Faithful Men

Message of the Cross - Part 6

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 13:38:00 +0000

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5–11, NKJV)

The mind of Christ was such that even though He was God himself, He purposely and consciously took the form of a bondservant and stooped down to serve us, even to the point of death of the cross.

As a result, God highly exulted Him and gave Him an exulted position such that every knee will someday bow to Him.

The challenge to us is to have this kind of mind. We are to have a mind to humble ourselves and to stoop to serve others. Since Christ died for all, then all should no longer live for themselves but for the one who died for them. “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14–15, NKJV)

During this Easter season as we consider all the Christ has done for us to rescue us from condemnation, we should realize that we don’t belong to ourselves to live for our own agenda and own interests, but for God and others.

Message of the Cross - Part 7

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Tue, 11 Apr 2017 13:37:00 +0000

The Bible not only speaks of the Christian’s participation in the cross of Christ, but it also speaks of our having been raised with Him.

“even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:5–6, NKJV)

“buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12, NKJV)

“Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4, NKJV)

I believe the referencee to baptism in these verses does not speak of water baptism, but of the baptism of the Spirit in which the Spirit of God places us into the body of Christ. Being part of His body therefore, we have died, been buried and raised together with Him. The passage in Ephesians even says we have been made to sit together with Him in heavenly places. This is the way God sees it. And these truths are the ground of victory in our lives.

We need to reckon or count these statements as true regarding ourselves. We are no longer under the death penalty because that penalty has already been applied to those who believe. We are therefore on the other side of death and into the resurrection side so that, as Paul puts it, “we should walk in newness of life.”

Message of the Cross - Part 5

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 12:00:00 +0000

“knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:6, NKJV)

As I mentioned in one of the previous articles, the Bible teaches us that if we have trusted in Christ, we have been placed into Christ. Since that is the case, God considers us to have died with Christ when He died on the cross.

In this passage, Paul writes that when that happened, our old man was crucified with Him. By old man he is referring to the old self. Some people call it the old nature. The Bible says that “if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things are passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Our passage for today, Romans 6:6, tells us the purpose for this crucifixion of the old man – that the body of sin might be done away with. Some translations say that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, or made of no effect. The ultimate goal is so that we should no longer be slaves for sin.

What we as Christians need to do is to practice believing what God says is true. No matter how we feel about our sinfulness and the power of sin over us, the Bible says that our old man was in fact crucified so that the body of sin would be made ineffective so that we would not be a slave of sin. If we find ourselves in slavery to sin, it’s because we have voluntarily yielded to it, not because it has power or authority of us.

At this Easter season, let’s remind ourselves of what God says is true – our old self has been put to death.

Message of the Cross - Part 4

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 14:03:00 +0000

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NKJV)

In this passage Paul gives us a very important truth about our relationship and oneness with Christ. Here, just as in Romans 6 and Colossians 2, Paul teaches us that we died with Christ. There are all sorts of practical implications in this truth. In this passage we see that since we have died with Christ, it is no longer we who live, but it is Christ who lives in us. As Jesus himself taught us that he is the vine and we are the branches. The life is in him.

As we live our life then we need to recognize that moment by moment our goal is to live out the life of Christ who lives in us. Our life is a life of faith in the Son of God, trusting him to live his life effectively out through us. Paul says it this way in his letter to the Corinthians: “and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15, NKJV)

I heard Kevin DeYoung quote John Calvin the other night. I think this is a fitting summary of this truth. Calvin said, “We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us according to our flesh. We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us therefore forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God’s: let us live for him and die for him. We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God’s: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal.”

Message of the Cross - Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 13:14:00 +0000

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians 6:14, NKJV)

Paul’s focus on the cross was exceptional. In this verse he emphasizes that there is nothing to boast about except the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That should be our focus as well. What is there to boast about in life? Anything we have has been given to us as a gift from God to be used for His glory (1 Cor 4:7). We cannot boast that strengths and abilities come from inside of us because they were planted there by God.

Note also that the cross is a demarcation between us and the world. The cross is a turning point. Every true Christian was crucified with Christ on the cross and we have been raised with Him. At the cross the world was crucified to me and I to the world. The world should not have the kind of influence over us that it often does. John writes that if we love the world, the love of the Father is not in us (1 John 2:15).

The cross was a place of death and we need to recognize more and more that our death with Christ there means there is a decisive separation between us and the world system. That separation from the world and to God should be lived out every day in our walk of faith.

Message of the Cross - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:12:00 +0000

“And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” (Colossians 2:13–15, NKJV)

We’re looking at the importance of the teaching about the cross from the instructions given in the New Testament epistles. So let’s examine this passage.

1. We as gentiles (the uncircumcised) have been, as Paul says in another place, “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12, NKJV). Paul tells us in our passage that even though we were dead and outside the covenants and without hope, God has made us alive with Christ. Christians have gone through the resurrection with Christ (Eph 2:6). Great Easter news!

2. God has forgiven all our trespasses! If you are a Christian, let your heart rest in this truth.

3. And finally, here is where the cross is specifically referenced in this passage. “The handwriting of requirements that was against us” has been taken out of the way. What is that handwriting? I believe he is referring to the law which is constantly accusing us of our sin. That handwriting has been wiped out and taken out of the way. It has been nailed to the cross. Crucified! And in doing this, God has disarmed principalities and powers and made a spectacle of them in triumph. You know the passage that says that we wrestle against principalities and powers. These powers have been disarmed!

All of this through the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thoughts on the Cross

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Sat, 01 Apr 2017 14:04:00 +0000

I thought it would be helpful to my own spiritual growth to think through the truth of the cross and resurrection as expressed in the epistles of the New Testament during this Easter season. Our passage for today is 1 Corinthians 1:17-25.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,” (1 Corinthians 1:18,21,23, NKJV)

If you read through this passage in its entirety, here’s what you find the Apostle Paul saying.

If the gospel is preached using the wisdom of words, the cross of Christ is made of no effect. In other words, we should rely on the truth of the cross and not the cleverness or creativity of our words to get the message across (vs. 17).
Those who are perishing will find the message of the cross to be foolish and nonsensical. Only when God is saving someone will it make sense at all and that will be because God’s Spirit is at work opening up the truth to them (vs 18).
The world cannot come to know God through its wisdom and way of thinking. God “stooped” (my word) to using a “foolish” (God’s word) message to save people (vs. 21).
To those who don’t believe, the message of the cross is either a stumbling block or foolishness (vs.23).

We are called upon to believe the truth and preach it fearlessly in spite of the inevitable and unavoidable reaction of those who are perishing. We can’t spice it up or decorate it in any way that will make it palatable to those who are perishing. Only God’s Spirit can break through and give understanding.

Importance of Creating Encouraging Memories

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 20:00:00 +0000

Life is interesting in a number of ways. There are twists and turns that we never expect and yet we continue day by day as God provides each new day for us. I used to tell my kids, “today is one of the days of your life.” Sometimes we think that our real life, the one biographers will write about, will start sometime in the future. But today is one of those days. If there ever is to be a biography it may include the events of today.

This brings us to reflect on another interesting thing about life. The vast majority of our life is in the past and the future. There is only a small miniscule portion of life that represents the present moment. If you are reading this in the afternoon, your breakfast and all your morning activities are only memories. Nothing about them can be changed. Your evening activities are still only an anticipation. They don’t exist yet. They are not a reality yet.

This brings me to the theme of this article. We are writing especially to parents and grandparents. Since only the present moment exists and quickly turns into a memory, our opinion is that we should plan the present moment and future moments so that we personally, but especially so that our children and grandchildren will have the kind of memories we want them to have. We’re not speaking here of special memories such as a trip to a museum or amusement park. We’re referring to day-to-day memories of events and conversations in the normal course of life. Do you want them to remember a high priority on spiritual growth or remember that all you cared about was getting ahead and having fun? What they remember from their childhood is probably where they will put the priorities for living their lives and the training of their own children.

You only have one opportunity each moment to provide the memories. Once your children are out of your home, those memories are fixed and there is no way to go back and change them. So it seems to us that it’s important to think ahead. Now it’s impossible to plan perfectly and you can drive yourself crazy wondering if today’s memories will be the kind you want your kids to remember. However, it seems to us that very few people give this any thought at all. Deuteronomy 6 speaks of this concept: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6–9, NKJV).

Notice that the writer speaks of “teaching diligently”, talking about spiritual truth while you sit in the house, while you are out walking, at bedtime and first thing in the morning. He says we should have signs and symbols around the house that speak of the kind of life God wants us to be living. All of these things will provide memories of a pattern and atmosphere that permeated your home. Grandparents, you can do the same thing. When your grandchildren are with you, you can speak of things related to God, His creation, His wisdom, His faithfulness to you in the past, etc.

Many times our focus as parents and maybe especially grandparents is what stuff we can give to our children. Stuff wears out and breaks, but the memories our children and grandchildren take with them cannot be destroyed. That’s both a good and bad thing depending on what those memories are like.

As we go through life, it is impossible to do everything. There is not enough time to provide every opportunity and experience for our family. Therefore, we must pick and choose what we will do and what we will provide. The Bible says, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent…” (Philippians 1:9–10, NKJV).

We are called upon to be discerning, to evaluate and then to approve the excellent. Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Christians, “Test all things; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NKJV).

God would have us evaluate everything and then approve and hold fast to what is good and excellent. We are to redeem the time (Colossians 4:5). The reason for these admonitions is because everything we do, we are to do for the glory of God. And since we cannot do everything there is to do, even among the things that aren’t sinful, we are to choose the best and wisest course every single day. In so doing, we will be providing our children and grandchildren with those experiences that will be worth remembering and will build them up in their faith.

So what kind of memories do you want your children or grandchildren to remember? Order or chaos? A quiet and calming environment or a loud and boisterous atmosphere. A soft answer that turns away wrath (Proverbs 15:1), or loud and angry correction (James 1:20)? Will you help your family seek first the kingdom of God so that all of the other things will be provided for them (Matthew 6:33)?

What kind of memories are you creating for yourself and your family? If you’ve been on the wrong course, you may not be able to repair the memories already there, but with God’s help you can change direction and begin providing new memories that will redound to the glory of God.

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:22:00 +0000

The second thing Paul prays in Ephesians 1:18, is that the eyes of the understanding would be enlightened. In this passage it is hard to know if this is a thought to connect to what he was just asking about or whether it is explained in the next clauses. It could be either or both. So right now, let’s connect it to the previous section. He had just prayed that they would have a spirit of wisdom in the knowledge of God. We mentioned last time that this requires time in prayer and in the word, but it obviously requires that eyes will be opened to understand and gain the wisdom God has provided through His Word. So when we pray this for someone or for ourselves, we are praying that not only will they be spending the time needed to gain that wisdom, but that their eyes will be open to the truth that is there. By nature our eyes are blinded, but even after being born again, there is a haziness that settles over our spiritual lives if we are not actively engaged in healthy spiritual disciplines. So let me encourage you to pray not only for others, but for yourself as well that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened that we might gain the wisdom that comes from knowing God.

Paul's Prayer for the Ephesians - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 14:52:00 +0000

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him (Ephesians 1:17).

I’m impressed by Paul’s prayers in his letters to the churches. Right now I’m thinking about his prayer in Ephesians 1. Let’s take a few minutes to look at how he prays for others and perhaps that can help us in our own prayer life. We’re beginning in verse 15. The first thing he asks God the father of grant is “the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” How many times have you ever asked this for someone you love or are praying for? I will be the first to admit that I don’t know what “revelation” means in this context and so rather than speculate, I’m going to skip over it for now. But certainly a spirit of wisdom is something we can understand. And Paul relates this spirit of wisdom to the knowledge of God. So what I’m going to conclude from this is that it is a good thing to pray for ourselves and others that our knowledge of God would increase resulting in increased wisdom. One of the things Paul explicitly asks for in Colossians 1:10 is that the Colossians would be increasing in their knowledge of God.

Whether ourselves or others, the only way to increase in the knowledge of God is to spend time with Him in prayer and meditating on His Word. This is what we are asking for when we pray that someone would have a spirit of wisdom in the knowledge of God.

Attempting to Stay Organized - My Strategy

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 21:57:00 +0000

We live in a complicated, busy world. Our lives have appointments, deadlines, tasks to be accomplished, and so on. As Christian men, we have not only the normal routines of a busy life, we have the privilege and responsibility of living lives that are disciplined in the spiritual realm of things. We have to make good use of the opportunities for daily prayer, Bible reading, meditation and study. It's not always easy to keep track of everything and to fit everything in.

We are all different and so the techniques one person uses to organize his life may be quite a bit different from what another person finds helpful. I thought I would take a few minutes and share some tools I use to keep my life as organized as possible. These tools involve the use of technology so if you're doing just fine with paper lists and a paper calendar, that's great. You may not find what I'm about to share helpful. But on the other hand, if you are a technology user with a computer, smartphone or tablet, maybe some of this will give you ideas you can work with.

I have an iPad mini, an android phone and a computer that need to stay in sync in whatever I do, so here's my approach.

To-Do List For my to-do list, I use the website Toodledo. There is a free version, but I've chosen the paid version that allows me to have sub-tasks. There is a Toodledo app for the iPad and/or the iPhone and it works very well along with the Toodledo website. I found an app for my android called DGT GTD. It has a sync function with Toodledo and to tell you the truth, I like this app better than the Toodledo app and it works very well for me on the phone.

These tools allow me to enter a task, create a due date and time, assign a priority and create a context as well as some additional features. For the context I can assign categories such as "church", "home", "outside projects", "home repairs", etc. There's also a repeat function that allows for a task to show up each week or each month. With the paid version I can create a project with a due date and then create all of the subtasks that need to be accomplished to complete the project.

All of this synchronizes among all three devices so that I have my upcoming tasks available no matter which device I am working with at the time. In addition, on my computer, the task list is synchronized with Outlook so that when I have my Outlook page open, the tasks show up in a window at the side of my screen. On any of the devices I can mark the task as completed and everything synchronizes accordingly. I've finally done away with my paper lists! In order to keep Outlook in sync with everything else I found an app called gSyncit. This pulls my data in from Google and Toodledo and synchronizes in both directions.

Calendar For my calendar I use Outlook on my computer, the Apple calendar on the iPad and Google calendar on the phone. All three of these synchronize with each other and so I have all of my calendars available on any of my devices.

Notes: I don't know if any of you have ever worked with Evernote, but I have come to really appreciate this app. It too is available on all my devices. Evernote is a way of keeping track of pieces of information that tend to get lost in the shuffle of the electronic life. In Evernote you can create notebooks for yourself. Items in the notebooks can be tagged with categories to help you find things easily.

If I'm on a website that has some information that I want to keep track of, I simply click the Evernote icon on the web page or if I'm on mobile, I can choose to share the page with Evernote. I can clip either the URL or the entire article and save it to a particular notebook in my Evernote account. If I receive an email I want to keep track of, I can forward it to Evernote and provide the notebook name and tag(s) on the subject line. The next time I open Evernote, that email is right where it is supposed to be and I can find it later by searching the topic or tag. When someone sends me a link they think I'd be interested in, I simply copy that link as a note with the appropriate tag and it's there when I need it.

I've used this for making small lists such as part numbers for some appliance, clipping web articles I wanted to keep track of, storing emails with important links in them, etc. If I think of something while I'm working, I can open an email and send a quick note to myself with the appropriate subject line and the message becomes a note in the appropriate notebook. This is a very big help for those of us who are inundated with electronic communications.

Hopefully there have been some topics here that have been helpful in some way. As Christian men, we need to use our time wisely and these tools have helped me do that in a more faithful way.

Is There not a Lie in My Right Hand?

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 13:47:00 +0000

Much has been said and written about modern logic from the Enlightenment forward and how ancient peoples, including those in the Bible, were superstitious and illogical. However, the God of the Bible is revealed as a logical being and those who spoke for this true God spoke with incredible logic.

I was reading from Isaiah 44 this morning. Isaiah lived and wrote about 700 BC which is nearly 3000 years ago. In this passage he is discussing the foolishness of idolatry and he write about the insanity of a person cutting a log from the forest and using half of it to have a fire for cooking and warming himself and using the other half to make an idol to worship. In verse 10 he asks this question, “Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing?” (Isaiah 44:10, NKJV).

Here is the way Isaiah explains the situation beginning in verse 14:

“He cuts down cedars for himself, And takes the cypress and the oak; He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it. Then it shall be for a man to burn, For he will take some of it and warm himself; Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread; Indeed he makes a god and worships it; He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it. He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand. And no one considers in his heart, Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals; I have roasted meat and eaten it; And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” He feeds on ashes; A deceived heart has turned him aside; And he cannot deliver his soul, Nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”” (Isaiah 44:14–20, NKJV)

As a modern twenty-first century man, I am astounded by the logic of this ancient writing! The author is incredulous that someone would take a piece of wood and see plainly that it is consumable in a fire and with the other half make himself a “god” that he prays to and from whom he asks deliverance. He rightly asks the question, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

In our modern world we are not likely to carve and image and expect it to help us with our problems. But don’t we do the same thing when we trust in our stuff, our material possessions, to provide us with fulfillment, the esteem of others, and general well-being in life? Aren’t we doing the same thing when we do not give God praise and thanks for the air we breathe and the water we drink or when we do not acknowledge that every good thing we have is due to God’s grace and generosity?

Many are in the position of spending millions of dollars and countless hours of research to produce better cameras for our phones and at the same time argue that our eyes are the result of time and chance. Shouldn’t we as modern people be asking ourselves, “Am I believing and living a lie? Am I as deceived as this ancient man?”

Christian Worldview - 9 Who Am I? Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 14:12:00 +0000

So far we’ve seen that God, through the Gospel, has promised to remedy what the fall did to our being. Our spirits are brought to life (Ephesians 2:1), our bodies are promised a resurrection, and the damage to our souls begins to be restored through the work of His Spirit and Word.

Last time we looked at some passages of scripture that show us what has happened to our mind. We are described as foolish, blinded, and darkened. Our ability to understand truth has been compromised to such a degree that the natural man does not receive the things related to the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Our will has been damaged in the sense that we don’t will the right things. People are always arguing over free will. In one sense the fallen will is perfectly free in the sense that it can choose whatever it wants. The problem is it doesn’t want the right things. Until the will is repaired by a sovereign act of God and provided with the right motivation to choose rightly, the will is in bondage to its own fallen motivations.

Emotions have also been damaged by the fall. Godly emotions are listed for us as the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. Because of the fall these have been lost to the natural or soulish man. The natural man is pulled downward by his own natural fleshly tendencies which are described for us in Galatians 5:19-21 as the deeds of the flesh. Even after we have trusted Christ, the old habits and patterns imprinted in our emotions keep surfacing and this sets in motion the battle between the flesh and spirit.

For example, as we have grown up in our homes, we did not always respond in healthy ways to what is going on around us. The people around us are also fallen and so their decisions and their emotional state affects our own. So as we grow we develop habits and ways of thinking and reacting that may not be helpful to us. We won’t realize it, but events in life create unhealthy dependencies, bad habits, poor judgment and emotional scars. Because our thinking is also damaged, we may not be able to see what is happening and take corrective measures.

However, when we trust Jesus Christ for salvation, He begins a renewing work in our lives. This is called Sanctification. It is the process of making us more and more like Jesus who, since He is God, has perfect thinking, perfect emotions and perfect motivation for the decisions of His will.

This process is not an instantaneous one. It takes time. We first need to learn to be skeptical of our thinking. I read the other day someone wrote that we should not believe everything we think. Our minds need to be renewed (Romans 12:2). This occurs when we take the time to meditate on the Word of God, the Bible. The Bible says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:1–3, NKJV)

So this is an important process. As you do this, you begin to recognize your habits, ways of thinking and reacting and attitudes that are not right and healthy. As God continues to work in your life, He will help you see that you need to put off what the Bible calls the “old man.” These are all of the old ways that are sinful and damaging and therefore not healthy for you emotionally, spiritually and relationally. Along with putting off the deeds of the “old man” should be the process of putting on the new ways of thinking and behaving, the deeds of the “new man” or the deeds of the Spirit. That means agreeing in your mind that what God says is true no matter what you may feel, and then behaving accordingly. Acknowledging the truth should come first, then faith in that truth which involves acting on it and then allow the feelings follow after. Most of us make the mistake of allowing our feelings to be the engine that drives the train. Let truth be the engine and let feelings be the caboose.

Let’s try a practical example. Let’s suppose that the children are having a bad morning and there is a lot of screaming and arguing going on. You feel like you are not going to be able to handle another minute of this. You are tempted to scream back at them, maybe even throw things yourself. But you have been meditating on scripture and most recently the passage that reads: “No temptation (or trial or test) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV).

Accepting this verse as the truth, you recognize that this is not a test greater than you can handle. So you take that truth and you believe it, you trust it and you act on it. “I guess I can handle this after all!” you say to yourself. Now you consciously set aside your anger, impatience, and whatever other sinful attitudes and actions you feel coming on. You do this because you recognize that these attitudes are not from the born-again you. They are part of the system of responses that the natural you has developed over time. You consciously set them aside. Then with God’s help you replace them with God’s peace, love, patience, longsuffering, etc. Depending on what the children have done there might be the need for specific discipline, but it should be motivated by the holy character of God and not by frustration and anger.

Now I realize it is not as simple as one short paragraph. But this is the idea of what needs to take place in our lives. It needs to be practiced moment by moment throughout the day. If I’m late for work and a traffic light turns red, I feel impatience coming on. So I reject the impatience based on the truth that God is at work on the day’s schedule for me. Then I consciously take patience in its place. I think one of the best summary passages for this process is the following:

“As the truth is in Jesus, that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:21b–24, NKJV).

Christian Worldview - 9 Who Am I? part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 12:30:00 +0000

We’ve looked at the fact that the Bible describes us as having a body, soul and spirit. The body communicates the external world to our soul and the spirit communicates things of God to our soul. Distinguishing them can sometimes be difficult.

Our problem is that when Adam and Eve sinned, the human race fell from a state of perfection to a fallen state of death and dying. Our bodies are subject to injury, disease and death. The spirit which was the channel of communication with God died. And our soul, made up of mind, will, and emotions is badly damaged. We are not as bad off as we could be, but every facet of our being has been affected by the fall. Theologians call this “Total Depravity.” Look at the following quotes from the Bible to see the description which God gives concerning our situation.

“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;” (Ephesians 4:17–18, NKJV, emphasis mine).

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” (2 Corinthians 4:3–4, NKJV)

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14, NKJV)

When he says “natural man” in the previous verse he uses the word “soul.” The soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit. This is a man whose spirit is dead and so all he has to operate on is his soul. These things are said to be spiritually discerned and with a dead spirit, the natural man is incapable of understanding them.

One more passage from Paul:

“As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”” (Romans 3:10–18, NKJV)

So our problem is that our entire being has been affected by the fall. What’s the solution? The solution is to believe the Good News, the Gospel, of Jesus Christ. He died on the cross as the payment of the sin penalty and He promises life to every person who believes on Him.

Jesus said, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10, NKJV).

He also said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24, NKJV).

The life He is promising is eternal life, but it is also a resurrection of the spirit within us. He promises to give us a new heart, a new spirit, and new motivation and he promises to give us the Holy Spirit to live in us to guide us and to pray for us. God calls this the New Covenant:

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:26–27, NKJV)

So when we believe on Jesus for salvation the issue of the dead spirit has been solved. God begins the work of transforming our soul (mind, will and emotions) and even though our bodies continue to deteriorate, He has promised a resurrection body some day: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11, NKJV)

Christian Worldview - 9 - Who Am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 12:55:00 +0000

“Who am I?” That is a question we often ask ourselves. We sometimes follow that up with, “What is wrong with me, or us?” The Christian worldview tries to properly answer these questions based on what the Bible teaches us. Over the next several days I want to discuss what the Bible says about the nature of our being and the implications of the fall and what the solution is.

The Bible speaks of us as being composed of body, soul, and spirit. For example, Paul writes, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NKJV). The Bible speaks of the Word of God as being able to pierce to the division of soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12).

When the Bible uses the word soul it most often uses the Greek word psyche from which we get our word “psychology”. The soul is the core of our being. We often describe it as mind, will and emotions. This is where we feel love or where we make decisions. The body is how our soul communicates with the outside world. The eyes may see a beautiful sunset and as a result we may have the feeling of awe at such a beautiful sight. We enjoy a good meal thanks to the smells and taste of the food. The awe in the sunset and the delight in a good meal are felt in the soul. Our body interacts with the world and allows our soul to react.

Our spirit on the other hand is our connecting point to God. God intended our spirit to communicate with Him. The body communicates the physical world with our soul and the spirit communicates the things of God with the soul. For example, Paul writes, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Romans 8:16, NKJV). And Jesus tells us, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24, NKJV). Events through the spirit produce an effect in the soul just as events that are communicated through the body do. One of the difficulties we face is that sometimes our soul mistakes a physical event such as beautiful music or a lovely sunset with spiritual events. We are not always able to discern the difference.

We’ll pick up from here next time.

Why "Go To Church"?

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Fri, 08 Apr 2016 11:30:00 +0000

We’re continuing to look at Paul’s admonition to the church in Ephesus in chapter 4. Last time we discovered that we are to walk or live in a manner that is worthy of who we are as called sons of God. The last thing we talked about was the fact that the Spirit gives unity to the body. We are to maintain this unity as we live and worship together. Just as our spirit pervades our entire body and gives unity to it, the Spirit of God does the same for Christ’s body, the church.

I have a concern that we have developed and maintained a cultural view of the church. We hear people ask, “Where do you go to church?” Sometimes people will refer to someone who has stopped “going to church.” Church is more like a club to join rather than a living body that has the life of the Spirit flowing through it.

Let’s take a quick look at what Paul writes in Ephesians 4. In verse 11 he tells us that God has given gifts to the church, namely apostles, prophets, evangelists and teaching-pastors. Why are these individuals given to the church? He writes that they are given so that the saints are equipped to do the work of the ministry. This tells me that there should be no fringe members. By fringe members I’m talking about those who show up for a worship service and leave again and are not involved at all in the ministry to one another that occurs within the body of Christ. I’m not just speaking about ministry that happens in the church building but among the members of the body throughout the week. The kind of ministry or service to one another that should occur within the body requires equipping or training. We all need to be taught how to minister to one another.

In any area of life where there are skills that need to be learned, we need to be taught and shown how to do it by someone who knows how – the teacher. Sometimes there are things we don’t know we need to know and so we are coerced in some way to be trained. This happens for children in school and it happens sometimes at the workplace. In the church setting, we rely on the working of God’s Spirit within the hearts of his people to seek the opportunities for the equipping needed in the local church.

The purpose of this equipping is so that the body will be built up until we call come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God with the goal of reaching the stature of the measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13). This is a lofty goal. And in this context it is not so much an individual goal as a body goal. He goes on to elaborate on this in the next couple of verses.

For our purposes today, let’s jump down to verses 15 and 16. Here we see in this edification and growing process we are to grow up in all things into him who is the head of the church, which means Christ.

But verse 16 I think is crucial for expanding our vision of the church and its functioning. The first words in verse 16 are “From whom.” The whom is Christ. From Christ, the whole body…. Now we need to access the English grammar part of our brain. What is the main verb of this phrase? And yes it is important to know this. From Christ the whole body causes the growth of the body, for the edifying of itself in love. So Christ, working throughout the whole body causes the growth of the body. The implication is that this occurs when the body is functioning effectively and properly.

How does it do this? First we notice it is the whole body, not just part of the body. That means everyone who is truly a member of the actual body of Christ, not those who simply gain membership in the local church. Next we see that it is “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies.” Each part of the body is described as doing its part. “Every joint” is a phrase used to stand for each member of the body. But Paul makes this more explicit as he goes on to speak of the effective working as each part does its share. It is this functioning of each individual part doing its share that enables the body to cause the growth of itself. This is analogous to our human body. When each part is functioning and doing what it was designed to do, the body grows and is strengthened.

When there are “members” of a church that are not functioning according to the gifts the Holy Spirit has given them, the church will not be building itself effectively. It might be possible for individuals who are members on paper not to actually be members of the body of Christ. They may be members by profession but not in reality and practice. It seems to me that one of the things we as church leaders need to focus on is building the understanding necessary and the patterns and procedures that will enable and encourage a biblical view of church life. In such a climate, easy church membership without actual functioning in that role would not occur as frequently as it does now in many churches.

I believe that part of this process is establishing an effective and church-wide climate of disciple-making. If a church were to have a dynamic, effective and ongoing practice of discipleship so that actively engaged Christians were the ones admitted into membership, perhaps those who don’t really have an interest in growing together in relationship with others and who don’t have an interest in serving together in the local church would weed themselves out. But if people continue to see church membership as meaning merely somewhat regular attendance at a worship service, we will continue to perpetuate a non-disciple-making climate and the body will not be edified and the glory of Christ won’t be displayed the way God would have it to be.

Walk Worthy of the Lord

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Thu, 07 Apr 2016 11:30:00 +0000

I would like us to think through some of the things Paul wrote to the Ephesian church in chapter 4 of his letter to them. The first thing he does is to challenge them and us to “walk worthy of the calling with which we have been called.” In Colossians 1:10 and 1 Thessalonians 2:12 he says basically the same thing, “walk worthy of the Lord.” The Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul is calling us to a walk that is worthy of God. That means we are to live a life that God himself could put his name on and it would fit! That is quite the challenge, isn’t it?

He goes on to give us the characteristics of that lifestyle: lowliness and gentleness; longsuffering; forbearance. These traits are almost the complete opposites of characteristics that are valued in our culture today. These are godly traits and if we are to have a lifestyle that is worthy of God, they should be present in our day to day living. This means not only when we are out in public, but in our homes with our wife and children. The final point Paul makes in this list is that we should be maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. We’re going to follow up a little more on this next time, but the Spirit of God has unified the body of Christ. The Spirit is the unifying factor. Our responsibility as Christians is to maintain that unity; we are to live it out. Jesus said that the world would know we are his disciples by our love for one another (John 13:35). The unity is there because of the Spirit, but it needs to be demonstrated in the world at a practical level.

So what does walking worthy of the Lord mean? It means to live as Jesus would live, were he living in your home or working at your job or attending your church.

Christian Worlview 8 - Glorifying God

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 15:12:00 +0000

Over the last few days we have been talking about food and work. God has provided us richly all things to enjoy and he has given us all sorts of food as part of his good gifts for our enjoyment. He has also given us strength to carry on meaningful work. We discovered that God gave Adam work to do even before sin entered the world and so work itself is not part of the curse.

How does this teaching about food and work fit into the big worldview picture we framed for you earlier? Let’s review some of the key points.

· God created the world for his pleasure and glory.

· His allowing of sin somehow ultimately demonstrates his glory by demonstrating the contrast between God and that which has its source in evil.

· Now and through all ages we are a demonstration of the glory of God to other human beings and principalities and powers.

· There is a contrast between good and evil, light and darkness.

· This demonstration of contrast highlights God’s character and glory.

The Bible explains some of this contrast with passages such as Philippians 2:14-15 where we read, “Do all things without complaining and disputing, ¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.” The purpose here is that God wants to demonstrate the difference between his children who trust him without complaint and the rest of the world.

Another example is in Jesus’ sermon on the mount where he admonishes us not to worry about our clothing and food. There he reminds us that the Gentiles seek after all these things. This is what normal people do. But his exhortation to us is to seek his kingdom first and let God take care of the other things.

So when it comes to food, we should eat and drink with thanksgiving to God and enjoy what he has made and provided for us. We should thank him for the manifold flavors and textures we get to enjoy. We should give him credit and acknowledge his love and care for us.

When eating with others, we should be careful not to chow down all the food before everyone else gets a chance. We men are notorious for having our plates half empty before our wife, who spent time making all of this, even gets a chance to sit down and enjoy the meal herself.

What was Paul’s admonition to the Corinthians when it came to the Lord’s supper? When he challenged the Christians there to examine himself, he wasn’t specifically challenging them to make sure there was no unconfessed sin. He was correcting their behavior of selfishly pigging out before some of the poorer folks had a chance to get any food! This kind of behavior does not glorify God nor show love for their brothers and sisters. It shows that they were not really discerning the meaning of the oneness of the body of Christ. What they were demonstrating to the world was not the picture of God that was pleasing to him and so he was not ultimately glorified in it.

When it comes to work, do the best job you can. Be an example. Don’t steal time or anything else. Demonstrate creativity, discipline, structure and orderliness. Always be thankful for the fact that you have a job, that you have strength to do your work and that God has given you the abilities, talent and mental capability to do the work you’ve been give.

These admonitions don’t just apply to employment. They apply to your housework and yard work as well. When you keep things picked up outside so that your home and yard look neat and clean, you demonstrate the glory of God. The same thing applies to the inside of your house. Is the way you keep your house worthy of God? In other words, does it look like God lives there? It should if you are a Christian. As a Christian you are a child of God and his spirit lives within you. God is orderly and creative and as his children we have those same traits.

When you drive by the home of someone with a beautiful yard and flowers, thank God and give him glory for his creation and for the presence of a person who has been made in the image of God who lives there.

The ultimate nature of sin is to be ungrateful for all God has provided. He has given us life and breath and all things (Acts 17:25). That means the clean water we drink, the hot showers we have, all the good food we enjoy, the fresh air and sunshine are all from his hand. Not acknowledging these things and being grateful for them is equivalent to assuming we have provided them for ourselves or that we have a right to them or that they are here by chance. As Christians, we need to demonstrate the glory of God by showing how we respond differently to all the blessings God has provided.

Christian Worldview 7 - Work

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Mon, 04 Apr 2016 15:33:00 +0000

From the very beginning God has also made a provision for work. Even before the fall, God has placed man in the garden to tend and keep it (Gen 2:15). After the fall, the work became much harder but we should not look at work as a punishment for sin but as a blessing. God loves the productivity and creativity which he had created in us and he expects us to use it for his glory.

Psalm 104 shows us how God created everything to work together as a source of beauty and design to demonstrate his glory and to provide for the needs of each of his creatures (see previous article on Psalm 104).

God is creative and skillful and he is interested in our being the same way. For example, in Genesis 4:20-22 we find that people had learned how to tend sheep, ow to play musical instruments and how to work with metals. In Exodus 35:25-27 we read:

Exodus 35:25–27 (NKJV)

²⁵ All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. ²⁶ And all the women whose hearts stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair. ²⁷ The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate,

In several places the Bible speaks about mining iron and copper, creating works out of bronze and creating beautiful tapestries and other works of art to be used in worship (2 Chron 2:13-14; Deut 8:9). In the building of the temple in Jerusalem they cast pillars out of solid bronze 27 ft tall and weighing over 190 tons!

God has placed an abundance of material in the earth for our discovery and use for the improvement of our lives and for his glory. Little by little we have learned how to make new and improved building material, fibers, plastics and electronics. In every case of new inventions and new materials, these are put to both noble and destructive or sinful uses. When people figured out how to make iron, suddenly those with iron chariots had a military advantage over those that did not. And yet out of iron they also were able to make plows to make agriculture more productive.

Ultimately God wants us to work. He tells us that those who won’t work shouldn’t eat. He also tells us that those who won’t work are walking disorderly and should be admonished (1 Thess 4:11; 2 Thess 3:10-12). He’s not speaking here about those who are unable to work for one reason or another, but everyone who is able should be working. Even the unemployed should be working around their homes, keeping them up, picking up trash, raking leaves, etc. Work is a blessing from God and we should learn to see it that way.

Finally, we can be inventive, creative and hard-working for the wrong reasons. God gives us richly all things to enjoy but wants us to worship the One who gives us richly all these things and not to heap up stuff for ourselves or to boast with pride about our possessions or accomplishments. Look at these biblical examples of people who approached this in the wrong way: Luke 12:18-19; Acts 12:21-23; Dan 4:30

God is a gracious, loving, creative God who is abundant in all he supplies. He loves it when we mirror his image by being loving, creative, and gracious as well. He has richly supplied us with a huge variety of wonderful things to eat and a wonderful bounty of resources with which to create beauty and improve our lives. Let’s always be thankful to him and bless his name for the Lord is good!

Biblical Worldview 6 - Food

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 11:30:00 +0000

We are continuing our thoughts on creation and God’s provision for us and how this helps us establish a biblical frame of reference for living.

One of the key resources we get from the earth is our food. In the Bible we see a progression of revelation about man and his food. In Genesis 1:29 and 2:16 we find God providing mankind with plants for his food. Adam and Eve were given plants of all kinds for their food with the exception of the fruit of one particular tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But as is the case with most of us, we focus more on the thing that we can’t have than the abundance of provision of what God has given. Adam and Eve did the same thing and this ultimately led to their downfall.

After the flood, God gave animals for food along with the plants (Genesis 9:3). The only prohibition was that we were not supposed to eat meat if it still had its blood in it. When the Jewish nation was established there were entire lists of animals that were out of bounds (Leviticus 11 for example).

After Jesus’ death and resurrection when the church was being established, God told Peter to kill and eat animals that had been on the unclean list. Peter refused, but God told him that he should not call unclean what God said was clean (Acts 10:15). So now, biblically speaking there are no foods that are off-limits for Christians.

In 1 Timothy 4:3-4 Paul warns believers about making human rules about what can be eaten and what can’t. All foods were created by God and are to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. He says that every created thing is good and nothing is to be refused if received with thanksgiving. It is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

Obviously we are to be careful of gluttony which is prohibited in the Bible and we should eat in moderation, but we should not be making rules for one another as to what we should and shouldn’t eat. The Bible is very clear that these man-made rules do nothing to improve our spirituality (Colossians 2:23).

Christian Worldview 5 - Made in the Image of God

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Thu, 31 Mar 2016 15:20:00 +0000

In the Bible class I teach we are discussing how to develop and defend our Christian worldview. This week we are investigating the creation narrative and what it tells us about being made in the image of God. Along with that we are discussing the position God has given mankind in subduing and having dominion over the creation.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God? We know that God does not have a physical body like we have. He is a spirit being. So that can’t be what the Bible means. There are certain characteristics that God has given us that he also possesses. For example, he is able to think and we are able to think. God is creative and he has given us the ability to create. God can communicate and we have the ability to communicate. I’m sure you can think of others. Internally we are a spirit as well. God says that his spirit bears witness with our spirit. So we are spirit beings inside of a physical body.

God has given us the dominion over his creation and has told us we are to subdue it. To subdue means to bring it under control. We are God’s representatives to be the stewards or care-takers of his creation. One of the first things that Adam did was to name the animals. Naming things is one way we make sense of and gain control over our environment. After Adam’s fall, this stewardship responsibility became much more difficult. Work was harder and more laborious.

As God’s managers we have the responsibility to take good care of the created world, the environment we live in. But we are to remember that God has created this world with resources for us to use. Some of the creation has been given to us for food and so we should not be afraid to take plants from the ground or kill animals for our nourishment. On the other hand, having dominion doesn’t mean we should wantonly waste resources or pollute them so that they are unusable by others. There’s an important balance that we must maintain as we serve God by managing his creation.

Thoughts on Psalm 104

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 14:01:00 +0000

Take some time and read Psalm 104 thoroughly and carefully. It will help you in your appreciation of God and his might power and creative design. I’m not going to discuss every verse but just reflect on some of the things that stood out to me.

Verse 1 “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” Take time to talk to yourself. Encourage yourself to be focused on the praise that God deserves. Acknowledge God’s greatness to him. Don’t just rest on the fact that you know it in your mind. Tell him, “O Lord, you are very great!”

Verse 5 “You laid the foundations of the earth…” We realize that the Bible is not a science book per se. We recognize that the earth does not have foundations or pillars to rest on. But its stability is amazing when we think about the fact that it is just floating in space obeying the laws of gravity which God designed for it.

Verses 6-9 speak of God’s control over the waters. This could be a description of creative action at the beginning or of the great flood of Noah’s day. All of this is attributed to God’s active involvement.

Verses 10 and 11 give evidence of God’s active involvement and design and planning to give water and nourishment to the animals. God is not just far away in some corner of heaven. He is involved and aware and observant of all of his creation. Jesus encouraged us not to worry but to trust God because he takes care of the birds and clothes the field with splendor, Matthew 6:28-31.

Verses 13 and 14: He waters the hills and causes the grass to grow. The earth is satisfied with God’s provision and care. His provision for mankind is included since man is able to bring forth food from the earth with which he can provide himself with bread and wine for his sustenance.

Verse 18 : God provided specific habitats for the creatures he had made.

Verse 19: He uses the sun and moon to mark off the days and seasons and to allow the various animals to follow their instincts for hunting and sleeping. Some sleep during the day and hunt at night. God has created, designed and provided for all of these differences.

Verse 23 shows us that his provision includes man and the provision for him to go out to work and return for a night’s rest. Psalm 127:2 tells us that God provides his beloved sleep.

Verses 24-26: How manifold are God’s works. He created innumerable creatures for the sea as well as the earth. Many of these man has never seen. And yet they are there, playing. I believe God enjoys watching what he has made, even when we can’t see it.

Verses 27-30 explain how all creation waits upon God for their food. Just as in Jesus’ parable, God provides for every sparrow and every other creature as well. We need to learn to trust him. I’m also impressed to see God’s continuous creative process at work. He takes away their breath and they return to dust. He sends his spirit and new ones are born renewing the face of the earth.

Verse 33: The response is one of rejoicing and praise demonstrated by the outburst of song.

Do we pay enough attention to all that God s created? Do we meditate on the amazing wonder of his works displayed throughout the earth and sky? Perhaps if we did, we would be more prone to praise and magnify his name and be thankful for all he is and does.

Christian Worldview 4

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 13:00:00 +0000

All of the things we have looked at picture what things were like before time began. It seems to me that if we take a look at what things will be like after time is over, we might get a better idea of The Point. In the whole scheme of things from the biblical point of view, the period of time from the beginning until the end is very short compared to all of eternity before and after. So if we can see what is taking place at the end, we will be able to see what God accomplished during time. That will give us insight into the purpose of it all.

If we could “visit” the end, what would we “see”? First we would find that the Triune God was still there. But we would notice that God the Son now has a glorified human body and further we would notice that that body has been wounded. What Christianity pictures for us at this point is astounding! The Spirit-God of the universe has somehow taken on a human body that had lived a life on earth, died a gruesome death and is now back in heaven with a wounded human, but glorified, body.

Along with the trinity we will see countless other glorified human beings. As we watch and listen we learn that these are one spirit with the Son and of His flesh and bones. We learn that they share in the divine nature, are variously called brothers or the bride of the Son. They are called joint-heirs with the Son putting them basically into the family of God. And furthermore we see that they share in ruling and reigning along with the Son of God. (see Hebrews 2:11; Eph 5:30-33; 1 Cor 6:16-17; Romans 8:17;2 Peter 1:4; Rev 20:4)

We hear countless groups giving praise to God with sayings such as these:

Holy, holy holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!

You are worthy, O Lord to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.

You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!

Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!

In addition to these glorified human beings we see other created beings that we would call angels who are serving and ministering. But the sad thing we see is that there is a terrible place of torment where both humans and demons are being punished eternally for crimes they have committed against God.

What do we learn from this picture of what is taking place at the end? 1) God created all things for His pleasure, glory and honor. 2) We learn that God is just and must punish evil and rebellion. He doesn’t just sweep everybody in and wink at sin. 3) We learn that God was willing to sacrifice Himself to redeem a people for Himself. 4) We learn that there will be people of every tribe and nation participating. God does not discriminate. 5) His people will rule and reign with Him. 6) Finally, we learn that there will be enduring praise forever and ever for God and the glory He demonstrates in all His ways.

So what this tells us is the same thing all of the Bible is telling us. God created and then sent Jesus to redeem a people for Himself for the eternal praise of His glory. That’s why we’re here! As John Piper puts it, “The purpose of God is the ingathering of the nations to worship His Son. The magnifying of Christ in the white-hot worship of all nations is the reason the world exists.”

Christian Worldview 3 - God's Eternal Plan for His Glory

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 16:41:00 +0000

Last time we saw some of the things that the Son of God agreed to do in relationship with the creation of the world and redemption of His people. God the Father promised that He would prepare a body for His son (Luke 1:35; Heb 10:5). He promised that He would give Him everything He needed for His mission (Matt 12:18; Isa 42:1-8; 49:8; Ps 16:8-11; John 3:34; Acts 2:25-28). He promised that He would make Him the surety or guarantor of the New Covenant (Heb 7:22). As a reward He would make Him head of the church, His spiritual body (Acts 2:33; 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 1:22). He promised Him a numerous seed in reward for His work (Ps 72:17; John 6:37; Romans 5:18-19; Col 2:9; Hebrews 2;13; Isaiah 53:10, 11).

God the Holy Spirit’s role was to empower Christ for His ministry (Luke 4:1, 14, 18; John 3:34) and to apply the benefits of Christ’s redemptive work to God’s people after Jesus left (John 14:16-17, 26; John 15:26; John 16:13-14; Acts 1:8; 2:17-18, 33).

So as we look at the big picture and try to answer the big questions about what is the purpose and meaning of life and the world, we see that at the beginning the only thing that existed was an all-powerful, all-knowing God existing in three persons. All were spiritual beings, meaning they didn’t have physical bodies. They communicated with each other, loved each other and had fellowship, all within the Godhead. Before anything had been created they planned together to create a universe and world that would have creatures of all kinds, but the pinnacle was to be human beings who would have many characteristics that God had. Humans would be able to love and communicate and fellowship. They would be conscious beings who would be able to plan, create and appreciate their surroundings.

Why would God plan this? The Bible tells us that God does everything He does for the glory of His great name. By creating other conscious beings, His glory would be able to be seen and appreciated by a host of beings who would share in His joy and delight in all He had made.

Christian Worldview 2 - Agreement between God the Father and the Son

noreply@blogger.com (Roger) — Sat, 26 Mar 2016 14:07:00 +0000

Continuing our discussion of the big picture questions, we find out in John 1:1 that something called “The Word” was with God in the beginning and also was God. This Word, or logos, is God the Son who ultimately became a man and lived here on earth among us as Jesus Christ. Jesus told his disciples that He had shared glory with the Father before the world began (John 17:24), and that the Father had loved Him before the world began (John 17:24).

The Bible indicates throughout that the three persons of the Godhead counseled and planned together concerning the creation of the world and the redemption of a people to be God’s personal possession. If you have time you might check out some of the following passages of Scripture: Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 19:21; Isaiah 46:9-10; Matt 25:34; Eph 1:4, 9-12; Eph 3:9-11; 2 Tim 1:9; Rev 13:8.

Even though this plan was an eternal plan before the world began, it was implemented in time, at the right time: Galatians 4:4; Romans 5:6; 1 Peter 1:20; Titus 1:2-3; 2 Tim 1:810; Ps 139:16

Because God is trinity, there was an agreement or covenant among the members of the trinity, agreed on before time began, as to how our redemption would be accomplished. Among other things the Son agreed in participating in the creation of the world and mankind. He would become a man and assume human nature (John 1:14; Gal 4:4-5; Heb 2:10-15). He would be placed under the law, obey it perfectly, and yet die in order to pay the penalty for sin (Ps 40:8; Matt 5:17,18; John 8:28, 29; John 10:18; John 17:4; Gal 4:4,5; Phil 2:6-8; Heb 10:7-9). He would provide believers with forgiveness and renewal of their lives through the new covenant (Luke 22:20, John 17:12, 19-22; Heb 2: 10-13 7:25). He would give His people eternal life (John 17:2). And also that He would be the representative of a people (1 Cor 15:45; Heb 9:24).