A couple weekends ago, I was sitting in my hotel room, reading through Ephesians 1, and stopped at verse 5 and pontificated for a bit. "In love he predestined us for adoption as sons in Christ Jesus." Below is my journal
entry for that day. I hope you find it encouraging:
"God specifically chose us, ME. His love is so great that He chose ME, not for anything I have done, will do, but because He loved ME. Inherent in MY identity is that God loved me. ME. He doesn't love me because Christ makes me better. He called me prior to me being in Christ. God loves me for ME and can adopt me into his family because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. (I by no means am stating that salvation is anything other than In Christ ALONE. This statement is merely that God loves ME and Christ's work on the cross restores that love relationship. Without Christ, eternal punishment would be our destiny)
God doesn't look at all his Children and see a bunch of Jesus's running around. No, he formed you in your mothers womb. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God adopted you, ME, because, for NO other reason, than the fact that he LOVES ME!
To say he only loves Christ in me is to cheapen the incredible truth of the Imago Dei. If God only loves me because of Christ, he would have created a bunch of them. I believe we don't fully grasp the magnitude of God's love because of the doctrine of Total Depravity.
In that doctrine, which I believe and hold to firmly, we tend to lose sight of the fact that God loved us so much that he created mankind after his own image, different from all other creation. Sin has corrupted this image, but the foundational truth stands forever: God loves us specifically, because he created us specially."
Ponder these thoughts with me. Let the sheer magnitude of this truth permeate your soul. Let this truth be a balm for your soul tonight. God, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, Loves YOU for YOU. He first loved YOU! He formed you in your mothers womb. He loves you! Your identity is rooted in God's steadfast love for you!!! He who did not spare his only son, but graciously gave him up for us, YOU!
The implications of these words are enormous. In love, he predestined YOU for adoption in Christ Jesus. The implications of these words expels all fears, crushes all doubts and replaces it with perfect peace and solid faith.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, July 17, 2011
In the Beginning, God
It's pretty easy to read right over those words and not even pause to think about the implications and magnitude of that statement. "In the beginning, God..." Take a moment to think about those four words with me. Read it with a different emphasis on each word. In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God. In the beginning, God.
I think it might be important first to define what Scripture means by "in the beginning." First, this doesn't mean a time before God existed. It is clear from Scripture that God has always existed. We know that from the next word in Genesis 1. In the beginning God created. God wasn't created, he did the creating. This too is no small statement. (we will explore this more later) Thus "in the beginning" refers to the start of created time.
The implications of God creating are astounding. The opposite of this is utterly terrifying and inhumanely cruel. It's cruel and utterly terrifying because if God didn't create, then we are just molecule's in motion. We are just here by happenstance. If God didn't create, then we are one big cosmic accident, with no purpose to life. If God doesn't exist, then life as we know it is cruel.
But thanks be to God that this isn't true. Thank God for the first four,actually five words of Genesis. In the beginning God created!!! There is in each one of us a transcendent knowledge that we are made for something more. We find this something more in the very first words of the Bible. If God created us, then this world isn't cruel, it's not utterly terrifying, we do have purpose, and our life does have meaning. We aren't some cosmic accident, accidentally placed here by mere happenstance. No, a loving, benevolent, righteous, just, God created.
In the beginning God... There are so many things we could focus on: God's creation (land, animals, plants, etc) and our role in it, the sanctity of human life, the beauty and purpose in Gender, the sanctity of Marriage, etc. The list is really exhaustive. There are endless implications to "In the beginning God..."
I want to focus on one tonight. If it is true that "In the beginning, God created", then our purpose is found in the Creator. Since we believe God created, then we owe everything to our Creator. We owe all adoration, affection, worship, praise, all of our everything! If God didn't create, we wouldn't be here. You just can't get something from nothing. It's never happened before and it will never happen. I mention this because the opposing view to Christianity is that we can from nothing, which means we are free to do anything. This is not true. Our beliefs necessitate Worship of God. Because God created, we aren't free to do whatever we please. I believe the Westminster Shorter Catechism says it best: "Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever"
Do you see how vast these implications are even in our culture today? Since it is true that "in the beginning God," there is a moral standard by which we are to live. There is also a purpose and intentionality by which we are to live our life. Since God created, sexual promiscuity is NOT okay. Since God created, drunkenness is NOT okay. Since God created, rape and murder are unthinkable. Since God created, homosexuality is NOT okay. Since God created, hatred is NOT okay. I could go on and on. Since God created, we are subjected to the Creator's will and desire. We are subjected to his standards.
Being subject to the Creator's standards may not sound the greatest, but when we examine how in fact he created us, I believe we find incredibly hope, joy and a sense of purpose. This is perhaps one of the most amazing statements in the Bible. "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Genesis 1:26). Are you kidding me??? God did not say this about anything else he created. Nothing else in all of creation was made in the 'imago dei' (image of God). God purposed to create us after himself. Therefore, we find purpose in how we were created.
In short, "in the beginning, God" isn't four wasted words.
The impact of these four words shapes our lives.
The truth of these four words requires our worship.
The reach of these four words is to the ends of the universe.
Because of these four words, each of us will give an account of our lives one day. Who will be your mediator? Yourself, or the Savior, Christ Jesus?
"In the beginning God" forces you make a decision....
I think it might be important first to define what Scripture means by "in the beginning." First, this doesn't mean a time before God existed. It is clear from Scripture that God has always existed. We know that from the next word in Genesis 1. In the beginning God created. God wasn't created, he did the creating. This too is no small statement. (we will explore this more later) Thus "in the beginning" refers to the start of created time.
The implications of God creating are astounding. The opposite of this is utterly terrifying and inhumanely cruel. It's cruel and utterly terrifying because if God didn't create, then we are just molecule's in motion. We are just here by happenstance. If God didn't create, then we are one big cosmic accident, with no purpose to life. If God doesn't exist, then life as we know it is cruel.
But thanks be to God that this isn't true. Thank God for the first four,actually five words of Genesis. In the beginning God created!!! There is in each one of us a transcendent knowledge that we are made for something more. We find this something more in the very first words of the Bible. If God created us, then this world isn't cruel, it's not utterly terrifying, we do have purpose, and our life does have meaning. We aren't some cosmic accident, accidentally placed here by mere happenstance. No, a loving, benevolent, righteous, just, God created.
In the beginning God... There are so many things we could focus on: God's creation (land, animals, plants, etc) and our role in it, the sanctity of human life, the beauty and purpose in Gender, the sanctity of Marriage, etc. The list is really exhaustive. There are endless implications to "In the beginning God..."
I want to focus on one tonight. If it is true that "In the beginning, God created", then our purpose is found in the Creator. Since we believe God created, then we owe everything to our Creator. We owe all adoration, affection, worship, praise, all of our everything! If God didn't create, we wouldn't be here. You just can't get something from nothing. It's never happened before and it will never happen. I mention this because the opposing view to Christianity is that we can from nothing, which means we are free to do anything. This is not true. Our beliefs necessitate Worship of God. Because God created, we aren't free to do whatever we please. I believe the Westminster Shorter Catechism says it best: "Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever"
Do you see how vast these implications are even in our culture today? Since it is true that "in the beginning God," there is a moral standard by which we are to live. There is also a purpose and intentionality by which we are to live our life. Since God created, sexual promiscuity is NOT okay. Since God created, drunkenness is NOT okay. Since God created, rape and murder are unthinkable. Since God created, homosexuality is NOT okay. Since God created, hatred is NOT okay. I could go on and on. Since God created, we are subjected to the Creator's will and desire. We are subjected to his standards.
Being subject to the Creator's standards may not sound the greatest, but when we examine how in fact he created us, I believe we find incredibly hope, joy and a sense of purpose. This is perhaps one of the most amazing statements in the Bible. "Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Genesis 1:26). Are you kidding me??? God did not say this about anything else he created. Nothing else in all of creation was made in the 'imago dei' (image of God). God purposed to create us after himself. Therefore, we find purpose in how we were created.
In short, "in the beginning, God" isn't four wasted words.
The impact of these four words shapes our lives.
The truth of these four words requires our worship.
The reach of these four words is to the ends of the universe.
Because of these four words, each of us will give an account of our lives one day. Who will be your mediator? Yourself, or the Savior, Christ Jesus?
"In the beginning God" forces you make a decision....
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Why Implications?
Fantastic question! Why would I call this blog "Implications"?
For those that know me, you know that I like to think through things, sometimes to a fault. As an Analyst by trade and an Apologist by passion, it's sometimes difficult to shut the brain down and just accept things for what they are. But, at the same time, I find it to be quite important to know and understand the very foundation of things we are presented with.
Thus my new blog. Implications. I named it "Implications" because what we believe has many implications on how we live our life. Often times there is a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually live. In this blog I hope to explore these types of issues. I want to deal with relevant cultural issues that are confronting the Christian Church.
So sit back, engage your mind, and explore these thoughts with me.
For those that know me, you know that I like to think through things, sometimes to a fault. As an Analyst by trade and an Apologist by passion, it's sometimes difficult to shut the brain down and just accept things for what they are. But, at the same time, I find it to be quite important to know and understand the very foundation of things we are presented with.
Thus my new blog. Implications. I named it "Implications" because what we believe has many implications on how we live our life. Often times there is a disconnect between what we say we believe and how we actually live. In this blog I hope to explore these types of issues. I want to deal with relevant cultural issues that are confronting the Christian Church.
So sit back, engage your mind, and explore these thoughts with me.
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