As Absurd As Blaming the Sun Rays
The following analogy by John Calvin attempts to help us understand the mystery of how God can be perfect in love and perfect in righteousness, and how at the same time God can ordain that evil exists or–even more mysteriously–cause evil to take place:
Whence, I ask you, comes the stench of a corpse, which is both putrified and laid open by the heat of the sun? All human beings see that it is stirred up by the sun’s rays, yet no one for this reason says the rays stink. Thus, since the matter and guilt and evil repose in a wicked man, what reason is there to think that God contracts any defilement if He uses his service (the evil man) for His own purpose?
John Piper On Abortion & President Obama
Is the Church Becoming a Christless Christianity?
The premise of Michael Horton’s book, “Christless Christianity,” is that although the church has not stopped using the name of Jesus Christ, and has not stopped talking about Jesus Christ, the church has stopped referring to Jesus Christ as the “Christ” or as the “Savior” from sins and from the wrath of God. Hence, the title, “Christless Christianity.” The question Horton presents is: are we preaching the crucified Christ who takes away sins, or a counterfeit message of good advice for a better life in Jesus’ name? Has the office of “Christ” or “Messiah” been replaced with “Life Coach” and “Sage”? I have been challenged by Michael Horton’s book. Here are a few challenging quotes to chew on:
In my experience, this is where a lot of Christians are living today: not quite accosted by the death sentence of the law, they are also not regularly hearing the liberating Good News of the gospel. Our intuition tells us that if we just hear more practical preaching (that is, moving exhortations to follow Jesus), we will improve. When this becomes the main diet, however, we do not find ourselves improving. We neither mourn [for our sinfulness] nor dance [over our forgiveness in Christ]. (p132)
There Is the Will of God and There Is the Will of God
John Piper on the Two Wills of God:
“There are two clear and very different meanings for the term ‘will of God’ in the Bible. We need to know them and decide which one is being used [when we talk about God's will]. In fact, knowing the difference between these two meanings of ‘the will of God’ is crucial to understanding one of the biggest and most perplexing things in all the Bible, namely, that God is sovereign over all things and yet disapproves of many things. Which means that God disapproves of some of what he ordains to happen. That is, he forbids some of the things he brings about. And he commands some of the things he hinders. Or to put it most paradoxically: God wills some events in one sense that he does not will in another sense.”
via What Is the Will of God and How Do We Know It? :: By John Piper. © Desiring God
Do You Seek Great Things For Yourself?
Jeremiah 45:4-5
“Thus shall you say to [Baruch], Thus says the LORD: Behold, what I have built I am breaking down, and what I have planted I am plucking up–that is, the whole land. And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not, for behold, I am bringing disaster upon all flesh, declares the LORD. But I will give you your life as a prize of war in all places to which you may go.”
The New Testament Does Not Skip A Beat
The last words of the Old Testament:
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” (Malachi 4:5-6).
The first words of the New Testament does not skip a beat in picking up where the Old Testament left off. Referring to the prophet John the Baptist, Luke 1:16-17 says:
And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.
Read Facebook and Weep
Psalm 119:136
“My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” Read facebook for 10 minutes and weep.
TGIF Is A Theologically Correct Statement
The Bible says God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day He rested from His work. In God’s planned providence, Jesus died on the cross on the sixth day of the Jewish week, rested in the grave on the Jewish sabbath (our Saturday), and rose from the dead on the first day of the week (our Sunday). Therefore, since the time of Christ’s resurrection, Christians have celebrated the sabbath on the first day of the week (Sunday), which is also why until recently Sunday was also known as “the Lord’s day”. The affect of all of this is that most civilizations around the world now enjoy rest from the work week on Saturday and Sunday!
In fact, the United Nations has declared Monday to be the first day of the week, replacing the traditional concept of Sunday as the first day of the week. Of course, I don’t believe they were thinking about Christ’s death and resurrection when they made this decision.
The Son of God Is the Radiance of the Glory of God
Hebrews 1:3
“He [the Son of God] is the radiance of the glory of God [the Father] and the exact imprint of [the Father’s] nature, and [the Son] upholds the universe by the word of [the Father’s] power. After making purification for sins, [the Son] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty [of God the Father] on high . . .”
A New Covenant Is Promised
Jeremiah 32:40-41
“I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.”
This sounds very similar to what Jesus Christ said in Luke 12:32, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” What good news we have received that God says He will rejoice in doing good to us, and not to harm us!