An Excursus: Jesus--the Fulfullment of the Promise

My next planned blogpost was to be on the third part of God's promise of blessing to Abram--that would be "and make your name great." We'll get there. Soon. Probably early next week.

You remember that promise, right? We previously explained that it was a heptad or seven-fold promise. Here it is:

1) I will make of you a great nation.
2) I will bless you.
3) And make your name great.
4) So that you will be a blessing.
5) I will bless those who bless you.
6) Him who dishonors you I will curse.
7) In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

All of these promises are wonderful and each were wonderfully fulfilled in Abram's life. As we come to those moments of promise fulfilled we will be sure to highlight them. But there is more. This promise of blessing pointed forward, also, to a fulfillment in a future nation we know as Israel--Abraham's promised offspring. They also, according to the New Testament writers, apply to you and to me. We are a part of that offspring through Christ.

Which brings us to the point of this post.

Let me state the case plainly. Every single one of these promises finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ and without Jesus Christ none of these promises would even be possible.

Don't believe me? Let's look at them one by one.

1) I will make of you a great nation.

Now read the words of the prophet Isaiah and see Jesus as fulfillment of this promise:

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given; 

and the government shall be upon his shoulder, 

and his name shall be called 
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Of the increase of his government and of peace

there will be no end, 

on the throne of David and over his kingdom, 

to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness 

from this time forth and forevermore. 

The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:6, 7 ESV)

Now the next part:

2) I will bless you

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:3 ESV)

All the blessing to the offspring comes through and because of Jesus Christ. Now the third:

3) and make your name great

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV)

There is more to this "name" part of the promise than just Abram's reputation during his lifetime or having his name changed from "Abram" to "Abraham". Much more. Christ is in view. (We'll see that in my next post.) 

4) so that you will be a blessing

so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:14 ESV)

It is "in Christ Jesus" that Abram has been a blessing--to the world and to us. Now check out the next two, which fit naturally together.

5) I will bless those who bless you
6) Him who dishonors you I will curse

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:35, 36 ESV)

Awesome, isn't it? And last but not least . . .

7) In you all families of the earth shall be blessed. 

Now witness the multitude before the throne singing their new song to the Lamb.

And they sang a new song, saying,  

"Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth."  

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (Revelation 5:9-12 ESV)

So what did God promise Abram? A lot of stuff, right? Yeah, a lot of stuff. But when you break it all down here is what God promised Abram and here is what God promised the world through Abram. God promised him and us . . . Jesus Christ. Think on that.

When You See Them In Weakness -- A Sermon

What I like about Pastor John's sermons is that they are always well-thought-out and biblical. John plumbs the text for meaning and then applies it to our everyday life. They are both theological and practical. In other words, they are gospel-centric, Christo-centric, and relevant. John gives us the word.

"The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever."

Here is John's second sermon taken from the record of Noah found in Genesis 6-9. This one takes place after the flood.



God give us the grace to recognize your mercy in our lives and to respond in mercy and love to those around us when they sin.

Abraham Part 1 -- Audio

This is still a work in progress. I am learning as I go. I had hoped to provide something downloadable that you could take with you on your iPod, iPad, or MP3 player. That still may happen soon. In the meantime you can click this link and go to an audio mp3 file of the first Sunday School lesson in our Abraham series: Abraham--Part 1.

When you get there, click 'download' and it should start playing. God bless and let me know if it works.

The Limits of the Rainbow--A Sermon

A tremendous message from Pastor John.



And the conclusion.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11, ESV)

I Will Bless You, Part 2

Let's be honest. Could we ever really get enough of "I will bless you"?

I was thinking about how to go about making the next in line of blog posts on God's heptad of promise to Abram that he gives in Genesis 12. Next in line would be the third part: "and make your name great." I know what the thrust of that post will be but I was having trouble deciding how to go about presenting it. So I decided to distract myself by reading a little bit from one of my commentaries, hoping it would get my mind focused in on the task at hand. I picked up this:

And opened it up to the book marker where I had left off last night. Here is the first sentence I read:

"By the Abraham narrative, the author of Genesis reveals how God's promissory blessing at creation intended for all peoples will be acquired through Terah's son, Abram."--Kenneth A. Matthews, Genesis vol. 1b, p.84-85

And that, my friends, is exactly why I chose to teach a series of lessons on Abraham's life. When God sets about to bless humankind anyway, God begins with Abram.

That anyway is a very important factor and it's important that we understand its significance. Humans do not deserve God's blessing. In fact, quite the opposite--we have earned, by our actions, his curse.

What is said about "Babylon" in the Revelation of John could easily be said about the whole human race:

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice,

"Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!
She has become a dwelling place for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. (Revelation 18:1, 2 ESV)

Indeed, as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes says,

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (Ecclesiastes 7:29 ESV)

God made man perfect, worthy of receiving his blessings, with the full intention of blessing him all his days. In fact, God intended to bless an entire world of people from day one:

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it . . ." (Genesis 1:27, 28a ESV)

But man chose his own path, sought his own way apart from God.

Nevertheless, God's purposes are never thwarted. God will bless a world of people. Only now, because of man's sin and rebellion, God must first redeem man and make him "bless-able" again. This he will do, and this he will begin, beginning with a no-name nomad named Abram.

God's grace transcends all human frailty, all human rebellion, all human wickedness. You and I cannot out-sin God's grace. Be honest with yourself. Isn't it true that most of your life has been spent for you with little regard to your Creator? Isn't it true that you have sometimes, maybe even often held his authority over you in contempt, or even expected him to submit to your plans and your viewpoints? Who is really god in that mode of thinking? These are not momentary lapses, this is our nature. This is how we are fallen.

But now God begins the great and wonderful task of changing that. He begins in early human history with Abram. Perhaps he is right now beginning this in you as well. Take the time right now to bow your head in submission to him. Now. Go ahead. You know that's what he wants for you. And having done that you, too, will be on the path of blessing that God has always intended for you.

"I will bless you. . . ."

Unexpected Mercy -- A Sermon

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” (Acts 9:10-16 ESV)

It's not about us, it's about God's glory.



How can you, how can I, how can our church become an instrument of God's mercy? "

"So often we think that the good we do comes from within us. James 1:17 tells us every good and perfect gift comes from God."

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."--Jesus

I Will Bless You

We are looking at the seven-fold blessing God promised to Abram in Genesis 12. Here it is again:

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

A heptad of blessing:
1) I will make of you a great nation.
2) I will bless you.
3) And make your name great.
4) So that you will be a blessing.
5) I will bless those who bless you.
6) Him who dishonors you I will curse.
7) In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

In a previous post we looked at the first one: "I will make of you a great nation." Now let's look at that second one.

I will bless you.

No greater words could be spoken to a human being by God. I will bless you. There are no conditions and no clauses. It is a promise without expected performance or precondition. I will bless you. What grace is this!

But Abram hadn't been previously blessed and was probably thinking by this time in his life that he was simply not to be blessed by the gods at all. He had no son. It is hard for us to imagine the impact of that simple fact on a person of his culture and time. He had no son. He has failed to meet the first criterion of a "blessed" person. Don't even try to tell us you are blessed, Abram, if you don't even have a son. It's like saying you're a golfer but you don't know how to hold a golf club. Sure. Right. Whatever.

But God comes down at this point in his life and says to him, based solely on his grace, "I will bless you."

To be blessed means to be the recipient of God's favor. How would Abram have understood this promise? He probably would have understood it to mean physical blessings: health, wealth, children. Obtaining the favor of the gods was an important endeavor in that society and how to do so an important study. The most widely accepted idea in human history has been that favor is obtained from deity in exchange for something offered to the deity. YHWH makes his grand entrance into this culture by making a promise to bless based solely on his goodness.

I will bless you.

How are we to interpret such a promise? How are we to apply it to our own lives? Without going into details as to how and why (details which I will get into later), understand that you, too, as a believer, are the recipient of this promise. How are you to understand this blessing? In what form will it take? Is this a health and wealth and prosperity promise? Well, yes . . . and no. Mostly no. But mostly yes. Confused? Good.

If you thought God's promises of blessing were all about health, wealth, and prosperity in this life as defined by our dominant media culture, then you are not unlike the people of the Old Covenant for whom this was mostly true. Just remember that in that time (before Christ) God was teaching them (and us) truths about himself through object lessons that they could understand. But when Jesus comes along he turns this kind of thinking on its head. Rather than give you a whole series of blog posts on how Jesus did that, let me just sum it up by saying that Jesus taught us to expand our viewpoint by taking a step back and looking at things from an eternal perspective rather than a temporal perspective. Jesus taught us that it was a good thing to suffer for a short time in this life in view of the eternal rewards we would receive in so doing.

Eternity.

That is how long we will exist. And in that context, any and all things we will experience in this life are very brief indeed. With that in mind, as believers we are blessed in Christ beyond imagination for all eternity, even if we do without and suffer for His name in this life, which is but a short time.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18 ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:3 ESV)

Spiritual blessings in Christ. That is what we have as believers and every one of these stems from that first promise to Abram: I will bless you. Does that blessing extend to you? It does if you are in Christ. And if you are not, his arms are open wide. Come and be blessed.

Stop -- A Sermon

A week late on this one, but with all due diligence we will get back on track.




Has God ever stopped you before? God has a plan for you and nothing can stop that plan. Be encouraged.

His Life and Mine: Spirited Faith

How would you describe your life? What is it about? Here is Pastor John's sermon from last Sunday which he titled "Spirited Faith" in which he takes a look at how right belief leads to right practice.

The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." (Acts 5:30-32 ESV)

". . . because our lives are meant to be all about him. That's the orthodoxy, the right belief, that repentance, the reorienting of our lives so that our whole lives are about Jesus Christ."



"But I do want to point out that Peter doesn't just do the right thing because it's the right thing to do. . . . If you're doing the right thing just because it's the right thing to do then it's the wrong thing. The reason that we, as Christians, do the right thing is because Jesus calls us to do it."

Morning Reflection

A quiet morning.
Coffee is hot.
And good.
Kids are gone.
Lighting is low.
The refrigerator is running.
Every once in a while I can hear a bird outside.
God is good.

My life has been an interesting one. Since I don't know how long I have left, I won't boast about tomorrow, but if it is half as interesting as yesterday then I am in for an adventure. Adventures are always good things, right?

This morning I was reflecting on my life, the places I've been, the people I've met, the things I have lived. I found myself scrolling through my friends list on Facebook and mentally putting each person into his proper place in my personal timeline. I love people. I really do. I confess that sometimes I have hated people, and that was wrong. Usually it was because of some perceived wrong that they had done against me. Sometimes forgiveness takes time. All times forgiveness takes grace. (Thank God for his grace.)  Some people I have disliked. Some people make me cringe. All people I love, not just because Christ told me to, but because the flaws I see in them I see in myself, and I see that if I wish to be loved in spite of my flaws I must be willing to do the same. I love them because I love me and of all things in this life I must have, indeed cannot live without, it is a love that transcends these flaws and loves anyway.

That is God's love.

What would the world be without grace?

My early life was filled with King James Bible. I have memorized so much King James that I couldn't even begin to tell you how much of it I know. That's not a boast, memorization comes easily to me. There are some parts of the King James that I know, not because I've ever sat down and tried to memorize them, but because I'm simply so familiar with them that I know them. No matter what happens to me in daily life, there is a Bible verse that will jump out at me in my head that fits, and it is always King James. So as I was reflecting this morning on my life this verse kept jumping out at me.

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3, KJV)

God has been drawing me to himself my whole life, and most of the time I was not even aware of it. Through my sin, my ignorance, my unbelief, my mustard seed, flawed faith, God has been faithful to me. He has loved me with an everlasting love. And he has been drawing me closer to him through every event of my life.

I had to look up my verse in my new adopted translation, the ESV, and found that, though it was worded a bit differently, in context it conveyed the same idea. 

"At that time, declares the LORD, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people." 
Thus says the LORD:
"The people who survived the sword
found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest, 
the LORD appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
(Jeremiah 31:1-3, ESV)

God loves me in spite of me. God has been faithful to me in spite of me. I remember when I was about 8 or 9 years old thinking to myself, Who could ever believe this crazy God stuff? I can remember times when I decided to take the reins in my own hands and do what I wanted in spite of what God thought or wanted. I can remember thinking This isn't right followed up by I don't care, I'm doing it anyway. I can remember more than once being angry, bitter, disillusioned with God. I remember once going years being angry with God, knowing how stupid that was, and not caring how stupid that was. I once wrote this poem:

Jonah and I, we do well we believe

To be angry with God (How dumb is that?)

And forgetting all the good we receive

We sit and we sulk as though we're deceived

Thinking that maybe we're right and God's wrong

And griping because our dear gourd has gone

Underneath which so long we had sat.

Thank God that He suffers fools for so long!

I wrote the poem thinking, I know how Jonah felt. I am Jonah. Yet even that thought did not turn me.

But God's love did.

God has been very patient with me. I am a vessel that he has fitted, indeed is still fitting, for his purposes. And his purposes are glorious.

I have a feeling you who read this are not that different from me.

An Imperfect Faith

Has your faith ever faltered? Was there a time when you knew the blessedness of God and when knowing him and serving him seemed to make your life perfect? And then things didn't go right?

You are not alone. In fact, you are in good company. It happened to Abraham too. Tomorrow in Sunday School we will take a look at a time in Abraham's life when faith led him to doubt, and nearly to despair. Is God always faithful? Come to Sunday School tomorrow and see.

His Life and Mine: Go, Baptize, Teach, Remember.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20, ESV)

John goes expositional! Tremendous message.

I Will Make Of You A Great Nation

Remember where we left Abram? God had made him a promise:

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

The promise was in the form of a heptad. We broke it down like this:

1. I will make of you a great nation
2. I will bless you
3. and make your name great
4. so that you will be a blessing
5. I will bless those who bless you
6. him who dishonors you I will curse
7. in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

A seven-fold blessing or promise. Let's look at the first part.

I Will Make Of You A Great Nation

A great nation? Abram does not even have a child. Abram has failed in the most basic measure of greatness in his day. He has no offspring.

It is hard for us to imagine in our culture what it must have been like for Abram to be a man without a son, but to the people of his day a man unable to have children would have seemed to be under a curse from one of the gods. Was there something wrong with him? With his wife? What had he done wrong? If you and I set out to make a great nation of someone in Abram's day, we would certainly not have started with Abram.

Yet here he is. Out of all the people available to God in that day, God chose this one. I am reminded again of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians:

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29 ESV)

I bet if you and I had been around back then as observers, and if we had known that God was about to select someone to make into a great nation, we would never have guessed Abram. But there he is.

But there's more to note about this promise than just its unlikely recipient. I think it is important to note the context in which we find it. In chapter 9 of Genesis we read where God tells Noah's sons to be fruitful and multiply and spread throughout all the earth. Then, in chapter 10 of Genesis, we have the table of nations. All of the sons of Japheth are listed, then Ham, then Shem. All of these people become peoples--nationalities--nations. They are multiplying. But instead of spreading out across the earth they seek to unite and make themselves one great nation in order to have the strength to defy God and what God has commanded.

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:4 ESV)

This is the Tower of Babel.

So what does God do? He confounds their languages and thus disperses them. They will fulfill his decree whether they wish to or not. Now consider again what God promises to do for Abram. God promises to do for and in and through Abram what the nations had attempted to do for themselves in the previous chapter without God. They tried to make a great nation for themselves. God said no. Then God goes and takes a nobody named Abram and says to him, "I will make of you a great nation."

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:3-5 ESV)

In the same way you and I can easily observe what goes on in the world around us each and every day. Human beings pursue happiness in every way they can imagine, according to the dictates of their own conscience. But they pursue it apart from God--and they are doomed to fail. There is no peace, no lasting joy, no satisfaction for a human being apart from God. But what the world seeks apart from God, God freely gives to those who give their lives to him.

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:25 ESV)

What God gives us in Christ is far better than anything we could hope to achieve on our own. But now let us segue back to Abram and that first promise.

Someone says, "Okay, okay, okay, I get it. God made of Abram a great nation. I get that. He's talking about Israel, God's people. What does that have to do with me specifically in 2013?"

I'm smiling right now because I used to think like that too. The great nation that God promises to make of Abram is more than just ancient Israel. It is more than just David and Solomon and the Divided Kingdom. What God is promising to Abraham is world-wide in scope. This promise points us to the world-wide Church. Think of it like this. Abram is the acorn. Israel is the oak. The Church is the mighty forest that includes all kingdoms of the world.

Speaking to Gentiles (nations) in Ephesians 2 Paul says this, "remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world." But now, because of and through Christ, we Gentiles have been brought into that nation. "For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace," So in Christ there is no longer a distinction between Jew and Gentile, Israel and "the nations." In fact, through Christ, the Church is Israel and Gentiles have been brought into the kingdom, which is Christ's. "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,"

Not enough? Paul follows up with this:

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (Ephesians 3:1-6 ESV)(emphasis mine)

Paul says the same things to the Gentiles in Galatia and in Rome.

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:7-9 ESV)

I'll let you read Romans 9-11 on your own time. For now, let's skip ahead to the end and see the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise to Abram.

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15 ESV)

Yep. Every bit of that is in view when God says to Abram, "I will make of you a great nation." Abram and Israel and the Church are, in a sense, God's answer to the Tower of Babel. Those who seek to exalt themselves will be humbled. God alone will be exalted--but those who humble themselves and follow him will be exalted along with him, and for his glory.

His Life and Mine: When Bread Becomes Body

You are broken. I am broken. We are broken. The world is broken. How will God fix it? How will God make it right?



In order for mercy there must be justice. Tremendous sermon from Pastor John. "This is my body which is broken for you . . . "

Jesus, who was whole, became broken, in order to make broken people whole. Are you broken?

The Promise That Changed History

Imagine you were God. Imagine you had created a race of beings in your image, endowing them with free will and moral responsibility. Imagine you had blessed them with all they could ever want or need. Now imagine they had rebelled against you, turned their backs on your blessings, and followed their own path. What would you do? Would you continue to bless them in spite of their rebellion? That's what God did.

Why would God do this? Well, way over in the New Testament Rabbi Saul gives us a hint. Hear what he says: 

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4 ESV) (emphasis mine)

The kindness of God toward those who are in rebellion toward him is intended to lead them to repentance.

And that's what we read in Genesis. We read of a patient and longsuffering God who is good to those who hate him and are in rebellion to his commands.

Think of the awfulness of the human condition. God made us in his image and likeness. He made us a world in which to dwell and blesses us with intelligence and strength and freedom to produce and prosper. He blesses us with health and wealth and bountiful good things. When we are hungry he provides food and when we are thirsty he provides drink. Tired, he provides sleep. He satisfies us with all good things. Hear the words of Christ:

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matthew 5:44, 45 ESV)

Here Jesus commands us to love as God does, to love even our enemies. How does God show love to his enemies? The sun rises on them every morning in spite of their wickedness. The rains come and bless them in due season in spite of the fact that they ignore him, do not seek him, in fact seek to live their lives apart from him without respecting or even caring about his existence.

Yes, God created a race of beings who choose to ignore him and his law and yet feel entitled to his blessings, even to the point of complaining if they do not get everything their way or if anything goes wrong as they seek to live their selfish, immoral, autonomous lives.

What does God owe a race in rebellion? Nothing. Then why does he continue to bless them? Love. God loves us in spite of us.

And that's where we find the human race in Genesis 12. It is a world gone after idols--gods made in their own image. To give credit to another for what God has done is the height of disrespect. Human beings are a contemptuous lot.

So what does God do? Does he judge us all? No. Right at this moment of darkness in human history God comes down and calls a single man out of idolatry and begins making wonderful, wonderful promises to him. Why? Because this man alone and above all deserves these promises? No. God does it because he loves. God's calling of Abraham is an act of unmerited favor. It is grace. It is love.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2,3 ESV)

The blessing is in the form of a heptad. If you've read much in the Bible then you are familiar with the form. It is a seven-fold pronouncement or blessing or teaching. Here are the seven parts to the Abrahamic heptad:

1. I will make of you a great nation
2. I will bless you
3. and make your name great
4. so that you will be a blessing
5. I will bless those who bless you
6. him who dishonors you I will curse
7. in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

There are depths here to plumb and riches worth finding out. I'm going to take a look at each one of these in the next few posts. In the mean time, take a few minutes to wonder at the patience and mercy of God. The patience and mercy he shows the world in Genesis is mirrored in his dealings with us in our own lives.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

Has God been patient with you? If you are honest with yourself, you know that he has. That patience is love and that love is calling you out. Will you respond?

Believer, think how much you have to be thankful for and thank God for his exceeding great and precious promises.

His Life and Mine: Who Is This?

Palm Sunday Message from Pastor John.



Imagine a God willing to suffer to make you right. Amazing love, how can it be, that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?



How easy it is for us to project what we want onto Jesus instead of humbly seeking to see him for who he really was and is. Thank you, Pastor John.

Abram vs. Adam (and Eve)

In order to appreciate Abram's great act of faith as recorded in Hebrews 11:8 . . .

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8 ESV)

. . . it is worth our while, I think, to go back and look at the temptation of Eve in the Garden. What do the two have to do with each other? We shall see.

Here's the passage where Eve is tempted. Check it out:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, "You shall not eat of any tree in the garden"?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Genesis 3:1-7 ESV)

Eve had the word of God. She had received it, most likely, through Adam. It was clear and it was basically this: "You may eat of the fruit of the trees of the Garden, but the tree that is in the midst (or middle) of the Garden, that tree you shall not eat of on penalty of death." Satan contradicts this word from God. He flat-out says that it is not so, that, in fact, God is working to deceive her. Then he offers her this: eat of the tree and become like God.

So what will Eve do? Will she believe God or will she follow the path offered her by the Serpent?

But before we even answer that, let me ask you this. Have you ever really thought about what Satan is offering Eve? With what does he entice her? He says that if she eats of the tree she will be "like God, knowing good and evil."

Wait a minute . . . isn't Eve already like God? Was she not, along with Adam, already created in the image of God, and in His likeness? So how can Satan entice her with what she already has? How does that make sense?

What Satan tempts her with is this: autonomy. Let me paraphrase him: "Eve, are you really going to believe what God said? He is not looking out for your best interests. He is looking out for himself at your expense. Your best bet, Eve, is to make your own path, govern yourself by your own decisions. That's the only way you will reach your full potential and be everything you can possibly be. Don't listen to God. Look out for yourself."

Autonomy.

But we were never meant to be independent, autonomous beings. We were made to be in fellowship with God and dependent upon Him. Only in this way can we ever see our full potential, be all we can be, know true happiness, find fulfillment. Apart from God we are like fish out of water. We flop around for awhile, then die. That's it. But, in God, we become all that God intended us to be--what we were made for.

We need God. Especially now that we are fallen.

So what do Adam and Eve choose? They choose autonomy. And the world has been miserable ever since.

Now fast-forward a few chapters to Genesis 12. Another man receives the word of God now. This man is Abram. God gives him a command also. Will he listen to God? Will he believe God? Or will he follow his own path? After all, what does God know about human happiness? What does he know about blessing or prosperity? Anything? Should Abram believe God? Or shouldn't Abram be like everyone else and follow his own path?

What will he do? Abram believed God. By faith he went out . . .

Sin is any option that is not faith and faith is the only option that is not sin. Think about that one for a minute. Go ahead. Go back and read it again.

And faith always results in obedience. We either believe God or we don't and if we believe him then we obey him. If we disobey him then we obviously don't believe him, don't believe that he knows what is best for us. This is why Paul says in Romans 14: For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. (Romans 14:23b ESV)

And this is why the author of Hebrews says in chapter 11: And without faith it is impossible to please him, (Hebrews 11:6a ESV)

So Abram is given the word of God also. It is a word of command followed by a promise. Will Abram believe God or will Abram follow his own path?

Abram believed God. And just as Eve's mistrust of God resulted in her disobedience, Abram's trust in God resulted in his obedience. "He went out, not knowing where he was going." And so Abram becomes the father of the faithful.

Do you believe God? Or are you in rebellion to him? Still think you can find true happiness on some other path, the path of your choosing? Think again. Your path only leads to misery and death. Believe God. Follow him.

What Is Faith Anyway?

The call of Abram was like the first day of Spring. Into a world that is dark and dead spiritually comes the word of God to Abram. . . .

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

We have seen that this is an act of God's grace and we have explored the idea of how it parallels the way that God calls individuals out of spiritual darkness and into His light. We saw how Abram's response was an act of faith which resulted in obedience. "He went out not knowing where he was going."
Now let us take a closer look at that faith. What is faith anyway?

If I were to ask my question--"What is faith?"--in just about any room of evangelical Christians this is the response I would get most often. People who know the Bible some, know that Hebrews 11 is the "Hall of Faith" and that the first verse gives a definition of faith.

But what does that mean? What does "the substance of things hoped for" mean? How is faith a substance? How is it an evidence? The problem with Hebrews 11:1 is that for many of us it is an answer that really doesn't answer anything. I think that what is missing is context. Let me explain.

The Letter to the Hebrews was written by a concerned Jewish follower of Jesus Christ who was earnestly seeking to encourage his fellow Jewish believers to persevere in their faith. These believers were facing persecution, and in the face of that persecution they were tempted to turn back and no longer follow Jesus. So the theme of Hebrews is how Jesus is better. He is better than the angels. He is greater than Moses. He is a greater High Priest than the Levitical line. He offered a better sacrifice (himself). Now let's peak in at what he is saying in chapter 10, right before we get to our famous, but hard to understand, verse in chapter 11.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (Hebrews 10:32-35 ESV)

These believers were suffering persecution. Following Jesus was costing them dearly. He reminds them of how they had responded in faith by "enduring" their own reproach and affliction, "being partners" with others who went through the same, having compassion on those who were thrown in prison for their faith and joyfully accepting the plundering of their property. What a testimony! "Therefore," he says, "do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward."

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. (Hebrews 10:36 ESV)

Those "things hoped for" in Hebrews 11:1 refer to what God has promised to the faithful, the great reward of verse 35 above. The "things hoped for" are the promised blessings of God to all those who trust him--eternal rest, joy, peace, blessing, all the goodness of God for all eternity. We cannot see those things now, but we hope and wait for them in time. How do we know that they are real? What is the evidence? The evidence is the very fact that we believe. Faith is a gift of God to those whom Christ has promised to save--fully and finally. "The natural man does not receive the things of God." "They that are in the flesh cannot please God." "Without faith it is impossible to please Him."

If you have faith it is because God has given you that faith, and if God has given you faith then God intends to bless you fully and finally. Therefore, the faith that you have now is the very substance of what you hope for in Christ, and the very evidence of that future blessing which you cannot, as yet, see.

The faith that God gives is an enduring faith. So what is the evidence that their faith is of this "enduring" kind that God gives? How do they (or how do we) know that their (our) faith is genuine? Well, all they have to do is look to the past and all the things that they have endured so far, the reproaches, the afflictions, the imprisonments, the loss of property. Their endurance in the past is the proof of their faith. Imagine he is saying it this way . . .

"Your endurance through trials in the past is the proof of a genuine faith and that enduring faith is the substance and evidence that you will finish the course before you and receive your reward. The fact that you had faith through those trials demonstrates that God is working in you--your faith is genuine. And if it was genuine before, then you can have confidence that it will get you through to the end. 'He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.' The Christian life is a journey, a pilgrimmage, which we walk by faith. The evidence of that faith is that we do what God says, we endure, we persevere, we trust, we obey. And that very faith in us is the substance and the evidence that we will finish our course. It was by this same faith that the elders, those who have gone before us, received their good report."

And now follows a listing of those faithful people of God who went on before us and how they won the victory over the obstacles set before them through faith--and endured to the end.

Faith, then, is a trust in God's word that leads to a faithful obedience to the same. Obedience is the indispensible evidence of faith. God-given faith has an enduring quality. This faith is the evidence that we belong to God and will win the victory over all obstacles, eventually even death.

Coming up we will make an interesting comparison of Abram's response to God's word to that of someone else we encountered earlier in Genesis, take a look at what sin really is, and then start looking into the nature of the promise that God made to Abram--the most wonderful promise in the history of the world.

The Invasion of God

Just when it looks darkest, then comes God.

I cannot say for certain, but I have an idea that there may have been no worshippers of YHWH God on the earth by the time we get to the end of Genesis 11. I'm not sure when to place Job, and I do not know what else God may have been doing in the hearts of others that is nowhere recorded in Scripture, nevertheless the portrait painted in Genesis is of a world in rebellion to God and scattered. And as we saw in the last post, Terah and his family are in Ur of the Chaldees "serving other gods."

That's when God begins his great redemptive work. Oh, God has been merciful and forgiving before now and God has loved and saved by his grace before now, but when we get to Genesis 12 and Abraham we arrive at a great turning point in the history of the world. We see the beginnings of God's great plan of redemption being set into motion. It begins with a man called Abram.

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)

So God comes down and speaks to an idolater named Abram and God calls him "out of darkness into his marvellous light" as Peter phrases it in the King James translation. God waits until everything looks really, really bad and then God begins to do something very, very good. It's easy to miss the significance of what is going on here, but make no mistake, this is like the sprouting of an acorn, the first acorn in what will become a great forest.

God's calling is an act of love--not just of love for Abram, but of love for all mankind. God is determined to bless whether we deserve it or not. In fact, God is determined to give blessing to those who most certainly do not deserve it. So he chooses Abram and tells Abram he will bless him, bless all those who bless him, and through him bless the whole world. Isn't God's love amazing? When the world is most deserving of a curse, God intervenes and begins the greatest work of blessing the world has ever known.

What is Abram's response to this call? The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews tells us:

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8 ESV)

God, in grace, speaks to us in spite of the fact that we do not deserve it. If you are a believer, if you are a follower of Christ, then you already know this. God spoke to you, called you, and you responded like Abram did, in faith. But what if you are not a believer? Perhaps you have doubts. Perhaps you are a skeptic. Perhaps you have reservations. Perhaps you have had some bad experiences. Perhaps you were once a church-goer, made a profession, walked an aisle, raised your hand, kneeled at an altar, . . . but now there is doubt and darkness in your heart. I want you to know that God calls people out of darkness, and he calls them to Himself. In fact, just as God invaded the world and invaded the life of Abram in our Scripture above God may be invading your life right now. He may be calling you out of your darkness into his glorious light. God is like that. God could judge you, but God is extending love to you instead. He says, "Follow me." Where is he going? Who knows. Does it matter? Wherever he leads we know this--there is blessing, and peace, and joy, and love where he is.

Not sure yet? Keep reading.

His Life and Mine: Lost and Found

Pastor John's sermon from last Sunday morning. Informative, thought-provoking, and challenging. Thanks, John, for showing us a portion of the heart of God and for challenging us to make His passion ours.



"Unless the shepherd loves the sheep. Then it makes sense. Doesn't it. Then we understand why he would abandon everything to go and look for this one that is lost."

And the conclusion: "The Son of man came to save the lost."

Why Abraham?

So why did God call Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees? More specifically, why Abram? Was he more righteous than all others of his generation? More faithful to God, perhaps? Did he have some innate qualities that made him the ideal object of this great project YHWH God was about to undertake?

I don't think so.

Oh, I know an argument can be made that Abram was called for some reason that lay within himself, but the Bible never states explicitly either way. The Bible just says he was called and leaves it to us to dig for any underlying reasons.

Here's the argument I don't agree with: it starts by saying that Abram comes from a long line of righteous people--the author of Genesis takes great pains to detail how Abram is descended directly from Adam, through Seth, through Enoch, through Noah, through Shem, down to Terah, his father. A righteous heritage, a righteous lineage, a righteous line. These are the faithful ones on the earth and naturally God selects from among them. Abram must have been righteous, a follower of the true God of Seth, Enoch, Noah, and Shem. Right?

But I don't know. Here's what gives me pause. Joshua, at the end of his life, had this to say . . .

And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many. I gave him Isaac. . . .
(Joshua 24:2-3 ESV)(emphasis mine)

Joshua says that Terah and Abraham were in ancient Babylonia serving other gods when God took Abraham from beyond the River and led him to Canaan. More, when Joshua says this to the people, Joshua says that he is quoting God. "Thus says YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, . . ."

So was Abram chosen for his faithfulness? No. His righteousness? No. For what reason, then? We are not explicitly told. But we can be assured that it was not for something inherent in Abram. We read of nothing in Abram, prior to his being called, which would seem to qualify him for being the recipient of anything good God might be doing, much less the blessings God was promising.

And that is the beauty of grace.

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ESV)

That is such good news for us! God's calling is not based on anything meritorious we have to offer God. God's calling is based on his grace. Why? "That no human being might boast in the presence of God."

Have you served everything in life but God? God is calling you. Have you lived foolishly? Made foolish decisions? God is calling you. Are you weak? God is calling you. Have you ever done something low or despicable? God is calling you. Do you want forgiveness? A worthy purpose for your life? God is calling you.

"But I'm not righteous!" someone might say. "God calls the righteous, the worthy, the good people!"

Wrong. Witness the words of Jesus himself.

And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:31-32 ESV)

Is God calling you? Then the only proper response is the response of faith. Leave your idols and follow him. And that leads us to the next lesson.

What Is God Doing?

It begins here:

 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:1-3 ESV)
 

But it doesn't end until it gets to here:

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” (Revelation 7:9-12 ESV)
 

What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything? What is it all about it? What is the purpose of it all? What is God doing anyway? The answer to all of these questions is found in the verses I copied and pasted above. Life, history, the universe, everything has as its purpose the glory of God in the display of his attributes. What is God doing? God is showing off. And what he is showing off is something so amazing, so wonderful, that everyone must see it. And everyone will.

Do you have any idea how amazing God is? No, no you don't. And neither do I. But every time I get close, every time I see a glimpse of his glory in Scripture or in the world around me, I just want to fall on my knees in awe of Him. God is incredible beyond imagination and he has been showing that to us since the beginning of time. Only a fallen race could miss it.

And that's where we find ourselves. We are a fallen race. The good news is that part of God's glory, the main part, the essential part--the most glorious part--is that he chose to display his magnificence through his redeeming love and grace--by restoring the fallen. That's what God is doing. God is marching through history, orchestrating this great pageant of life, the universe, and everything, to demonstrate his glory in his redeeming love and grace.

In the Revelation God gives us a sneak peek into the end of redemptive history and what do we see there? We see an innumerable multitude of every tribe, nation, family, and language on earth, all of whom have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, all of whom are magnifying and praising the glory of God in a way that would never have been possible without the fall.

Think about that. Without sin we could never be in awe and wonder of God's grace. We praise God for his justice, and rightly so. But how much greater is his mercy, especially when we fully understand that in Christ God is merciful, not at the expense of his justice, but his mercy is completely compatible with his justice, indeed the natural result of it! (I know that's a mouthful and a lot to grasp. So if your head is spinning trying to get it, chock it up to my poor communication skills, then tuck it away for another day. But trust me--in Christ, God's mercy is justice for the redeemed.)

So what is God doing in creation and history? God is showing off. That's right, God is showing off.

Imagine if you could get in a time machine and go back to the 1920's and attend a Yankees baseball game. For a baseball fan this would be a tremendous opportunity. Now imagine that you want to get to the game early. Why? Batting practice. You want to see Babe Ruth go out and do batting practice. So you're sitting there in the bleachers out in left field and the Babe steps up to the plate. Whack! He smacks one over the right field fence. Whack! There goes another one. Whack! This one to center! Smack! Another one to right. But now he gets a smile on his face. You see him step back and take a look around and then step back in the box. Then he points to left field . . . whack! He smacks one over the left field fence. He points to center. Smack! This one goes over the center field fence. What is he doing? He's showing off! He's displaying his greatness! Oh, you think you've seen something? Let me show you what I can really do!

And that's what God is doing. God is not content to show us just some of his glory. Why? Because God is good and God is loving and God desires that we should know ALL of his glory in its fullness. So God is giving us the best show possible. And at the end of time if we could sit in a seat and watch the full history of creation from beginning to end we would see how every detail redounds to his glory, and we would sit with our mouths wide open and be in awe. And we would fall on our knees and say, "God forgive us for ever doubting you for a moment, how mighty you are! and how wise! and how just! and how holy! and how full of grace and mercy and love! Who are we that we should be the witnesses of such great acts, such a mighty display, much less the recipients of it?"

So what does this have to do with Abraham? Well, you see, it begins in Abraham. Abraham is the acorn and the redeemed of every tribe, nation, family and language, well, they are the mighty oak tree. In fact, they are an entire forest of oaks all descended from that one acorn. In Abraham God begins his great redemptive work. Oh, he could just judge us all and we would have to admit that he would be right in doing so. And we would be in awe of his justice. But, don't miss this, instead of merely judging us, God is going to really show us something . . .

His Life and Mine: Something Harder To Do

This week's sermon from Pastor John in two parts. A tremendous word from the Lord. Challenging. As you listen, ask for God's grace to help you apply this essential to truth to your life. May God give us a church, community, and even a world filled with people eager to forgive.




Don't quit now, just a few minutes to go.




As I watched/listened to this sermon for the second time the following Scripture popped into my head:

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 ESV)

Find this hard to do? It is. But it is also essential if we are to be a follower of Christ. And if it were easy, if any part of the Christian life were easy, then we wouldn't need Christ and we wouldn't need faith. But we do need them, don't we?  Isn't it funny that we must ask for grace to be able to extend grace to others?

Thank you, Pastor John.

An Encouragement To 'Follow' This Blog

I want to encourage you to sign up to be a 'follower' of the blog Faith, Beauty, and Awe. Doing so will mean that any time an update is posted to the site you will get an email notification. Rather than having to come over here to see if there is anything new you will be notified of all new content immediately. How convenient is that?

How to 'Follow' the Blog

Scroll down this page just a bit, keeping an eye on the right-hand column. Immediately beneath the 'Blog Archive' you will find an icon for the ESV Bible. Clicking on it will take you to the website for the English Standard Version Online. This is the translation I use for the blog and in Sunday School, mostly because it is my personal favorite. Next to it, immediately to the right, are the words 'FOLLOW BY EMAIL'. Beneath it is a small box. Click on the box, then type in your email address. When you are finished typing in your email address, click on the black button marked 'Submit'. That's it!

What to Look For

As soon as Pastor John puts the video for today's sermon on YouTube I will also make it available here. This is a weekly thing. Also look for the rest of the posts pertaining to last week's Sunday School lesson followed by the audio for this morning's lesson on 'Faith.' This will be followed by some written posts about that same lesson. From time to time I will also post links to other resources that you may find helpful in your Christian journey--encouragements to faith, Bible study resources, historical anecdotes, etc.--thoughts and ideas I may have that spring from the lessons in Sunday School. God bless you and tell your friends!

Becoming home for all those in East Texas without a church home!

Is This the God of the Bible?

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sado-masochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. Those of us schooled from infancy in his ways can become desensitized to their horror."--Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, opening sentences of chapter 2.

Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, Oxford professor, best-selling author, and lecturer. He is also an outspoken atheist. I brought up the quotation from above in Sunday School because in it he expresses a viewpoint that is echoed, I'm afraid, in the thinking of a lot of people, most of whom would not be so bold as to express it in the way that he does.

It is quite a statement, is it not? But how accurate is it?

In a word, not very. Okay, that was two words, but you get the point. Mr. Dawkins has admitted in interviews that he has not personally read the entire Bible, though, ironically, he advocates for its being read by English school children. I hope that you have read the Bible and, if not, let me encourage you to start with the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Why? Because the picture they paint of God is not at all what Mr. Dawkins claims. How does God reveal himself in the opening chapters of Genesis? Let's take a look.

In the first two chapters we see the Almighty Creator--a supreme intelligence who makes value judgments by pronouncing everything he does as good. He is orderly and has purpose. He is personal and considerate. He enjoys himself and desires to share that joy and goodness. He works and finds satisfaction in what he does. The picture painted in these chapters transcends any invention of the ancient world in its scope and magnificence. It is a high view of God. A beautiful portrait.

In chapter three, however, the tone of the narrative changes. There is the introduction of an adversary--and the entrance of moral wrong into the world. Perfect creation becomes spoiled. How will God react?

God has promised death to Adam and Eve if they disobey. They disobey. Does God judge them? Sort of. He defers the literal penalty for their sin until a future date. He comes looking for them. He converses with them. He covers their shame. He mercifully drives them from the Garden lest they take hold of the Tree of Life and remain in their fallen state forever. He pronounces the sentence for their crime and in almost the same breath he makes the first promise of future redemption.

This is hardly the god described by Richard Dawkins.

Next we read of Cain who viciously murders his righteous and innocent brother--who bore the image of God. Does God immediately drop the hammer of judgment? No. God converses with him--reasons with him. Does Cain repent? No. Cain responds petulantly to God. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Does God then give him what he deserves? Again, no. God patiently confronts him with his crime and punishes him by taking away his livelihood. Does Cain repent then? No, again. Cain complains that his punishment is more than he can bear. (I wonder how much Abel can bear at this moment as he lies there bleeding his life into the earth?) But while I am impatient with Cain God shows him mercy by placing a mark on him so that as he wanders the earth no one will exact vengeance upon him.

Does this sound like the god described by Richard Dawkins?

And what of Cain's descendants? They grow more wicked and brazen with each succeeding generation, yet God blesses them with knowledge and ability so that they grow skillful in the arts and sciences and their life becomes easier in spite of the curse.

Does this sound like the god described by Richard Dawkins?

Then God returns and blesses Eve with another son, a replacement for Cain and Abel. Over and over again man ruins himself in his rebellion toward God and over and over again God comes behind and fixes things in his mercy.

And how does man respond? By the time we get to Noah the whole earth is filled with violence and wickedness, so much so that God finally has enough. Human beings have so defiled the world that God must cleanse it. As I read the narrative, in my impatience and sympathy toward God I think, Well, it's about time.

But God still shows mercy. He gives them 120 years to repent while Noah, a preacher of righteousness, builds the ark.

if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; (2 Peter 2:5 ESV)

because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. (1 Peter 3:20 ESV) (emphasis mine)

By this time I am struck by the amount of patience and forbearance God has shown. Shouldn't God just get rid of man and solve his problem? No, God is not finished with man. He does, indeed, wipe most of mankind from the face of the earth, but not before observing that

"every thought of the intent of his heart was only evil continually"--Genesis 6:5 (my paraphrase)

Yet even in this God relents and saves Noah. No, God is not finished with man.

The story of Noah causes me to pause and consider. In light of human rebellion against God (in light of my own life-long rebellion against God), God has every right to terminate the gift of life he has given us. When I consider how our unrighteousness has defiled a good earth and sullied his holy name, again I understand that God has every right to judge us for our crimes. The very ground, according to Scripture, cries out to God for the blood that is spilled upon it. No wonder God must cleanse the earth in a flood. But even in this God shows mercy.

In his patience he allows every chance for repentance, even providing a "herald" or preacher of righteousness. And even when all refuse to enter the ark he does not put an end to man, he simply starts over.

It's as if God is saying in the Flood, "This is what I could do and I would be perfectly right in doing it. I could destroy man forever and I would be right in doing so." But when God saves Noah and his family it seems to me as if God is saying, "Yes, I could vindicate my holy name by just doing away with all of you. But, instead, let me show you something really special. Let me show you a different way I can solve this problem of sin and rebellion and vindicate my holy name at the same time. Let me show you how I will redeem all of creation from the horror that man's rebellion has brought upon it. Are you ready?

It starts with a man named Abram. . . ."

The God of Genesis is a God of infinite patience, mercy, wisdom, and wonder--nothing like what was described by our friend Mr. Dawkins. But, we should not wonder at the brazenness of someone like Dawkins, or wonder how God puts up with it. God has been putting up with all of us with great patience since way back in Genesis. This is who God is.

Introduction to Abraham, Part 2

Abraham . . . what has he to do with me? Everything. But in order to understand that and in order to understand Abraham himself we must put him in his historical/biblical context. There are eleven chapters in Genesis which precede Abraham and it is important that we understand them and what is taking place. In fact, by starting with Abraham we've started all wrong anyway. Let's start at the beginning . . .

In the beginning God . . .

The story of Scripture is the story of God. In fact, the very purpose of Scripture is to reveal God to us. God did not create and then run. God is, and always has been, very active in his creation. Someone might ask the question, "What does God do?" Good question. For the answer, just look around you. This is what God does. Creation and history are His story. And God has chosen to reveal Himself to us in history through His Word. He began that revelation at the call of Abraham.

I recently ran across an interesting gift to the Church (Ephesians 4:11,12) by the name of Witness Lee. If you want to know more about Witness Lee, just click on his name and you will be taken to his Wikipedia page. Or you can go to this page. (But be sure to come back!) Witness Lee was a Chinese Christian and missionary who took the gospel from China to Indonesia to Japan and Russia and later to the United States. He had a long and fruitful ministry and he left behind a few books, one of which I have. It is entitled Abraham: Called By God. Lee divided the book of Genesis into three parts and I liked his division, so I borrowed it. Here it is:

I. Chapters 1 & 2 -- In the beginning, Elohim . . .
II. Chapters 3-11 -- Now the serpent . . .
III. Chapters 12-50 -- Now YHWH said . . .

Before we go much further let me take a minute to explain the whole YHWH thing.

When you first read it your mind might have filled in the vowels. You might have said "Yahweh" in your mind, and if you did then you were mostly right. Those four consonants are known as the "tetragrammaton" and are the only thing left to us from antiquity of the covenant name of God revealed to Moses in the burning bush. For a full explanation go here. For now, suffice it to say that we no longer know for certain what the correct pronunciation of God's covenant name was, for it was lost to antiquity. But we do know the consonants without the vowels: YHWH. Again, if you're curious as to why, go here. [In our English translations, the tetragrammaton (YHWH) is usually rendered as "LORD" with all caps.]

I love Witness Lee's division of Genesis because it seems so natural. The first two chapters describe the wonderful creation of God (Elohim) and how it is good. Everything is pronounced good. We are left in awe of God's wisdom, power, and goodness.

But then something happens. In chapter 3 another character enters the story and everything begins to unravel.

Now the serpent . . .

Eve is tempted and succumbs. Adam falls. They are removed from the garden. Cain kills his brother Abel. Cain is marked and flees. Cain's offspring spiral further and further into sin and rebellion against God. Eve conceives again and gives birth to Seth. Things look good again. But soon all humankind is in rebellion to God. We read this:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
(Genesis 6:5 ESV)

But . . .

Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. . . .

So God destroys the world in a flood. But he spares Noah and his family. Then we see God setting his bow in the cloud promising mercy instead of justice. Nevertheless, humankind continues to rebel. By the time we get to Abraham are there any worshippers of God left on the whole earth?

It's a good question.

I contend there were none. I could be wrong, but I will defend my contention in the next post. But before we get to that post I have to ask.

What was God doing? How could God allow this?

Have you ever asked yourself the same question? Why would a good God allow evil into the world? Or, as some have put it, if there is evil in the world (and there certainly is) then what does that say about God? Is God evil? Is he incompetent? What is he doing?

It is not wrong to ask those questions because doubters and scoffers certainly have and the responsibility of having an answer has been put upon us.

So is there an answer? Of course, there is. Several. Some, in fact, better than others. we are going to look at those answers in the next post as well, for now we are getting to the crux of why Abraham was so important and why he is so relevant to you and me today.