christianity – Page 4 – Believers Armed and Dangerous

Hell

There are four original language words in the Bible translated as the English term hell: Tartaroo (2 Peter 2:4), Sheol (Ps. 16:10), Hades (Matt. 11:23), and Gehenna – (Matt. 5:22)

Tartaroo is the Greek word which appears only in 2 Peter 2:4 in Scripture, however it does appear in Greek mythology as the subterranean abyss where demigods were punished. So, it speaks of punishment and imprisonment.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

This passage directly relates to the “everlasting” punishment given the fallen angels of Jude 6 (ESV) And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;

So, the punishment/imprisonment is everlasting.

Sheol appears 65 times in the Old Testament, often as grave. An example of this appears in Genesis, when Jacob speaks of going down to Joseph’s grave;

Genesis 42:38 (ESV) But he said, “My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is the only one left. If harm should happen to him on the journey that you are to make, you would bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to Sheol.”

However, in Deuteronomy 32:22, the meaning is a little different. In this passage, it wouldn’t make much sense to translate “sheol” as grave, so the translators use the word “hell:”

For a fire is kindled in My anger, and shall burn to the lowest hell; it shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Now we see hell is a particular place of everlasting punishment/imprisonment.

Because the word sheol can mean more than one thing and the context is often unclear, the translators of the ESV all but once transliterate it as simply Sheol and let the reader decide on the meaning.

Hades corresponds to sheol in the Old Testament. It appears ten times in the New Testament text, and the ESV, again, transliterates it as hades nine of those times. In the tenth, Matthew 16:18, grave hardly seems to fit:

And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Gehenna is the Greek word referring to the Valley of Hinnom or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom in the Old testament (2 kings 21:13-14) where Children were “passed through the fire” as a sacrifice to the gods Molech (2 Kings 23:10 ), and Baal (Jeremiah 32:35) and others. It was used by King Josiah as a place where bodies were burned. This points to a link with fire and the death of the wicked.

This would seem to add fire to this everlasting punishment/imprisonment of hell.

Why is this important?

Some might still think the evidence is slim. Maybe a little better picture of what the future of the wicked looks like could come from two other passages which don’t mention hell directly but speaks of punishment for the lost after death. The first is a statement by Jesus in Luke 16:19-31 where the rich man and Lazarus, a poor beggar in life, have died and are in a place I’ll call paradise although it isn’t what I would usually think of as paradise. Jesus described it as such to the thief on the cross (Luke 23:43).

From what Jesus tells us, they have both died and we see Lazarus at Abraham’s side and the rich man in fiery torment. The rich man asks if Lazarus couldn’t dip his finger in water to cool the rich man’s tongue.

To escape the implications, many will discount this as a parable and not a true story, but I disagree for a few reasons. Firstly, Jesus never used proper names in parables while He did here. Secondly, Jesus usually identified parables as such; He didn’t here. Thirdly, even if it were a parable, Jesus never used unrealistic situations or fantasies in His parables. They were always common life experiences.

Another passage which supports eternal punishment for the lost is Jesus’ words recorded in Matt. 25:44-46 (ESV) Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

The Greek word for punishment here is kolasis and isn’t the go-stand-in-the-corner kind of punishment but torment.

So, no matter how we look at it, hell is not a pleasant place to be. Those who go there will be there forever, forever in torment and punishment. As Christians, we alone understand what hell looks like as we’ve been saved from it. We need to grasp this fully as an incentive to share Christ with the lost and save them from this terrible eternal agony.

Jude 22-23 (NKJV) And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.

Being Refilled

Acts. 4:31 (ESV) And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

This passage used to really bother me. These are the disciples including Peter and John who are praying, so they are already filled with the Holy Spirit. Why, then, if they are filled with the Holy Spirit, why would they need to be refilled? Maybe I have an answer now. Let’s look at the word, filled, first.

Filled is used in several ways when it’s used to describing people. We can be filled with wrath (Luke 4:28), filled with fear (Luke 5:26), filled with madness (Luke 6:11). The word can even be used of a group such as in Acts 13:45 where the Jewish leaders were “filled with jealousy” or Acts 19:29 where a city is “filled with confusion.” In each of these passages, we see something, a powerful emotion in these cases, taking over a person or group and affecting their actions. In the same way, being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit should affect our actions, cause us to act in line with God’s will.

When we fill something like, say, a coffee cup with coffee, the coffee replaces the air that was in the cup. When an aircraft carrier floats in the sea, it displaces the water which would normally be there. So, filling doesn’t just add something; it reduces something else. When we are refilled with the Holy Spirit, I believe the Holy Spirit displaces much of what was there: our fleshly nature.

In our Christian life, we are truly filled with the Holy Spirit from the moment of conversion. When we need a particular additional filling or empowering of the Spirit, a sort of shot in the arm of power, we can pray and the Holy Spirit will displace more of our own will or fear. Speaking of a similar passage in Acts 4:8, the Faithlife Study Bible says this: “In Acts, this term seems to denote a special empowering by the Holy Spirit that is in addition to His work of enabling believers to trust God and to live faithfully (e.g., Acts 2:4; 4:31; 9:17; 13:9).

Paul sees this too. In speaking to believers (who already have the Holy Spirit within them, of course), he tells us to be filled with the Holy Spirit:

Eph. 5:18-21 (ESV) And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, ²⁰giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Interestingly, Paul here compares being filled with the Holy Spirit and being drunk with wine. Instead of being overwhelmed with “spirits,” we should seek to be overcome by the Spirit of God.

Why is this important?

Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California, used to say “If God guides, God provides.” This was often used in a financial sense such as “If God is telling us to purchase the Property on the corner of Fairview and Sunflower, He will provide the funds.” I think this motto also applies to any task God gives us and we need more power from Him to accomplish that task.

In Acts 4:31 above, John and Peter had just been warned not to preach Jesus in the streets of Jerusalem. They had been strongly threatened probably with death (Acts. 5:33), but they were released. A few days later, they were again brought before the council, and Gamaliel stepped in and said if what they were preaching was of God the council shouldn’t stand in their way. So, the Jewish leaders just had them beaten and threatened them again (Acts 5:40)

These were some of the least serious examples of persecution heaped upon the disciples, but because God the Holy Spirit filled them, they actually rejoiced they were worthy to suffer for Jesus’ name and continued to preach no matter the threat or consequences. (Acts. 5:41-42)

Isn’t this the sort of walk we want? Don’t we want God to fill us more strongly at times when we are filled with feelings of inadequacy or fear. The great advantage of being one of God’s children in times like these is the Holy Spirit has made Himself available to displace that inadequacy and/or fear in us. We need only ask Him.

Leadership

I was talking with a Jehovah’s Witness this week about the subject of leadership, elders in particular. His view was that elders “rule” the congregation, and I can see why he believed that. Jehovah’s Witness tend to be an oppressive group. Elders are the law in the local congregation and see their job as bosses of all. This is not the Biblical view, though, and I’d like to look at the Biblical Christian view of leadership in general, and eldership specifically, to see how God has laid out the church as His bride. I think concentrating on eldership will give us a clear guide to how all types of leadership should be exercised in the church.

First let me say the terms Elder, Pastor, Overseer, and Bishop are all interchangeable when applied to the office in the local church. The office of Christian elder is probably a carryover from the Jewish form of government. The elders were judges who sat at the gates of the city and decided legal matters as in the cities of refuge:

Josh 20:4 (ESV) [The man slayer] shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.

In the New Testament, the role is a bit different. Remember the Old Testament was based on the Law of Moses, 633 separate laws. The New Testament is based on the grace of God, the law of the spirit of Christ Jesus:

Rom. 8:2 (NASB) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death [the Law of Moses].

“But what about the Apostle Paul Timothy that elders should rule well?”

1 Tim. 5:17 (NKJV) Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.

Even the word rule here expresses care and concern for the flock, not for personal gain or pride. Elders are not to rule as the world does but as Christ’s example demonstrates:

Mark 10:42-45 (CSB) Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. ⁴³But it is not so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all. ⁴⁵For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

All leadership in the church is to be approached in this manner. As leaders we are not to be the bosses but caretakers: shepherds who watch over the flock with care and love as servants to the flock.

Leaders in cults like Jehovah’s Witnesses can get away with this behavior because they have convinced their followers to leave the organization means severe punishment. They face shunning by all their friends and family within the organization. It’s suffer under the oppression of often prideful elders or suffer the solitude and loneliness of the outcast.

Why is this important?

God has given instruction for leaders in general and elders in particular.

1 Peter 5:1-4 (NIV) To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ²Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; ³not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

Elders are to be mature Christians, not necessarily older members of the congregation but men who know the faith and can defend it against all comers.

Acts 20:28-29 (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. ²⁹I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

If we’re in a leadership role today or will be used by God in such a position in the future, we need to remember leaders are to be servants to those we lead just as Christ is the example for us. Worldly leaders are positioned at the top of the pyramid ruling over all below them. Godly leaders are at the bottom of an inverted pyramid serving all those above them.

Mark 9:35 (NKJV) And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Infallibility

2 Tim. 3:16 (ESV) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

I’ve been in a discussion about the infallibility of the Bible this week. Webster gives three definitions for the word infallible: “1: incapable of error 2: not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint :certain 3: incapable of error in defining doctrines touching faith or morals.” Traditional and historic Christianity would apply all three to the entire Bible, but I’m mostly going to refer to the New Testament here because I’m much more familiar with the evidence for the infallibility of that than the Old Testament.

First I’d like to look at the whole idea of a sacred text being fallible. Fallible is pretty much the opposite of infallible. Here’s Webster again: “1: liable to be erroneous 2: capable of making a mistake.” So, a fallible religious text can be in error and is capable of making mistakes in what it has to say. Let’s look at the philosophical concept for a minute.

If a sacred text is fallible, how would we know which parts to believe? What if some doctrine expressed in this sacred text is in error, expressed incorrectly? Fallibility is almost always blamed on the fact fallible man had some hand in its creation. But, what if this uncertainty applies to a doctrine we hang our hats on? If we can’t trust the text itself to tell us if that doctrine is true. We could not include God as the authority. He can’t be the final authority if fallible man can dilute or misrepresent God’s inspiration.

So we would need another authority. Maybe that authority is us. We could believe what we want to believe is true in the text and reject what we think is untrue. That would make truth subjective, though, subject to our own belief rather than our belief being subject to the sacred text.

Maybe we would need to turn to a pastor or a prophet to tell us which parts are true and which parts are not, but we would still have fallible man sifting what we agree began with God but was recast. To be real here, this leads to relativism: truth is subjective, what is true for you may not be true for me. “I believe something in the text is true but you don’t. Neither view has standing. So, I would conclude there is no way of knowing what a sacred text is saying if we believe fallible man was not just able to alter it but must have altered it.

Evidence

Is there evidence the Bible is accurate in its presentation of God’s leading? The Bible certainly claims this. In the book of 2 Peter, Peter writes those prophets who came before him were inspired.

2 Peter 1:16-21 (ESV) For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” ¹⁸we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. ²¹For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Another evidence is that we have an exhaustive empirical demonstration of inspiration. We have 66 ancient documents written over a span of more than 1500 years agreeing with one another, quoting one another in recognition of their divine inspiration, and supporting one another doctrinally, morally, and epistemologically. I would challenge doubters to find a similar collection of ancient documents which would do the same.

Why is this important?

Ours is not a blind faith. Our Bible is not a fallible book due to its being passed from God through man to reach us. The question is often asked, “Couldn’t God protect His Word?” I think the greater question is “Did He?” In past blogs I’ve offered evidence of inspiration and of the trustworthyness of our Bible archaeologically , the authenticity of the Old and New Testament.

We can trust our Bibles to be accurate and inspired. They are the infallible Word of God not in translation, of course, or in copies of manuscripts, but in their original writing, the autographs. Trust in the Bible you hold in your hand as an excellent representation of God’s Word to you.

Is our God capable of passing His Word through the hands of man without man corrupting it. The evidence says “yes!” Ours is a God who could pass His Word through the hands of man infallibly despite the fallibility of man.

Christianity’s Essentials

The Five Essentials

I was asked the other day what test could be used to tell if someone was a heretic or just in error. I thought this would be a good topic to share here, so here goes.

There are five major doctrines the church has historically and generally used as a test of Christian organizations to see if they was not cultic: The Trinity, the deity of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ, salvation by grace alone, and the vicarious atonement. Denial of any of these has historically put an organization in the cult category. Let’s look at these very briefly:

The Trinity: Belief in the Trinity is to believe the one true God chooses to exist in three distinct persons; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: one being but three persons. These three are coequal and co-eternal. We see this in Scripture here:

The Father is God: Gal. 1:1 (ESV) Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

The Son is God: Titus 2:13 (ESV) waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ

The Holy Spirit is God: Acts 5:3-4 (ESV) But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? ⁴While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.”

Yet there is only one true God: 1 Tim. 1:17 (ESV) To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Conclusion: The three persons are the one true God.

The Deity of Christ. This is the belief that Jesus is God the Son, in all ways equal in nature with the Father and the Holy Spirit:

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 Bodily Resurrection of Christ. This is the belief that Jesus rose from the dead in the very body that died on the cross at Calvary.

Luke 24:36-39 (ESV) As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” ³⁷But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. ³⁸And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”

Salvation by Grace Alone. This is the belief we are saved by God’s grace and not by anything we have done. Works have nothing to do with salvation.

Eph. 2:8-9 (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Vicarious Atonement. This is the belief that Jesus didn’t only die for the world corporately but for us as individuals as well. Vicarious just means “on behalf of another.” God is interested in all of mankind, but what about me, a lowly sinner. Is God interested in just me? In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus answers this for us:

Luke 15:3-7 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?”

God is looking to save you and me. That’s why salvation is such a personal experience.

Why is this important?

For the individual Christian, it is enough to rely on Jesus for your salvation. The above five doctrines can be useful for a Christian to examine an organization before they become involved in it.

A second danger of not understanding these doctrines is a Christian may have relied on Christ for their salvation but now thinks works are necessary for salvation, or Jesus is inferior in nature to the Father, or the Holy Spirit is just a name for God’s power. When they share their faith, they are sharing it in error. Maybe they are sharing a faith that is not a saving faith. Maybe they tell a seeker that Jesus is the Archangel Michael or God is really not triune but one person who relates to us in three ways, or maybe we don’t really need to rely on Jesus at all to be saved, that works need to be performed first. Is that a saving faith?

We are responsible before God both for what we believe and what we share with others. One day we will stand before God, and we will have to explain why we didn’t study our faith deeply enough to be able to explain it clearly and completely to others. We are expected to be able to give a clear and accurate representation of the Truth when asked.

2 Tim. 2:24-26 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Another Jesus?

2 Cor. 11:3-4 (ESV) But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ⁴For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

For the first few centuries of the church, Christian theologians struggled with one major problem: what to do with Jesus. The New Testament writers said Jesus was God (Matt. 1:23; John 1:1, 14, 5:18, 8:58, 20:28, etc.). The Apostolic Fathers (disciples of Jesus’ disciples) taught Jesus was God:

“For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb of Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Spirit.” (Ignatius’ Letter to the Ephesians, cir. 110 a.d.) Ignatius was one of the Apostle John’s disciples.

So, how does this work? We know of God the Father, but now God the Son is presented to the followers of the faith. We also know there is only one God. How can the Father and Son both be God when there is only one? This was a major difficulty in the early church and by the end of the third century, was a common topic of conversation not just among church leaders but also among the average believer.

A lot of theories were proposed. Most of these centered around the nature and character of Jesus which indirectly affects Trinitarian doctrine. Let’s look at some of these:

The Judaizers These folks were around during the time of the apostles. They taught Jesus was just a man and, therefore, His sacrifice wasn’t enough to save. Christians needed to continue in the Jewish rituals to be saved. The Jerusalem Council was convened to deal with this error in Acts chapter 15.

Gnosticism was an early heresy and stated Jesus was not a man at all but a phantom. The Gnostics thought the material world was evil and only the spiritual was good. As a result of this belief, they taught Jesus was good and so was not physical. He only seemed to be. This false teaching was common even in New Testament times and survived for centuries thereafter. It has reappeared in the modern Christian Science and Unity schools. John the Apostle wrote against it:

1 John 1:1 – 2 (NASB) What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life— 2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us

Modalism was another early heresy and was developed by a guy name Sabellius in the early third century. He taught Jesus was just a “face” or mode of God, that God is only one Person but wears three different “hats” as the Father, the Son, or the Spirit depending on the need of the Christian. The early church saw this was contradictory to the standard writings of the church. The Bible teaches the three persons of the trinity interacting with one another and not acting as one Person.

Patripassionianism is a form of Modalism which teaches that Jesus is both God and man but the God “part” is the Father who indwells the Son. Only the Father is God, Jesus is a human. The belief taught “as the Son suffered on the cross, so did the Father.” This is contrary to biblical teaching since we see Jesus, the Son, addressing the Father a number of times and indicating the Father is in heaven while the Son is on the earth as in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9).

Tritheism was an errant doctrine developed in the early third century by Dionysius of Alexandria to combat Modalism, but he pushed things too far and ended up teaching Jesus was one of three Gods: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The church pointed this out to Dionysius, and he quickly turned back to the classical Trinitarian view.

Arianism is a teaching begun by Arius of Alexandria (256-336 a.d.). He said Jesus was created and not God at all: “There was when the Word was not” was a famous saying of his. His teaching became so dominant by the beginning of the fourth century the Council of Nicaea was called by Emperor Constantine (an Arian) to decide whether Arianism or classical Trinitarianism was biblical. About 300 bishops were called together and argued the evidence. The Trinitarian doctrine we hold today was defended against Arianism and stood the test. Arius was excommunicated and cursed by the church.

Why is this important?

To have the wrong Jesus is to stand before God at the judgment and be rejected:

Matt. 7:21-23 (ESV) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Paul taught us to check what we believe against Scripture, to test our beliefs to see that we are in the faith, that we have the true Jesus. Let’s do that.

2 Cor. 13:5 (NIV) Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

Humble God

I’d like to look at John 8:56-58 again this week:

⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Last time we looked at how the Son of God, creator of this universe, took on human form and walked the earth for thirty three years. Now I’d like to look at the humility it took for Him to do such a thing.

To be restricted by a physical body, by the laws of physics, to die, to be separated from the father as He hung on the cross; none of these were expected of the God who spoke and all of creation came into existence:

John 1:3 (ESV) All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

This awesome God the Son came to show us what we were facing in our divine Father, that all Jesus did on earth was a reflection of who the Father is:

John 14:8-9 (ESV) Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” ⁹Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Before Jesus came, the Pharisees were giving a distorted picture of God. The god of the Pharisees had no grace, no mercy. He was a legalistic god who was waiting for you to step out of line. The Pharisees got it wrong because they were looking only at a small portion of God’s Word.

Even today, there are theologians and philosophers who believe we have no common experience sufficient for an understanding of God. Isaiah tells us the same thing:

Isa. 40:13 (NIV) Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed him as his counselor?

The Pharisees had the people fooled into believing their version of Judaism was the correct one. Man needed to see how we were to live, how we were to believe, Who God really is. Jesus supplied that for us.

Years ago we had the What Would Jesus Do movement. There was one of those 2,000 years ago. Jesus reflected the godhead when He dealt with the Jewish leaders and the woman caught in adultery:

John 8:10-11 (ESV) Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

We found God was not someone to be afraid of if we are His child. He was someone to turn to in time of trouble and heartache. Just as the woman called Him Lord, those who are His followers do as well.

One of my favorite passages that point to this safety in faith is at Jesus’ resurrection in Matthew 28:4-5

And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

Notice the angels told women not to be afraid because they were followers of Jesus. He didn’t say that to the unbelieving guards.

Why is this important?

If Jesus is the example for us, and righteousness is to do as Jesus did, we need to face the humility Jesus showed us head on:

Phil 2:5-8 (ESV) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

While I usually cite this passage to explain the incarnation of God the Son and Jesus, it is about humility. God the Son stepped into time, emptied Himself, became obedient to the Father, took on such a worthless form as man and died for us. The God of the universe in human form washed our feet. How humble is that?

One more thing. Verse 5 says we are to be just as humble. We should think on that.

Christians/Politics

Phil. 2:1-4 (ESV) So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ²complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

We’re having an election in a couple of days in the United State, and some tempers are running a bit high. How we as Christians present ourselves to others reflects on our Lord. While we may disagree on important topics, we need to remember people are why Jesus came, people are why Jesus died, people are now our mission field not politics. Shouting matches burn bridges that may never be rebuilt.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” still stands as the second commandment Jesus gave us and is equal to loving our Lord. In fact, I think how we love our neighbors tells others how much we love the Lord.

God is in control of our elections, of government, of the people in charge. Some governments are put in place as a consequence of that nation’s attitude toward God. No matter the government, our job is the same:

Titus 3:1-3 (ESV) Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, ²to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. ³For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

The other day, I watched a video by Greg Laurie about elections. He is concerned so many Christians are deciding not to participate in our electoral process. He can see no biblical reason.

Some don’t realize Separation of Church and State isn’t in the Bible but in a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptists telling them there is a wall of separation but by government from the church not the other way around. Christians in America are not taking advantage of the power God has given them to bring safety and justice to all Americans through the ballot box.

There are no perfect politicians just as there are no perfect plumbers, architects, or bloggers for that matter. We as Christians can only do what God has offered us to do and vote for those who would further the kingdom of God or, at least slow the descent into a less godly nation. It is up to Christians often to exercise this power to change.

Why is this important?

A lot of Christians see participation in the electoral process as a sort of endorsement of a corrupt system and, thus, refuse to vote or have anything to do at all with politics. They see the world as separate, that “we should be in the world but not of it.”

Looking at nations where Christians have taken this step back from influencing their government, we can see countries where great cathedrals lay empty, where Christianity is seldom mentioned except in history books or it is taken as a sort of club where the Vicar is an occupation much like the village sweep or city councilman. Faith has been replaced by religion.

Many of the barriers Christians face in society are the result of poor Christian influence in government. Our schools now teach things diametrically opposed to the Bible’s teachings. Abortion is seen as a normal and permissible act, evolution is taught as fact, premarital sex has become just a stop along the path of coming of age. All this may be traced to the Christian failing to seek public offices such as school board members, city council, and even Christians in teaching roles. Our desertion of these positions has had grave effect.

I believe much of the blame comes from the church giving up its role in the community and turning over such duties as charity to the government. Churches often become fortresses where individuals never meet with community members outside in a faith productive environment.

The local churches in America used to be the centers of local social life. They are now passed by by most people on their way to Sunday morning breakfast, soccer, football, or just home for the game.

Unless the Christians take a more active role in our local communities, a generation or so from now, our churches will become museums and art galleries as are the great churches of Europe. The next best thing to a lost soul is an inactive and sterile Christian. Vote!

Merely Jesus?

John 8:21 (ESV) So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

This is an interesting passage because I thought a central truth of the gospel was Jesus would save us from our sins if we seek Him. This seems to say the exact opposite.

I now understand it to mean this: The Jewish leaders were looking for a very different Messiah than Jesus seemed to be. He was a teacher, a philosopher, a Rabbi, a sage. The Jews of Jesus’ day expected a Messiah like David as Jeremiah prophesied:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” (Jeremiah 23:5, ESV).

He wasn’t the Messiah they were expecting. Because they had an incorrect view of Jesus, they were mistaken in their search. So, I think Jesus was saying if they were seeking the Messiah, and He wasn’t a conquering King, then He was not the one they were looking for. Looking for the wrong Messiah, the wrong Jesus, meant they would die in their sins.

We can have a wrong view of Jesus and be lost. We can have a simple view of Him and be saved. There are lots of people who have a fully incorrect view of Jesus. Some think He is the Archangel Michael, some think He is the spirit brother of Lucifer, some think He was just a great moral teacher, and some think He was a false prophet. A belief in any of these would be as mistaken as the belief of the Pharisees.

2 Cor. 11:4 (ESV) For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

There are other Jesus’, other spirits, and other gospels. The Pharisees in our text had a wrong Jesus, the wrong Messiah.

Through the rest of the chapter, Jesus tries to convince the Pharisees that He is indeed the Messiah but that the Messiah is not who they think. He is God incarnate, God in flesh (John 1:14). He has been trying to explain this to the Jewish leaders since the first, and they understood what He was saying, but just wouldn’t accept it as true. In fact, they saw it as heresy:

John 10:33 (ESV) The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

They were right. Jesus is God. In Exodus 3:14, as we saw a few weeks ago, the God of the burning bush identifies Himself by the name “I AM.” In Genesis chapters 18 and 19, we see three “men” who visited Abraham. Two of these were angels. As Abraham and this third man walk together, the writer, Moses, identifies the third man as God Himself.

God then destroys Sodom: Gen. 19:24 (ESV) Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

Jesus said this in answering the Pharisees:

John 8:56-58 (ESV) Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Here, Jesus points to Himself as the I AM in Exodus 3:14 and the God who destroyed Sodom in Genesis 19:24. The Jews understood exactly what He was claiming and took up stones to kill Him for blasphemy.

Why is this important?

I was convicted by this passage in John. Is my Jesus merely Jesus? Is He merely the man who died on the cross to pay for my sins? We can fall into this idea so easily when we read the gospels. So much of the New Testament is about the man, Jesus and not God the Son, yet they are the same Person.

While Jesus is not the only Person of the trinity, He is the God of the burning bush, the God who called down fire from heaven to destroy Sodom. I think we are influenced to see Him as less than this due to our readings of the gospels. We see Jesus so much as a man who has the power given Him by the Father that we lose the majesty of His omnipotence, His omniscience, His greatness. We get lost in His omnibenovelance and forget the rest of Who and What He is. In other words, our Jesus is too small. To us He may well be merely Jesus.

Who is our Jesus then? Is He merely Jesus: just a man empowered by His Father, or is He the God who met Abraham on the plains of Mamre? Is He the God of the burning bush?

The great eleventh century theologian and philosopher, Anselm, said “God is a being than which none greater can be imagined.” That is Jesus, God the Son, second Person of the Trinity. Is that our Jesus?

To Be Fully Human

To be “fully human.” What does that mean? We can be merely human, we fit all the criteria of being human: we’re self-aware, we were born to other humans, and even have human offspring; but does that make us human?

To have the basic traits of humans keeps us in the category of “Human.” Maybe we’re just merely human. Maybe we have the minimum qualifications needed to be classified as human beings and not much else. Could there be more? We know humans can be filled with the Holy Spirit, for instance.

I don’t think even Adam was fully human. There seems to be more to him than to us, though. He may have had a full head of hair and a thinner waist. The Bible tells us God gave him dominion over the fish of the seas, the birds of the air, and everything that walks the face of the earth. That seems more than you and I have. He came up with names for all the animals, so he must have had a pretty sharp mind. He walked with God and talked with Him face-to-face. After the Fall, the penalty for that was death, so there may have been privileges attached.

Gen. 2:8-10 (ESV) And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

God told Moses seeing His face would end in his death:

Ex. 33:20 (ESV) But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

So, there was something special about Adam’s possibly perfect, human body. Now how about Jesus?

Was Jesus fully human? Theologians say He was and is. He is still a man, after all, and as both God and man serves as the perfect Mediator between us and God:

1 Tim. 2:5-6 (ESV) For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

What might we expect if we become fully human on Christ’s return? Paul tells us quite a bit about our bodies and what they will be like in heaven:

1 Cor. 15:42-49 (ESV) So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. ⁴³It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Notice how many times “man” is mentioned in the passage: 8 times, implying we will be humans throughout all eternity.

Why is this important?

Looks like there is a lot more to this “Human” thing than we are experiencing now. Currently we are merely human, but when we go to be with the Lord whether through death or His return, we will become fully human: imperishable, raised in glory and power, a body with spiritual abilities. I wonder what all that means. I really don’t know, but I’m sure looking forward to finding out what it will be to be fully human.