Point of fact, then...whoever interferes with God’s work of redemption—forgiving the humanity made in his image—makes himself God’s enemy and the bulls-eye of his wrath. And if that person or nation resorts to arms to defend his or its opposition to God, God uses arms to remove him or it by whatever force is needed. Without making a single apology to those who demand a painless way to right the wrongs that WRONG had done.
Not Pharaoh’s entire mobile or infantry force kept Israel in Egypt when God broke their chains. “At the end of the 430 years, to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt” Exodus 12:40. Not the entire seven-nation coalition kept Israel out of Canaan. With new tenants across the Jordan impatient for occupancy, God cancelled his lease with the Canaanites and rented the land to Israel. Fini
0 Comments
From inside God’s Presence, we won’t wring our hands in despair over personal disappointment, unanswered prayer, homelessness and poverty, disease and pestilence, nature’s fury, early deaths and the complaints many Christians make about the costs of discipleship. And...a comforting thought in the present coronavirus scare...we won’t panic-buy! Or any other of the many situations Satan keeps raising and people use as excuses not to believe and obey God in Christ!
In addition, and encouraging to those who exhaust themselves with questions about a good GOD and war, within God’s Presence we accept Biblical teaching of spiritual conflict that often becomes armed conflict. So many of us are in conflict with God that conflict among ourselves is inevitable. However, the Bible wastes no time with the “ethical” problem of war, though secular and religious scholars fixate on it. Why does it exist? they wonder and argue. Well, being but a preacher, not a scholar, I venture an answer, not a question. While understanding...that God never bothers to explain the reason. While emphasizing...God does bother...repeatedly...in every generation...beginning with the first...to explain that his entire message to humanity focuses on reclaiming mankind from their sins. In other words, it’s all about Redemption. Forgiveness. Reconciliation with God. The very words some church growth preachers don’t like to use because they’re too “churchy”. They must face the fact that bringing lost humanity back to him summarizes God’s entire message, Old and New Testament. Are we going to be so enamored of our culture that we content ourselves with representing them before God instead of confronting them with God’s changeless message of grace? We can only be his messengers if we continue proclaiming that message first and foremost! End Part II The book of Revelation, seditious in its day by affirming Christ’s absolute authority over a Roman Empire even then brutalizing Christians, also warns our society not to hide unbelief in God behind stalking horses such as poverty, homelessness, disasters and, especially, war.
The songs of Revelation will be studied in a succeeding blog. Those of the Gospels and Epistles introduce spiritual themes the Revelation follows. Consider some of the factors: God’s concern for Israel and Christians in history; God’s conquest of all his enemies; God’s use of human leaders to effect his will; God’s offer of forgiveness of sin to all believers, including Gentiles, resulting in peace with God; Christ-centered promises in every reference, in every way: his Deity by nature stressed, his servanthood by choice established, his exaltation at God’s demand to singular honor. However, first of all and most important of all, GOD’s PRIORITY is stressed in every song. As the Only God, he is FIRST. Which has a lesson for us. It’s only from God’s eternal perspective that mortals can make sense of life, understand life and overcome life. Always, then, interpret historical events and personal experiences from INSIDE God’s Presence and Will. And never from within ourselves, even as Christians. From inside God’s Presence, life-circumstances, perplexities, inconsistencies and temptations will pose no threat to our peace with God and our Christian discipleship. End Part I |
Archives
April 2024
Categories
All
|