
And as a result God, knowing the truth about what we have done or not done, what we have said or not said, will judge us according to our actions. Christians may expect God to judge the killer, but this text makes it clear that God’s judgment will also be applied to those who passively allowed violence to happen.
So let me ask the question again. In the light of this text, can a Christian be “personally pro-life” and at the same time “politically pro-choice?”
Let’s summarize.
First, we need to be clear that unborn children are fully human and as a result when they are in danger it’s our Biblical duty to intervene and try to rescue them.
Second, we need to understand that murder can be camouflaged with medical and political terminology that may allow someone to make a case that they didn’t know what was happening. God knows the truth about what is in our hearts and what we have willfully determined not to know.
Third, God is just and must respond to those who passively allow the slaughter of more than a million unborn victims every year.
Is that clear enough for everyone? My brothers and sisters, let’s all take God’s side on this issue and help bring an end to the violence.
Friday, January 14, 2011
When Hope is Gone
A caller from Illinois wanted to know if there was no hope for someone whose conscience had been seared. It’s a question that is asked fairly often in various forms. Does that Bible really teach that there are people who are beyond hope?
You won’t find it in any up to date hymnals, but there’s an old hymn that says, “There’s a line that is crossed by rejecting the Lord, where the call of His Spirit is lost…” Is there really such a line?
The Apostle Paul thought that there was because he warned Titus about the apostates on Crete by saying that, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” Disqualified is the Greek word for reprobation. You might call it a technical term in the New Testament, and I wish translators were more consistent in using it, but the word refers to someone who is beyond hope.
Let me explain it this way. Imagine two extremes, God’s best on one side and the devils worst on the other. God’s original intention in Eden was to create human beings would know only His best. Adam and Eve were made with both a body and spirit. They were given a spirit that would be in touch with God’s Spirit. And that spirit would rule over their bodies.
Because we live in a fallen world, however, our tendency is to move away from God’s best – toward the devil’s worst - and give the physical side of our nature more control. In fact it’s even possible for God’s design to be reversed so that the body is in control over the spirit. The KJV term for that in the New Testament is concupiscence. There may be times when the Holy Spirit will call attention to sin and the conscience may be affected, but the flesh is still in control.
And yes, it’s even possible for a person to walk so far away from God’s best that a line is crossed. At some point, the spirit becomes a non-factor in that person’s life. It’s as if the spirit has disappeared and the result is a life that is only physical. All you see in that person is an appetite that can never be satisfied. God’s Spirit will no longer reprove that person. The conscience is hardened and has no effect. God is finished dealing with him or her. That’s what the Bible means when it uses the term reprobation. Can you see why this is such a serious matter?
When is that line crossed? Only God knows. Christians are to preach the gospel to everyone. It’s presumptuous to tell anyone he or she is beyond hope. The Lord said that He will separate the sheep from the goats in His perfect timing, and He hasn’t given that job to us. But the line is there and it is deadly, my friend.
I once explained the gospel to a young soldier who listened carefully and considered what Scripture taught and then said, “You know, I believe every thing you just said is true, but I’m young and have a lot of living to do before I become a Christian.” I’m not sure what it is he thought Christians are doing before they die, but apparently it wasn’t “living” as he defined it. The tragedy of his rejection of the gospel, however, is his assumption that he could walk away from God and still find his way back on his own terms. As the Bible says, “now is the day of salvation.”
You won’t find it in any up to date hymnals, but there’s an old hymn that says, “There’s a line that is crossed by rejecting the Lord, where the call of His Spirit is lost…” Is there really such a line?
The Apostle Paul thought that there was because he warned Titus about the apostates on Crete by saying that, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” Disqualified is the Greek word for reprobation. You might call it a technical term in the New Testament, and I wish translators were more consistent in using it, but the word refers to someone who is beyond hope.
Let me explain it this way. Imagine two extremes, God’s best on one side and the devils worst on the other. God’s original intention in Eden was to create human beings would know only His best. Adam and Eve were made with both a body and spirit. They were given a spirit that would be in touch with God’s Spirit. And that spirit would rule over their bodies.
Because we live in a fallen world, however, our tendency is to move away from God’s best – toward the devil’s worst - and give the physical side of our nature more control. In fact it’s even possible for God’s design to be reversed so that the body is in control over the spirit. The KJV term for that in the New Testament is concupiscence. There may be times when the Holy Spirit will call attention to sin and the conscience may be affected, but the flesh is still in control.
And yes, it’s even possible for a person to walk so far away from God’s best that a line is crossed. At some point, the spirit becomes a non-factor in that person’s life. It’s as if the spirit has disappeared and the result is a life that is only physical. All you see in that person is an appetite that can never be satisfied. God’s Spirit will no longer reprove that person. The conscience is hardened and has no effect. God is finished dealing with him or her. That’s what the Bible means when it uses the term reprobation. Can you see why this is such a serious matter?
When is that line crossed? Only God knows. Christians are to preach the gospel to everyone. It’s presumptuous to tell anyone he or she is beyond hope. The Lord said that He will separate the sheep from the goats in His perfect timing, and He hasn’t given that job to us. But the line is there and it is deadly, my friend.
I once explained the gospel to a young soldier who listened carefully and considered what Scripture taught and then said, “You know, I believe every thing you just said is true, but I’m young and have a lot of living to do before I become a Christian.” I’m not sure what it is he thought Christians are doing before they die, but apparently it wasn’t “living” as he defined it. The tragedy of his rejection of the gospel, however, is his assumption that he could walk away from God and still find his way back on his own terms. As the Bible says, “now is the day of salvation.”
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