So I Tried to Write Something New...

...but, it seems this already says what is on my mind this Passover. Here is a little re-run. Praise God that this story is true.

HOW GREAT A SINNER
S.J. Walker; 2008

Dead was I, in Adam’s grave,
content with stench and rotting.
without Godly good
or will,
murdered by a serpent’s plotting.

But in my grave I saw a sight,
that my bones could not have made.
With eyes that once
were clouded,
I saw a Heavenly host arrayed.

With Sword and Shield they came in file,
when I saw my serpent king.
There he stood with
scroll in hand,
that listed evil things.

On came angels, on came horses,
on came spear and buckled boot.
And my dragon king stood
frozen, trembling.
Yes, he quivered head to foot.

At last the Host was halted,
and my king regained his strength.
He flicked his wrist
with fluid jest
and spread the scroll’s great length.

Anger, lust, and theft were cited,
the counts of a man’s depravity.
murders, idols,
fornications,
of such great length and gravity!

I heard a Voice call through the dust,
that commanded me to “come!”
Up from my grave of
lifeless rot,
but by Death was overcome!

In Death’s despair, I cried in fear
of what I had long denied.
I saw the space, twixt
Life and Death,
and beholding Death, I died.

Then air exploded, light rang loud,
and I saw the sound of war!
Battle raged above
my grave,
as had ne’er been waged before.

Out from the Host of angels brave,
adorned with ancient splendor,
came the King of Glory,
battle trained,
and seeking His offenders.

His voice was clear, beyond account,
His blade was notched from use.
The serpent crumbled,
hate infused;
and behold, his head was bruised.

And to my shock and vast dismay,
the Glory King relented,
the snake was told “your time
will come”.
For this man has yet repented.

He turned His blade toward me in earnest,
and came with frightening speed,
His armor thick, His shield
was broad,
and at last, I knew my deeds.

Anger, lust, and theft were mine!
The counts of my depravity.
Murders, idols,
fornications,
of such great length and gravity!

I heard His voice call through the dust.
He commanded me to “come!”
up from my grave of
lifeless rot,
for my Death was overcome!

Then His name, the Host exalted,
and my King displayed His strength.
He turned His wrist, with
jagged scar
and destroyed the scroll’s great length.

In Life’s first cry, He tuned my ear
to what I had long denied.
He bridged the space, twixt
Life and Death,
and in my place, He died.

Then air exploded, Light rang loud!
And I heard the call to war,
for battle raged above
men’s graves,
as had ne’er been waged before.

Flesh engulfed me, Life blew through me,
like a gale upon the sea.
Sinews pulled my
bones together.
From Death and dryness was I freed!

My King approached me through the wind,
and stood there at my side.
Then summoned His
armor bearer
out from among the Heavenly tide.

“Take my shield now, my dearest son,
and dawn the armor scale.
Wear my helmet,
your salvation;
be assured, they will not fail.

Tie your waste, My Truth will bind you,
and cinch your boots for Peace.
For as you were,
this world is so,
and we march toward its release!

Take my Sword now, sinner saved,
and may you wield it nobly.
Its edges, sharp, bring
Life and Death,
for I seek to make men holy.”

So overwhelmed was I by Him,
that my voice began to crack,
for wicked ways from
whence I came
and vile was my track.

How great a sinner, Lord, am I!
So unfit to be redeemed!
How wanton
and unruly;
how enticed by devilish schemes!

“I know” He told me gently,
“Son, I saw them every one!
Your Death, I died, yet
raised again,
and now, we two, are one.”

It was then the preacher halted.
But I’d missed his every word.
His face looked
vaguely familiar,
and his voice, it seemed, I’d heard.

So clear it was now as I looked,
I had seen this man before,
he’d delivered Armor at his
King’s command
And I knelt now, dressed for war.

As a brother I embraced him,
and we wept on shoulders weak.
For he had been graved
as I was,
and as kin we now could speak.

My God! My God has saved me!
To Christ I owe it all!
His powerful precious blood
has saved me
from Adam’s curse and fall!

New Layout

As I said earlier, I wasn't liking the layout of the last week or, so here is another try.

Let me know what you think.

Sunday School Lesson- Denominations 2

Loma Community Church
Teen Sunday School
March 1st, 2009
Denominations
Presbyterians: General Beliefs
Presbyterians have a long and complicated history just like most any other Christian denomination. What we examine here are a couple founding principles, which are only a small part.
1. Salvation/Justification:
a. Historically, Presbyterians adopted all or most of the teaching of men like John Calvin. This emphasized the sovereignty of God in all things and not just salvation. Nevertheless, the issue of Sovereign Grace/Free Will has often seemed pivotal in the numerous growing pains of Christ’s Church.
b. John Calvin is a complicated person to study. We must be very careful what we read and who we trust to give an honest depiction of him and more importantly, what he taught and believed. Personally, I agree with a great deal of what he taught, especially in matters of Salvation. However, I cannot endorse many of his other teachings and practices.
c. Therefore, since Presbyterians, especially early on, adopted teachings and practices very much in line with Calvin and others like him, we must be careful what to dismiss and what to endorse. We have discussed the arguments of Sovereign Grace along with Free Will. I trust the brains God has given you, and the His Word read openly, to help us determine what Scripture says about each. It is worthwhile to examine each fairly without dismissing them simply because someone including myself may have told you one is true and the other false.
2. Eldership/Church Leadership:
a. A large part of Presbyterian church teaching is the plurality of elders. In other words, it is the belief of many of them that church bodies or congregations should not be under the leadership of one bishop or pope or even pastor/elder. They typically adopt a “council of elders”, or something similar. They have pastors and elders much like many other churches, but each role is clearly defined and governed by multiple checks and balances.
b. Passages that discuss this issue: Nehemiah 8:1-11; Acts 11:30; Acts 14:21-23; Acts 15-21, among others.
c. What are your thoughts?
3. Modern Presbyterians:
a. From their beginnings in the 16th century in Europe, Presbyterians have splintered and reunited multiple times and we now have a wide variety of beliefs represented. A large portion, the Presbyterian Church USA, has gone much more liberal in teaching, some even including openly sexually immoral leadership. Other portions have remained much more conservative.
b. The important thing to remember is that the name of a church, typically, tells you very little. What is proclaimed or blabbed from the pulpit and what is effectual in the lives of its congregants is much more indicative of what that church is to Christ.

Is This What Peter and the Guys Felt Like?

"When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink."--Luke 5:6-7




I ESPECIALLY enjoyed the Top Gun music.

Sunday School Lesson-2-8-09: Repentance

Loma Community Church

Teen Sunday School
February 7^th, 2009

What is Repentance?

Part 1 of 2 or 3

1. Can you tell what you would say if someone were to ask you “what is repentance?” Even more so, could you tell them why they should?

a. Without Faith we cannot repent. Without repentance, we have no Faith. No repentance means our future is less than desirable and we continue to rob God of His worship and incur ever more punishment for our crimes against Him.

2. What does the Bible itself say about Repentance? It’s important to make sure we know what it looks like in someone when it is real and what God considers to be real.

a. Read the following:

b. Isaiah 45:22

c. 2^nd Corinthians 5:17

d. Colossians 3:2

e. These give us a little perspective on what the result true repentance should bring about.

3. Why does God command all of us to repent of our sins?

a. Read the following:

b. Ezekiel 18:30-32

c. From that passage, it is clear that part of the motive for repentance can be for our own good. We are commanded to repent so as to avoid the perfectly fair punishment we deserve.

d. Read 2^nd Samuel 12:1-14

e. From this, it is told to us that our sin is against God. We can have Faith in Christ Who is God’s forgiveness, but what is demanded still is our admission of guilt and surrender of ourselves to His judgment and mercy.

f. Read Psalm 51:1-4

4. In David’s example, you and I have no excuse for not knowing what repentance is and why it is so important.

It is my hope and prayer that you know what it is that you have done against God and that by the power that can only come from the Holy Spirit, you are, will be, or already have been brought to the place of repentance through Faith in Christ.

Repentance is not a one-time affair either. What I want you to think about this week is why and how repentance can and should be a continual occurrence in our lives while not constantly making us miserably depressed by guilt.

Amen.

On Sacrifice- Part 5; Conclusion

Part V: Conclusion

“Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God thanksgiving,
And pay your vows to the Most High.
Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”. –Psalm 50:13-15

Sacrifice is the fulcrum upon which shifts the load of Sin from the back of Man to that of an Innocent Surrogate. Sacrifice carries both euphoric and agonizing ramifications. Its definition is tangential to both the wondrous beauty of the Love of God and also to His very terrible and frightening Justice. From Adam to the present, we are born under the curse of his seed. For Sin to be halted, Death to be reversed, and Life to be renewed, value and payment must be prearranged. The value of Life was set before it was taken and ruined. Something of equal vitality is, logically, the only thing to compensate for the crime of Sin.

Sacrifice, in the Christian sense, should then be seen as both beautiful and ugly. The ugliness refers to the result of Sin. The beauty is in the perfect fulfillment of the price for Sin in Christ Jesus Himself. He, being God and Man, was the only Life valuable enough to pay God back what was destroyed. The sweet Savior alone had the power to carry Death, hold it in check, and throw it into to the Lake of Fire. His Blood was the cascade of God’s perfect Grace. His was the Life given in return for Life. His was the only person sufficient to fulfill the Love of God and not contradict His just wrath. His Love would mean nothing were He not also so terribly vengeful; His vengeance would have no honorable glory without His Love. Together, in the perfect harmony of His Holy character, He could both violently destroy Sin and tenderly save a sinner in flawless integrity and absolute justice.

Adam’s sin sneered in the face of God’s own image. It was only God’s Grace that stayed the hand of immediate judgment at that moment, yet even so, Adam died eventually. We are told exactly when he died in flesh and are not told whether he ever repented. For all we know and can infer, it is possible he remained dead in spirit also. Furthermore, Man has ever been born into that legacy of inherited and deliberate disobedience. The Sacrifice of Christ was the only means possible for Man to be saved. This was the case from Adam to the present. No one saved from sin has ever been thus by any other manner than Grace through Faith in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

Why then did God command animal sacrifices which He Himself clearly stated were not pleasing to Him? Was their bloodshed in vain? Certainly not! Every poor creature which spilt its life on the altar of God was a picture of things to come. The blood of lambs and bulls was not shed to completely cover the sins of men, but to enforce the strength of the covenant of a coming Messiah, the Man Jesus Christ.

We should not, therefore, hold anger or depression against God or His ways due to the tremendous losses of life prior to the coming of Christ any more than we should for His giving His only Son. Christ’s Life, Death and Resurrection should far outweigh the cost of all sacrifices put together. God’s ways are not ours and though for some it may seem reckless to say this, “He will do whatever He pleases”, He has every right and prerogative. Each lamb, each ram, each bull, each dove; everything that was poured out as a shadow of things to come was already in God’s possession. Therefore we have no logical argument, nor theological right to think God unfair for taking what is already His.

Should it bring sadness to our minds what was given even as a picture of Christ? Of course, but not so much for the sake of the beasts, but for the sake of God’s Holy name. Our main concern should be more directly related to our right understanding and Faith in God and His Gospel. Do we find ourselves more put out over the deaths of livestock than we do the souls of those around us? Do we even now think it unfair for anyone to be destined for Hell who does not believe the Gospel? If so, then we still have a wrong understanding of Sin, Death, Life, New Life, Sacrifice, Salvation, and ultimately God Himself. It should trouble us more what deprives God of proper worship than what deprives Man of comfort and ease.

After we have thought about all this now for some time, it should be clear where the Christian’s priorities should lie. We have a responsibility, as God both universally commands and individually enables, to acknowledge our sin against His name. We must repent, but not for the purpose of our own good. The concern we should grow to sense is the contrition over what we have done to Him and not what we want to avoid or attain. Confession of sin for any other reason than grief on God’s own behalf is not a confession He will entertain. It is upon this realization that God reveals His Son to our awakening soul. We find, that despite our tremendous guilt, this same God has provided a Hope: the man Jesus Christ. We know, based on such a clear display of His perfect judgment of our sins, that if He offers such Hope, it can be trusted. Who can but trust and shout for joy at the Hope of Christ?

“the Lord God has spoken, who can but prophecy!”—Amos 3:8

Once He has brought us to that point (for we cannot bring ourselves) we have the new ability and responsibility to begin to live for His name’s sake, putting away the old self and being made new in the likeness of Christ, which fulfills our justification and restoration to Him.

To God be the Glory!

Amen

Mystery Quote Answer 2-1-09

The quote was: "He that is down needs fear no fall, He that is low no pride. He that is humble ever shall Have God to be his guide."

The choices were: C.H. Spurgeon, Elizabeth Eliot, John Bunyan and Leonard Ravenhill.


Though the vote count was less than inspiring (much like my own posting record throughout the winter of 2008), we have a clear slight abundance of no-it-alls. The majority of 8-2-2 for the majority in favor of John Bunyan is a resounding display of at least 8 people's knowledge of one of the finer Christian authors of history.



The quote is from none other than Pilgrim's Progress.



This week's prize IIIIIIIISSSSSS......




ONE YEAR'S SUPPLY OF BROWN DOG HAIR COMBED FROM THE DANDRUFFED BACK OF MY VERY OWN CHOCOLATE LAB!! (pictured below). This beautiful and stylish material is great for sweaters, socks, carpet, sweeping compound, allergy detection, and many other fun and interesting activities. Enjoy!

On Sacrifice: Part 4- On The Value of God

Part IV: On the Value of God

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

It is high, I cannot attain it.” –Psalm 139:6

It is no small understatement to say that the value of God is something one would be very arrogant to assume possible to calculate. No words can overspeak of Him. No thoughts can overrate Him. No time can be devoted too much to Him. He Who alone is felt, known, and indeed is everywhere at onetime; Who knows all that can be known; Who sees all that was, is and will be; Who redeems His beloved with His own faultless blood; He is One Who cannot be measured.

How can the dimensions of the universe be considered surely? How can the oceans be fully fathomed at every place? How can the weather be perfectly timed for prediction? How can the human mind be totally comprehended? How then can God be defined adequately in any respect, let alone His worth? The human mind would seize and die were it to even momentarily regard God’s fullness of merit. In its last breaths of speak-able thought it would have to utter the words of Isaiah:

“Woe is me! I am undone!

For I am a man of unclean lips,

dwelling in a people of unclean lips!

For my eyes have seen the King,

the Lord of Hosts.”

His attributes are so numerous and each of them so ponderously without end, we would soon despair of understanding anything, and the hope of finishing one thought on Him without interruption by another would be unachievable. So for the sake of our subject at hand, I will try as best I can to limit the discussion to simple comparatives. Our theme is Sacrifice, so I will attempt to maintain simplicity where possible. We have briefly examined the value of Sin and Man. We have done this not only to understand them better, but to give something humanly tangible against which to further display the incalculable awesomeness of God.

The fact that even one simple act of disobedience would initiate such widespread destruction and that God would set such severe consequences as Death ahead of time (Gen. 2:17) indicates a great value being present for God’s own character, creation, and image. Vandalism of a building is an affront to the owner much more than the building itself. The physical damage will pass away or remain depending on several variables. But the insult to the dignity of its owner is much more valuable and the damage more severe, thus requiring recompense often being awarded beyond that of the simple repair costs. So it is then, in much larger degree, with God. But is God Man’s victim? Certainly not! Who is a victim who is not also vulnerable in even some small capacity? The God of all Creation is not vulnerable, nor is He one with which it is safe to be insolent. To fall into the hands of the God Heaven is a frightful, awful, and fully petrifying end.

Our trinkets of craftsmanship are quite marvelous in our own eyes. We carve wood and stone. We build towers and bridges, and dig tunnels in the ground. We have managed to harness the power of the atom and the simple flame. We may begin to think ourselves accomplished. But by one breath of voice He created all things; as though the breadth of His palms formed the plains and hills; His nostrils blew the flames and moved the waters that cracked and scarred the mountains; the balls of His feet stamped out the valleys and sea beds; the sparkle of His eyes was cast to the sky for stars; and His fingers sculpted every living thing. These He accomplished with a word. Such power is to be revered and admired, but also feared. As the Psalmist often exclaimed:

“who’s god is like the Lord!”

We may think ourselves good and noble. We offer food to a dying man. We think it disagreeable to lie, or at least to be lied to. We love and hate as best we often can. Some of us even give our lives as testaments of devotion to someone, or something or an idea; but He is too Holy to look on wickedness. Compared to His excellence, a man’s tokens of moral superiority over other men appear grossly filthy. His expression is the picture of pure Light against the darkness of rebellion and Death. We say we will walk up to Him and questions of Him as we please; but no one has ever had the strength to even stand on two feet in His Holy presence. Our human perception can gaze dimly, as through a glass, at His splendor; but we cannot penetrate to see His full Character even with the sharpest instruments. The sting of His faultlessness pierces even to divide joints and marrow—soul and spirit.

To be sure, God is the utmost of any just worth man may somehow find in himself. What man can do, God gave him the power to do and no more. What greatness man has is eclipsed by God’s infinite righteousness. What crimes against this God any man commits, which he does naturally, must logically and rightly bring about the swift and dreadful Reckoning of Hell.

But it would be foolhardy to expound on God’s character and not consider His equally infinite Love. God’s Love, like His blistering Glory, is not an attribute He merely possesses as we posses certain things. Even our emotions like love and hate are things we carry and throw around at will. But for God, He simply and unequivocally is those things. God is Love. God is Glory. God is everything Good. It is for this reason among others that when Moses asked “whom shall I say has sent me?” God simply answered: “tell them I AM has sent you”. Whether it be time, or space, or Love or Holy Indignation, God plainly is. He is the personification of Holy Love and Holy Anger.

We think it romantic for a man to write a poem to his beloved; yet God Himself wrote volume upon volume over century upon century explaining, shouting, whispering, and lavishing His love towards those Whom He has purchased. We find a satisfaction in the paintings of our own artists; but God paints a new masterpiece with the sun every morning and evening for no other purpose but to be a pleasure even to those who hate Him. We think it unfair for anyone to be born into this life only to find his end in Hell; but God even gives unmerited favor by granting a stay here on earth for a time to those who will perish. The most miserable earthly human existence is itself, compared to Hell, a gift of abundant mercy for those who do not come to Faith.

The Cross of Christ renders perspective of those most vivid colorations of God’s Love and Grace. As we have established earlier, the Cross represents God’s worth much more than Love for Man. But if it were not also for the Love for Man handed down by God, His vengeance would settle the tallies by our own blood and destruction. The Cross was God’s supreme justification for His perfect character. His Holiness demanded for Himself the payment of Death for the crimes of Man. But His character of Love was no less influential. What better defense to show a fool your worth than to display perfectly the abilities or qualities he claims you do not posses? Why then do we think Christ Himself commanded us to “turn the other cheek”? To display the Love and self control that only God can cultivate in the face of hatred only adds coal to the fires that will consume the enemy, the old snake.

So, for all the just ruggedness of God’s retribution, His sweet beauty and tender Love are in perfect balance in conjunction with His judging power. Not until we acknowledge His severity can we begin to see the sweetness of God’s Grace. The Grace that stayed the immediate hand of God against Adam upon his crime was not withheld completely. God, in His perfect justice, has never let any sin go unpunished. From first to last, from great to small, He looks at all our evil deeds and explains: “Nemo Me impune lacessit”, that is, “No one treads on Me unpunished”. Then at the same time, He offers Grace by means of trusting in His own Character, blood, and power for the remission and omission of the guilt we bear.

Such a God Who can so perfectly exist in full Love and full glorious Justice is the God of incalculable worth. From infinite beginning to infinite end, He is the God Who is God. Let others tell me of their gods, and will I show them mine. There is none like Him.

On Sacrifice: Part 3

Part III: On the Value of Man

“LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?” –Psalm 144:3b

What then should we say of Man? What value can he have that would dispose a perfectly holy God, Himself the recipient of unrighteous treatment, to provide an alternative to Death for the very criminals against His Character? It is this question that men and angels have sought to understand since time out of mind and another ten thousand eternities would not give time to explain the perplexing Love and Grace of God. But we may still seek to understand as much as He will allow our minds to digest. Though we know that our knowledge will fall very short, it is the privilege provided by Grace that we may endeavor to learn of the Most High and pursue His ways.

It would be a mistake to only examine Man’s negative nature and his cursed state alone to determine the answer to our question. No matter how complete is Man’s current corruption, it would be wise to examine what value he may have possessed a long time ago. Man has not always been such a wretch as we find walking today. An old dilapidated car behind the barn may have so many rust spots and necessary parts missing that it is quite ugly and without any value or self contained power. But something of the quality of its maker is yet apparent in its features. The features themselves impart no real value to the dead machine, (sentimental value is a very pure thing to bet one’s body on let alone one’s soul). Instead, by displaying the genius of the maker and the quality of the original craftsmanship, the features consign value to what the car was at one time but is no more.

Man was created in the image of God. This fact alone places upon him specific characteristics that set him wholly apart from all other creations. That, quite simply, indicates a special purpose and shows God’s everlasting intent to display His glory to all that exists and to not only enjoy His works for Himself, but have them take pleasure in Him as well. It also adds more to the indictment against Man for damaging that same image in which he has been formed. Nevertheless, God Himself said in the beginning, “it is very good!” as He gazed upon His handiwork in mankind. This delineates a clear and high value placed upon Man at his foundation.

Man was the only creature given authority, even after sin, to subdue the earth. God gave Adam the privilege of naming God’s creatures. God Himself did not walk and talk with the cows or the deer or any such thing; but He did indeed speak with Adam. He gave to Adam the freedom to wander through the gardens of God and sustain himself on their fruits. The beasts which God created mated and reproduced randomly and only had identity through the authority given to Adam by God. Yet, Adam was given a specific and beautiful companion. One can only wonder what beauty she must have possessed. The fairest, most pleasing woman of our time, to no necessary shame of her own, must be a monstrous degeneration from her original ancestress. When we can see such stunning beauty in those dear women of our time, it boggles the mind to consider Eve. Such beauty of person and body sets her and her handsome husband far above all earthly or solar creations.

Adam and his wife were given free will to obey God’s simple command. God eternally requires complete devotion. But in character with His Love, He did not force blind submission to His commands. They were still commands however, and He gave clear instruction as to the consequences of disobedience. When Deception coiled its body around Eve and seduced her and her husband to Sin, the free will they had been granted imploded in an instant and the value which had been placed upon them swirled up and removed itself with from them along with their free will, thus making them and their seed slaves to the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This act of defiance spat in the face of God the saliva of ingratitude and carelessness. It reeked of the rebellion of the Deceiver.

Therefore, to attempt an explanation that paints Man in too positive a light would also not be advisable. Man indeed is of value to God, this is undeniable. Yet Man has nothing whatsoever in his own character, possessions, or ways that would inherently endear him to the very God he has been a criminal against from his birth. The worth of Man stems not from Earth upward towards Heaven summoning his Creator to be obligated to Love him; Man’s significance spring’s forth in marvelous beauty amidst the downward cascade of God’s perfect Grace. The worth of man is and always has been calculated entirely upon the character of God. He has value if and when God says he does. Without the attribute of Grace in God’s perfect character, man would have no value whatsoever. Man is subsequently dependent upon the offer of Grace to find any means of escape from his destructive nature and ways.

As Man’s Creator, God has full and just prerogative to choose for Himself what, and who, has worth and what, or who, does not. This we cannot understand and many indeed are repulsed by such harsh reality. But such is the wholly and Holy Sovereign nature of God. Though we fight and quarrel against such Truth, the facts remain no matter how indignant our arguments. So easy it seems, almost, to shun the Love of God, but how unattainable is escape from His vengeance! We must then be required to fear His wrath and revere His Goodness. No man will be turned away from Redemption who is fully intent on Repentance and Faith; yet no man will be so inclined who was not also fully intended to be redeemed by his Creator. Salvation is no chance accident or compilation of random choices and happenstances. It is fully intended by the Redeemer and fully inhaled by the Repentant.

The value of Man must not be wholly explained either by the Great Sacrifice of the cross. Definitive as it was, we cannot allow the worth of the only Son of God to be diminished and ignored by explaining that the cross showed us our value to God alone. I have heard many say such things with well meant intentions. But the cross of Christ showed more the value of God’s Character which man besmirched than the so called value of Man. I am not arguing that the cross did not in fact demonstrate a value placed upon mankind—that would be a grave mistake. What would be more to the point, would be to say that Man was not at all worthy of the cross. Nothing in him inclined his heart to crawl up that blood stained wood to say to God: “Here I am! Love me!” But the downward cascade of God’s perfect Grace sprang forth from Heaven and flowed down the wood to Man, thus applying the price stamp upon Man that would have been unthinkable otherwise.

In any circumstance, at any time Man has existed, his worth has never been found originally in him or attained in any manner by him. Both before and after the fall, Man’s value has been reliant upon the indwelling Character of God which God Himself may elect to give or not. Man’s purpose and his worthiness to be saved are no more his birthright than Isaac’s blessing belonged to Jacob. God’s favor toward any man is ultimately based solely on His absolutely authoritative and magnificent Sovereign Grace by means of the gifts of Repentance and Faith in Christ.

Sunday School Lesson- Jan 25th, 2009

Last lesson, (unpublished) I asked each of you to give me a personal definition of what a Christian is. Naturally, there is a lot to this question and many things were brought up that were right and worthy to be included.

One such part of Christianity, the most essential part, is what we will focus on today.

1. What does it mean to be a “Godly person”? To really define what, or who, is “Godly”, it’s important to understand just Who God is and what He is like. This would take eternity to figure out and still would come up short because God is infinite. However, we can be certain of this: He is utterly perfect, completely Holy, completely self sufficient (He needs no help), completely Good in every respect, perfectly Just, and perfectly Loving. So, with that truth in mind, first define this on your own:

a. ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

2. Below are a few of many passages that give some portion of this greater part of Christianity.

a. Ephesians 4:17-5:7; Romans 6:1-14—New Person, not like your old self or the unbelievers around you. This is not just what you do and don’t do, but what you are now and not anymore.

b. Philippians 4:8-9—Thoughts focused on Holy things continually. When our minds are focused on whatever is truly good, it encourages and displays a desire to be Godly and to remove sinful thinking and actions from our lives. God is, in His very person, all things Good and He Himself thinks only of what is pure. For us to think on those things is to be thoughtful of God's own attributes and to follow in His footsteps.

c. Colossians 2:6-9—Careful to not be fooled by any whim or idea thrown at you. Someone who is truly a Christian will become more and more able to discern spiritual fact from fiction. This is made possible by Spirit lead and continuous study of and devotion to God’s Word and the solid teaching of it.

The real key here then, is to answer whether or not we really desire to be Godly and why.

3. Have you ever tried for a period of time to be a “good Christian”?

a. How did you do?

b. The thing is, we can’t do this. We can’t make ourselves be any of those things above despite being commanded to do so. There has to be some other way or we are hopeless.

4. QUESTION FOR THE WEEK: How do we even start to become truly Godly people, and why should we want to? Think about it and we’ll talk about it more next week.

On Sacrifice Part 2

Part II: On the Cost of Sin

“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” —Romans 5:14

We are created as an “eye for an eye” creature. When something is taken, an item of equal or greater value must be compensated. This is not a bad thing. It is fair. We take and eat and we till and seed the ground. We buy goods and we sell them. God designed our minds to consider the value of certain things. He gave us much latitude in the beginning in what we could take and give of His creations. Yet, there was one which He forbade us take and consume, for He knew that we had nothing in ourselves with which we could give fair trade. The Knowledge of Good and Evil is something too outside our nature to behold and give payment. Only God Himself is powerful enough to remain Holy whilst knowing these things. For man, such Knowledge is an immediate corruption. It costs us our very lives in return for the unlawful taking of it. It was upon this crime that a loving and also just God would institute His preordained plan for the redemption of a people deceived into a debt they could not repay. Not with all the blood of the people of history a thousand times over could man reciprocate the value of what He willingly stole from a Good, Holy and Terrible God.

Adam and his wife, Eve, took something forbidden by God. They ate of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was the single thing forbidden them. We have no record of anything else being prohibited. When we read the account of what happened in the paradise of Eden, it is made clear that Eve was willingly deceived—intoxicated by the prospect of equality with God. But she was not alone. Adam was there beside her, from what we can see in Genesis Chap. 3, there was little distance between her deception and his outright disobedience. And despite clear, simple instruction, they ate of that which they could not digest. That is, they took of something in disobedience and in so doing they realized their nakedness (Genesis 3:7). There was no magic property of the fruit itself to dispense knowledge. It was in their disobedience that knowledge of evil came. In vain, they attempted to cover themselves. But in the very act of covering sin they revealed its presence. The Knowledge of Good and Evil was taken. And a burden no son, nor tens, nor thousands of sons could bear was taken upon Adam’s arrogant shoulders. And what did he do? Did he beg God immediately for mercy? Did he take the responsibility of guilt along with his loot? No. He instead blamed his wife and the God Who had given her to him (Genesis 3:12). This he did because he had already aligned himself with the enemies of God. As a result, God cursed Adam, Eve, the deceiver, and the seed of mankind (Genesis 3:13-19).

But even the curse on mankind, though it served man well enough for what he had done against a just and holy God, could not repay to God the cost of what Adam had wrongfully appropriated. The knowledge of Good and Evil is the knowledge of Death (Genesis 2:17). Here we must be very clear. The Love of God is great. We will discuss it soon after. But for Love’s immensity to be viewed correctly, we must first realize, as well as our meager faculties will allow, the ponderously colossal measure of His absolute Perfection. One hair out of place will distract us from the beauty of a bride, and a single hint of crudeness will stain the character of a king. How much more repulsive is the idea of even one moment of insolence in the face of the very Creator of all life and material?

When I was a child, was not my deliberate disobedience in hiding still more disdainful than merely being coerced? But even greater than all my secret crimes were the times when I said in defiance: “this thing you gave me made me do it. It’s your fault I’m like this!” Mine was just a scale model of Adam’s felony. Yet, at least for me, it gives utterance to understanding just how deserved was Adam’s curse and mine. I earned every slap of the palm against my back for my rudeness and ten thousand eternities in Hell would not pay God back for the affront to His name.

We must throw out all thought of God that robs His definition of the terms “Holy Holy Holy”. His character is not solely one of benevolence. No crime from Adam to Anti-Christ has, does, or will go unpunished. God does not, nor does He have to, grant forgiveness without recompense. He is El Shaddai—the Lord Almighty. He is not One we are safe to approach carelessly. Oh, rest assured, He is Good to a measure we cannot begin to calculate, but He is not necessarily safe. The war horse of a knight may possess more good than the crusader upon him, but ask the enemy and he will tell you he fears the hooves and weight of that Good steed far more than the lance of its rider. God is Good because He alone possesses the ability to carry Death and hold it in check. He reserves it for His enemy and spares it from His friend. Age to age, man cannot prove himself this way.

Life was lost in the taking of Death. Man was created with great power, but nothing he possesses is strong enough to overpower the Death to which he has been exposed. Infected by Adam’s disobedience, his seed was forevermore born into the inability to save itself from this Death. This is a good thing. To execute a crime against the God of the universe should be something for which only God Himself can render effectual judgment and exact apposite justice. If we could do something of our own accord to overcome, or in some way pass by, the retribution due for our crimes, we could then be able to effectively overpower God Himself. Such a concept is so irreverent, so utterly disgusting and ridiculous, that it is clear why God would know fully the value of the crime committed and order such an incalculably impossible price. The value of repayment demanded by God for Sin equals no less than the total Death of mankind.

You can read the previous entry by clicking HERE.

On Sacrifice Part 1

Part I: Terms Defined

“So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.” –Nehemiah 8:8

Firstly, we must define some terms or none of the premises to follow will honor the value of the Subject they discuss. In order to be clear, and do what justice we can to the Truth, we will first define the following terms: Life, Sin, Death, Salvation and New Life. Sacrifice will be defined according to each of these as they attempt carefully to be true to Scripture. In truth, each subject requires volumes to introduce, let alone define and explore. But since my purpose at this point is to focus upon Sacrifice, the others will be forced into irreverently short paragraphs just so as to give basic perspective of their essential nature.

Life.
The term itself is common and has well known meanings. For most people it is that brief window of being in which we are physically conscious and able to operate effectively in our material environment. Apart from Faith, no one knows anything of time, space or substance before or after our glimpse through that window. But we are not speaking of life for the body, but rather that of Spiritual Life. The Life we speak of is the now inconceivable condition of uninhibited and full interaction with God—exclusive of the necessity for the Soul’s resurrection or rebirth. Life of this particular sort was last experienced in Eden, and no more thereafter. Life has not been seen since the beginning, that is, Spiritual Life now (New Life) is the result of resurrection of the Soul and is not that state which man is now born into. New Life is no less full and uninhibited (indeed it is more so), but it is dependent on the giving of Something of equal or greater value to be made real.
So in plain Christian language, Life should be defined as: that state of man and creation wherein they were free, being aware solely of good and without concept of evil or disobedience; furthermore, Life of this nature is the very word for presence and peace with God, utterly away from His wrath and conscious only of His peace. Simply put, Life is the privilege of dwelling in peace with God.

Sin.
Sin is a relatively simple thing to define by examining its effects. But we would not define Sin fully to only look at the end and exclude the means. For example, the Great Holocaust did not merely involve what happened to its victims, but also how and why. Sin has causes as well as effects. It is an action and it is a state of being. The term, from an etymological standpoint, means to “miss the mark”. However, by the time of its inauguration in man, it was fully more vile and forceful than a simple ‘mistake’. It initiated a direction of motion that would traverse from the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane, and from Mt. Sinai to the Mount of Golgotha.
But to be clear, Sin in the Christian sense, should be defined as: that action and state of man, wholly voluntary at its inception and wholly natural and comprehensive in its heredity, which renders man powerless to its results and ever increasingly ignorant of its presence; and that which also is in direct, deliberate and disgraceful disobedience to the God of all Creation. Simply put, Sin is the deliberate and instinctive ruin of Life.

Death.
The term Death has explicit characteristics. It is inevitable. This we know and can tangibly support by walking through cemeteries, morgues and battlefields. But, as with Life mentioned earlier, we are not merely speaking of physical death. Even that can be avoided for great lengths of time, though not ultimately. No, we are discussing Death in the sinful sense, that is, the spiritual sense. It is that “result” of Sin mentioned above. It is almost entirely synonymous with, and completely connected to, Sin. To be in Sin is to be Dead. To be Dead is to be following the set trajectory of Sin.
So for the sake of Christian clarity, Death should be defined as: that state of man wherein he is wholly and unavoidably set in motion toward full and ever increasing eternal destruction and is thus, by the perfect judging power of God, utterly powerless to reverse or even slightly alter his just comeuppance; tangentially, Death is that state of man wherein he both willingly and naturally rebels against God from his beginning to his end, all the while being naturally conscious only of hatred, he hates God. Simply put, Death is the opposite of Life and is the clear condition brought about by both the acts and nature of man to Sin.

Salvation.
The term Salvation, by its very essence, has implicit requirements to be made and seen as real. The term implies a need for something greater than mere discomfort to be removed. In other words, for someone to “be saved” implies that apart from an intervening action or influence, horrifying devastation will fall. Furthermore, that same implicit level of severity is indicative of exterior force being necessary in order for Salvation to be made real. Generally, if destruction can be avoided by internal (or personal) means, at appears all one need do is merely stop or slow their course on their own. But to “be saved” from something implies that it is that thing which cannot be avoided except by an external intervening action.
In the Christian sense, Salvation should be defined as: that instance of man wherein his naturally inherited and direct course of sinful living and spiritual Death was reversed and the final end negated by the greater and deliberate force of God’s intervenient Grace through the granting of Spiritual Faith. As the term implies, the saved person’s deadly destruction was absolute and his course unalterable by his own efforts. Simply put: Salvation is the receiving of New Life.

New Life.
New Life, obviously, has a former. We defined what might now be called “Old Life” briefly above as something full, vibrant and completely disconnected from any need or memory of tragedy and bloodshed. New Life, in contrast, is the first and only experience of true eternity of joy made available after Sin and Death entered the world and the hearts of all men. New Life is the state brought about by the instance of Salvation. Without Salvation, Death remains the bondsman for a man’s soul. Without the clear and continued evidences of New Life, Salvation must likely be excluded from the list of possible causes to a man’s brief changes of habit. Anyone can alter their lifestyles to some degree, but no one can make for themselves a different soul. At the first instance of true Salvation, New Life begins by way of full resurrection of the soul before Heaven through the gifts of Faith and Repentance. This is something so miraculous and glorious that no one can perform it save God alone. We can pretend to change habits and become the nicest, fairest, most agreeable individuals. We can remove from our lives so many trappings of the world and temptations that it would seem we were without blame. We can even, in the greatest pretense of piety, shed our blood and give our bodies’ lives to please a god we have skewed into something we prefer over the Lord Almighty and even say it is in His name. But not one of us can take our proud, lustful, lying, stealing, adulterous, murderous, lazy and profane souls and wash them clean enough to bleach the stains of our wickedness to a point pleasing to God. All such attempts are as futile and vile as the crimes they try to erase. New Life, is the promise and process by which God lovingly and forcefully chips, scrapes and scrubs away all our vain aspirations of self-saviorship and replaces them with full and sweet reliance upon His Son’s own blood.
So to condense this down to a clear, Christian definition, New Life should be defined as: that state of man wherein he is fully justified by Grace through Faith in the spent blood of Christ, progressively sanctified by the renewing effects of repentance, worship and witness through the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, and the continuing perseverance toward full glorification of body and soul upon completion of his appointed time in the world and final union with the Lord Almighty in Heaven. Simply put: New Life is the evidence of Salvation.