August 2, 1994
Did Dr. Spock start it? Or was it the flower children of the hippy generation? Who popularized this laid-back, passive “love” that does not bother itself with trying to correct anyone’s behavior? Who decided that love accepts anything anyone else does?
Whoever did it, the concept is a far cry from what many of us from an “older generation” experienced in our growing-up years. Our parents loved us... so much so that whenever we rebelled, we received correction—bent over their knees. Some of my friends, who were never spanked, complained their parents didn’t care about them!
This soft, look-the-other-way brand of “love” probably contributed to another popular concept. It goes something like this: “God loves us too much to send anyone to hell.”
Putting that alongside Biblical descriptions of God, one must conclude those who deny the reality of hell and deny that anyone will go there, have a false concept of God and of love.
That does not mean God is unloving, not at all. Remember John 3:16; “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son....” But God is also holy. Holiness is wholeness, perfection. Christ demonstrated it: He was “in all points tempted like we are but was without sin.”
Does sinlessness mean that God is so good, so pure, that if anyone entered His presence with their sin it would somehow pollute, violate, or ruin God?
Not at all. His holiness does not depend on the purity of anyone or anything else. Again, Jesus demonstrated it: He walked this earth and rubbed shoulders with sinners yet none could entice Him to do wrong.
However, sin did violate God in a sense. It was imputed to Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says: “God made Him (meaning Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us...”
That means that God put all our sin on Jesus, much like a judge, if so disposed, could write the crimes of another person to my account, thus forcing me to pay their penalty. In Jesus’ case, Isaiah the prophet said it would happen, yet Jesus was not forced to take our sin; He did it willingly. “The Lord laid on Him the iniquities of us all... yet He did not open His mouth...” (Is.53:6). Why would God do that?
The answer is also found in Scripture. The Lord took our sin upon Himself here on earth so we could enter heaven without it. The full reading of 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
In this great exchange, my sin was put on Christ and Christ’s righteousness was put on me. By this trade-off, the Divine Judge declared me free, no penalty to pay myself because Christ paid it for me. I am not innocent but, because of Christ, I am justified. God treats me just as if I had never sinned.
To say God is too loving to punish sin implies that the love of God is not really love, sin is not a big deal, and most of all, that Christ did not have to die. It says the descriptions in the Bible of God’s character are lies, as is the historical account of Christ’s death and resurrection. If God does not love us, Jesus had no reason to do what He did.
Perhaps Jesus knew some would misinterpret the love of God as a soft, look-the-other-way tolerance. Even though He both affirmed and demonstrated the love of God as far greater than that, He also said, “I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him.”
Hell is not a pleasant thought, but because of Jesus, the place is avoidable.
Showing posts with label holiness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holiness. Show all posts
Monday, May 16, 2016
Monday, July 14, 2014
Does suffering bring people closer to God? ................. Parables 143
Laura, in a Little House On The Prairie re-run, was told those who are closer to God are more apt to have their prayers answered. The episode closed with Laura, face aglow, at the foot of a mountain, preparing the arduous task of “getting closer to God.”
While we smile at a child’s literal interpretation, there are adults who believe they can move closer to God by sticking pins in themselves or walking on burning coals or dragging a heavy cross for hundreds of miles. Others think seclusion will do it, retreating to caves, monasteries, bomb shelters or isolated communes. A southern California religious school even moved out into the desert and now advertises itself as being “fifty miles from the nearest sin!”
Label them naive, nutty, or fanatical, yet it is not wrong to want to be close to God. In fact, He commands it. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...” (James 4:7). But how can man draw near to God?
David, the psalm-writing king of Israel, asked the same question, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?” (Psalm 24)
David answers his own question with, “He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.” The rest of James 4:7 agrees. It says, “Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded.” But both raise another question, “How can I be clean and pure?”
The answer is again found in David’s psalms. He confessed after he committed adultery with Bathsheba, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight . . . create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me . . . . For thou desires not sacrifice else I would give it . . . the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
David recognized two things many of us never think about. One that God is utterly holy, utterly beyond our reach. Two, that unless He in mercy reaches down, there is no mountain high enough, no sacrifice great enough, no retreat far enough to make us clean enough to come close to Him.
David also knew the secret of coming closer. It is not in climbing higher but in bowing lower. Isaiah wrote, “For this is what the high and lofty One says, He who lives forever, whose name is Holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit.’” Jesus echoes with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
In other words, outward religious activity does not bring us closer to a God who knows what goes on inside our hearts. We need inward changes. James says we need to humble ourselves in submission to God. Humility is never easy. We would rather redefine our sinful condition, or rationalize it, excuse it, cover it, deny it, or even be perversely proud of it, anything but humbly admit we cannot make ourselves fit to draw near to God. Besides, contrite submission to Him means turning away from our own efforts to draw closer and coming to Him in the only way He accepts.
Laura, with the humble faith of a child, may find God at the top of her mountain, but not because she scaled his peak. God meets His people even in the valleys, as long as they come admitting their spiritual poverty. He doesn’t care where we are, but what we are — on the inside, where only He can see. When we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, He promised to lift us up — and draw us close to Himself.
While we smile at a child’s literal interpretation, there are adults who believe they can move closer to God by sticking pins in themselves or walking on burning coals or dragging a heavy cross for hundreds of miles. Others think seclusion will do it, retreating to caves, monasteries, bomb shelters or isolated communes. A southern California religious school even moved out into the desert and now advertises itself as being “fifty miles from the nearest sin!”
Label them naive, nutty, or fanatical, yet it is not wrong to want to be close to God. In fact, He commands it. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you...” (James 4:7). But how can man draw near to God?
David, the psalm-writing king of Israel, asked the same question, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?” (Psalm 24)
David answers his own question with, “He that hath clean hands and a pure heart.” The rest of James 4:7 agrees. It says, “Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded.” But both raise another question, “How can I be clean and pure?”
The answer is again found in David’s psalms. He confessed after he committed adultery with Bathsheba, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness: according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight . . . create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me . . . . For thou desires not sacrifice else I would give it . . . the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
David recognized two things many of us never think about. One that God is utterly holy, utterly beyond our reach. Two, that unless He in mercy reaches down, there is no mountain high enough, no sacrifice great enough, no retreat far enough to make us clean enough to come close to Him.
David also knew the secret of coming closer. It is not in climbing higher but in bowing lower. Isaiah wrote, “For this is what the high and lofty One says, He who lives forever, whose name is Holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit.’” Jesus echoes with, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
In other words, outward religious activity does not bring us closer to a God who knows what goes on inside our hearts. We need inward changes. James says we need to humble ourselves in submission to God. Humility is never easy. We would rather redefine our sinful condition, or rationalize it, excuse it, cover it, deny it, or even be perversely proud of it, anything but humbly admit we cannot make ourselves fit to draw near to God. Besides, contrite submission to Him means turning away from our own efforts to draw closer and coming to Him in the only way He accepts.
Laura, with the humble faith of a child, may find God at the top of her mountain, but not because she scaled his peak. God meets His people even in the valleys, as long as they come admitting their spiritual poverty. He doesn’t care where we are, but what we are — on the inside, where only He can see. When we humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, He promised to lift us up — and draw us close to Himself.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
If there is a God . . . ? .............................. Parables 036
A well-remembered journalist seemed to take great delight in trying to stump TV Quiz Show “Front Page Challenge” guests with this question, “If there is a good God, why did he allow the drowning of all those children in the flood?” Few answers seemed to satisfy him. He kept asking the question. Maybe he didn’t really want an answer.
No doubt there are many people who ask the same question, but do want answers. They want to know about God, but cannot get past the so-called “acts of God” that occur from time to time in our world. They find it difficult to believe that a good God could allow such sorrow. It is a serious question, actually several questions, but there are answers.
The first part of the question shows doubt concerning the very existence of God. The Bible clearly tells us that while the natural man cannot perceive spiritual truth without supernatural revelation, God has clearly revealed that He exists. He reveals Himself in three basic ways: 1) through an orderly, intricate, and magnificent creation; 2) through the life of an extraordinary person who was born in a stable, lived without sin, died on a cross, and rose from the dead; and 3) through a book that says things that the human mind could not have invented. Even without the last two, the first one is available to all. Anyone who ignores or denies any of the three will find that God seems remote, even nonexistent.
The second part of that question casts doubt on the goodness of God. Part of the problem is that people often have a definition of goodness that is based on what makes them comfortable, or what profits them personally. God’s goodness is beyond any standard of measurement that we have. Jesus Christ claimed to be God in human flesh, a revelation from the Father of Himself. An honest look at the life of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New Testament, leaves no doubt that God is good.
Another part of the question is based on an assumption that people, including children, are innocent. The Biblical account of circumstances before the flood says that everyone did evil, continually. Children are just as capable of sin as adults. Furthermore, God says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
If we understand even a little bit about God’s holiness, we will realize very quickly that the question should not be “Why does God destroy anyone?” but “Why does He let anyone live at all?” Besides, can we not grant God, who created us, the right to do with us as He sees fit? What options does He have in dealing with our sinful nature?
Some claim atheism, believing that “no God at all” is better than one who does not make sense, or that does not fit into their criteria of what God should be like. This leaves the issue at the bottom line - faith. “ . . . Anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
He gives the revelation of who He is - in His creation, in His Son, and in the pages of a book. Then He asks us this question: “Will you trust me on the basis of what you see there?” Anyone who believes the light that is already seen will be given more light, and will come out of the darkness of not being able to really understand, into the light of knowing the existence and the goodness of God.
No doubt there are many people who ask the same question, but do want answers. They want to know about God, but cannot get past the so-called “acts of God” that occur from time to time in our world. They find it difficult to believe that a good God could allow such sorrow. It is a serious question, actually several questions, but there are answers.
The first part of the question shows doubt concerning the very existence of God. The Bible clearly tells us that while the natural man cannot perceive spiritual truth without supernatural revelation, God has clearly revealed that He exists. He reveals Himself in three basic ways: 1) through an orderly, intricate, and magnificent creation; 2) through the life of an extraordinary person who was born in a stable, lived without sin, died on a cross, and rose from the dead; and 3) through a book that says things that the human mind could not have invented. Even without the last two, the first one is available to all. Anyone who ignores or denies any of the three will find that God seems remote, even nonexistent.
The second part of that question casts doubt on the goodness of God. Part of the problem is that people often have a definition of goodness that is based on what makes them comfortable, or what profits them personally. God’s goodness is beyond any standard of measurement that we have. Jesus Christ claimed to be God in human flesh, a revelation from the Father of Himself. An honest look at the life of Jesus Christ, as recorded in the New Testament, leaves no doubt that God is good.
Another part of the question is based on an assumption that people, including children, are innocent. The Biblical account of circumstances before the flood says that everyone did evil, continually. Children are just as capable of sin as adults. Furthermore, God says that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
If we understand even a little bit about God’s holiness, we will realize very quickly that the question should not be “Why does God destroy anyone?” but “Why does He let anyone live at all?” Besides, can we not grant God, who created us, the right to do with us as He sees fit? What options does He have in dealing with our sinful nature?
Some claim atheism, believing that “no God at all” is better than one who does not make sense, or that does not fit into their criteria of what God should be like. This leaves the issue at the bottom line - faith. “ . . . Anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
He gives the revelation of who He is - in His creation, in His Son, and in the pages of a book. Then He asks us this question: “Will you trust me on the basis of what you see there?” Anyone who believes the light that is already seen will be given more light, and will come out of the darkness of not being able to really understand, into the light of knowing the existence and the goodness of God.
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