I found myself wondering the other day what would the world be like if Jesus had never been born, and the more I thought about it the more I began to realise it would be a vastly different place to what we know now and certainly not a better one.
Unfortunately the liberal West loves to blame Christianity for many of the world's ills and keep people ignorant of the positive and profound impact Jesus, and consequently, those who have believed in, and followed him, have had upon the world.
Let me list a few...
The coming of Jesus has transformed lives, relationships and communities.
It has brought liberty and justice, education, medicine and health care to the masses.
It has brought deliverance from false and futile religion and dark satanic practices.
It has provided relief to the poor, lifted the downtrodden and broken the yoke of the oppressed.
It has impacted politics and law and given dignity and rights, freedom of speech.
It has been a stimulator and contributor to the whole arena of science.
It has given dignity to work and the rights of employees.
It has contributed enormously to music, literature and the arts.
It has provided the biggest season of goodwill the world has ever known.
And so we could go on....
Which reminds me, not so long ago I read a report that had come out of atheistic China that said that all that is good (note that) about the West derives from Christianity and therefore from Jesus. That is some statement!
Yes, if Jesus had not come into the world it would have been a far worse and poorer place.
Praise God, Jesus did come!
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Communion - what is it? Part 2
To understand communion we need to look at where it came from. The
scripture provides us with a very direct clue “As they were eating…”
(Matthew 26:26). The question is what were they eating? And the answer
is the Passover meal, something which Jesus said, “With desire (strong
desire) I have desired to eat the Passover with you before I suffer.”
(Luke 22:15).
To find the real meaning then we need to go back to its origin in the Old testament in Exodus 12. In this chapter we come to the climax of the spiritual battle that was taking place. Every demonstration of God’s authority and power over the gods of Egypt had been resisted – Pharoah would not let God’s people go.
This last demonstration was going to involve the death of the firstborn in every Egyptian home – but there was a problem: God is holy and just. How could God be true to himself, and save some and yet judge others, after all his own people were sinners?
For justice to be done God instructed the selecting, keeping and slaughtering of a perfect lamb, and the eating of its flesh. This lamb was to take the eldest son’s place – to be his substitute. They were to take the blood and put it on the door posts and lintel because as God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” It was there for God, and for them. It changed first of all the way God felt about them, secondly, it would be the cause of the eldest son’s deliverence (I would encourage you to read/reread the story and put yourself in the eldest son’s place, consider what he and his family felt).
This was the “Lord’s Passover” and they were to keep it as a memorial feast to the Lord every year (12:14). This passover not only looked back, but it became part of the promise and anticipation of Messiah, the hoped for Deliverer.
Jesus said he strongly desired to eat this passover with them before he died.
Why? He wanted to invest it with new meaning, he wanted to transform it and give it new significance, and as he does so it becomes his story; he is the Passover Lamb, the fulfilment of Israel’s Story, the promised Messiah – as Paul was later to say, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
“All” says scripture “have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory,” and it is no easy thing for God to forgive sinners – he is utterly holy, and we have fallen completely short. I believe it was Carnegie Simpson who said,”Forgiveness to man is the plainest of duties, but to God it is the profoundest of problems.”
God cannot simply ignore our sin or turn a blind eye to it. God must be true to himself. The only thing God can do is to take our place, take on human flesh himself, be tempted in everyway as we are, then go to a cross as our substitute bearing our sin. He must bear our judgment, he must die our death. His death as John Owen put it would be the “death of death in the death of Christ.”
A Lamb who would be our substitute. Judgment. The shedding of blood. Passover!
This is the meaning that that Jesus invests the passover with. This was not the Last Supper, but the Last Passover!
More to come…. next time a key word….
To find the real meaning then we need to go back to its origin in the Old testament in Exodus 12. In this chapter we come to the climax of the spiritual battle that was taking place. Every demonstration of God’s authority and power over the gods of Egypt had been resisted – Pharoah would not let God’s people go.
This last demonstration was going to involve the death of the firstborn in every Egyptian home – but there was a problem: God is holy and just. How could God be true to himself, and save some and yet judge others, after all his own people were sinners?
For justice to be done God instructed the selecting, keeping and slaughtering of a perfect lamb, and the eating of its flesh. This lamb was to take the eldest son’s place – to be his substitute. They were to take the blood and put it on the door posts and lintel because as God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” It was there for God, and for them. It changed first of all the way God felt about them, secondly, it would be the cause of the eldest son’s deliverence (I would encourage you to read/reread the story and put yourself in the eldest son’s place, consider what he and his family felt).
This was the “Lord’s Passover” and they were to keep it as a memorial feast to the Lord every year (12:14). This passover not only looked back, but it became part of the promise and anticipation of Messiah, the hoped for Deliverer.
Jesus said he strongly desired to eat this passover with them before he died.
Why? He wanted to invest it with new meaning, he wanted to transform it and give it new significance, and as he does so it becomes his story; he is the Passover Lamb, the fulfilment of Israel’s Story, the promised Messiah – as Paul was later to say, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” (1 Cor. 5:7-8).
“All” says scripture “have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory,” and it is no easy thing for God to forgive sinners – he is utterly holy, and we have fallen completely short. I believe it was Carnegie Simpson who said,”Forgiveness to man is the plainest of duties, but to God it is the profoundest of problems.”
God cannot simply ignore our sin or turn a blind eye to it. God must be true to himself. The only thing God can do is to take our place, take on human flesh himself, be tempted in everyway as we are, then go to a cross as our substitute bearing our sin. He must bear our judgment, he must die our death. His death as John Owen put it would be the “death of death in the death of Christ.”
A Lamb who would be our substitute. Judgment. The shedding of blood. Passover!
This is the meaning that that Jesus invests the passover with. This was not the Last Supper, but the Last Passover!
More to come…. next time a key word….
Monday, 14 November 2011
The Wrath of God & Rebellion of Humanity
Revelation is a gripping book.
There are heights and there are depths. It shows you the glory of God and the the depths of human sin. It's a book of blessing and of judgment, and a word that frequently occurs is 'wrath' or more specifically the wrath of God, unveiled in the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls, in increasing measures.
The word is mentioned 11 times and sometimes qualified as 'great wrath' or 'the fury of his wrath' - hardly words we like to hear.
To be frank it's not a subject we warm to, it is much easier to talk about the love of God. But.... if we cannot talk about the love and wrath of God in the same breath are we really talking about the right thing when it comes to either?
LOVE
Love for many today is no more than an insipid, sentimental feeling. It's gushy and slushy, and when it's not there, it's not there. It's also seen as 'tolerance' (of the politically correct form), where, 'if it makes them happy let them do it,' is the standard. 'I mean, whose to judge? They've gotta work these things out for themselves,' as they say!
The problem is when we put our modern day interpretations of love on to God we find it just doesn't fit, and rather than asking whether we've got it right, we say God's got it wrong - as if we should tell God what he should be like!
That's where we need to go back and read our Bibles. There we discover that God is not on our level - never was, never will be. He is holy, holy, holy - we certainly are not, and the fact of the matter is that a holy, loving, and just God has every right to be angry - we have rebelled against him, we have messed up our own lives and those of others too, and spoiled and soiled the world he created and declared was very good.
A BIG 'BUT'
BUT, like a good father (for that is what he is), he cannot simply ignore rebellion, and allow it to go on, turn a blind eye to it and hope it will rectify itself, or go away - it doesn't. It usually gets worse.
It is in this context that the good news comes in and makes sense, the good news that God has done just that in Jesus, who willingly came and took all our sin, and bore it's judgment on the cross - the holy wrath of a just God. "You were dead.... under wrath.... But God who is rich in mercy, because of his great love..." (Eph 2:1-4) - wonderful words!
As an aside it never ceases to amaze me how many who deny God want justice. The logic is in an evolutionary world there can be no such thing as justice.
When you know the holiness of God and the depth of our sin, that line of Stuart Townends, In Christ Alone, is so soul stirring, and heart warming, "Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied...."
No wonder Charles Wesley could write, "No condemnation now I dread, Jesus, and all in him, is mine; alive in him, my living head, and clothed with righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne...."
Yes Revelation speaks of the wrath of God, but it also has a parallel message of the gospel, providing the opportunity to repent in the face of such judgments. Sadly they all to frequently would not repent and turned on God and blasphemed his name, even preferrring to lose their lives than turn to God (6:16, 17; 9:20, 21; 16:9, 11).
NOW
Humanities rebellion runs deep, but God's love runs deeper still. All the while the earth remains the words of Paul apply, "Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2). What will you do? Will you repent and believe the good news of Jesus Christ and be saved from the wrath to come?
You can listen to Wesleys grand hymn here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8
There are heights and there are depths. It shows you the glory of God and the the depths of human sin. It's a book of blessing and of judgment, and a word that frequently occurs is 'wrath' or more specifically the wrath of God, unveiled in the seven seals, seven trumpets and seven bowls, in increasing measures.
The word is mentioned 11 times and sometimes qualified as 'great wrath' or 'the fury of his wrath' - hardly words we like to hear.
To be frank it's not a subject we warm to, it is much easier to talk about the love of God. But.... if we cannot talk about the love and wrath of God in the same breath are we really talking about the right thing when it comes to either?
LOVE
Love for many today is no more than an insipid, sentimental feeling. It's gushy and slushy, and when it's not there, it's not there. It's also seen as 'tolerance' (of the politically correct form), where, 'if it makes them happy let them do it,' is the standard. 'I mean, whose to judge? They've gotta work these things out for themselves,' as they say!
The problem is when we put our modern day interpretations of love on to God we find it just doesn't fit, and rather than asking whether we've got it right, we say God's got it wrong - as if we should tell God what he should be like!
That's where we need to go back and read our Bibles. There we discover that God is not on our level - never was, never will be. He is holy, holy, holy - we certainly are not, and the fact of the matter is that a holy, loving, and just God has every right to be angry - we have rebelled against him, we have messed up our own lives and those of others too, and spoiled and soiled the world he created and declared was very good.
A BIG 'BUT'
BUT, like a good father (for that is what he is), he cannot simply ignore rebellion, and allow it to go on, turn a blind eye to it and hope it will rectify itself, or go away - it doesn't. It usually gets worse.
It is in this context that the good news comes in and makes sense, the good news that God has done just that in Jesus, who willingly came and took all our sin, and bore it's judgment on the cross - the holy wrath of a just God. "You were dead.... under wrath.... But God who is rich in mercy, because of his great love..." (Eph 2:1-4) - wonderful words!
As an aside it never ceases to amaze me how many who deny God want justice. The logic is in an evolutionary world there can be no such thing as justice.
When you know the holiness of God and the depth of our sin, that line of Stuart Townends, In Christ Alone, is so soul stirring, and heart warming, "Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied...."
No wonder Charles Wesley could write, "No condemnation now I dread, Jesus, and all in him, is mine; alive in him, my living head, and clothed with righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne...."
Yes Revelation speaks of the wrath of God, but it also has a parallel message of the gospel, providing the opportunity to repent in the face of such judgments. Sadly they all to frequently would not repent and turned on God and blasphemed his name, even preferrring to lose their lives than turn to God (6:16, 17; 9:20, 21; 16:9, 11).
NOW
Humanities rebellion runs deep, but God's love runs deeper still. All the while the earth remains the words of Paul apply, "Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2). What will you do? Will you repent and believe the good news of Jesus Christ and be saved from the wrath to come?
You can listen to Wesleys grand hymn here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8
Saturday, 22 October 2011
The Wrath of the Lamb
Some will remember when children were taught to pray, “Gentle Jesus
meek and mild….” and many have sung, “no crying he makes…” But, what
kind of image does this conjure up of Jesus – a very nice, ‘docile’
Jesus – compliant, non-offensive, someone who just gets on with
everybody, and is everyone’s friend?
My ‘personal’ Jesus
A number of years ago now the controversial ‘artist’ and musician Marylin Manson released a song called Personal Jesus (originally by Depeche Mode), and it begins with the words ‘Your own personal Jesus, Someone to hear your prayers, Someone who cares.’ In 2006 it was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Songs Ever. Now you may say, what’s wrong with that isn’t that what he is?
But there’s something very subtle going on here and it’s found in the expression ‘your own personal Jesus,’ i.e. one that is unique to and for you, not necessarily the Bible one, one that you make and suits your own personal desires and needs. (The song was inspired by the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley).
We need to be careful it’s not public opinion or our own personal feelings that are shaping our knowledge of Jesus.
The wrath of God
Some today struggle with the whole idea of the wrath of God, with the typical objection being how could a God of love act in such a way. Some get round this by suggesting that the God of the New Testament is somewhat different to the God of the Old – as if there has been some development of God. Some see Jesus as different from God, or the nicer face of God, but this is to divide God.
Might I suggest that the problem is ours and not God’s. The problem is that we struggle in our politically correct, humanistic world, to conceive of anger and love going together – they seem to be opposites. In reality they are not two opposites, anger (rightly expressed) is an aspect of love. In fact love without anger leaves us with an insipid ‘attitude’ (you can’t call it love) that fails to bring true discipline to a rebellious child, in fact the cry for justice arises from the fact that love (the basis for normal healthy relationships, and therefore society) has been violated in some way, and without justice its seen to be excused, acceptable, doesn’t matter….. A loving father sets up boundaries, and threatens consequences. If those consequences are not followed through in a loving way, the child will lose respect for the Father, and actually a lack of love.
All of scripture
The whole Bible must be our teacher, it reveals Jesus in his own ‘right’, not after our own ideas of him. On the one hand that may be:
1. Disturbing and discomforting,
2. Encouraging and stirring.
Just as an aside a question arises as to whether the lack of men in the church is due to an effeminate portrait of Jesus, or as someone put it ‘my Boyfriend in the sky,’ caricature.
In Revelation we get an unfolding picture of Jesus, in fact John’s knowledge of Jesus is expanded considerably. He has known him as a fellow human who walked the earth, a good man, a friend of sinners, a miracle worker, at the transfiguration he encountered him in his glory as the Beloved Son of God, he knew him as the Saviour who died and rose again. Then in Revelation 1 Johns gets a revelation of Jesus as the ascended and all glorious Lord. Then in Rev. 5 and 6 another unfolds culminating in, “the wrath of the Lamb …. the great day of Their wrath has come.” This verse parallels Luke 23:30 and Matthew 24.
“The wrath of the Lamb” sounds like a contradiction! We love lambs. We love to see them playing, skipping, running up and down. We love to feed them, stroke them. They are so innocent. They would never hurt you, and yet here we are confronted with the wrath/anger of the Lamb. It is the Lamb who opens the Seals. It is the wrath of the Lamb that is manifested against an unbelieving and ungodly world.
In order to understand this you need to step into the THRONE ROOM, as the psalmist said “When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless (wearisome task) until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their end.” Psalm 73:16-17. There’s an important principle here, the need to go into the sanctuary, where God is encountered for who he is, as he is, holy – other than we are, creator – the world was made by and for God, redeemer – the One who has bought us. It is from this vantage point we must look at what unfolds in Revelation.
In reading Revelation we need to keep in mind the big story. God created the world, humanity. Humanity sinned and spoiled God’s creation. God gave a promise, called and raised a man – Abraham, who had a family that became a nation – Israel, to whom he gave his word through the prophets, of a Saviour, who came in the fullness of time. He came to his own, and lived and taught, and revealed the heart of God, but his own rejected him. He wept over Jerusalem, and warned of coming judgment, and said that ‘all these things would come on this generation,’ and how he had wanted to gather them to himself, but they were not willing, and now their house was ‘left desolate.’ (Matthew 23).
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lamb shows us Jesus in all his purity and meekness – we love lambs, we play with them. The Lion shows us that he is King – sovereign and powerful and not to be trifled with. This Lamb is not to be messed with, not because he is a Lion, but because is the Lamb who has suffered, was slain, and is alive again, the worthy One. The one who took on flesh like ours, was tempted in every way as we are, the One who the devil through everything at, yet he conquered and so he has the right to judge.
As it says in the Acts of the Apostles:
“ Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31,
and in Pauls letter to Tmothy:
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead….”(2Ti 4:1).
We cannot have one aspect of Jesus without the other. The New Testament says “Our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29, and “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:31.
I think Dorothy Sayers put it well when she wrote:
“We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him “meek and mild,” and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. To those who knew him, however, he in no way suggests a milk-and-water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand.”
My ‘personal’ Jesus
A number of years ago now the controversial ‘artist’ and musician Marylin Manson released a song called Personal Jesus (originally by Depeche Mode), and it begins with the words ‘Your own personal Jesus, Someone to hear your prayers, Someone who cares.’ In 2006 it was ranked as one of the 100 Greatest Songs Ever. Now you may say, what’s wrong with that isn’t that what he is?
But there’s something very subtle going on here and it’s found in the expression ‘your own personal Jesus,’ i.e. one that is unique to and for you, not necessarily the Bible one, one that you make and suits your own personal desires and needs. (The song was inspired by the book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley).
We need to be careful it’s not public opinion or our own personal feelings that are shaping our knowledge of Jesus.
The wrath of God
Some today struggle with the whole idea of the wrath of God, with the typical objection being how could a God of love act in such a way. Some get round this by suggesting that the God of the New Testament is somewhat different to the God of the Old – as if there has been some development of God. Some see Jesus as different from God, or the nicer face of God, but this is to divide God.
Might I suggest that the problem is ours and not God’s. The problem is that we struggle in our politically correct, humanistic world, to conceive of anger and love going together – they seem to be opposites. In reality they are not two opposites, anger (rightly expressed) is an aspect of love. In fact love without anger leaves us with an insipid ‘attitude’ (you can’t call it love) that fails to bring true discipline to a rebellious child, in fact the cry for justice arises from the fact that love (the basis for normal healthy relationships, and therefore society) has been violated in some way, and without justice its seen to be excused, acceptable, doesn’t matter….. A loving father sets up boundaries, and threatens consequences. If those consequences are not followed through in a loving way, the child will lose respect for the Father, and actually a lack of love.
All of scripture
The whole Bible must be our teacher, it reveals Jesus in his own ‘right’, not after our own ideas of him. On the one hand that may be:
1. Disturbing and discomforting,
2. Encouraging and stirring.
Just as an aside a question arises as to whether the lack of men in the church is due to an effeminate portrait of Jesus, or as someone put it ‘my Boyfriend in the sky,’ caricature.
In Revelation we get an unfolding picture of Jesus, in fact John’s knowledge of Jesus is expanded considerably. He has known him as a fellow human who walked the earth, a good man, a friend of sinners, a miracle worker, at the transfiguration he encountered him in his glory as the Beloved Son of God, he knew him as the Saviour who died and rose again. Then in Revelation 1 Johns gets a revelation of Jesus as the ascended and all glorious Lord. Then in Rev. 5 and 6 another unfolds culminating in, “the wrath of the Lamb …. the great day of Their wrath has come.” This verse parallels Luke 23:30 and Matthew 24.
“The wrath of the Lamb” sounds like a contradiction! We love lambs. We love to see them playing, skipping, running up and down. We love to feed them, stroke them. They are so innocent. They would never hurt you, and yet here we are confronted with the wrath/anger of the Lamb. It is the Lamb who opens the Seals. It is the wrath of the Lamb that is manifested against an unbelieving and ungodly world.
In order to understand this you need to step into the THRONE ROOM, as the psalmist said “When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless (wearisome task) until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their end.” Psalm 73:16-17. There’s an important principle here, the need to go into the sanctuary, where God is encountered for who he is, as he is, holy – other than we are, creator – the world was made by and for God, redeemer – the One who has bought us. It is from this vantage point we must look at what unfolds in Revelation.
In reading Revelation we need to keep in mind the big story. God created the world, humanity. Humanity sinned and spoiled God’s creation. God gave a promise, called and raised a man – Abraham, who had a family that became a nation – Israel, to whom he gave his word through the prophets, of a Saviour, who came in the fullness of time. He came to his own, and lived and taught, and revealed the heart of God, but his own rejected him. He wept over Jerusalem, and warned of coming judgment, and said that ‘all these things would come on this generation,’ and how he had wanted to gather them to himself, but they were not willing, and now their house was ‘left desolate.’ (Matthew 23).
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lamb shows us Jesus in all his purity and meekness – we love lambs, we play with them. The Lion shows us that he is King – sovereign and powerful and not to be trifled with. This Lamb is not to be messed with, not because he is a Lion, but because is the Lamb who has suffered, was slain, and is alive again, the worthy One. The one who took on flesh like ours, was tempted in every way as we are, the One who the devil through everything at, yet he conquered and so he has the right to judge.
As it says in the Acts of the Apostles:
“ Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31,
and in Pauls letter to Tmothy:
“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead….”(2Ti 4:1).
We cannot have one aspect of Jesus without the other. The New Testament says “Our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29, and “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:31.
I think Dorothy Sayers put it well when she wrote:
“We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him “meek and mild,” and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies. To those who knew him, however, he in no way suggests a milk-and-water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand.”
Friday, 22 April 2011
Justice
Reflecting on the theme of justice this morning it struck me how justice doesn’t make sense in an evolutionary world.
Yet time and time again we here the cry for justice – justice for people in all sorts of varying circumstances.
But why? for the evolutionist there is no moral power or authority. Any sense of right and wrong is purely arbitary, something to be agreed between people, yet can just as easily be disregarded as it is only an agreement between equals.
The cry for justice in the human heart, right around the globe, is a recognition of a moral standard, a standard that is given to us, and must stand outside of us. A standard given by a higher authority.
It is only as we understand this that we can find any basis for right and wrong, and for justice for the despised, rejected, used and abused etc..
It is this sense of justice that requires accountability, judgement, and (even though we don’t like it and wish it wasn’t there) a hell.
It is for this reason that God sent his son Jesus Christ into the world.
God cannot just ‘love’ and ignore sin and let everyone into his heaven. Why? Because God is holy and we have sinned – rebelled against our Creator; and God had said that there would be consequences – ‘in the day you eat of it, you will certainly die,’ ‘the soul that sins shall die,’ ‘the wages of sin is death.’
Yes God is love, but not the sloppy, slushy modern love that allows you to do what you like and never mind the consequences.
For God to be true to himself, justice must be done, the price must be paid, and for that reason Jesus came and suffered and died in our place – the Just for the unjust that we might be reconciled to God.
There is justice in the universe – God put it there.
And the Bible says that God justifies the ungodly through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes God’s Son has done it all and there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ! Hallelujah!
Friday, 29 January 2010
The Beatitudes
Be attitudes?
Sometimes we hear it said that these are the be attitudes, as if its our job to fulfill them.
Well the answer might shock you.
The beatitudes are not the 10 Commandments of the Sermon on the Mount but door openers to the Kingdom of God. They are not conditions to be fulfilled but blessings pronounced on those whose experience they are. This is why they are so shocking to the religious mind. Jesus was opening the doors of the kingdom to the people the religious folks wanted to keep out!
A Re-transaltion/Paraphrase
With that in mind I have paraphrased or re-translated them:
Blessed/happy are the downtrodden, the worthless, those hanging on to life, for the kingdom of the heavens is for them.
Blessed/happy are those without status, whom the world looks down upon, they shall be lifted up, strengthened and comforted.
Blessed/happy are the lowly, the exploited of this world, those who have no say; the earth shall be their inheritance.
Blessed/happy those who hunger and thirst for justice; they will be satisfied.
Blessed/happy are the ones showing mercy; they will receive God’s lovingkindness.
Blessed/happy are those with an undivided heart, who are committed; they shall see God.
Blessed/happy are those who are peacemakers; they will be heirs of God.
Blessed/happy those who suffer for the cause of God’s justice, theirs is already the kingdom of the heavens.
Sometimes we hear it said that these are the be attitudes, as if its our job to fulfill them.
Well the answer might shock you.
The beatitudes are not the 10 Commandments of the Sermon on the Mount but door openers to the Kingdom of God. They are not conditions to be fulfilled but blessings pronounced on those whose experience they are. This is why they are so shocking to the religious mind. Jesus was opening the doors of the kingdom to the people the religious folks wanted to keep out!
A Re-transaltion/Paraphrase
With that in mind I have paraphrased or re-translated them:
Blessed/happy are the downtrodden, the worthless, those hanging on to life, for the kingdom of the heavens is for them.
Blessed/happy are those without status, whom the world looks down upon, they shall be lifted up, strengthened and comforted.
Blessed/happy are the lowly, the exploited of this world, those who have no say; the earth shall be their inheritance.
Blessed/happy those who hunger and thirst for justice; they will be satisfied.
Blessed/happy are the ones showing mercy; they will receive God’s lovingkindness.
Blessed/happy are those with an undivided heart, who are committed; they shall see God.
Blessed/happy are those who are peacemakers; they will be heirs of God.
Blessed/happy those who suffer for the cause of God’s justice, theirs is already the kingdom of the heavens.
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
A Controversial Anniversary
A CONTROVERSIAL ANNIVERSARY
Yesterday (Tuesday 24th November) was the anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's, The Origin of Species.
Charles Lyell, who came up with the idea of geology’s millions-of-years and was Darwin’s mentor, wrote that he was motivated by the desire to, “free [the] science from Moses.” In other words, the creation account in Genesis. Science you see is not the problem, creation is. Creation has always stuck in the throat of humanity, because it begs the question of a Superior Being, and therefore the fact that we are not free, but have been given life and are accountable for the way that we live it. If we can get rid of God we are the master of our own destiny, answerable to no one, we can make the rules and sing with Sinatra "I did it my way."
The general theory of evolution has no scientific base, it is a philosophy. It starts with its presuppositions (a supposed idea about the way things are) and works the data accordingly. Sadly many evangelicals are being taken in by the pseudo-science that parades itself as true science, preferring to believe the pseudo-science and adapt the Bibles story to fit it.
In theistic evolution (the Christian version of evolutionary theory) man is still considered to be descended/evolved from the 'apes,' yet the Bible unequivocally says that God created man in his own image from the dust of the earth.
In danger of over simplification let me put it this way: The theistic evolutionist gets around this by saying that's the origin, after all God created the dust (or even the explosion that led to the dust), but humanity came further down the line when God selected a pair of more developed 'apes' and breathed into them the breath of life (literally, God was still creating and working to get to this point)!!! Now, if you can do that with the text anything goes, and the Bible can mean anything anywhere!
The fact of the matter is, the theory of general evolution is anti-God, it cuts at the very foundations of the Christian faith and the West today is beginning to reap the results of it.
Being made in the image of God gives humanity DIGNITY (think of all the effort to discover self-image; to be somebody) and correspondingly RESPECT for one another (think of the lack of respect for peoples lives, its cheapness, especially among the younger generations). It provides the basis for all human RELATIONSHIPS, husband and wife, parents and children (think of all the dysfunction and breakdown that goes on today), which in turn builds the basis of a stable SOCIETY. And because we live as those who are accountable to God it provides the basis for true JUSTICE for all people.
Above all it deals with mans real problem, his REBELLION, his sin, his alienation from God the true LIFE-GIVER. It cuts people off from the real SOLUTION, the GOSPEL - JESUS, the only one who is able to rescue us and renew our lives.
Yesterday (Tuesday 24th November) was the anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's, The Origin of Species.
Charles Lyell, who came up with the idea of geology’s millions-of-years and was Darwin’s mentor, wrote that he was motivated by the desire to, “free [the] science from Moses.” In other words, the creation account in Genesis. Science you see is not the problem, creation is. Creation has always stuck in the throat of humanity, because it begs the question of a Superior Being, and therefore the fact that we are not free, but have been given life and are accountable for the way that we live it. If we can get rid of God we are the master of our own destiny, answerable to no one, we can make the rules and sing with Sinatra "I did it my way."
The general theory of evolution has no scientific base, it is a philosophy. It starts with its presuppositions (a supposed idea about the way things are) and works the data accordingly. Sadly many evangelicals are being taken in by the pseudo-science that parades itself as true science, preferring to believe the pseudo-science and adapt the Bibles story to fit it.
In theistic evolution (the Christian version of evolutionary theory) man is still considered to be descended/evolved from the 'apes,' yet the Bible unequivocally says that God created man in his own image from the dust of the earth.
In danger of over simplification let me put it this way: The theistic evolutionist gets around this by saying that's the origin, after all God created the dust (or even the explosion that led to the dust), but humanity came further down the line when God selected a pair of more developed 'apes' and breathed into them the breath of life (literally, God was still creating and working to get to this point)!!! Now, if you can do that with the text anything goes, and the Bible can mean anything anywhere!
The fact of the matter is, the theory of general evolution is anti-God, it cuts at the very foundations of the Christian faith and the West today is beginning to reap the results of it.
Being made in the image of God gives humanity DIGNITY (think of all the effort to discover self-image; to be somebody) and correspondingly RESPECT for one another (think of the lack of respect for peoples lives, its cheapness, especially among the younger generations). It provides the basis for all human RELATIONSHIPS, husband and wife, parents and children (think of all the dysfunction and breakdown that goes on today), which in turn builds the basis of a stable SOCIETY. And because we live as those who are accountable to God it provides the basis for true JUSTICE for all people.
Above all it deals with mans real problem, his REBELLION, his sin, his alienation from God the true LIFE-GIVER. It cuts people off from the real SOLUTION, the GOSPEL - JESUS, the only one who is able to rescue us and renew our lives.
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