LOOKING TO JESUS

 

God did not intend that this life would be easy for His children. Instead, we suffer, seemingly more than others (Hebrews 12:5:11; 1 Peter 4:12-17; Matthew 5:3-12; 2 Corinthians 4:7-18). Therefore, our hopes and longings must be invested in the promise of eternal life. In contrast, the OT saints could only embrace this hope from afar:

•    These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:13–16)

We please our Lord when we place our hope and faith in Him and the heavenly city He has prepared for us.  Besides, for our own welfare we need to hold this hope securely in our bosom. In the Hebrew Scriptures, there had been no clear promise of eternal life. Therefore, their saints had largely been “held captive by fear of death” (Hebrews 2:15). Consequently, King Solomon, with all his wisdom, was unable to grasp it. He had everything imaginable but hated life:

•    Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:15–17)

Consequently, we need not hate life and its suffering. Why not? Because their purpose has been clearly revealed to us in its glory. Even suffering and dying serve as preparation for eternity:

•    So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

How then are we to look at the unseen?

•    Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1–2)

We are to look at the heavenly joy set before us but also towards the example of our Savior:

•    Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. (Hebrews 12:3)

Life is difficult, but our Lord provides the resources to endure until we come to our eternal resting place.

WHY THEISTIC EVOLUTION SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A CULT

 

 In order to support their beliefs, many cults insist that they have the necessary key to unlock the Scriptures, or they might simply pervert them.

The theistic evolutionists (TEs)—those who believe in God and evolution—are no different. However, they have their own key. They insist that the correct understanding of Scripture requires that we strip Genesis 1-11 of its teachings about the physical world, even its historical content.

However, we are warned throughout Scripture against tampering with God's Word:

·       Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:1-2)

The TE has taken away from the Word (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32). By denying the historical content of Genesis, they tamper with the truth but deny doing so.

TEs wrongly insist that Genesis 1-11 was never intended as history but theology, as if the two cannot coincide, but does the Bible provide any support for this? Not in the slightest. The entire NT, without exception, comments on Genesis as history. The genealogies testify to the historicity of Adam and Eve.

Paul had written:

·       For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:21-22)

Jesus also affirmed the historicity of Genesis. When asked if it was right to divorce, He answered from the historical accounts of Genesis 1-2:

·       …“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female [quoting from Genesis 1], and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ [Genesis 2:24]? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6)

Why no divorce? Because God had actually joined them together! Had this account not been history, it could have been objected, “God hadn’t made them one. Instead, this account is purely mythical. Therefore, divorce is okay.”

Although I have been repeatedly informed that TE is "mainline Christianity," by tampering with the Word without any Biblical justification, they have joined hands with other cults.

Unfortunately, lacking Biblical maturity, many have been taken in.

WHY GOD ESTEEMS HUMILITY

 


 

Scripture teaches a lot about God’s disdain for the proud and arrogant and His affection for the humble:

•    For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down. For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness...the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless. (Psalms 18:27-28, 32)

Why does God disdain the arrogant and haughty? Because they do not abide in the light of truth. They have hardened their hearts against the truth of God and the truth about themselves. They have become self-righteous, self-centered, and consider others as inferior. Consequently, they are living a lie and are unreceptive to the truth. They have become narcissistic and must be humbled before then can be blessed.

Why is God drawn to the humble? I think that there are many reasons for this. Since we have been created in the likeness of God, some of these reasons are apparent to us by virtue of our experience.

The humble are genuine and transparent. They know that they are but a mere speak of dust in this massive and imponderable universe. They also know that they have too many faults to become proud, and that their value is derived from a God who loves them. Therefore, they are not trying to impress you. They have learned to set aside their mask and to accept themselves as they are, warts and all. They then can begin to accept others as they are and not look down on them. They can be forgiving because they have been forgiven. Their humility allows you to lay aside your own facade and efforts to impress. Consequently, they are willing abide in the light and under the scrutiny of God and need not act defensively. Consequently, it is easier to relate to them.

The humble fear God in a healthy way. Because they want to please their Savior before all else, you can trust them. The humble have learned to look beyond themselves, knowing that the world doesn’t revolve around them. Consequently, they are teachable and more ready to value, understand, and to learn from you.

The humble are also more ready to look towards your needs, having had their most basic needs fulfilled in the Lord.

Knowing that they are not entitled to your honor and blessings, they are grateful for what they receive and less likely to make demands on others.

It should, therefore, be no surprise that the Lord is drawn to the humble, as Jesus repeatedly affirmed:

•    “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matthew 5:3-7)

Because a humble spirit is so precious to the Lord, He first humbles us in order to exalt us (Matthew 23:12; Luke 18:14). Humility is the soil from which all other virtues arise.

WEAKNESS AND INABILITY TO COPE

 

 

It seems that each time I get into a situation that reveals my weakness and inability to cope, I impulsively conclude, “God cannot help with this one,” and I despair and fear the worst.

For example, we just bought a car. It was the first one I had owned in 40 years. Everything filled me with fear—the price, the reams of paperwork (I understood little of it), getting insurance and plates…I was overwhelmed and felt trapped by one more thing I now had to maintain but without a clue how.

Yes, we now need a car, but I didn’t even know how to identify our ownership papers from the piles of other papers. It felt that everything had fallen into my lap, and I wanted to run. I also felt ashamed that I couldn’t do what others delighted to do—to own a car.

How could my Lord possibly help me? At the time, I didn’t see how I had minimized His power and promises. It was only after I returned to His Words that my eyes began to open. An unstoppable coalition of three powerful armies was heading against Jerusalem. King Jehoshaphat knew that there was no way that they could stop them. They were looking into the face of their weaknesses and annihilation. Therefore, all the people assembled in the square of Jerusalem to pray for God’s deliverance from their hopeless situation. Could God possibly rescue them? It didn’t seem possible:

·       Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s…You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you.” (2 Chronicles 20:13–17)

The Lord was with them! The three massive armies turned against each other, and they were annihilated:

·       The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. (Psalm 34:16–19)

Many are our afflictions and weaknesses, but our Lord gladly shows His love for His people by delivering us out of the claws of all our problems.

Paul had been mightily afflicted lest he become proud because of the many revelations he had been given. However, God revealed to Paul that He used his weaknesses to create His strengths within him. Paul got the point:

·       But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10)

Paul understood that there was a purpose for all his suffering and weaknesses. Therefore, He rejoiced in them!

I think that this is something we can only learn as endure the refining fires of the Lord’s love and our own failures.

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Many will reject the message of this essay, since it contradicts the politically correct assumptions of “social justice,” which deny the traditional distinctions of “good and evil” and replaces them with the “oppressed and oppressors.” It also disdains the concept of “God’s people vs. those who reject God.” I would simply ask you to reconsider your assumptions in the light of reason and evidence.