Believers Armed and Dangerous

The reader who knows God well will probably laugh at any attempt to describe God’s love in mere words especially on an internet blog. I know it is futile, but I feel I need to try.

Maybe it would be good to attempt a description of the sort of Being God is.  Two of the foundational aspects of His nature is that He is spirit and He is love. 

He is greater, more powerful, than the universe itself since He created it and exists within and without it.  What level of power do you suppose God has to simply speak and all else that exists comes into being, yet He is mindful of you? 

Philosophy’s definition of God would is “That of which there can be nothing greater.”  In other words, if you can imagine some being greater than God, then that being would be God.

This solves a lot of issues in philosophy and theology as well: for God to be God, He would have to exist since a being is greater if it exists than if it doesn’t.  If God exists, then, He must be personal since a personal God is much greater than an impersonal god.  God must be powerful since a powerful God is much greater than a powerless one, and an infinitely powerful God is better still, and so on.  This is a form of what is called the ontological argument for the existence of God: God exists because a god who does not exist is unthinkable.

To continue this line and apply it to the subject at hand, a God who is loving is greater than one which is not.  An infinitely loving God is even greater, and a God who by nature is love itself is greater still: the greatest in fact. The God of the Bible is that God:

1 John 4:16 (ESV)  So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

How much does God love us, then?  I don’t think a human mind can comprehend how much God loves us.  He loves those who spit on His Son and wants them beside Him forever.  He loves those who torture His children and wants them to join Him in heaven fully forgiven and cleansed.

For, sin is like a mirror.  If we chip a mirror or shatter it it makes no difference.  We’ve still broken the mirror.  Sin is not something a holy God can dwell with, so He paid the price Himself.  He emptied Himself of His glory and came to earth to make that payment.

I’m not sure we can comprehend even that act.  To step from the throne of heaven and away from His godly glory and take lowly human form cannot be understood by man’s finite mind.  Love is for the Son to be separated from the Father, to have the face of the Father turn away from Him on the cross, and to break fellowship with Him for the first time in eternity in order to make it possible for us to dwell with Him forever.

God could have just gone on with time eternal, given up on us as sinful man, destroyed us as we deserved, and created a race of beings who would not turn away, but He didn’t.  He made a path for us all, we only need step onto it and follow it to everlasting life.

God’s love made it possible for Him to give us the ability to love Him freely.  Love isn’t love if it is forced, if it is part of our makeup.  Unlike God, our nature is hardly love, so God made allowances.  He didn’t destroy us and start over.  He offered us redemption because of His boundless love.

Why is this important?

John tells us he wrote down all that we needed to understand about God’s gift, that God had set forth a just plan to allow us to be received into His kingdom:

John 20:30-31 (ESV)  Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

God’s love made salvation available to us all in the most universal way: we need only believe.  This means we’re not required to know great truths or understand secret mysteries, we don’t need to obey the Law to the letter or strive to clean up our acts.  God’s love says “come as you are.” Young children as well as college professors, educationally handicapped or geniuses come equally to heaven’s gates. We need only believe for God to give us life.

The best description of God’s love that I’ve ever seen was in a poem written on the wall of a cell in an insane asylum, though I’m sure the writer was hardly ill:

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

How We Frustrate God

Mark 8:14-21 (ESV)  ¹⁴ Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” ¹⁶ And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” ²¹ And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

I’ve been studying John chapter six, the feeding of the five thousand in particular, and it occurred to me Jesus did nothing but feed the people and leave.  This seemed odd to me since miracles in the Bible are almost always done to either endorse the person God is using to perform the miracle or the message he carries.  John mentioned neither of these.  God often uses the “odd” things I run across in my studies.  I pursued it.

The simple answer is that Jesus did teach the people. We see this in another passage in Mark describing the same miracle:

Mark 6:34 (ESV)  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

During my research, though, I discovered the passage in Mark chapter eight above.  It mentions the miracle of feeding the five thousand but in a little different light. I thought there might be more to learn here, and there certainly is.

How often do we hear a promise of God and treat it with unbelief.  This one, for instance:

Eph 4:19-20  (ESV)  And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The disciples knew Jesus could multiply the bread if need be.  They had seen Him do it, yet they argued about what to do about the bread.  I see myself so much in this.  I look at the problem before me rather than the Problem Solver beside me.  From the initial passage above, it seems Jesus was getting a little frustrated by the disciples looking at worldly solutions to life’s little problems, and missing a meal was a little problem.

Jesus wanted them to see the greater picture, the evil the Pharisees were teaching.  I think this was a lesson Jesus repeated often to the disciples, but it hadn’t sunk in yet.  There they were looking at material problems again.  “Do you not yet understand?” may be an indication of Jesus’ frustration with these guys.

Why is this important?

How often do we stare aimlessly at some physical problem when Jesus is asking “Do you not yet understand?”  Our job is not to major on the minors but to deal with spiritual problems, the teaching of others, uplifting and encouraging others, sharing the gospel with others, in short: loving others.  Instead, we’re looking at short term problems of this world rather than eternal consequences.  Though God knows in advance all we will do, it may still not set rightly with Him that we hear His promises to provide but don’t really apply them to our everyday lives.

Mark 8:14-21 (ESV)  ¹⁴ Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” ¹⁶ And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. ¹⁷ And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” ²⁰ “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” ²¹ And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

I’ve been studying John chapter six, the feeding of the five thousand in particular, and it occurred to me Jesus did nothing but feed the people and leave.  This seemed odd to me since miracles in the Bible are done to either endorse the person God is using to perform the miracle or the message he carries.  John mentioned neither of these.  God often uses the “odd” things I run across in my studies to teach me. I pursued it.

The simple answer is that Jesus did teach the people according to another passage about the miracle in Mark:

Mark 6:34 (ESV)  When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

During my research, though, I discovered the passage in Mark chapter eight above.  It mentions the miracle of feeding the five thousand, so I thought there was more to learn here.  There certainly is.

How often do we hear a promise of God and treat it with unbelief.  This one, for instance:

Eph 4:19-20  (ESV)  And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰ To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

The disciples knew Jesus could multiply the bread if need be.  They had seen Him do it, yet they argued about what to do about the bread.  I see myself so much in this.  I look at the problem before me rather than the Problem Solver beside me.  From the initial passage above, it seems Jesus was getting a little frustrated by the disciples looking at worldly solutions to life’s little problems, and missing a meal was a little problem.

Jesus wanted them to see the greater picture, the evil the Pharisees were teaching.  I think this was a lesson Jesus repeated often to His disciples, but it didn’t sink in.  There they were looking at material problems again.  “Do you not yet understand?” may be an indication of Jesus’ frustration with these guys.

Why is this important?

How often do we stare aimlessly at some physical problem when Jesus is asking “Do you not yet understand?”  Our job is not to sit on our hands but to deal with spiritual problems, the teaching of others, uplifting and encouraging others, sharing the gospel with others, in short: loving others.  Instead, we’re looking at short term problems of this world rather than eternal consequences of obeying the God we serve.  Though God knows in advance all we do and will do, it may still not set rightly with Him that we hear His promises to provide but don’t really listen or apply them to our lives.

Exegesis and Eisegesis are a couple of interesting words, and as Christians we face them almost daily.  Exegesis is to critically and analytically draw information from a text.  For Christians this applies most readily to Scripture.  Our goal should be to look at a passage as closely as possible from God’s point of view: what does He mean to say to the reader in this passage?

Eisegesis is reading into a text something that isn’t there.  This can be pretty much any text, but for us, we’ll look at how this can mess up our understanding of Scripture.  We do this all the time by carrying our preconceived notions with us when we want to interpret a passage of the Bible.

In our last blog we looked at some of the books that help keep us from making the “eisegesis” mistake.  Let’s look at some easy methods of making sure we’re analyzing and not personalizing.  The goal in Scripture study is to be objective, to see what the passage actually says, not to make it say what you want it to say.

How do we guard against reading our own view into a passage?  There are some basic methods that will help us keep looking for God’s instruction rather than our own confirmation.  As is true for every time we pick up our Bibles, we should pray.  We have the Author available to us to tell us what Scripture says.  We’d be fools not to take advantage of this.

When studying, you must also use a peer reviewed word-for-word translation of the Bible.  The Living Bible or even the New Living Translation will not give you the words of the original text.  The Living Bible, for instance, is a paraphrase.  The author is just telling the story as best he can.  The New Living Translation is a thought-for-thought translation.  It is great for reading the story but for direct study of a passage, it has little value.  Word-for-word translation such as the NASB, ESV, KJV, and NKJV are excellent for study.

Read the context of the passage and how it relates to the verses you’re trying to understand.  Many of the biggest mistakes we can make come from ignoring the context and taking a verse out of context.  Here is one of my favorite examples:

“Christ said, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’  Be still and know that you are God, and when you know that you are God, you will begin to live Godhood, and knowing Godhood, there is no reason to suffer.” (Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, p. 178)  This Bible quote is actually taken from Ps. 46:10 and is said by God Almighty Lord of Israel to assure His people and has nothing to do with our attaining godhood.

This is a pretty drastic example, but I wanted to show how someone can read something that isn’t there in order to support their own view.  Now look at this one:

1 Cor. 15:50 (ESV)  I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

This one is not so easy.  Is Paul telling us we won’t have bodies in heaven?  Well, no.  1 Cor. 15 is speaking almost exclusively about our bodies.  If this is the context – our bodies – what can the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, mean?  We need to see how or if the term “flesh and blood” is used elsewhere in Scripture.  Does it always mean our physical bodies?

It turns out the term “flesh and blood” only appears four times in Scripture (Matt. 16:17; 1 Cor. 15:50; Eph. 6:12; and Heb. 2:14).  The first verse in this list, Matthew 16:17, says, And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.

Jesus wasn’t talking about physical flesh and blood but about sinful man here.  If we apply this to 1 Cor. 15:50, it makes perfect sense: “Sinful man will never inherit the kingdom of God.”  This is because we need to ask Jesus to take on that sin for us, so we can stand before God faultless (Jude 24).

So, by comparing the passage we don’t understand with the rest of Scripture, we have arrived at a logical conclusion.

Asking someone we trust about the passage should always be a last resort.  It is up us to do the work ourselves with the requested guidance of the Holy Spirit.  He is without error or the chance of error.  Even the greatest human Bible expert would never claim they are.

Why is this important?

God tells us we are to be diligent workers of the Word of God, handling it accurately:

2 Tim. 2:15 (NASB) Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

God is anxious for us to study His Word and get it right.  Never think Scripture is some big impenetrable code book.  God has made it simple enough for a child to understand what is needed and complex enough to keep the greatest scholars busy probing it for thousands of years.  He picks us up from where we are and uses His Word to take us where He wants us to be.

I love to study the Bible, and I’m sure most of you do as well.  Over the years, I’ve found a few important books I rely on or that have taught me something significant.  I wanted to share these here.

A Good Bible Translation

Of course, the most important book for Bible study is the Bible.  For good solid study, we need a good literal “word-for-translation” such as the ESV, NASB, or KJV.  This way when we do word studies, the word is actually there and is represented accurately.

I don’t use a study Bible for my Bible study.  That may sound odd, but because Bible study is a personal thing, I want to know what God is saying to me and not what He said to the guy who wrote the notes. 

The Navigator Bible Studies Handbook

This book is invaluable.  I first read it when I was about five years old in the Lord, and it changed not just my study habits but genuinely changed my life.  I’ve had very little formal education in studying the Bible.  Probably 75% of what I’ve learned over the years is due to this book.  It gives several methods for digging into the Bible and drawing out the “gold ore” rather than just looking around on the surface for nuggets.  The best thing about this book is it relies very little on reference books.  Bible study is personal, just you and your Bible.  This book takes that approach.

An Exhaustive Concordance

Strong’s Exhaustive or Young’s Analytical are excellent concordances for Bible study use. 

The concordances in the backs of our Bibles are for “What was that verse again that started with ‘for God so loved . . .”  An exhaustive concordance is probably the most useful book ever for Bible study.  It gives no opinion, no slant on a passage, just the facts.  In the front of the Strong’s is a set of Bible study methods the concordance can help you with: yes you can find that verse you’re trying to remember, but you can also do word studies, language studies, character, and topical studies.  You just need to know how, and they will show you.

A Harmony of the Gospels

A harmony of the Gospels is a book which presents the four gospels chronologically and the texts side by side in columns.  This book enables us to look at passages that are duplicated in other gospels to pick up additional details not in the specific passage we are studying.

Let’s use Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 as an example.  The event is one of the very few recorded in all four gospels (Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 5:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; and John 6:1-13).  When Jesus asks Philip “Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?” only John tells us Jesus said this to test Philip (John 6:6).  Only Luke and Mark tell us Jesus divided the people into groups (Mark 6:39-40; Luke 9:14).  Only John tells us it was a boy who contributed the loves and fish (John 6:9).  Only Matthew and Luke tell us Jesus healed the sick among the crowd, and only Mark leaves out the fact the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftovers afterward. 

So, the Harmony of the Gospels is very useful if you are interested in the details full picture of a passage.

A Bible Dictionary or Bible Encyclopedia

These are really handy for looking up the who, what, where, why, etc. of people, places, and things.  Nowadays it’s difficult to tell the difference between a Bible dictionary and a Bible encyclopedia.  The dictionaries have broadened the number and topics they cover.  It used to be a Bible encyclopedia wasn’t just larger but covered lots of information outside the realm of a dictionary, but they are becoming the same animal today.  I like New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, and the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia is the standard for Bible encyclopedias.  So, if you wanted to know who Molech was or the dimensions of the Sea of Tiberias, these books are where you’ll find that information.

A General Systematic Theology or Dictionary of Theology

Now we’re starting to get a little into the opinions of man: careful.  I like Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.  It’s pretty thorough for the typical Bible student or Sunday School teacher.  Written at a modern high school level, it explains more than most folks want to know.  Someone once said 20% of what we read should be over our heads.  Baker isn’t that, but it does peak your interest.  Stay away from Finney and Hodge.  Hodge is huge and Finney is less reliable.  Check any theology before you buy.  Some are a hundred years old or more, and the language is somewhat awkward.  The older stuff is often the cheapest and most conservative, though.

Commentaries

I’m not going to recommend commentaries.  I do have a few and use them fairly often, but commentaries go against my “motto” of Bible study is personal, and I don’t need someone other than the Holy Spirit to explain a passage to me.  I used to use commentaries to check my work because I’ve come up with some pretty pathetic conclusions on my own over the years, and a commentary will say “One pathetic conclusion to this passage is what Mike thinks, but it’s not true because . . . “

I do find I lean on them more now that I’m teaching through the gospel of John at local nursing homes.  Because of the checking-my-work effect, I’ve learned to trust a few and turn to them for guidance when needed.  This is probably a good practice.

A Computer

When I started studying the Bible, it was all books.  I had to do my studying on the dining room table to have enough space for all the open publications.  Today, my study is done on a computer and most of the books listed above are in my software.  What used to take hours with books now takes just a few minutes on my computer.  I use Logos Bible software because Logos bought up the software I was using and grandfathered me in.  It is an excellent program and I love it, but it’s a little pricey if you’re starting out.  There are several out there including the Blue Letter Bible: a free online study tool.  Most software offered begins with a “starter” package many of which are free and include several translations, dictionaries, commentaries, etc.  Ask a fellow Bible studier what they use.  Buying the books listed here will cost you several hundred dollars.  Investing that into a good computer program might be a good idea.

Why is this important?

Wow!  I think this is in the top five longest blog posts I’ve done.  Sorry.

These books are important to give you an accurate understanding of Scripture once you learn to use them.  I put these in a particular order.  The farther down the list you go, the less reliant on Scripture the books are and the more we rely on another human to tell us what something means.  Be careful.  When we include humans into the process, our study becomes more vulnerable to error.

Last week I posted the full Christmas story from the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Let’s see how closely you paid attention. Here are twenty simple questions about Christmas:

A Christmas Quiz: How much of what we know is really just tradition? by Steve and Ella Pettit

We’ve all seen and heard the Christmas story so many times that we know exactly what God’s Word says about it, right? Or do we sometimes let tradition overtake the truth? Dates and Mates 1.  For the journey to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph a) walked b) Joseph walked; Mary rode a donkey c) rode a bus d) Who knows? 2.  When Mary became pregnant, Mary and Joseph were a) married b) just friends c) engaged d) none of the above 3.  When Mary became pregnant, a) Joseph married her b) Joseph wanted to dissolve their relationship c) Mary left Nazareth for a while d) an angel told them to go to Bethlehem e) both b and c f) both b and d 4.  Christmas has always been observed a) on December 25 b) on January 17 c) at Grandma’s house d) none of the above Kings and Wings 5.  Who directed Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem? a) Herod b) an angel c) Caesar d) the IRS 6.  Just what is a “heavenly host”? a) an angelic choir b) the welcoming angel in heaven c) an army of angels d) none of the above 7.  How many angels spoke to the shepherds? a) a multitude b) two – Gabriel and Michael c) one d) Who knows? 8.  What song did the angels sing? a) “O Little Town of Bethlehem” b) “Joy to the World” c) “Glory to God in the Highest” d) none of the above Barns and Yarns 9.  The baby Jesus was born in a a) cave b) manger c) hurry d) barn e) Who knows? 10.  What animals were present at Jesus’ birth? a) cows, sheep and camels b) cows, sheep and donkeys c) lion and tigers and bears d) none of the above 11.  What is a manger anyway? a) a barn b) a place for hay c) a feeding trough d) a Greek term for the church nursery 12.  When did baby Jesus cry? a) when He opened the wise men’s gifts b) whenever babies usually cried c) when the cattle started lowing d) “No crying He makes” Signs and Lines 13. Joseph’s family was from a) Jerusalem b) Nazareth c) Bethlehem d) none of the above 14.  Who saw the star over Bethlehem? a) Mary and Joseph b) shepherds c) the three kings d) both b and c e) none of the above 15.  What sign were the shepherds to look for? a) a star over the stable b) a barn outlined with Christmas lights c) a baby in a manger d) both a and c e) none of the above 16.  What did the innkeeper say to Mary and Joseph? a) “I have a stable out back.” b) “Come back after the holidays.” c)  “There’s no room in the inn.” d) both a and c e) none of the above Wise Guys and Testing Lies 17.  How many wise men came to see Jesus?  ____    (Write in correct number) 18.  What in the world are Magi? a) Eastern kings b) magicians c) astrologers d) wise enough to follow the star e) none of the above 19.  When the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus, they found Him in a) a manger b) a house c) Vacation Bible School d)  none of the above 20.  In what books of the Bible will you find these fascinating facts? a) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John b) Matthew and Luke c) Mark and Matthew d) Matthew, Mark and Luke Answers: Dates and Mates 1.  d  The Bible gives no record of their means of travel. 2.  c  Matthew 1:18 3.  b and c  Matthew 1:19; Luke 1:39, 56 4.  d  December 25 was selected late in the 4th century as the day to celebrate Christ’s birth Kings and Wings 5.  c   Luke 2: 1 6.  c 7.  c   Luke 2:10 (“the angel said to them”) 8.  d  Luke 2:13 (They didn’t sing; they said.  OK, if you picked c we’ll give you a point. Barns and Yarns 9.    e  Luke 2:7 (We aren’t told where Jesus was born, only that after His birth He was laid in a manger.) 10.  d  The Bible doesn’t say anything about animals being present. 11.  c 12.  b  He was fully human as well as fully God. Signs and Lines 13.  c   Luke 2:4 14.  e   none of the above (Three kings are not mentioned in the Bible.  Only in songs.) 15.  c   Luke 2:12 16.  e   An innkeeper is never mentioned in the Scriptures. Wise Guys and Testing Lies 17.  The Bible doesn’t say how many – only that Magi came bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh (see Matt. 2 :12). 18.  c  Astrologers who dabble in the natural sciences. 19.  b  Matthew 2:11 20.  b  Check it out! Scoring: 19-20 correct:  Congratulations!  You can separate fact from fiction. 18-16 correct:  Not Bad!  Truth wins over tradition. 15 – 11 correct:  Uh oh!  You’ve been to too many Christmas plays. 10 or below correct:  Ouch!

Long ago I came to understand whenever God commands us to behave in a particular way, He is actually asking us to live in accordance with His nature.  God is love (1 John 4:8), so He wants us to love others.  God keeps His promises, so He commands us to keep ours (Matt. 5:37), and so on.

With this in mind, God tells us to honor others.  He tells us to honor our parents, for instance (Ex. 20:12).  This commandment is mentioned no fewer than seven times in the Bible, five times in the New Testament.  He also tells us to honor widows (1 Tim. 5:3) and others.

My conclusion here is if God tells us to be honorable, He must be honorable as well.  This seems obvious to us as Christians since we depend on it so, but maybe we don’t realize the extent of the honor God gives.

He is honorable in that He is not a hypocrite: He doesn’t tell us to do something He will not do Himself:  He was tempted but without sinning (Heb. 4:15).  He also tells us to be more like Him knowing we cannot do this on our own (Gal. 5:22-23), so He helps us by filling us with His Spirit (Acts 13:52). 

In the Old Testament, there is only one Hebrew word translated as “honor:” kabbeb.  This is the word for honor in the fifth commandment.  Kabbeb means to “weigh heavily.”  So, honoring our parents is extremely serious, it should weigh heavily on us.

The New Testament writers quote this same commandment no fewer than five times (Matt 15:4, 19:19; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20; and Eph. 6:2), so for us to honor our parents is extremely important to God.  This word for honor translated from Greek to English is timea.  This Greek word doesn’t just mean to honor but also to hold in high esteem and reverence.

Peter has something important to say about how this word is to be used:

1 Peter 2:17 (ESV)  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

So, God asks us to follow His lead and honor everyone even the emperor.  Imagine their difficulty in doing this in the first century.  When this was written the emperor, Nero, was killing the very people Peter was talking to, the Christians.  How could he ask this?  Verse 15 tells us:

1 Peter 2:15 (ESV)  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

We really have no choice as Christians since, as Peter says, “this is the will of God.”  God is the standard of all truth, all moral judgment, and all action for us. 

God is telling us to honor, esteem, and even reverence all others.  After all, we are all people Jesus died for.  Should we treat others with any less honor than God does?  There is a reward that comes with this by the way:

John 12:26 (ESV)  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

“Honor” here is the same Greek word, timoa, as we have been looking at.  If we serve and follow Jesus, the Father will hold us in reverence and esteem.  Imagine being held in such high regard by the Creator of the universe.

Why is this important?

There’s a greater honor given by God to mankind we could never hope to repay.  He didn’t wave His hand and unjustly allow sin to grow in our lives, He didn’t by fiat forgive us at no cost.  That, too, would have been unjust – dishonorable.  God didn’t create another being to die in our place.  That would be the coward’s way out.  Instead He came Himself.  Paul made this very clear when he spoke with the Ephesian elders.

Acts 20:28 (ESV)  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Our God is an honorable God Who holds the people of this world in such high esteem He came to earth, took on the form of man, and gave His own blood that we might have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him.  He honored us by giving the greatest price He could pay, He Himself died in our place.  That which would cost Him the most gives us the greatest gift.  This shows us our value to Him and that He would honor us enough to give His all for us.

How many sons of God are there?  There are millions, I’m sure.  Romans 8:14 says For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  So, all Christians are called sons of God or children of God.  Job 1:6 seems to say angels are called “sons of God” as well: Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.  So, how is Jesus different if He’s a Son of God, too?

The difference is Jesus not “a” son of God but “The” Son of God, the one and only Son of God.  In John chapter 5, Jesus calls God the Father His own Father rather than “Our Father,” the general term the Jews used.  The Jewish leaders He was speaking to saw this and decided to kill Him for what they saw as blasphemy because of it:

John 5:18 (ESV)  This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

The Jews, of course, thought God was only one Person even though there were hints He was more:

Isa. 44:6 (ESV)  Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.

Isaiah mentions two divine Persons here: Yahweh, the King of Israel and a second Person, His Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts, yet together they are identified as the one God.

So, like many, the Jews had an insufficient understanding of their own Scriptures.  But Jesus didn’t shy from the fact they understood He was claiming equality with their God.  He began to build on it.  He started comparing Himself to God the Father Who they already believed in.  He said first He does nothing by Himself.  This is again pointing to His equality and relationship with the Father.  He says in verse 19 “For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”  The Father and Son are working in union.  In this case, Jesus does not point to the Father as the one doing the work but that He and the Father are working together to achieve their common work.  In verse 21, Jesus says “For the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life.”  If Jesus was just saying the Father raises the dead through me, He certainly didn’t convey that thought.  It was a cooperative effort. Both were working together.

The Jewish leaders believed only God could raise the dead.  He used people to do so, but it was obvious God was doing the work.  Here Jesus is saying both the Father and the Son can each raise the dead again claiming equality with the Father.

Most important of all, Jesus points to the Jewish leaders’ purpose in life, the worship and honor paid by them to God, and in verses 22-23, Jesus says they must do the same for Him as well: For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

Jesus went on in this same chapter to provide five witnesses that He is the Son of God: John the Baptist (vs. 33-35), Jesus’ works (vs. 36), God the Father (vs. 36), the Scriptures (vs. 39-40), and Moses (vs. 45-47)

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is recognized as the Son of God by every gospel writer, by Satan (Matt. 4:3), by demons (Matt 8:29), by the disciples (Matt. 14:33), by bystanders at His crucifixion (Matt. 27:54), by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:35), Jesus Himself (John 10:36), and of course by God the Father (Heb. 1:8)

Why is this important?

We need to gather from just these few verses in the fifth chapter of John that Jesus is equal to the Father, that even when He walked the earth, He did many things in His own power alongside the Father, and we are to offer the same worship, honor, and praise to Him as we offer to the Father.  According to Jesus’ own words, to honor the Father alone or to honor the Father in a greater way than we honor the Son is to dishonor the Father.

Looking at all that Jesus said here, we must see the term “the Son of God” is equal to the term “God the Son,” and with the centurion, we should realize “Surely this man was the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39)

Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christmas

It has been five years since I last centered on Jehovah’s Witnesses who claim 8.7 million followers worldwide and 1.238 million in the US alone.  According to their own figures, that’s one out of every 272 Americans is a JW.

At this time of the year, we will often hear from JWs to tell us Christmas should not be celebrated by God’s people.  I thought it would be good to look at why.  These six objections are taken directly from their website

For the most part, these complaints boil down to a logical fallacy: guilt by association.  Because some pagans did something or something evil happened on a particular day, we must link all similar days and celebrations to the sins or pagan practices of that day. This is akin to saying “Hitler loved dogs, so all dog lovers should be careful of loving their dogs. It’s a Nazi practice:”

•  Celebrating a birthday   JWs like to point to evil events which happened on birthdays in the Bible to discourage birthday celebrations of all sorts: Pharaoh hanged the chief baker on his birthday and Herod ordered John the Baptist beheaded at his birthday party, “so,” they say, “we shouldn’t celebrate birthdays.” 

In contrast to Pharaoh and Herod, Jesus’ birth was, of course, a joyous occasion attended by the angels of heaven (Luke 2:13-14) and announced by the angel, Gabriel himself (Luke 1:26), who stands in the presence of God (Luke 1:19).

Job’s sons also celebrated their birthdays with the full approval and even consecration of Job, a blameless and upright man (Job 1:1-5). 

• The fact Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.  “There is no proof that Jesus was born on that date. Church leaders likely chose this date to coincide with pagan festivals held on or around the winter solstice.” (Watchtower)

Of course, very few Christians believe Jesus was born on December 25th.  We don’t know exactly when Jesus was born, and the Bible doesn’t tell us.  If the shepherds were in the fields with their flocks, it was more likely earlier in the year. December would have been too cold.

The early Church didn’t celebrate Christmas.  Most likely the December date was chosen in 336 a.d. when the Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine, decided to make this date important in order to draw pagans away from the Saturnalia celebration.  So, Rome’s Christian emperor invited the lost to our party rather than the pagan’s, and this helped bring them to Christ.  I’m not saying this was a good thing necessarily, it was man’s choice 1700 years ago. Certainly today’s celebration doesn’t involve or commemorate Saturnalia or any other pagan practice.

It doesn’t matter which day we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  If we want to celebrate it on December 25th, who’s to keep us from doing so? 

• Gift-giving has pagan roots.  The Watchtower brings Saturnalia into the mix here as well claiming gifts were given at that celebration and feast.  So, their implication is gift-giving at Christmas is just another pagan ritual being repeated. 
  
  Actually, gifts are very biblical.  They are mentioned 126 times in the Bible: gifts to God, gifts as a returned favor, gifts to one another as a sign of friendship, and God even gives us gifts (Lev. 1:10; Gen. 24:10, 25:6; Eph. 2:8-9). Gift-giving is hardly pagan.
   
• Christmas Lights.  Here, once again, is guilt by association.  They claim because Europeans often decorated their homes with lights and candles to celebrate the Winter solstice and ward off evil spirits, so displaying candles and Christmas light must be evil.  The logic escapes me.  It is just an attempt to keep the Jehovah’s Witnesses from celebrating Jesus in any way.
  
• Mistletoe and Holly.  “’The Druids ascribed magical properties to the mistletoe in particular. The evergreen holly was worshiped as a promise of the sun’s return.’”—The Encyclopedia Americana.”  Once again, because the Druids used mistletoe and holly in a particular way, we shouldn’t see it that way too rather than use it in our homes for the holiday. 
  
• Christmas Trees.  Pagans worshiped trees, so having a Christmas tree must be a pagan practice. 

Why is this important?

Jehovah’s Witnesses used to celebrate Christmas.  The photo at the top of this blog is of the 1926 Christmas party at their headquarters in Brooklyn, NY.  But, it just gave too much attention to Christ, so they ended the practice.

It all comes down to this: celebrate Christmas in your own way.  If you’re praising God for His greatest Gift, His Son, you’re on solid ground.  The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Jehovah’s Witnesses’ organization, seeks to keep any sort of honor from God’s Son, and their attack on our celebration of His birth is just another feature of this quest.

Rom. 14:5-6a (ESV)  One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.  The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord.