A dad brought home gifts for his two sons from a “rock hound” gathering somewhere in the United States. He had selected what appeared to be two ordinary items in a bin marked “Your choice - $5.00.” The newspaper article didn’t say whether he had an expert eye but it did say that the external appearance of the two rocks was deceiving. They turned out to be worth several thousand dollars each.
The old saying “You cannot judge a book by its cover” has been used to describe everything from human character to actual books. In this case, it was true of a stone. An uncut diamond is another example; its fire and brilliance do not appear to the untrained eye. Unless a person is able to look beyond what is actually visible, they will not see the value that is there.
Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet wrote about the external appearance of a servant of God. In the context, it is clearly a reference to Jesus Christ, who would not be born for several hundred years. Isaiah said, “...He has no form or comeliness (or splendor) and when we see Him, there is no beauty (or physical appearance) that we should desire Him.” (Is.53:2)
Jesus was apparently not what we would call a Hollywood type. His appearance did not attract people to Him. He was an ordinary man, at least in His external features, and because He was so ordinary, some “despised and rejected Him.” Perhaps their value system included that which is pleasing to the eye. Perhaps they were expecting their Savior to come in regal splendor and sparkling brilliance. Whatever they expected, they stumbled over what they saw, and then rejected Him.
Failure to look beyond mere externals for the value of a person is as foolish as a quick examination of a $50,000 rock and deciding to toss it into the $5.00-take-your-pick bin because it looked “ordinary.” Had the owner of those stones looked more closely, he would never have sold them so cheaply. Had the people of Jesus day looked beyond what they saw on the surface, they would have seen the brilliance of sinless perfection, the fire of a holy life. They would have realized that this ordinary man was also extra-ordinary, and they would have received Him. But He didn’t look good, so they tossed Him aside, without a second look.
Some people do that today. They somehow have false expectations about Jesus Christ and think that He will solve all their problems and make their life a bed of roses, but He doesn’t. Some suppose that He only welcomes “religious” people; but that is far from true.
Some see Him as too ordinary, without the power and brilliance they hope for and need. Their understanding of Him may come from paintings of a limp and even sickly form on a cross. Or they see a television and theater “Jesus” - weak, effeminate, dull, or boring, not even an uncut diamond but a plain, ordinary rock.
Some told the disciples, “We want to see Jesus...” but seeing Him with the physical eye did not guarantee that they realized His value. Everyone who saw Him, even His disciples, did not really know what they were seeing. As the Bible says, He certainly was “the stone that the builders rejected.” Just as a jeweler uses a special lens to enable his eyes to discern the value of a precious stone, God has a similar eyepiece for us. We need one because our sin blinds us to the true beauty of the Son of God. His eyepiece is the Word of God opened up by the power of the Holy Spirit, thus enabling us to have a good look at Jesus.
When we see His glory, we see that He shines far brighter than any diamond, His worth surpassing all that has value. Then we are willing to “sell all” and embrace this One as our own precious Lord and Savior.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Perfuming a pig? .................... Parables 085
While washing the wood paneled walls that line the stairway to the basement of our home, I felt like I was trying to perfume a pig. The stairs themselves are still the 2 inch boards used by the builder, without benefit of carpet or tile to cover them. A few years ago someone painted them off-white; someone else walked on the paint before it was dry; a few families moved in and out; some put a chip here, a gouge there... those stairs looked pretty shabby. In energy born from frustration, I grabbed a paint brush and give them a quick coat of fresh paint.
The nicks and gouges are the same color now. The wood is still rather beat-up but the paint gives a uniform effect. It will do, for a time, but I still feel vaguely unsatisfied; I did not fix the real problem.
That can happen in other areas of life too. Ever have an argument with someone, mumble “I’m sorry”, but still feel that something was left undone? Also, there is the vague unrest after doing a job at less than our best. It is easy to make an excuse and shrug it off, but it gets added to the clutter of the unfinished, the unsatisfactory, the “I-wish-I-could- do-it-over” stuff in our lives.
The Bible tells Christians to put the past behind, to press on toward the goal of Christlikeness. That sounds great, but we must also settle differences with others, pay our debts, and do our very best. How can we put the past behind without feeling like we are leaving a trail of debris along the way?
1) Keep short accounts with God: When I was a little girl, my grandmother told me never to apply perfume without first taking a bath. The principle carries over into spiritual life. If it is battered and gouged, or spotted and dirty, any efforts to whitewash it will only cover it up, not fix it. So, if the left-overs include unconfessed sin that must be dealt with. Putting on the perfume of goodness is important, but it does not correct the problem of any dirt that might be underneath.
Sin is serious, not to be swept under the carpet or whitewashed with excuses. David acknowledged his sin saying it was “always before me” and asked God “cleanse my heart and restore the joy of my salvation.” He did that because he knew that God “...is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9).
2) Make restitution: The past may include some unresolved relationship problems. God asks us to deal with them too, even if they seem like “old” issues. When I became a Christian the Lord impressed upon me to apologize to someone I had wronged ten years before. It was hard to find the person’s location and write a letter of apology, but the burden of the unfinished was lifted. Jesus said not to bring any gift to the alter of God without dealing with unresolved differences with others. (See Matt. 5:23,24)
3) Put the things we cannot do anything about into the Lord’s hands: No amount of regret, sighing, or unscrambling will change most of the past. If we have confessed any sin to God and done what we can to correct broken relationships with others, then it is time to move on. Moaning “if only” is destructive and time-wasting. When we spend a lot of time wishing we had done differently, that is all we do, wish. And our lives never change now - when we have opportunity to change.
4) Be free to build memories for the future. Tomorrow I want to be able to look back on today with the awareness that I did what the Lord wanted me to do with as much ability has He has given me to do it. If it does not happen that way, then, because of His mercy, I am “not consumed... His compassions fail not. They are new every morning...” making each new day a new beginning without a backlog of the unfinished to spoil it.
The nicks and gouges are the same color now. The wood is still rather beat-up but the paint gives a uniform effect. It will do, for a time, but I still feel vaguely unsatisfied; I did not fix the real problem.
That can happen in other areas of life too. Ever have an argument with someone, mumble “I’m sorry”, but still feel that something was left undone? Also, there is the vague unrest after doing a job at less than our best. It is easy to make an excuse and shrug it off, but it gets added to the clutter of the unfinished, the unsatisfactory, the “I-wish-I-could- do-it-over” stuff in our lives.
The Bible tells Christians to put the past behind, to press on toward the goal of Christlikeness. That sounds great, but we must also settle differences with others, pay our debts, and do our very best. How can we put the past behind without feeling like we are leaving a trail of debris along the way?
1) Keep short accounts with God: When I was a little girl, my grandmother told me never to apply perfume without first taking a bath. The principle carries over into spiritual life. If it is battered and gouged, or spotted and dirty, any efforts to whitewash it will only cover it up, not fix it. So, if the left-overs include unconfessed sin that must be dealt with. Putting on the perfume of goodness is important, but it does not correct the problem of any dirt that might be underneath.
Sin is serious, not to be swept under the carpet or whitewashed with excuses. David acknowledged his sin saying it was “always before me” and asked God “cleanse my heart and restore the joy of my salvation.” He did that because he knew that God “...is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9).
2) Make restitution: The past may include some unresolved relationship problems. God asks us to deal with them too, even if they seem like “old” issues. When I became a Christian the Lord impressed upon me to apologize to someone I had wronged ten years before. It was hard to find the person’s location and write a letter of apology, but the burden of the unfinished was lifted. Jesus said not to bring any gift to the alter of God without dealing with unresolved differences with others. (See Matt. 5:23,24)
3) Put the things we cannot do anything about into the Lord’s hands: No amount of regret, sighing, or unscrambling will change most of the past. If we have confessed any sin to God and done what we can to correct broken relationships with others, then it is time to move on. Moaning “if only” is destructive and time-wasting. When we spend a lot of time wishing we had done differently, that is all we do, wish. And our lives never change now - when we have opportunity to change.
4) Be free to build memories for the future. Tomorrow I want to be able to look back on today with the awareness that I did what the Lord wanted me to do with as much ability has He has given me to do it. If it does not happen that way, then, because of His mercy, I am “not consumed... His compassions fail not. They are new every morning...” making each new day a new beginning without a backlog of the unfinished to spoil it.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Predictions ............................ Parables 084
“Top Ten Predictions for 1988"
It won’t be long before headlines like that march across magazine stands and through the racks beside grocery store checkouts. The current stable of soothsayers will be telling the readers their predictions for the coming year and those readers will hang on to every word. Some will maybe even plan their lives around such prophesies for 1988.
I suppose someone goes back to check the track-record of those who filled the same pages the year before. They would need to if they honestly wanted to publish the “top ten”, but I wonder about their evaluation system, if there is one. Would it stack up with the one God used for Old Testament prophets? Or would they even dare try God’s method for determining the “top ten” prophets for 1988?
Out of Deuteronomy 18:20-22 comes this: “You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?’”... and the response: “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”
That doesn’t seem too difficult a test. Everyone makes mistakes. One might think that to proclaim something in the name of the LORD or just in your own name and then have it fall through would not be a big deal... but here is the kicker: “... A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.”
That is not your average test. If the prophecy came true, the one who made it was allowed to live. If not, he was stoned to death. Pretty drastic isn’t it? That is why the prophetic books of the Old Testament have such impact. They were written by God’s top men, men who were 100% accurate. They only wrote what God actually did tell them to write.
God has His reasons for insisting on such accuracy. To say something is a message from God will grab a listener’s attention. His Words are not to be taken lightly. What He says is true, accurate, and reliable. When a false prophet claims “God told me...”, thousands of undiscerning people cannot tell the difference between those lies and God’s truth. Worse yet, most of them are as unconcerned about being led astray as the people who write and publish such nonsense are about doing it. It happened in the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah and it still happens today.
When I see those magazines, and anything else that is a perversion of genuine prophesy, I am angry and grieved. God has recorded events that are yet to come and these can be trusted as certainties, but He also can be trusted even when we don’t know the future. We are not to put our faith in the words of some self-proclaimed experts. God said to Jeremiah, “The prophets prophesy lies... and my people love it this way... But what will you do in the end?”
What indeed will anyone do? Christians sometimes think that because we are a minority, we are helpless, forgetting that God plus one equals a majority. Instead we often ignore the perversions, retreat into our spired buildings, and hope for the some judgmental fire from heaven.
What a sad commentary on the value systems of the people of God when the greatest measure of integrity we can muster is to look the other way rather than do something positive to counter false prophesies with truth and the good news of the gospel. Jesus Christ, the greatest prophet of all, didn’t come to give us a detailed list of what will happen in 1988 or any other year, but He did come to give us is hope for eternity. We may not know what tomorrow will bring but we ought to know what will happen to us after we die and then tell others so they can have the same assurance.
Personally, I know enough about the future to make me realize how important it is to concentrate on the right now. God has given me plenty to think about, plenty to talk about, and plenty to do - TODAY.
It won’t be long before headlines like that march across magazine stands and through the racks beside grocery store checkouts. The current stable of soothsayers will be telling the readers their predictions for the coming year and those readers will hang on to every word. Some will maybe even plan their lives around such prophesies for 1988.
I suppose someone goes back to check the track-record of those who filled the same pages the year before. They would need to if they honestly wanted to publish the “top ten”, but I wonder about their evaluation system, if there is one. Would it stack up with the one God used for Old Testament prophets? Or would they even dare try God’s method for determining the “top ten” prophets for 1988?
Out of Deuteronomy 18:20-22 comes this: “You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?’”... and the response: “If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.”
That doesn’t seem too difficult a test. Everyone makes mistakes. One might think that to proclaim something in the name of the LORD or just in your own name and then have it fall through would not be a big deal... but here is the kicker: “... A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.”
That is not your average test. If the prophecy came true, the one who made it was allowed to live. If not, he was stoned to death. Pretty drastic isn’t it? That is why the prophetic books of the Old Testament have such impact. They were written by God’s top men, men who were 100% accurate. They only wrote what God actually did tell them to write.
God has His reasons for insisting on such accuracy. To say something is a message from God will grab a listener’s attention. His Words are not to be taken lightly. What He says is true, accurate, and reliable. When a false prophet claims “God told me...”, thousands of undiscerning people cannot tell the difference between those lies and God’s truth. Worse yet, most of them are as unconcerned about being led astray as the people who write and publish such nonsense are about doing it. It happened in the days of Isaiah and Jeremiah and it still happens today.
When I see those magazines, and anything else that is a perversion of genuine prophesy, I am angry and grieved. God has recorded events that are yet to come and these can be trusted as certainties, but He also can be trusted even when we don’t know the future. We are not to put our faith in the words of some self-proclaimed experts. God said to Jeremiah, “The prophets prophesy lies... and my people love it this way... But what will you do in the end?”
What indeed will anyone do? Christians sometimes think that because we are a minority, we are helpless, forgetting that God plus one equals a majority. Instead we often ignore the perversions, retreat into our spired buildings, and hope for the some judgmental fire from heaven.
What a sad commentary on the value systems of the people of God when the greatest measure of integrity we can muster is to look the other way rather than do something positive to counter false prophesies with truth and the good news of the gospel. Jesus Christ, the greatest prophet of all, didn’t come to give us a detailed list of what will happen in 1988 or any other year, but He did come to give us is hope for eternity. We may not know what tomorrow will bring but we ought to know what will happen to us after we die and then tell others so they can have the same assurance.
Personally, I know enough about the future to make me realize how important it is to concentrate on the right now. God has given me plenty to think about, plenty to talk about, and plenty to do - TODAY.
Friday, February 21, 2014
God knows...! ....................... Parables 083
Some friends live on an acreage outside of Fort Saskatchewan. A few weeks ago, a neighbor approached them and offered them another place to live, one that would cost him something to provide, yet would be appealing to this couple. This unusual offer puzzled them so they did not respond right away. Instead they prayed for guidance. About a week later, their landlord came and posted a FOR SALE sign on the property where they were living. Suddenly they had a problem.... but a possible solution was in place before they knew the problem existed.
This illustrates a truth about God: because of His eternal perspective, He can prepare solutions before problems become apparent.
God knew all about our lives before our lives even began. In Psalm 139, David says, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
One of the things that God knew about David’s life and about the life of every person, was that all would sin and fall short of His righteous standard. So God planned the solution for the problem of sin before the problem existed. Acts 2:23, Romans 8:29, Ephesians 1 and many other Scripture passages tell how God predetermined, before the foundation of the world, that His Son would come and die on the cross for the sins of His people. He did this so we, by faith, could be forgiven and receive the righteousness of Christ, thus becoming holy and blameless before Him. Sin did not catch God by surprise.
God also knows the needs of His people even before we are aware of them. Matthew 6 tells Christians to pray, but not to pray as hypocrites or pagans do, who presume God will hear them because they pray over and over. Instead, the Lord says, “Don’t be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
God is a God who knows. He knows every time a sparrow falls to the ground; He knows the very number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10). He knows what is in the darkness, and what is in light (Daniel 2:22). He knows the thoughts of the wise (1 Cor. 3:20) and the thoughts of the foolish (Genesis 6:5).
Jesus Christ, who is “God made flesh”, also knows. He knows our thoughts (Matt.12:25, Mark 2:8, Luke 6:8, John 2:25). He also knows our struggles - because “He was tempted in every way just as we are - yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
He also knows who loves Him, “If any man loves God, the same is known of Him.”
And He knows who are His: “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His’.” Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep...”
The Psalmist said that God’s knowledge is too high, too wonderful for him, beyond his comprehension. That is true, yet the knowledge of God should not cause us to back away in insecurity but to run to Him in trust, glad that He does not hold our ignorance against us.
In fact, the knowledge of God is great comfort to those who know Him. First, we can trust in the completeness of His salvation. His solution for sin is perfect. When we fall short, which we often do, we can know that God knew it before we did it, and that His Son, our Intercessor, has completely bore the guilt and paid the penalty.
We also can trust Him to faithfully lead us through life according to His great knowledge. Sometimes we do not realize our needs, but the more we become aware of them, the more we can rely on His promise to “supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
This illustrates a truth about God: because of His eternal perspective, He can prepare solutions before problems become apparent.
God knew all about our lives before our lives even began. In Psalm 139, David says, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
One of the things that God knew about David’s life and about the life of every person, was that all would sin and fall short of His righteous standard. So God planned the solution for the problem of sin before the problem existed. Acts 2:23, Romans 8:29, Ephesians 1 and many other Scripture passages tell how God predetermined, before the foundation of the world, that His Son would come and die on the cross for the sins of His people. He did this so we, by faith, could be forgiven and receive the righteousness of Christ, thus becoming holy and blameless before Him. Sin did not catch God by surprise.
God also knows the needs of His people even before we are aware of them. Matthew 6 tells Christians to pray, but not to pray as hypocrites or pagans do, who presume God will hear them because they pray over and over. Instead, the Lord says, “Don’t be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”
God is a God who knows. He knows every time a sparrow falls to the ground; He knows the very number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10). He knows what is in the darkness, and what is in light (Daniel 2:22). He knows the thoughts of the wise (1 Cor. 3:20) and the thoughts of the foolish (Genesis 6:5).
Jesus Christ, who is “God made flesh”, also knows. He knows our thoughts (Matt.12:25, Mark 2:8, Luke 6:8, John 2:25). He also knows our struggles - because “He was tempted in every way just as we are - yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
He also knows who loves Him, “If any man loves God, the same is known of Him.”
And He knows who are His: “God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are His’.” Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep...”
The Psalmist said that God’s knowledge is too high, too wonderful for him, beyond his comprehension. That is true, yet the knowledge of God should not cause us to back away in insecurity but to run to Him in trust, glad that He does not hold our ignorance against us.
In fact, the knowledge of God is great comfort to those who know Him. First, we can trust in the completeness of His salvation. His solution for sin is perfect. When we fall short, which we often do, we can know that God knew it before we did it, and that His Son, our Intercessor, has completely bore the guilt and paid the penalty.
We also can trust Him to faithfully lead us through life according to His great knowledge. Sometimes we do not realize our needs, but the more we become aware of them, the more we can rely on His promise to “supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Incarnation ............................. Parables 082
In his book, DEATH OF A GURU (Harvest House publishers), Rabindranath Maharaj said that he believed he would be reincarnated as a cow, therefore he spent hours staring at one, intent on her characteristics, putting all other thoughts out of his mind. He relates what a shock it was when this revered creature finally noticed him, became angry, and charged at him. It was one of several upsetting events that caused him to re-examine his belief in reincarnation and finally abandon it.
Reincarnation is the belief that a soul returns after death to live in another body. Although neither the word or the concept are mentioned in the Bible, Christians use another word that sounds very much like it. The word is “INCARNATION.” Actually, this word is not in Scripture either, at least in this English form. The New Testament was written originally in Greek and the component parts, “in carne”, are in the original text.
Incarnation refers to a unique event regarding the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He left heaven, came to earth and occupied a human body. This event is unique because it happened only once, to one unique person, who lived in one body, for one lifetime, yet still lives - in that same body, forever.
Jesus Christ was born, fully man, nearly 2000 years ago. The Bible says that His mother was Mary, but His Father was not Joseph, Mary’s husband, but the Spirit of God. John 1:14 says that “God became flesh and lived among us.” Therefore, Jesus was unique, the God-man, and God did this unique thing in order to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Man had originally been created in the image of God (not a physical image because God is spirit, and no man can see Him, but with moral, mental, emotional, and volitional capacity), yet human beings have failed to reflect the likeness of God because of rebellion against Him.
Because He is holy and just, God says those who rebel against Him (sin) must die. But He is also a God of love and mercy so He determined a way to pardon the sinner yet still satisfy His wrath against their sins.
His remedy was to provide a substitute, one who would die for the sins of others, making it possible for sinners to live. This substitute had to be a man to qualify as payment for man’s guilt, yet more than just another sinner with his own debt of sin towards God.
There was only one way to satisfy that criteria: God Himself came in human flesh. He, in a fully human body lived a perfect sinless life even though He was tempted to sin just as we are. Then He died the death that others deserve. But, because He did not deserve to die, He rose from the grave where He had been buried, and later ascended into heaven where He “lives forever to make intercession for us.”
That is the “en carne”, the incarnation.
No one ever has been, nor ever will be, God in the flesh again. The Bible calls Jesus the “ONLY begotten Son.” He is unique.
Furthermore, when Jesus died, it was in the body He had been born and grown to manhood in. When He rose again, it was also in the same body, a glorified body, somehow uniquely changed, yet still bearing the marks of the nails in His hands. It was this body that the disciples saw and touched. They watched Him eat and drink. Then they watched Him ascend and disappear into a cloud with the promise that “this same Jesus will come again” - in the same body. (Acts 1)
His soul did not and will not return in another body. Jesus was not and will not be “re-incarnated”.
The message of the Incarnation gives unique hope to those who believe in Him. God says that as we gaze into His glory, we are transformed, by the power of His Spirit, to be like He is... to be all that God intended us to be, clean from the sin that spoils the image we were created to reflect. Later, when we die, we will be raised to eternal life - in our bodies made incorruptible like His glorified body, fit to live forever with Him.
Reincarnation is the belief that a soul returns after death to live in another body. Although neither the word or the concept are mentioned in the Bible, Christians use another word that sounds very much like it. The word is “INCARNATION.” Actually, this word is not in Scripture either, at least in this English form. The New Testament was written originally in Greek and the component parts, “in carne”, are in the original text.
Incarnation refers to a unique event regarding the person of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God. He left heaven, came to earth and occupied a human body. This event is unique because it happened only once, to one unique person, who lived in one body, for one lifetime, yet still lives - in that same body, forever.
Jesus Christ was born, fully man, nearly 2000 years ago. The Bible says that His mother was Mary, but His Father was not Joseph, Mary’s husband, but the Spirit of God. John 1:14 says that “God became flesh and lived among us.” Therefore, Jesus was unique, the God-man, and God did this unique thing in order to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Man had originally been created in the image of God (not a physical image because God is spirit, and no man can see Him, but with moral, mental, emotional, and volitional capacity), yet human beings have failed to reflect the likeness of God because of rebellion against Him.
Because He is holy and just, God says those who rebel against Him (sin) must die. But He is also a God of love and mercy so He determined a way to pardon the sinner yet still satisfy His wrath against their sins.
His remedy was to provide a substitute, one who would die for the sins of others, making it possible for sinners to live. This substitute had to be a man to qualify as payment for man’s guilt, yet more than just another sinner with his own debt of sin towards God.
There was only one way to satisfy that criteria: God Himself came in human flesh. He, in a fully human body lived a perfect sinless life even though He was tempted to sin just as we are. Then He died the death that others deserve. But, because He did not deserve to die, He rose from the grave where He had been buried, and later ascended into heaven where He “lives forever to make intercession for us.”
That is the “en carne”, the incarnation.
No one ever has been, nor ever will be, God in the flesh again. The Bible calls Jesus the “ONLY begotten Son.” He is unique.
Furthermore, when Jesus died, it was in the body He had been born and grown to manhood in. When He rose again, it was also in the same body, a glorified body, somehow uniquely changed, yet still bearing the marks of the nails in His hands. It was this body that the disciples saw and touched. They watched Him eat and drink. Then they watched Him ascend and disappear into a cloud with the promise that “this same Jesus will come again” - in the same body. (Acts 1)
His soul did not and will not return in another body. Jesus was not and will not be “re-incarnated”.
The message of the Incarnation gives unique hope to those who believe in Him. God says that as we gaze into His glory, we are transformed, by the power of His Spirit, to be like He is... to be all that God intended us to be, clean from the sin that spoils the image we were created to reflect. Later, when we die, we will be raised to eternal life - in our bodies made incorruptible like His glorified body, fit to live forever with Him.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Reincarnation? ............................. Parables 081
Every now and then someone wants to know what the Bible says about reincarnation, an eastern philosophy that seems to be catching on in North America. The dictionary defines it as “the rebirth of a soul into a new human body.”
I asked myself “why would I believe in reincarnation? Some thoughts were: It gives hope for a second chance. If I could come back in another body, maybe I could just put behind me all the mistakes I made in this one. Also, if I could live again, perhaps I could have all the things denied me this time around. Besides, who wants to die?
So, what does the Bible say about reincarnation? Absolutely nothing. The word is not in Scripture. Surprised? Wouldn’t you think that if this was a valid concept, God would have something to say about it? Actually, He does. He reveals truth about the very same issues that reincarnation appeals to, the issues of: life after death, second chances, how to deal
with mistakes, and finding satisfaction and fulfillment.
LIFE AFTER DEATH: Jesus Christ said “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear (the Father’s) voice, and shall come forth...” (John 5:28-29) He goes on to say that those who have done good (satisfied the Father’s standard of righteousness) shall experience the resurrection of life and those that have done evil, the resurrection of damnation. Either way, everyone will live again after they die.
SECOND CHANCES: The Bible is blunt about this one. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.” Very simple. We only die once. There is not one thing in Scripture that even infers that life is a cycle of souls re-entering other bodies.
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR MISTAKES: While it would be nice to just sweep our mistakes and failures into a casket and freely enter a next life, there is nothing in God’s Word that says it will happen. Instead note He. 9:27 again, we die once... “but after this the judgement.” The next life is not one where we face a new beginning but where we face God.
Again, the Bible doesn’t mince His words and try to soften the blow. If our “mistakes” are sin, they are called sin. Furthermore, the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and everyone has sinned. God loves those He created, but He is also just. Those wages must be paid. The death that comes from sin is not just physical death but spiritual death - separation from God, forever. In other words, everyone dies physically, everyone is resurrected, but not everyone will spend eternity with God.
FINDING SATISFACTION: One would think after all this gloom and doom that it is no wonder people avoid Scripture and turn to the religions of the eastern mystics that are in such utter contradiction to God’s Word.
But the Bible has good news too. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live...” It also says, we are saved from God’s wrath by faith in His Son. That means Jesus + faith = eternal life, with the Lord, forever.
Jesus gives a genuine second chance - not by a vague hope for a future reincarnation but by a very real spiritual birth, IN THIS LIFE. “If any person is in Christ, He has become a new creation, old things are passed away, all things have become new.” Yet He doesn’t sweep our sin under the carpet, when He gives that life. Instead, He bore our sin Himself. He paid its terrible penalty on the cross where He suffered and died.
This is not a pie-in-the-sky philosophy that puts everything off into the hereafter as reincarnation does. It offers fulfillment and hope for this life right now because Jesus also said, “I have come that they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly.” The Lord is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think.”
Even if I could come back in another body, I know I could not do better than He can.
(Next week: The Bible does talk about INCARNATION.)
I asked myself “why would I believe in reincarnation? Some thoughts were: It gives hope for a second chance. If I could come back in another body, maybe I could just put behind me all the mistakes I made in this one. Also, if I could live again, perhaps I could have all the things denied me this time around. Besides, who wants to die?
So, what does the Bible say about reincarnation? Absolutely nothing. The word is not in Scripture. Surprised? Wouldn’t you think that if this was a valid concept, God would have something to say about it? Actually, He does. He reveals truth about the very same issues that reincarnation appeals to, the issues of: life after death, second chances, how to deal
with mistakes, and finding satisfaction and fulfillment.
LIFE AFTER DEATH: Jesus Christ said “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear (the Father’s) voice, and shall come forth...” (John 5:28-29) He goes on to say that those who have done good (satisfied the Father’s standard of righteousness) shall experience the resurrection of life and those that have done evil, the resurrection of damnation. Either way, everyone will live again after they die.
SECOND CHANCES: The Bible is blunt about this one. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement.” Very simple. We only die once. There is not one thing in Scripture that even infers that life is a cycle of souls re-entering other bodies.
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR MISTAKES: While it would be nice to just sweep our mistakes and failures into a casket and freely enter a next life, there is nothing in God’s Word that says it will happen. Instead note He. 9:27 again, we die once... “but after this the judgement.” The next life is not one where we face a new beginning but where we face God.
Again, the Bible doesn’t mince His words and try to soften the blow. If our “mistakes” are sin, they are called sin. Furthermore, the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and everyone has sinned. God loves those He created, but He is also just. Those wages must be paid. The death that comes from sin is not just physical death but spiritual death - separation from God, forever. In other words, everyone dies physically, everyone is resurrected, but not everyone will spend eternity with God.
FINDING SATISFACTION: One would think after all this gloom and doom that it is no wonder people avoid Scripture and turn to the religions of the eastern mystics that are in such utter contradiction to God’s Word.
But the Bible has good news too. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live...” It also says, we are saved from God’s wrath by faith in His Son. That means Jesus + faith = eternal life, with the Lord, forever.
Jesus gives a genuine second chance - not by a vague hope for a future reincarnation but by a very real spiritual birth, IN THIS LIFE. “If any person is in Christ, He has become a new creation, old things are passed away, all things have become new.” Yet He doesn’t sweep our sin under the carpet, when He gives that life. Instead, He bore our sin Himself. He paid its terrible penalty on the cross where He suffered and died.
This is not a pie-in-the-sky philosophy that puts everything off into the hereafter as reincarnation does. It offers fulfillment and hope for this life right now because Jesus also said, “I have come that they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly.” The Lord is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think.”
Even if I could come back in another body, I know I could not do better than He can.
(Next week: The Bible does talk about INCARNATION.)
Friday, February 14, 2014
Rejected? ........................... Parables 080
“Nobody’s Child” is a movie portraying the life of a woman who was admitted to a mental institution at 16 and spent most of the following 20 years there.
Her illness? Childhood rejection. Even remote reminders of her past caused her extreme anxiety. Sometimes she became violent in her fear. One incident sent her into two years of silent withdrawal.
Finally, one doctor recognized the emotional need of this woman and began to express loving concern for her as a individual. She encouraged her to turn from her fears and develop some life skills. “Nobody’s Child” responded to that love and eventually moved into her own apartment, earned a college degree, and reached the potential that her doctor saw in her. It was a very dramatic true story.
Of course, not everyone who suffers becomes movie material. Sometimes there is no one that cares about their needs. Sometimes they fail to respond to anyone who does try to help. Whatever the reasons, all stories do no have a happy ending.
But everyone understands rejection. Whether a person is a “different” child in school, abandoned by someone they hoped would love them, or just turned away when there was a desire to participate - rejection hurts.
The Psalmist knew about rejection too. He says “When my father and mother forsake me...” Yet he found there is One who never turns anyone away. “...then the Lord will take me up” (Psalm 27:10).
The Lord Himself offers love. Even if there is no one to pick up the pieces, such as the doctor in the movie, God is always there. His love goes far beyond that of the most caring person. In fact, The Lord’s love never gives up.
He says, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). He said this to a nation who resisted Him, who fell into idolatry, and turned their back on Him. But in His love, He continued to draw them, wanting to restore them to a love-relationship with Himself.
His love extends beyond those ancient nations to us. Even though all mankind has “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, “God has demonstrated His love toward us...” He knows we can not and will not seek restoration so He made the first move and “...while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Our sin is an affront to His holiness and separates us from Him, but His Son was willing to pay the full penalty for our sin. The cross is God’s message that says, “There... I love you.”
We need to recognize that our “illness” is sin. We cannot cure it ourselves, or even demand a cure. We do not deserve it. The mercy and grace of God, through the sacrifice of His Son, provides forgiveness and cleansing, the cure we need.
God will not accept into His presence people who are defiled and unholy, so we also need righteousness. This we do not have but because of God’s love, that is also provided in Christ.
Just as the woman in the movie could not make herself well and then go to the doctor, we cannot make our lives acceptable and then go to the Savior. He saves, we do not. And when He does, we are forgiven and transformed, given grace to become all we can be, with hope for a “happy ever after” when this life is over.
Her illness? Childhood rejection. Even remote reminders of her past caused her extreme anxiety. Sometimes she became violent in her fear. One incident sent her into two years of silent withdrawal.
Finally, one doctor recognized the emotional need of this woman and began to express loving concern for her as a individual. She encouraged her to turn from her fears and develop some life skills. “Nobody’s Child” responded to that love and eventually moved into her own apartment, earned a college degree, and reached the potential that her doctor saw in her. It was a very dramatic true story.
Of course, not everyone who suffers becomes movie material. Sometimes there is no one that cares about their needs. Sometimes they fail to respond to anyone who does try to help. Whatever the reasons, all stories do no have a happy ending.
But everyone understands rejection. Whether a person is a “different” child in school, abandoned by someone they hoped would love them, or just turned away when there was a desire to participate - rejection hurts.
The Psalmist knew about rejection too. He says “When my father and mother forsake me...” Yet he found there is One who never turns anyone away. “...then the Lord will take me up” (Psalm 27:10).
The Lord Himself offers love. Even if there is no one to pick up the pieces, such as the doctor in the movie, God is always there. His love goes far beyond that of the most caring person. In fact, The Lord’s love never gives up.
He says, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3). He said this to a nation who resisted Him, who fell into idolatry, and turned their back on Him. But in His love, He continued to draw them, wanting to restore them to a love-relationship with Himself.
His love extends beyond those ancient nations to us. Even though all mankind has “sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, “God has demonstrated His love toward us...” He knows we can not and will not seek restoration so He made the first move and “...while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Our sin is an affront to His holiness and separates us from Him, but His Son was willing to pay the full penalty for our sin. The cross is God’s message that says, “There... I love you.”
We need to recognize that our “illness” is sin. We cannot cure it ourselves, or even demand a cure. We do not deserve it. The mercy and grace of God, through the sacrifice of His Son, provides forgiveness and cleansing, the cure we need.
God will not accept into His presence people who are defiled and unholy, so we also need righteousness. This we do not have but because of God’s love, that is also provided in Christ.
Just as the woman in the movie could not make herself well and then go to the doctor, we cannot make our lives acceptable and then go to the Savior. He saves, we do not. And when He does, we are forgiven and transformed, given grace to become all we can be, with hope for a “happy ever after” when this life is over.
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