God's Attributes-Part I

Since it is always difficult to have a conversation about God with people who don’t truly understand Him as He is described in the Bible, I felt compelled to describe Him from the pages of Scripture. If we do not know the God of the Bible, we do not know God at all and we are in danger of condemnation. Hold on to your hats, this is going to get heady. God is infinite as are His characteristics and attributes. Obviously I will not be able to make a complete list of His character but I will try to hit most of the primary ones in the next two posts.

God is Active in Real Space/Time as Creator.

Genesis 1:1 ~ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God is Still Active in Real Space/Time as Sustainer

Hebrews 1:3 ~ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. 

God Has and Is the Source of Emotions: Love, Wrath/Anger, Hate, Grieves...

John 3:16 ~ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 1:18 ~ “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

Psalm 11:5 ~ “The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates

Genesis 6:6 ~ The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.

God Has Plans and Designs, Therefore He Thinks

Ephesians 1:4-5 ~ “ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…”

Trinity: God is One Being and He is Three Distinct Personalities

Matthew 28:19 ~ “Therefore go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

John 15:26 ~ ““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

The Holy Spirit is a Person/Personality. He’s a He, Not an It.

Acts 13:2 ~ “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which “I” have called them.”

Jesus was Fully Human and Fully Divine

Matthew 1:23 ~ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)

Jesus was Incarnate or In the Flesh

John 1:14 ~ “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

2 John 1:7 ~ “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

Jesus’ Human Attributes are Evident all Through Scripture

Christ Hungered

Matthew 4:2 ~ After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

Christ Slept

Matthew 8:24 ~ Suddenly, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping

Christ Suffered Anguish

Luke 22:24 ~ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Jesus Died

Luke 23:46 ~ Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jesus Wept

John 11:33, 35 ~ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled, (v35) Jesus wept

Jesus was Man, Adam was Man

Romans 5:15 ~ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!

Jesus was Pre-Existent before Being Born

1 John 4:1-2 ~ Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God

Jesus Held Different Roles or Offices

Jesus As A Prophet

Luke 13:33 ~ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!

Deuteronomy 18:15 ~  The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.

Deuteronomy 18:18 ~ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

Jesus As A Priest

Psalm 110:4 ~ The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:

“You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

1 Corinthians 5:7 ~ Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Ephesians 5:2 ~ and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Hebrews 4:14 ~  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

Hebrews 8:1 ~ Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven…

Jesus As A King

Psalm 2:6 ~ I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.

Micah 5:2 ~ “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Matthew 2:1-2 ~  After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

John 18:37 ~ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Acts 17:7 ~ and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.”

God is Self-Existent

John 5:26 ~ “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

God is Infinite

Psalm 90:2 ~ “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

Psalm 93:2 ~ “Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.

God is Eternal or Timeless - He Had No Beginning and Has No End

Genesis 21:33 ~ “Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the Eternal God.”

Exodus 3:14 ~ God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

John 8:58 ~ ““Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

God is Supreme or Pre-eminent

Colossians 1:15-19 ~ “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him…”

Exodus 15:11 ~ “Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you-majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

God is Sovereign

Isaiah 46:10 ~ “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”

Ephesians 1:11 ~ “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will...

The God of the Bible is the One and Only God

1 Corinthians 8:6 ~ “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

Deuteronomy 6:4 ~ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

1 Timothy 2:5 ~ “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus…”

God is Majestic

Exodus 15:6 ~ “Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy.

Job 37:22 ~ “Out of the north he comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty.

Jude 25 ~ “…to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

God is Omnipresent

Jeremiah 23:23-24 ~ ““Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away? Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.

God is Omniscient

1 Kings 8:39 ~ “…then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart)…”

1 Corinthians 2:10 ~ “these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

God is Omnipotent

Genesis 18:14 ~ “Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Revelation 19:6 ~ “ Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

Father

Father's Day is a day to honor fathers for their proper character as Godly role models for their children. Let us not forget that the behavior we are called to and rewarded for today isn't a once a year thing. The honor is earned and the behavior needs to be year round. If you are like me, being that role model is not always easy and I seek forgiveness from my Father in Heaven for failing like the sinful man that I am. Every week, every day and every hour we are called to righteous goodly conduct not only towards our children but also before God. This serves a two-fold purpose. It sanctifies us with the work of the Spirit moving us one step closer to glorification in Christ Jesus. Secondly, it sears an indelible image in the minds and psyche of our children that becomes so much a part of what they are in their very nature, they would not know how to act without it. In this way our earthly fathers become us and we become like our earthly fathers. In this way our Heavenly Father becomes us and we become like the Heavenly Father.  For it is written: Be ye holy for I am holy. Amen.

Babylonian Bling

There is more than  disobedience towards God going on when it comes to Achan in the book of Joshua. He did not just steal from God, he stole God’s first fruits at Jericho. Everything at Jericho was to be consecrated to God. The spoils of war were to be God’s. Since Jericho was to be the first conquest of God's people in the promised land...everything was God's. Period.

Joshua 6:17-19 ~ “And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it. But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”

The things of Jericho were to be left alone and destroyed and at the time it appeared they were…

Joshua 6:21 ~ “Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.”

Joshua 6:24 ~ “And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.” 

First fruits were/are more or less a tithe. In the Feast of First Fruits the Israelites were to bring the first sheaves of the barley harvest and wave them before the Lord. At the beginning of the day representative leaders of the people would cut certain barley sheaves that had been set aside specifically for this purpose and bring them to the priest. The priest would then present them to the Lord by waving them back and forth.

Leviticus 23:9-12 The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: "When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year old without defect..."

The purpose of this was to consecrate the harvest to the Lord. The first fruits were representative of the entire harvest. This act reminded Israelite people that the land and all its harvest rightfully belonged to God. The people are just stewards of the land and God's merchandise. Jesus fulfilled this feast when He became the first fruits resurrected from the dead. His new beginning in resurrected form marked the beginning of the harvest of souls who have been set apart for God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

So in effect the walking back and forth our around the city walls and then subsequent destruction and burning of Jericho mimics or shadows this feast. Furthermore, the conquest of Jericho would be the first of many conquests (harvests) in the land of Canaan for the Israelites. The saving of the metal vessels for the Lord's  treasury adds a further exclamation point to the fact that all was the Lord’s.

By the time we reach Joshua 7 we see that things were not as they seemed. Man did not see what was going on beneath the surface but God had and it is reflected in Joshua’s and the people’s defeat at Ai.

Joshua 7:1 ~ “But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.”

We see that through the sin of one man, all in the covenant were going to be punished by the loss at Ai. Achan had stolen from God. This is often like us today. We think that no one knows of our sin, but God knows. We must not fail to take into account God’s omnipresence and omniscience into our lives. God is everywhere so He is most certainly at the exact location where we sin. We should be ashamed and it is only our sinful reprobate nature if we chose to ignore this fact and sin anyway. We see in this story that Achan thought first and then acted. He coveted and then he took or stole from God in a premeditated manner. No one can steal from God as all is God’s and even when it is yours, it is in reality His. It isn’t so much about the possessing and taking…it is the rebellious heart intent that concerns God. We put something other than God in God’s place. We make material items our idol.

What does Joshua 7 say about Achan in particular?

Joshua 7:20-21 ~ “And Achan answered Joshua, “Truly I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and this is what I did: When I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

The words rendered, “a beautiful cloak from Shinar,” should be understood as a substantial or ample garment of Shinar or more properly a really nice Babylonian coat. We must understand that anything Babylonian was considered "cream-of-the-crop" or “high society” at the time of this incident. To have this robe or garment was to be hip and trendy. If Achan would’ve worn this garment in public, it would’ve been considered “swag” or "bling" today. To wear it would’ve been to flaunt one's material wealth or to live a flashy lifestyle. Achan would’ve been someone of the “in” crowd.

We see a man driven by all the wrong motives that are against God and his statutes. What’s worse is they are all sins common to all humanity and at times, they don’t seem like sin when we are in the act of committing them. Desirous of things that are culturally acceptable and ungodly…do we see this in society? Do we see this in the church? I suspect we do. Like Achan we desire attention to ourselves and not to God. We want the glory God most certainly deserves. In this way we are contemptuous of God and dare to walk a path only He rightfully deserves to be. We not only make possessions covetous idols, we make ourselves the worst form of idol. We make ourselves sentient self-conscious idols in rebellion against God because of our willful  manifold sins.

No one should aspire to leadership per se. No one should covet prestige of high position or even the image or "airs" of it as it is a poor heart condition or attitude. One should only be called to leadership by God. To be a leader is to get under those you lead anyway. To covet prestige and position because of the things “it does for you” is to totally misunderstand said position and to mangle the principles set forth in Scripture for leadership. That position is not there so you can "lord" over people with a whip. To be in leadership brings heavy responsibility and heavy accountability which a person will be judged more stringently for on their day before the Lord.

Luke 12:48 ~ “But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

So…Achan covets, steals and hides stuff that is rightfully God's. Joshua and the people march against Ai after the total annihilation of Jericho. They actually march with a stripped down force of approximately 3000 men due to the sin of complacency and pride when the covenant people should’ve all marched together. They summarily get their butts kicked and thirty-six men are killed in what should’ve been a cake walk battle.

Joshua 7:3-5 ~ “And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not have all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not make the whole people toil up there, for they are few.” So about three thousand men went up there from the people. And they fled before the men of Ai, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent…”

It ended up taking soul-searching with God by Joshua to come to the conclusion their was sin among the people that needed to be weeded out and dealt with harshly. Do we do this with our own sin…or that of our congregation and brethren or do we turn a blind eye and allow it to continue. Do we confront sin and call it for what it is or do we gradually erode our viewpoint on it and allow more and more of it in our lives and churches until it over takes us? Remember what Jesus said:

Luke 12:2-3 ~ “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.  What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

We must weed out and kill sin. We must deal with it radically before it deals harshly with us radically altering our lives for the worse. Achan and his family are summarily stoned by all the people to halt the spread of sin and rebellion among the people. This is so all the people see the end result of rebellion against God and it also puts the blood-guilt on everyone’s hand to show the communal responsibility of a covenant people.

In the end Joshua and God’s people march in force against Ai. For the same reasons God chose only Samson to go against 1000 men, Jesus chose twelve disciples and Gideon was only given three hundred…all the people move against Ai. God is not Someone that can be set to human patterns of understanding and motive. 

Numbers 23:19 ~ "God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

God does things in His own time and for His own reasons (as I know so well). We cannot put God in a box or in a bottle like a genie. We must turn to God for guidance in each and every situation as each and every situation differs based on need and purpose. At the time Joshua moves out against Ai he is instructed to do so with all the people. The reality is this. It appears God had all the people march against Ai since Ai was not the first fruits. Because Ai was not the First Fruits all the people were given the spoils of war on this occasion. God was allowing everyone to benefit from the victory at Ai, hence all were to march on and enter the city. He also commanded that all enter so that the credit for the victory would be everyone’s…so that none should boast in the victory. This is a shadow that we will see surface again in the New Testament in the work of Christ on the Cross and the Christian believer's salvation. God is not a creature of habit but rather a Being of plan and sovereignty. To assume that He will continue to deal with things in your life the same way every time is foolishness. Only you would be silly enough to believe that.

The last thing is sad irony. Had Achan been just a little more patient, his narrative would’ve been quite different. Had he waited until Ai to collect the “booty” he would’ve lived to see another day like the other people. Due to his impatience and inability to wait on God's perfect timing, he ended up quite dead along with the rest of his family. Obedience and patience waiting on God incurs a blessing in God’s economy. Disobedience and impatience with God incurs a curse. Which do you want? Who's timing and plans will you abide by?

Why Christians Should Probably Be Non-Partisan

Relativism is the only value a truth-less society can command as it is the only thing it is proficient in and can be trusted to produce consistently. Relativism due to its failure to actually be truth is therefore a lie by its very nature. "Relativism" and "tolerance" are the only "virtues" of the West (USA) today. We are now a country that produces worldly intelligent graduates from secular universities but they are essentially amoral. As these people gain control of the political, economic, scientific and in some cases the religious establishment...the American Dream will die completely. If the morality of a nation dies, so does the nation as it descends into immorality, depravity and eventual anarchy. We need only look at history to know this is true. We are now a society that glorifies thugs, drugs, porn, lies and deception. Our quest to find truth and illumination has ended in the darkness of a corrupt societal mind. The West, like Pontius Pilate does not believe that real (absolute) truth exists. We are therefore like Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea during the time of Christ that had Him crucified. Pilate had no power over Jesus that hadn't been given him from above, no more than the elected officials in this nation win elections and come to power without God allowing it.

We must never confuse patriotic loyalty with Christianity or loyalty to God. Christians are under the Lordship of Christ first and foremost. We need to be a nation under God our we will be a disparate people under tyranny, judgment or destruction. We are responsible for taking Christian principles into our interactions with the State and the community within the State but we should never allow the state to influence our relationship with God or the Bible. They are not synonymous. Leaders in the Church should never project an image to the congregation nor the observing public that there is a divided loyalty or a combined one. We serve God first and then submit to Caesar those things that are His (Mark 12) later. They are not the same. Once we mix them we lose credibility to the godly and to the ungodly. Our righteousness (therefore our right-ness) is in our relationship with God, not the statutes of men or the Government. Obey the authorities yes (Romans 13) but equating any loyalty with our loyalty to God is idolatry and is sin and is reprehensible behavior for a Christian.

We need to stop politicizing our religious views and our relationship with Christ because it pollutes the relationship with outside worldly influence. If your going to be political be political. If your going to be Christian be Christian but please...don't align God to political ideologies and political agendas. This immediately divides the Body along those lines and is foolishness. Use your Christian values to help you make judgments voting for the best candidate but don't hitch the Christian wagon to specific personalities and specific human ideas. When these people or their ideas fail (which they most likely will) those ideas along with Christ will be scoffed at not because of Biblical truth so much as they will scoffed at because of human failings...and that is just not fair to other Christians who have avoided that path. In a relativistic world like we live in today, ideas are only as popular as they are relative and important in people's lives. Christ never brought shame to Himself, it has only been the behavior and actions of His believers that have done this when they fail sinfully or go off chasing myths and foolishness of the world. When they do this they end up mixing their religion/relationship with other worldly ideologies like politics and created a shaming syncretistic blend. You cannot merge a political worldview or belief with the God of the Bible or you end up with something less than God. 

If you were going to align yourself with specific ideas and ideologies why would you want to adhere to anything less than Scripture and the Word of God? Why on earth would anyone want to appeal to the authority of another flawed human being or human government when the have the very word of Almighty God at their disposal? The very word that God provided for just such an occasion. Word that is is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

By all means exercise your given right to vote. Let your voice be heard in a federal republic or democracy but please stop painting God as a liberal or conservative. Stop painting Jesus as a tree-hugging hippie or a staunch humorless stick in the mud conservative. Our world has turned rabidly hyper-partisan and to align any ideology into your politics is ideological suicide and guarantees alienating at least half of the populace. This disunity destroys the idea of Biblical unity of the body. If you cannot win people to the Gospel because you've alienated them due to your politics, what good is being political to anyway? Your primary directive as a Christian is to win people to Christ...not to your favorite candidate.

Align yourself to the word of God and stay there, don't go chasing after broken, flawed and sinful men promising paradise on earth and only providing intrusive overbearing hell. We should've been able to learn this lesson by observing history and seeing how much damage was done when religions become state religions. When government and church were combined, governments and churches became mostly overbearing tyrants. The Catholic Church became a monstrosity until the Reformation because of its overbearing and unilateral power over people. A politicized church is a dangerous thing. It is zealous people following zealous misguided men, not zealous spiritual people zealous for God and following Him.

Let God be God and let men be men that realize that they need God not necessarily their Government official in God's place. In the end we must realize God is sovereign over officials of a "sovereign" nation anyway. Better to appeal to Him rather than men first.

Mark 12:14-17 ~ "And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.”And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar's.” Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” And they marveled at him.

A Committed Relationship In A Clockwork Universe

The Bible repeatedly speaks to loving God with all your heart (feeling and being) and loving your neighbor (fellow human being). It is in this very way (among others) that men are created in the image of God or Imago Dei. When God created man in His own image he made a deliberate creation unlike every other object in the creation including animals. All in the physical creation including animals are not capable of love and reciprocating love in the manner and depth that a human being can. The naturalists will attempt to tell you otherwise by stating that man is nothing more than an evolved ape but the truth is that even they can see that there is clearly something more involved when dealing with the consciousness and cognizance of humanity. If we are only the sum whole of our parts which are chemically and atomically the same as animals, we must admit that there has to be something more than just minuscule pieces of DNA and different ratios of chemicals that allow mankind to be self-conscious or self-aware.

On the other hand we have an automaton or mechanical universe outside of the human mind and being. Where man is driven or drawn by cognizant volitional thought, the rest of physical Creation is not. Only the angels in the spiritual realm come close to humans in this aspect. Animals think and react similar to humans (mimic) but they do not necessarily do so in a manner that is linked to conscious choice with a premeditation to achieve a certain end(s). The key I believe is to understand that the “thought” animals do is more instinct or reactionary. If thought is involved it is not as in a human being.

This is why man is responsible for his own sin as stated in the Bible-whereas the rest of creation is not. This is why man is responsible to seek out God where the rest of Creation is not. This is why man is responsible to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. If man can think to the depth described he is rational enough and logical enough to analyze the details of the Christian God and His holy text and arrive at the conclusion that it is truth. If man is indeed the rational and logical being as stated, they should have the capability to see the logical inconsistencies within the dogma, doctrine and holy books of other religions. Therefore they have no excuse to not recognize the true and proper God of the Christian Holy Writ: The Holy Bible.

What’s more we need to realize this: We need to look at the mechanical or clockwork universe that has no soul in and of itself and realize that humans do.

This is why mechanical and vain repetition is so abhorrent to God. The ritualistic approach to God that gives lip-service and actions/works but no cognizant meaningful thought that could in any way be construed as a purposeful “relationship” is not what God called us to in the Bible. When we worship God by mindlessly chanting to a nebulous void rather than talking directly to the thinking and listening omniscient/omnipotent Christ…we become exactly like the remainder of Creation-robotic and mechanical. 

Isaiah 29:13 ~ The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

We become perfunctory, mindless and reactionary. This is not a relationship…it is ritual and a dead soul. It is death for the dead. It is clear that man was not created to be like the rest of the Creation (Genesis 1:27) regardless of what the rest of the godless evolutionary world will lead you to believe. We are called to a familial relation with God not only with ourselves but with our families as units in our homes and churches.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 ~ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Jesus, when posed the question by the crowd of what was the greatest commandment, He responded succinctly. It is no coincidence that He did so while interacting in a relational manner with others as both God and man acting as intermediary between the Father and the people. This therefore is addressed in the Shema above and in Jesus' answer in the New Testament (covenant).

Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I suggest that man is by his very nature a “personal” being as opposed to an animal that can be close but not personal as there is no “persona/personality” inherent in animals. There are only personalities imposed on animals. Personality is a characteristic only found in God, angels and in particular...man. The relational Triune God created a relational being that only fully emulates the triune Godhead in its married form because the two then become one. It is the literal: “You complete me” statement. The full completed relationship is God/man/woman. Hierarchically, it remains in this order also. We see a relational God of order, love and continuity.

The relational / personal aspect is made even more obvious by the fact that God deliberately communicates within the Godhead itself and God chooses also to verbally communicate with man. God has further solidified His relational connection with man by revealing what needed to be known of Him for salvational purposes through writing in the Bible. The Word/logos itself being God and God being the Word incarnate. When was the last time you saw a rock or an animal that could communicate or read at an articulate level?

Matthew 6:7 ~ “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

These are the very reasons why mindless ritualistic nonsense that is so emblematic of the pagan religions is so reprehensible to the Christian God who desires a loving relationship. It is also what makes ritualistic religion so unfulfilling to the pagan and misguided Christian alike. It (dare I say it) dehumanizes and depersonalizes the divinely ordained relationship and relational status of God and man in a true Christian faith. It mechanizes and creates robots of what should’ve been loving interactions. It puts hearts of stone in chest where there should’ve been hearts of flesh.

The relational desire built right into mankind’s very essence is so profound and pervasive that even the non-believer desires it in the absence of God. It is their ignorance and very sin that prevents them from recognizing the very thing that will fill the God-shaped vacuum in their lives. It is the very sin that resides within the non-believer that prevents them from fulfilling that needed relation with God because the sin itself estranges the non-believer from God. In that separating distance the non-believer loses bearing without God and their ignorance of God that acts as an anchor dragging them down away from God and further adrift into sinful wandering.

History’s flow is a constant interaction of humanity with God. The claim that God becomes more silent as time goes on is countermanded by the fact of the very incarnation itself. God doesn’t separate further and further from man as time elapses in the Bible but actually He inches closer and closer to man until the amazing miracle of God actually condescending and becoming man once and for all (albeit a divine man). God wanted a meaningful relation with man so much that He actually became one of us because we could not become Him. He died for our sins because we could not. He did so to maintain that relationship for eternity. A loving relationship with God that no other of this visible created order could have-not the star systems and galaxies of the clockwork universe nor the animals or plant life that are so much a part of our everyday lives. Man is unique in his salvational relationship with God. God Himself is unique par excellence as there is none other like Him. Yet he deemed it necessary to make us in His very image. I posit this is because He wanted a unique relationship- just He and us, Him and I. Relationships with each of us individually but also communally. Individual personalities yet unified in Christ. It is in this very relationship that man finds His ultimate reason for being and value as a human. In this relationship between God and His highest order creation, God is glorified as He has created a being that is able to reciprocate His love through conscious choice.

A parting note: Our reward in Heaven will not be heaven in and of itself- it will be a face-to-face relationship with God. It is a relationship, not an apathetic recitation of mumbo-jumbo to a non-being or un-person. People ask: What eternal paradise would remain a paradise if someone would exhaust all meaningful things to do and then have heaven turn into a mundane repetitive Hell. This obviously is a question from a finite perspective and a limited human mind. It is a question from a person that does not know the Bible, the power of God nor what Heaven will be like. By approaching God and Heaven from this level we are approaching ignorantly and finitely and we really miss the point.

Mark 12:25 ~ "Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

The reality is this. We are saved to the eternal relationship with the eternal limitless God, whose treasures and wonders can never be exhausted. There will be no mundane repetition to endure only new things from an eternal God whom we can never reach the end of. Because of these things we will never cease to be amazed, be thankful or cease worship and praise of Him. Why would we want to cease praising Him, He has saved us to an infinite Kingdom of constant new wonders. The more His wonder becomes evident to us the more we will stand in the presence of eternal glory in dumbfounded amazement, not tortured hellacious monotony. It makes sense that we should not approach Him in a casual manner with repetitive and robotic ritualistic praise. He deserves more…much more…eternally more. He showed how much he loved, why can’t we show him the same back?

Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul and mind. Love Him infinitely just has He can and does love you being an infinite God! We are not alone nor will we be ever. It is the very relationship that we have with God that helps complete us and moves us towards our ultimate destiny and it is a failure of that relationship of falling away from it that will damn us for eternity.

Gospel Rising: The Christian Counterculture Has Arrived...

Linchpin

I’m troubled… Early Christianity as evidenced Scripturally by the Book of Acts cut across races, social strata, economic, class distinctions and gender. So based in observation of society, why do most in modern American churches seem totally content to stay within a cloistered / segregated congregations only on Sundays (sometimes Saturdays) based many on these distinctions but not theological ones which are valid? Why are more Christians not reaching out to people in other religions? Why don’t more white people attend theologically sound black congregations and more black people attend theologically sound white congregations? Why has culture integrated races better than the church has many times? Why do affluent people only remain within their affluent cliques in our churches and the bikers remain within the biker cliques? Why do the mainline people only go to the mainline churches? Why don’t more of the mainline congregants attend the urban churches more? Why is the church still divided across meaningless social distinctions (when in the Kingdom they are irrelevant)?  If all will be equal within the Kingdom now that Christ has arrived at least in part why the prejudice or partiality (James 2)? Why if we are called to unity, why do these divisions still purposely exist in the universal body if we call ourselves followers of Christ Jesus? Segregation and division does not equal to unity. Something is incongruous here. If we truly have the Spirit of God within us…as all Christians should, why doesn’t this bother more people more intensely? God is a God of unity and order (1 Corinthians 1:10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, 1 Corinthians 14:33) which is so abundantly illustrated in the New Testament (and Old). Then we wonder why our society crumbles around us when the Church is suppose to be salt and light to the world but ends up being a ballast or anchor.

Where is our linchpin that is suppose to be holding us all together in unity? Where is the linchpin that holds all the spokes of the wheel at center? Perhaps the linchpin isn't really in our lives as we say? Where is Christ if we are to be in unity? I suggest that He is absent in many cases and it is not for lack of Him having tried to get into people's lives but rather because people reject Him in favor of their sins and idolatry.

I am troubled. So I pray.

A Library In A Book or A Book In A Library?

Regardless of what you've been told by those desiring to revise history and bring it up to speed to suit their radical agendas...the Bible was a key to education until the early 20th century because it is literally a library. It was a compendium of knowledge and wisdom that sweeps across nearly all disciplines and fields of study. Depending on whom you ask, its source is divine, human or both. It is my observation that it is both in that it is written by men but inspired of God.

It is a unique collection of books purposefully chosen with divinely guided care. The sixty-six books of the Bible were written by a minimum of at least forty authors over sixteen hundred years. This makes them not just books but also historical/history books. They were written about God and people, therefore biographies and autobiographies. It is a book that outlines a proper marriage and all other socially interactive relationships so it is a book on sociology. It is a book that speaks of how people think. Why they think correctly or think well but also how they can often think poorly or incorrectly. It is therefore a book of both good and bad logic, philosophy and psychology.

It is a book of poetry and song so it is also a book of melody, harmony, rhythm, tempo, meter, articulation, dynamics, timbre and texture. Not only can this be said of its portions on poetry and music but also on sections devoted solely to teaching of wisdom, theology and doctrine as it is not only acoustically balanced but intellectually, theologically and logically balanced and harmonious. In an overarching manner the Bible is a book of the performing arts both mentally, theatrically and musically.

It speaks of physical features, physical attributes, amazing physical feats and actions that that at times are supernatural. It speaks of the wonder and beauty of the human body and mind. In this way it is a book of anatomy and physiology.

The Bible speaks to the actions and exploits of Abraham’s, Mose’s, Joshua’s, Saul’s and David’s people with surrounding nations and peoples. Sometimes these interactions were peaceful but sometimes they were also violent and hostile. In this way the Bible is a manual of diplomacy, military stratagem and at times...even war. It is due to the sins and corruption of mankind as opposed to God that the Bible can even be considered a book of war while simultaneously being a book of peace and negotiations.

It is a book a mathematics as is deals with divisions of tribes, portioning of supplies, wages, counts of peoples, it deals with money and tells of what happens when we accrue unintended or unbiblical debts whether they be monetary or spiritual debts. In this way the Bible is a book of economics both human and divine. It teaches people sound economic principles and sound debt/money management. In teaching sound financial principles it leads one to understand sound ethical and moral business practices. In this way the Bible teaches business management and management in general. By being an educator of how to manage things it invariably points itself to and as an authority in leadership. It teaches not only how to maintain leadership but it also shows how to properly delegate it to others and what to look for in those that will suit said purpose...and those that won't.

It is a book of engineering, architecture and construction when it speaks of God’s creation or the things within the very Creation itself. It also speaks to these elements in Noah’s Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, of the wilderness Tabernacle and of the Temple. It speaks of the future architecture and structure of the future Jerusalem/Zion. It lays the exact measurements for these things along with the exact extent or judgment when it measures a city. In a spiritual manner it even lays out the exact plan of salvation. As a matter-of-fact, the entire Bible itself is a plan that inexorably leads to the final consummation and conclusion of history all known and planned by a sovereign and omnipotent God.

In terms of leadership and leading (as in nations and countries), it speaks to hundreds of different nations, areas, peoples and cultures. In this way the Bible is a textbook of not only ancient topographical, political and human geography but it is also a book of these types of geographies in the future also.

It teaches people how to lead ethically and morally. In so doing it directs people to lead as servants or to put others ahead of themselves in servant leadership. It shows that one in leadership does not necessarily lead by leaning over them but rather getting under them and lifting them up. The Bible teaches that to be the best leader, one must give others what they themselves need to lead. In this way it teaches the proper way to learn which is through mentoring, apprenticing (with a master) or as the Bible itself terms it: It teaches one to lead and grow through discipleship.

It is a book of agriculture and animal husbandry. In the Levitical laws the Bible speaks primarily to holiness but by default it speaks to cleanliness and healthy living. The book teaches to reach to the down-trodden and poor or those that society has cast off or ignored. In this way the Bible is book of charity and philanthropy.

The Bible was written in three different languages and this entire book of books tells a uniform coherent message that points to God as incarnate man that died in accordance with Scripture and was raised three days later from the dead. In this way it points us to eternal salvation through language. Not just any languages mind you but very hearty and robust languages, like Hebrew and Greek. The Greek language is so robust that it has 24 different ways to use the word “the”. In this way it is obviously a book of communication, speeches and linguistics.

The Bible is an overarching narrative that starts time and then ends it. In between is the entire sweep of human history and human interaction with their God. Above all it is a book of divinity and the study of God and how He has chosen to interact and will interact with His creation: Saved and unsaved humanity.

The Bible gives a comprehensive, consistent and coherent view of life. It gives equality and dignity to all humans regardless of race, gender or age (including people in-utero) because all humans are created in God’s image. It shows a consistency of ethical and moral worldview that allows it to coexist with those around it that do not necessarily adhere to its principles. Those that adhere to the principles of the Bible can coexist with their surrounding world because of the very fact that the Bible's principles and truths are morally and ethically sound, therefore it has a universal appeal if correctly understood. It shows a consistent worldview that helps make sense of an often times chaotic and confused life that also at times can be cruel, callous and unforgiving. It gives purpose to an otherwise bizarre or farcical life. It gives us meaningful hope in the face of insurmountable odds and gives us fortitude in the face of horrendous evil.

It is a book that contains rules and statutes for moral and ethical living. It shows and teaches the negative repercussions for not adhering to the principles put forward by those statutes. In this way it is a litigious or legal book. It is a book of law but simultaneously it is a book of freedom to those that are in Christ Jesus.

It inspires a faith in a God that makes sense and is logical in its conclusions if correctly interpreted and understood. The Bible describes a universe that many would consider a product of random chance but the Bible helps order and systematize the reality around us. The Bible explains or shows a rhyme and reason to what otherwise seems more akin to capriciousness and fate. We see predictability, dependability and intent in the pages of the Bible not chaos, fatalism and despair.

The Bible is a book and library all in one. It is literally a library in a book. It is a rigid plan and unrestricted freedom when in Christ. It is the word of God written through men but is the mind of God. In this way I am glad that the Bible is a library within itself and can also be a book within a library. I imagine this is much more preferable than a Bible in a museum or a museum being within the Bible. The premise being... that the Bible being a library makes it useful, relevant, accessible and utilitarian but making it a museum gives the impression of irrelevance, inaccessibly and obsolescence. This of course leads to my last thought. 

I'd prefer that you see the Bible as the library in a book as opposed to the book in a library. Just because a book is in a library doesn't mean it is going to be read. To assure that the book is used for what it was meant for...it needs to be read and understood. Understanding it and the author's intent (both God and man) is the key to its authority and power, otherwise the book is relegated to museum status only to be seen as a novelty of interest but not taken seriously. If read, understood and taken seriously, it can change the world for the better. When used correctly in the past by godly men and women...it already has.

I could go on but you clearly get the idea. I’ll let you chew on the other possibilities at this point. I sing praises of God’s Word  just as David did in Psalms 119 and others have done all throughout the Bible and in history...just as described in the Bible :)