What about clones? ............. Parables 740

December 25, 2001

Scientists now claim to have cloned a ‘human being.’ This is not as impressive as it first sounds. Their clone was not an exact duplicate of the cell donor as was “Dolly” the famous cloned sheep from Scotland. The best they could do was a human ‘embryo.’

An embryo is “an unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development, especially an unborn human in the first eight weeks from conception.” If this clone was “developing,” it did not get very far — only six cells. In other words, it did not survive to the point of being visible.

These scientific gurus also fell short of their stated purpose for cloning. They hoped to produce stem cells but this tiny, six-celled mass did not have stem cell capacity within it. It could not form itself into various other cells required in a human being, such as brain, hair, muscle, etc. Without that ability, who knows what it might have become?

One wonders how this six-celled creation could be called a ‘human’ embryo. Many people will not tag ‘human’ on a eight-week old fetus even though it has fingers, toes and a heartbeat. They say an unborn child is not human — only a “blob of tissue.”

Creating a human from another human might become possible but even if science accomplishes this so-called feat, God will always stand far above our efforts. In the first place, He created a man from the dust of the ground. After breathing life into that man, He later put him to sleep and from his rib created a woman. Now that is an accomplishment!

Those who consider this story a myth have to dismiss God entirely or at least say He hasn’t any power. They are left with the theory that people evolved over millions of years from apes, and apes came from a lesser life, and lesser life evolved from a single cell that accidently appeared as atoms clashed in some primordial soup.

Granted, maybe faith in God is more difficult because if we believe in Him, we must also believe and acknowledge that we are no longer the perfect creatures that He initially created. Since pride is part of the reason we are no longer perfect, we struggle with that part of faith.

No problem for God. He knew we could not do it alone so He did something even more amazing than the creation of Adam and Eve; He Himself became a human so He could save us.

Until recent computer and film technology, I could not offer anything that compares to the Incarnation. God in human flesh? How can that be? Yet I “saw” a leopard become a person through the magic of morphing. Through the eyes of technology, one became the other.

In the case of God, He did not lose His own identity by morphing into a human being; He remained fully God. And the person that God became was nothing less than fully human, yet He was also fully God. Through the eyes of faith, we see Jesus “who being the brightness of God’s glory and the express image of God’s person. . . and by Himself purged our sins.”

The man, Jesus Christ, was totally human. He breathed, became hungry, thirsty, and tired, and ate, drank, and rested. He had emotions; He cried and laughed. He was intelligent and understood human needs. He had a will for He decided to obey His Father rather than yield to Satan’s temptations.

The man, Jesus Christ, was totally God also. He could see into the human heart and declare a person’s motivations. He was powerful — “even the wind and the sea obeyed Him.” He was also sinless, something true of deity only.

By taking on flesh, God did something unique. No one can duplicate His feat. We might be able to ‘create’ flesh but it would not be anything like Jesus Christ. Instead, the result will be more sinful people, just like ourselves. Why add more rebels to a world already filled with them?

Even stem cell research makes no sense. No matter what science comes up with to cure disease and prolong life, without a changed heart, living longer only adds more time for sin. Our real need is not duplication in triplicate but the salvation God offers us through the death and life of Jesus Christ, His remarkable clone.

God spoke and . . . ............. Parables 731

September 11, 2001

Does an ostrich really hide its head in the sand at the first sign of trouble? If it did, these long-legged birds have an excuse: their eyes are bigger than their brains. If they can see trouble coming, they probably don’t know what to do with it. It could be worse. A starfish, which does hide in the sand, has no brain at all! How do they know what to do to survive?

The amazing animal world sometimes stumps me. How do geese know when or even why they fly south for the winter? At spawning time, how do salmon find their way out of a vast ocean to the very fresh water stream or river where they were born?

Animal instinct might explain geese and salmon but not a particular mother duck. A few weeks ago, a policeman reported that a female duck hurried up beside him and began pulling on his pant cuff. He tried to shoo her away but she persisted. Then she ran to a storm drain, looked down it, and came back to yank on his pants again. He followed her to the drain and found several ducklings had fallen through the grate. Of course they were rescued.

Any attempt to explain it might produce a certain remark from an elderly Christian gentlemen we once knew. With a twinkle in his eye, he’d say, “Isn’t evolution wonderful?”

Evolution says that all creatures are products of a primordial soup plus time plus chance. If that were true, then all geese would have shivered to death unless one of them happened to stumble across a route south, then happened to return for the rest of the flock, and then happened to return the next year.

If salmon spawned by the time-chance theory, they would likely be extinct because their eggs do not survive salt water. One salmon had to have first found fresh water. No, actually two would have to take the trip. Then they had to be both in the same place in the same stream so one could fertilize the eggs of the other.

God as a powerful Creator is more believable. While the story is in Genesis, there is a verse in the New Testament that helps me, but it is often overlooked. Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

I once thought evolution was a good theory until I understood the power of God. He can do anything. He does not need a pollywog to make a frog or an embryo to make a person. He can do or create whatever pleases Him. If He could not, then He would be limited and I could not call Him ‘God’ nor believe that He is Creator.

The other part of that verse from Hebrews says that what we see did not come from visible matter. In other words, God created ex nihilo or from nothing. While He did make the first man from the ‘dust of the ground’ and breathed life into him, He spoke the universe and our world into existence.

We talk about the power of the printed or spoken word but the power of that ‘word’ is astounding. Here is how the Apostle John describes what God did with His word: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John is talking about Jesus Christ, the Word of God in a human body. He came to earth to reveal God to us. While “the heavens declare the glory of God,” the Lord Jesus Christ makes Him known far more clearly than even His amazing creation.

A Gift from God .......... Parables 664

December 21, 1999

Some people celebrate Christmas without any idea why this holiday is on the calendar. They send cards, put up lights, go shopping. They play carols on the stereo. They cook turkey and exchange gifts. Yet thoughts of the birthday Child never enter their head.

Yesterday, while decorating our tree, I was almost at that point. My husband’s work would keep him from being here to help with the tree and other preparations. The children have homes and trees of their own. My parents are not well enough to enjoy the holiday with us. It was one of those bah, humbug days.

Later, we sat and enjoyed the twinkling tree lights but the spirit of Christmas still eluded me. This morning, the Holy Spirit put it back into my mind along with the reason it had left. He reminded me that I do not do this for the tree, or my husband, or children, or family. I do not do it for myself. Christmas is not for feasting, carols, cards and lights. Nor is it for giving and receiving, as delightful as gifts may be. Celebrating Christmas is our response to the reason this holiday is on the calendar; it is one way we remind ourselves of God’s gift to us.

Of course that gift was a baby, but more than a baby. The Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”

When God spoke the world into existence, that powerful voice was His Son. When God spoke to the prophets, those words were His Son. Now, Words made flesh, the ideas and thoughts and expressions of God became a baby. Yet more than words; this baby was God poured into a human skin. Jesus is God made visible, God Himself, God . . . a gift for all people.

The Bible says “He came to His own (the Jewish people) but His own did not receive Him.” They rejected the gift. For them, He could not be God so for them, He remained unopened.

God, through His servant Paul, sent Him to the Gentiles. Some received Him, those who believed in His name. To them He gave the right to become the children of God. They believed He was God. They opened their gift.

God’s gift, once opened, keeps on giving. Yesterday’s bad attitude reminded me of one reason I needed His gift. I was having a self-focused pity party. Only He can turn my eyes away from me unto Someone greater and worthy of my gaze. Only He can pull me out of the mire and replace my whine with worship. His gift did it.

Bob’s late hours and crazy work schedule reminded me of another. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Yet sometimes rest is impossible. For that, Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” His gift pours strength into weary bones. Without the gift, the load is far too much.

Who is eligible to receive this gift? Jesus says it is only for sinners. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.” The Bible makes it clear that we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves. Salvation is the gift of God, not our own doing.

One would think that sinners deserve punishment from God and that is true. We do. Nevertheless, in sending Jesus, He sent a substitute, one who would take our punishment, which He did. The wages of sin may be death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Life, forgiveness and cleansing for sin, help with the hard stuff and much more besides . . . this is from God to us, with love.

Have you opened your gift yet?

Sticks and Stones .......... Parables 635

(date uncertain) 

“You are an odd person, Ronny,” said the teacher. On reflection, Ron says her remark now seems neither negative or positive, but it did stay with him forty years. He often asks himself, “What should an odd person do in this situation?”

Benign or otherwise, name-calling brings our children come home from school crying. Without thinking, we tell them that “sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you” but it is not true. Words can hurt.

Someone makes a thoughtless joke. A peer says something in anger. A teacher makes an offhand comment. Those words devastate us. We cannot forget them. No doubt about it, words do have power, not only to inflict pain but also to change the way we think and act.

The book of Proverbs has much to say about words. For instance, they are “deep waters” and “a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”

Words can be negative: “When words are many, sin is not absent” or “Mere talk leads to poverty” or “Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than him. . .”

Words can also be positive. “The words of the pure are pleasant” and “A gentle answer turns away wrath” and “An anxious heart weighs a man down but a kind word cheers him up.”

The Bible clearly says that words have power and that “life and death are in the power of the tongue.” Could that be why God inspired New Testament writers to give a special name to His Son, Jesus Christ? John says, “In the beginning was the Word . . . and the Word was made flesh and lived among us.”

In our mind, a word is a symbol. In contrast, during the time the New Testament was written, their Greek-dominated world thought that “word” (or “logos”) meant much more. For them “word” was the rational order of the world, the god that was behind everything. “Word” was also the means by which their god communicated to them.

The Bible writers picked up this term “logos” or “word” and applied it to Jesus. But they were not thinking of a vague god like Hermes nor dreaming up some way to link human beings to the various Greek deities. Instead, logos (or word) described the link between the Creator and the world He made. The logos was God, stepping into human flesh and revealing Himself to us.

This Word is ultimate power — demonstrated as Jesus spoke peace into troubled water and troubled hearts. By a word, He healed the sick, raised the dead, rid tortured souls of demonic influence, changed water to wine, and multiplied a lunch into a banquet. Whatever He said, it happened.

Further, by this Word God communicates His very nature and heart. In the compassion of Jesus, He shows us that He loves us. In Jesus’ rebukes and stern warnings to the Pharisees, God shows us that He hates sin and religious hypocrisy. As we observe Jesus going willingly to the cross and dying for our sin, God communicates His plan of redemption and that He did not abandon us to our failure. When Jesus rose from the dead, God shows His power over that great and final enemy.

This Word from God is strong yet vulnerable, righteous and holy yet willing to redeem. All that God is became wrapped up in this God-man so God could reveal Himself to us.

Our words are not like the Living or written Word of God, yet there is a lesson for us in that power. When we speak, we also communicate our hearts to other people. An unkind word indicates our lack of compassion. A thoughtless word shows that we do not care enough about our listeners to think before we open our mouths. A gracious word shows that grace has touched our lives.

Sticks and stones do break bones, but just as God’s Word brought eternal life, our words can have a great impact on someone’s daily life. We need to choose them carefully.

The Word became flesh ................ Parables 597

May 26, 1998

When receiving entries for a writing contest, I was startled by the title on one manuscript: “I AM A WORD.” It was entered in a category asking writers to explain why they thought they should be writers.

We use words to communicate ideas, inform, teach, inspire and encourage. We use words to express our sense of personal identity, to tell others who we are, how we think and what is important to us.

Words are symbols for ideas or things. Using symbols has some risk for confusion because the listener may picture something different than what the speaker is trying to convey.

For instance, when we hear “word” we think of a collection of letters (written or spoken) that represent something. But when the ancient Greeks used “word” (or “logos” in their language) they had a different idea. For them, logos represented the basic element or “soul” of the universe, an undefinable reasoning or wisdom that controlled all things and could express itself in some understandable way. For that reason, “logos” is translated into English as “speech” or “word.”

People in the Western world usually avoid thinking in abstract terms. We are far more apt to use concrete words. For instance, if I say, “I am a woman.” my hearers would agree. If I say, “I am a word,” they might raise their eyebrows and mutter, “Oh sure, and what does that mean?”

My point? Language changes have limited our understanding of who Jesus is and what He said about Himself. John’s gospel begins with: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John is referring to Jesus as “the Logos” or “the Word.”

In the Greek culture where He was born, “logos” or “word” was a powerful expression of an infinite being. By using this term, John knew his readers would make some connections. For the Jew, the Old Testament was God’s written expression of His revelation to them. Now John is saying that Jesus is the living expression of a Being who is the “soul of the universe,” God Himself. He once revealed Himself to Israel and that revelation was recorded in printed form. Now He is revealing Himself in a human body to all who will accept Him.

Those who knew the Scriptures understood that God speaks. Now His expression was through a living man, Jesus Christ. When Jesus spoke, because He was “logos”His words were God’s words.

Does this heady stuff make any difference? Is it important today? Only if it is true. If Jesus Christ is God in human flesh, we must consider Him. What is God communicating to us through Him? Why are His words important? What is the message of His life?

If our universe is closed, God could not come in. However, Jesus said, “If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” In a world where “logos” can inhabit a human body and interact with people, it is possible to know God.

The Bible affirms that Jesus is more than a good man, more than a teacher or a prophet. His sinless life of doing good, and His death and resurrection prove He is more than mere human. He claimed to be God incarnate.

We need to consider what this means for us. If we believe what He said about Himself and take Him up on His offer of forgiveness and eternal life, He promises that we will enter into a relationship to One we can know personally, not just as a vague entity the Greeks called “the soul of the universe” but God Himself.

Power of Words ............................ Parables 116

One picture may be worth a thousand words but only cartoonists, artists and photographers grab a camera or a paintbrush more often than a dictionary.

Words communicate our desires, hopes, dreams, wisdom and even our foolishness. Words for bridges across time, miles and silence. Words define, interpret, command, inspire, describe, infuriate, soothe, inform, and confuse. Words change the way we think and act.

Of course I don’t mean the assortment of words arranged alphabetically in a dictionary like the list of ingredients in a cake. Nor do I mean the AE, AAL, NOO, ARAR, TI, XU, PHAT, VAIR, ARUMS, COL, LODED, VELA oddities used by Scrabble players and crossword puzzle addicts.

Before they stir us, words must be properly stirred together, the right words in the right order and proportions. Then they motivate our mind and emotions -- and we buy, sell, trade, weep, laugh, or angrily ball up the paper they are written on and throw the words in a trash can.

And words are definitely the tools of those who motivate change. Hitler moved his nation to war -- with words. Martin Luther King Jr. moved his race to strive for equality -- with words. Even children use words to change the mind of mom or dad, “Buy me a candy bar, pleeeese?” or “I’ll die if I can’t have the car Friday night!”

When used for change, the power of words is not so much in themselves and what they say, but in the teamwork between words and their author. The Word of God is a dynamic example. What He says, in teamwork with His Spirit, makes things happen.

Consider creation. “Then God said . . . ” and it happened. “He spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast.” The same power is used to sustain creation: “He upholds all things by the WORD of His power . . . ”

Scripture says that the WORD of God cannot be silenced, ended, changed, or destroyed. It is indestructible and eternal.

Scripture also says that, “In the beginning was the WORD and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God . . . ” God and His WORD are the same thing therefore the creative force was not just words but the God who spoke them.

If that were not enough to comprehend, Scripture also says, “The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us.” It . . . or rather He, walked, talked, ate, and slept. He spoke “peace be still” and silenced storms. He whispered “be healed” and restored the sick and afflicted. He shouted “come forth” and men rose out of their coffins and tombs. No wonder the officers sent to arrest Him came back empty-handed with: “Never a man spoke like this man!”

Jesus claimed, “The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life.” That explains why His words powerfully convicted and convinced many who heard them. “He spoke these words and many believed . . . ”

More than any other combination of words ever written, God’s WORD has power to change lives, power because it is more than a written down WORD for us to read . . . It is a living WORD - Jesus Christ, who gives life to all who listen and believe.