The Lust That Consumes Us
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:3, Authorized King James Version).
What went wrong? Why the recent carnage on Wall Street, why the sub-prime mortgage fiasco, and why the rash of bank failures? Why the bail-outs that minimize penalties for really, really bad behavior? Little people have been mortally wounded - people who trusted these institutions with their life savings - with the mortgages on their homes - have been left in the wake of this meltdown.
Where does it all start? For a start, check out the children’s programs on television. What an education! The commercials on children's television programs are one of the seductive, sinister, early stages of consumerism. Consumerism is what makes our lust driven economy work. The commercials receive as much, or even more, rapt attention than the programs themselves. The message of these commercials is blatant and obvious. Children are being programmed, at any early age, to be consumers. They are being trained to consume things on their own lusts. Lust is part of the human condition, no matter what age we might be.
Remember the advice given to Americans after the tragedy of 9-11? "Go shopping," we were told. The purpose of this recommendation was not simply to allow Americans to get their minds off the unspeakable horrors of that day, but it was our government telling us to keep consuming, for surely if we stop consuming our economic wheels will fall off, and we will all perish. Consume or die!
While commercials shown during children's television programs are a problem, there is a bigger, and far more malignant epidemic sweeping across our world. Evil forces are at work in our culture and society – most recently, the needless economic massacre suffered by millions of people, defaulting on loans, losing their homes - people whose lusts did them in, people who had been seduced by consumerism and its minions into attempting to achieve the so-called American dream by the unremitting use of pieces of plastic that fit neatly into their wallets and purses.
I consider the real culprit - human lust. While I don't usually read and study from the Authorized King James, I read several translations and versions of James 4:3 before coming back to the rich, resonant and robust English favored in 1611: Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
I am disgusted with the marketing gurus who, armed with a basic understanding of human lust, are able to motivate, persuade and manipulate the lust of others for their own gain. Am I taking the side of victims? Not entirely - it must be said that the people who decided that their homes were the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow - and decided to use the "funny money" equity in their homes to refinance and re-mortgage and borrow against for that new boat, SUV, exotic vacation - were all big boys and big girls. Adults, not pre-school age children drooling over the latest gizmo or gadget advertised on television, fell for sub-prime loans, hook, line and sinker. And the funny money turned out to be a balloon of hot air, inflated with consumerism, a mirage of lust that turned into a painful and pathetic reality many people are facing today.
But today's adults are always yesterday's children. They are simply products of decades of self-indulgence. When I think of our greedy, me-first, get-it-now-before-you're-too-old-to-enjoy-it self indulgent culture, I think of Ivan Boesky. Ivan Boesky was a Wall Street trader, who, over two decades ago, during a time when today's young adults were consumers-in-training, amassed a $200 million fortune by fraud and deceit. Boesky made investments based on tips from corporate insiders. He was eventually sentenced to prison, but his name came to symbolize the rapacious greed of American big business.
Ivan Boesky gave a speech at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986, during which he said, "I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself." The character of Gordon Gecko in the 1987 movie, "Wall Street," is said to have been based on a Boesky like character (if character is not an oxymoron in a Bosky context).
Two decades later, in our post-Boesky Wall Street, the greed epidemic continues, unabated. As a result, our once strong economy is today held together by chewing gum, bailing wire and duct tape. But the wrong-headed teaching continues. Our government rewards corporate lust by bailing out ego-driven maniacal banks and brokerage firms that had no self control, demonstrated no moral boundaries, and were simply driven by ravenous lust and greed. What lesson is this sending to our younger generation? Don't worry - go out there and max out your personal credit cards - you can declare bankruptcy - someone else - some anonymous person or group of people - will pick up the tab.
But citizens cannot continue to bear an inflated tax burden that will be required to bail out national and local governments whose only solution to out-of-control spending is to print more money and promise to build an even bigger government that will provide more "services." We all know that "I am from the government and I am here to help you" has become one of the big lies of our times.
Many formerly private sector financial institutions have been taken over by our government. Major banks and brokerage houses have been bailed out, because flushing them into a cesspool of their own idiocy and lust was not deemed to be in the best interests of what remains of our economy. Who will pay the bill for all of this lust? It will be an enslaved people, who continue to chase the American dream by spending - that ye may consume it on your lusts.
Behind this massive debacle of insatiable gluttony are those people who enabled this mess to become what it is today. Wall Street, Madison Avenue, government officials - all of whom were consumed by their own lusts, assuming that there was no end in sight, and that everyone would just get richer and richer. Buying and purchasing like frenzied sharks attracted by blood, American consumers fell into a pit. But the pit was prepared, and there were forces that led consumers into that pit.
Our nation today is dealing with decades of monumental gluttonous, me-first lust - on a grand scale with no end in sight - perhaps never before seen or experienced in human history. Many of our leaders have turned out to be predators, not servants - mercenaries who have spiritually and physically bankrupted the very people they ostensibly were elected or appointed to serve. Our leaders, in both civil and some religious arenas, have afflicted those they are pledged to serve with physical and spiritual debt, insisting on more taxes, more required "tithes" - so that their own lives of lust and greed can continue unabated. Our leaders have preyed on the ignorance and apathy of an American public, while they themselves have sought to feed their ever-increasing voracious appetites at the expense of the masses, while assuring us that they have our best interests at heart. They have amassed fortunes by deceit, larceny and trickery. Well did Peter speak of false teachers, in the spiritual realm, who exploit others because of their own greed "with stories they have made up" (2 Peter 2:3).
While we all enjoy buying things for children, one of the most cherished lessons we can leave with the younger generation is that they do not deserve, nor will they receive, everything their little pea-picking hearts desire. Further, if they were to ever get everything they want, they would not be happy - the fires of lust would burn hotter and hotter, voraciously consuming everything in sight.
We are, rightfully so, in my opinion, concerned about Global Warming. But where is the alarm about unbridled lust? Where is the call to excise the lust-induced cancer of spending and getting and acquiring and consuming? Where is the call to live within our means? Where are the warnings about the meltdown that is being caused by our worship of the gods of consumerism?
We are in the final days of this presidential election. Thank God it's almost over - I am so sick of the partisan rhetoric - let's get it over with, one way or the other! While I would not deny anyone their enthusiasm over a candidate, I am dismayed with the near-messiah like reverence and expectations given to both candidates by their supporters. Neither candidate, and neither political party has demonstrated the resolve and courage to do what must be done, nor, in my mind, should they be expected to. They are just like you and me - imperfect humans.
Our Savior does not come from Wall Street, Madison Avenue, nor will He ever live in the White House. Our Savior is neither Republican nor Democrat. Our Savior turned consumerism on its ear when He came to serve us, rather than seeking our service (Matthew 20:28). Our Savior, although He was rich, became poor, that we might, through His poverty become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
But we must turn to our Savior in surrender and repentance. We must turn from the gods of consumerism that have turned us into overstuffed, fat, indolent spiritual couch potatoes, greedily consuming resources at a prodigious rate, while the rest of the world looks on us with scorn, disdain, and not a little envy. After all, the rest of the occupants of this planet as humans also driven by lust, would like to waddle their way through life like overstuffed little pigs, consuming and devouring at the prodigious rate of our North American society.
Jesus is not a lust-driven consumer. He is not a user. He will not manipulate us. In fact, He will save us from our lusts. He will save us from those who use and abuse us. He will give us true freedom, freedom in Him - but we must first turn our backs on the gods of consumerism who cannot save us. [Back to Home]
The Old TV Set
We have this human thing that wants to see and judge the finished picture. And we tend to judge the outcome of the finished picture by what we see along the way.
The other day, I decided to get an old TV set down off a basement shelf and try it out. This was an old tube-type (no transistors) black-and-white set. It hadn’t been used in years, and I was curious.
Have you ever watched an old tube television set warm up? You turn it on and you wait! And then the sound comes first. Then the tiniest dot of a picture gradually spreads to fill the screen, and then it focuses to reveal lifelike forms that are easily recognized.
There happened to be a Cardinal baseball game on, and the sound announced, “It‘s a homerun!” But I couldn’t SEE IT! By the time the picture appeared, I had missed the homer. Thank goodness for present day instant replay, because they showed it again.
Do you remember what it was like waiting for all this to happen? You sit on the edge of your chair, muttering to yourself, fidgeting uselessly with the knobs, but the picture will come only when it is ready to come. Meddling with the mechanics you know so little about can only hinder the arrival of that awaited picture. So finally you resign yourself to the fact that you’ve done all you can to bring the picture by simply turning the set on. Knowing that it is connected to the power, it is best to just stretch out in your recliner and watch the image appear before your eyes.
You are reading this because, like myself, you have to some degree an inner desire, an expectant yearning, to see the picture of completion - the answer to all questions - the appeasement of your insatiable inquisitiveness. So do I have to explain my example? Have you learned, as I have, to stop trying to bring the picture in yourself, much less attempt to aid the supplying power?
I recently shared with a friend that both the greatest ASSET and the largest OBSTACLE to my everyday Christian life is my MIND! First, I was spurred on by a mysterious knowledge that there was more than the up and down life I experienced as a Christian. Then when confronted in later life by the truth of the new birth in Christ, the same mind wanted to dissect it, figure out how it worked, and control it by mastering its secret power.
Which brings me around to my theme - God meant it all for good. Two favorite verses point this out: in Genesis 50:20, Joseph said that in everything bad that happened to him, God meant it for good. And in Romans 8:28, Paul says that everything works together for good in Christians.
For it was the mind of Christ in me the entire time, providing me with precisely what was needed, molding me to the point where I could recognize and begin to lean on and trust in the guidance of Christ from within - where I could see some promised conformity to the image of His Son!
You ask me if I really believe that every question asked, every doctrine studied, every dead-end faced, every door opened was His perfect way to guide me to my present awareness, rather than me thwarting His divine efforts of grace. My answer is that I know it was all as He planned! It was necessary for me to spend time (not waste time) spinning dials in vain, for only then could I be convinced of the futility in doing it, and be cornered into giving up all self-effort. The feeling and the will of independence had to be broken, and mine was just as strong as anyone else’s.
So I‘m not one to complain about “wasted years”. There are no such things. Even the vilest offender, acknowledging forgiveness on his deathbed, cannot justifiably suggest that God “should have come sooner,” nor reason that his life drenched in sin prevented an omnipotent God from gaining a previous entrance. How absurd! The released, manifest power of God through the Holy Spirit is irresistible. When we see God in total control, we not only are seeing the focused picture, but also are gaining incredible insight for those around us.
Knowing (not just believing) that “God means it for good” releases us from the habitual attempt at manipulation of circumstances to avoid “bad” results. There is no more need for frustration over a prodigal brother or sister, for we can release the power of God into instant manifestation by simply acknowledging that God is accomplishing whatever He desires. What a release! It is clearly much more pleasant in my recliner viewing the finished picture than it was on the edge of my chair struggling to produce it myself.
WHEN YOU REALIZE, IN FAITH, THAT YOU CONTAIN THE ANSWER, THEN ALL QUESTIONS BECOME IRRELEVANT. EVEN UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANICS INVOLVED IS A MERE TECHNICALITY.
Let me offer this, however, if it can help you to gain some insight into the matter. Before we even turned the TV set on, we took it for granted that the sound and picture waves were already in the air. Does anyone test the electricity or call up the station to inquire if they’re transmitting before turning on the set? By similar reasoning, does anyone turn on a TV if he knows that there is no electricity or if there are no transmissions being made? So you see that there is an act of faith involved in turning the set on. That allows the power to flow uninterrupted and produce the manifestation for you to see.
But, you say, it requires little faith to turn on a television and expect a picture to appear. We don’t even give thought to the waves in the air – we know they’re there. And so it can be with God. Each begging prayer we make, asking Him to awaken to our needs, is calling the station to see if it is still transmitting! That’s their job, so leave it to them.
God’s “job” is to supply - so why question if He’s still in operation? He has promised that He knows our needs in advance, and has the exact supply for us before we even know we need it! DON’T BEG – JUST ACKNOWLEDGE!
You don’t like the picture that you see? Believe (or better yet - know) that He means it for good, and even though you can’t discern the mechanics of the plot, don’t try to install your own plan. I tell you this not because I ‘m afraid you may interfere with God’s working - that’s impossible! I only want to prevent you from further frustration which is exactly what you’ll experience. I can heartily attest to that. (But guess what? - God meant even that for good.
I‘m not saying that you have to “like” every picture before you. And everything that happens around you is not “God’s will”. There are spiritual forces attempting to distort the picture - spiritual “static”, if you will. But what you must see and accept is that no matter how bad things may seem, the situation is not ever beyond God’s turning it for good. A Christian is a child in His Family. As Jesus said, if a weak human father still does good things for his children, think what an all powerful Father God can do to ultimately make good things happen for His children.
Do you see it? Are you ready to sit down in faith and patiently watch the picture? Do you finally recognize the awesome God that encompasses the airwaves? It is all so elementary. A child’s mind can comprehend and accept it, but for some reason we must make it complicated. BUT EVEN THE COMPLICATION IS GOD’S PROVEN WAY OF BREAKING THROUGH TO MOST OF US.
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Too Much Sin-Consciousness? Try "Righteousness-Consciousness"!
“For God made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
(2 Corinthians 5:21 King James version)
“For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins; then in exchange, He poured God’s goodness into us!”
(2 Corinthians 5:21 Living Bible version)
There is an important point that we need to see when we look at ourselves as Christians. Christians are NOT sinners – we are the righteousness of God! Let’s stop putting ourselves down. Those in union with Christ by a new birth aren’t sinners. We may sometimes “miss the mark”, which is what that word translated “sin” means. The vital thing is to differentiate between who I am, and what I sometimes do. I am the righteousness of God because Christ lives in me and when God looks at me, He sees Christ. And when something wrong appears in my life, it doesn’t make me a sinner.
Some translations of the New Testament may seem to say that we have two natures within us – God’s nature and sin nature – which are constantly at war. This is a false concept which, in effect, makes the Christian life more difficult. A human being has only one nature at a time – before conversion and the new birth, there is a sin nature; after conversion then the nature of God takes the place of the sin nature.
Let us distinguish between the REAL me in whom Christ dwells, and the way I USED TO BE before I was crucified with Christ, and risen with Him.
When we Christians are together, let’s talk about how we please God by having become His children, not how we fail Him. Instead of bemoaning our sins, let us emphasize the fact that we are children in God’s family containing His righteous nature. Who are we really? We are Christ/persons – Christ/Joe, Christ/Mary, Christ/Jack, Christ/Meg.
It is so important to see that you are not a bad person, striving to be good. That’s an Old Covenant orientation. You are a good person – the righteousness of God – in which some “hangover” of the old patterns sometimes reassert themselves. Some leftover garbage of the “old man” is still lodged in our brain cells which is subject to the external influence of the world, the flesh and the devil. Certainly we sin at times. But Christ does not leave us. The Holy Spirit does not leave us. The reborn divine nature of God the Father does not leave us. As Christian children, we make mistakes, we miss the mark, we SIN. Our loving Father corrects us as necessary, but He doesn’t disown us. His love ultimately draws us back closer to Him.
It may sound strange to say that I SIN, BUT I’M NOT A SINNER. But again, it comes down to who I am by nature – a saint/child of God – who sometimes misses the mark.
Righteousness IS God’s divine nature. It is not so much a moral quality as a factual condition. Rocks have a rock nature. Plants have a plant nature. Animals have an animal nature. God has a divine righteous nature – and He has given that nature to us (2 Peter 1:4).
God is not in the business of shaping your character by imparting to you good qualities one by one. God is instead constantly REVEALING the flawless, perfect character of Jesus Christ within you. Christ IS our righteousness, and His character is right there within us to draw on by faith and trust.
A proper self-image is absolutely essential to the life of everyone, Christian or non-Christian. Teaching that says that Christians have to battle their human nature causes them to have a negative view of themselves. We are not battling our nature because we have a God nature!
And when you have a negative view of yourself, then inevitably you will have a negative view of your surroundings and your condition. You will see your life as you see yourself – negatively.
I am persuaded that the reason that there is so much unforgiveness even among Christians lies in how they view themselves. If you are concentrating on how bad you are, then the logical conclusion is that other people are bad too. If other people are bad, then you can’t forgive them – after all, they’re bad! The solution is to discover and stay aware of who you really are.
When you know that you’re the righteousness of God, you come to realize that you are not the ONLY one. Then you begin to see other Christians as the righteousness of God. And you begin to see people of the world as ones whom God is dealing with in a personal way drawing them to conversion into His righteous nature.
Peter’s opening salutation in his second Epistle points out the benefits of a righteousness consciousness:
“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them who have obtained the same precious faith with us through the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD and our Savior Jesus Christ:
GRACE and PEACE be multiplied to you through the KNOWLEDGE of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power has given to all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue.
We are given exceedingly great and precious promises: that by these we are partakers of the divine nature [the RIGHTEOUS nature of God], having escaped the corruption [the sin nature] that is in the world.”
The above words were written near the end of Peter’s life. It took Peter a lifetime to come to the understanding that he was a partaker of the divine nature. Peter was a slow learner. He was slow to give up trying to keep the law of Moses and even had a heated argument with Paul over it in the second chapter of Galatians. Peter apparently thought that he was still a “sinner” saved by grace, and that righteousness was earned by keeping the law. The whole discussion leads up to Paul’s statement of my favorite verse in the Bible:
“I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I live in the flesh I now live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
But then, probably as a final rebuttal to Peter, Paul talks about the importance of righteousness consciousness in verse 21:
“I do not frustrate the grace of God [probably pointing at Peter with the implication: ‘like you do!’], for if RIGHTEOUSNESS comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Peter had to learn Paul’s message that a Christian contains Christ’s RIGHTEOUSNESS, and is no longer a sinner by nature. Peter was an emotional guy who desperately wanted to be liked by those around him. May you grow in understanding as Peter did.[Back to Home]
Old Earth? or Young Earth?
Four hundred years ago, the Renaissance was revving into high gear. Along came Copernicus and Galileo, both devout Roman Catholics. They challenged the church’s long-standing interpretation of verses like Psalms 93:1, 96:10, and 104:5. The church taught that verses like these meant that Earth was “fixed” on its axis and was located at the center of the universe.
These two men of science came to the conclusion that the Earth revolved around the Sun by observing the phases of Venus and that Jupiter was orbited by four moons.
Neither Copernicus nor Galileo ever set out to question the Bible or the church. They were just trying to learn more about the world God had made. Galileo urged theologians repeatedly to reconsider their interpretation of these verses in the Psalms in light of a deeper, more sophisticated understanding of the record of nature. But it took over two hundred years for that to happen. From the church’s perspective, the very authority of Scripture was at stake. And clerics held on to a particular interpretation of the Bible instead of reexamining the text and trying to reconcile it with data from God’s other revelation, God’s world.
Fast forward to the present day. No one debates whether Galileo was right. So was the Bible in error? No. But the church’s interpretation of the Bible was.
Did you know there is another controversy about science and Scripture in our own day? It concerns the age of the Earth and the length of the creation “days” in Genesis 1. There is a common conception that Genesis 1 teaches the creation “days” were 24-hours long and the Earth was created only about six thousand years ago. In fact, some Christians believe this so firmly that they insist all other interpretations compromise the authority of Scripture.
This interpretation causes many scientists to consider the Bible to be pure mythology because scientific evidence points to a universe that is billions of years old. This problem has led some Christians to try to find a way to reconcile God’s Word with His world. Is this approach legitimate? Is the Bible wrong? Or is science?
A key issue in the debate about the age of the Earth concerns the length of the creation days. The Hebrew word for “day” (yom) used in Genesis 1 and 2 has four literal translations:
1 A portion of the daylight period (usually a few hours)
2 A 12-hour period (generally from sunrise to sunset)
3 A 24-hour period (such as from sunset to sunset)
4 An unspecified long period of time (such as the “Day of the Lord” used throughout the books of the prophets)
So the critical question is, Which of these literal meanings seems the best option for interpreting the length of the creation “days” described in Genesis 1? In order to answer that question we will need to carefully consider what the Bible has to say and pay attention to some of the details that we might normally miss.
First, let’s look at one hypothesis about the length of the days in Genesis 1: they were 24-hour long. Some Christians say that the phrase, “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day,…the second day,” and so on means that the “days” must be 24-hour days. That’s one possibility. However, before jumping to any conclusions, let’s take a few moments to put this interpretation to the test. How does it stand up against further observations from the biblical text?
Investigation #1 – Use of the word “day” right within Genesis 1 and 2.
Read Genesis 2:4b in the KJV, NASB, or NRSV. Here the word “day” is definitely used for an unspecified period of time. The New International Version translates the word yom as “when”. That decision on the part of the translators may cause us to miss the fact that here the Hebrew word “day” is used to summarize the activities of the entire creation week. Right here, within the context of the creation account itself, we see the word yom being used to refer to an unspecified period of time that obviously took longer than 24 hours.
Investigation #2 – Words “evening” and “morning”
Most of the creation “days” close with this phrase: “And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day,…the second day,” and so on. This phrase is a rather unusual construction. Although the words “evening” and “morning” appear near each other in other places in the Old Testament, Genesis 1 is the only place where this exact expression is used. This should be a signal to slow down and make sure we understand what the author is trying to tell us.
Not every day of creation ends with the “evening” and “morning” refrain. The seventh day does not. Many commentators have suggested that the lack of the “evening” and “morning” phrase to close out the seventh day of creation is a possible indicator that these were not 24-hour days. And according the Hebrews 4:3, God is still resting from His creation miracles. That would mean we may still be living in the seventh “day” of creation. But before arriving at any firm conclusions, let’s gather more data.
If the author was trying to describe a 24-hour period, you’d expect the text to say “morning to morning” or “evening to evening” (such as the Jewish reckoning of a “day”). By putting this construction “evening and morning” the author could be drawing the reader’s attention to the nighttime, when a worker would normally rest from labor. This is why many Old Testament scholars think the sundown-to-sunrise formula is intended to act as a symbolic unit to mark the end of one creation stage before the dawn of the next, as opposed to functioning as an indication of the duration of the creation “days”.
Let’s put the above information in our data file as we turn to a third line of testing.
Investigation #3 – Events of Creation Day 6
Genesis 1:27 describes the creation of the first humans as the closing act of the sixth creative day. Toward the end of the sixth day, after all the animals were fashioned, “God created man in His own image; He created them male and female.” This statement implies that Eve was created before the end of Day 6.
Beginning in Genesis 2:5 the author provides more details about the events of Day 6. This may help us discern what amount of time passed between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve. According to Genesis 2:8-9, after God created Adam He “planted” a garden (2:8) and “He made all kinds of trees to grow out of the ground” (2:9). Nothing in the text would lead us to think that God instantly brought the finished garden of Eden into existence. It seems reasonable to assume these activities came about through ordinary means facilitated by the God-given laws of nature, and this took longer than 24 hours.
Genesis 2 also supplies a more detailed explanation of the events surrounding the creation of the first man and woman, who are only briefly mentioned in Genesis 1:26-28. Verse 2:15 says Adam had to work to take care of the garden. 2:19-20 tells of the naming of all the animals, and 2:21 then tells of the creation of Eve. How long do you think it might take for all these events to transpire? Do the events support the idea that Day 6 lasted longer than 24 hours?
Investigation #4 – “at last”
The latter half of Genesis 2 focuses on Adam’s search for a suitable helper. As we say, a number of steps were involved in this search. When the right creature finally arrived on the scene, Adam expressed his joy in poetry. The NRSV or ESV translation of Genesis 2:23 states: “AT LAST, bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh – she shall be called “woman” for she was taken out of man.” The root of the Hebrew verb translated “at last” (hapa’am) means the “sole of the foot.” The word connotes the beating of the foot to keep time usually referring to time passing as a succession of events.
Pa’am stresses the fact that a passage of time had gone by, including the amount required for Adam to work the garden and name the animals. Yet he found no companion. But, at last, it happened.
Investigation #5 – “generations”
Let’s return for a moment to a verse we glossed over at the beginning of this study. Genesis 2:4 says, “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created”. This use of the word “generations" is the first of ten in the book of Genesis. The author uses “generations” as an organizational feature to introduce each new section of Genesis (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 37:2).
Although this repetition is a literary device, it’s worth considering the fact that the other “generations” in Genesis are obviously longer than seven days. The very word “generations” implies a lengthy passage of time with many stages and phases, much like a family tree.
Investigation #6 – Psalm 90
Psalm 90 presents yet another piece of evidence for our investigation. Moses is stated to be the author of Psalm 90 – he is also thought to be the author of Genesis. The Psalm compares God’s eternal nature with the creation of the universe. The Psalm compares a “day” to being like a thousand years. This says that Moses was at least familiar with the idea of using the word “day” to refer to a long period of time. However, we must not be too literal with the expression, “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day.” The author’s main point is not to define a specific length of time. Rather, he is comparing God’s eternality with the limited span of human life.
The end of this investigation leads us to a critical question: How can we choose which reading is correct? That’s where information from God’s other revelation comes in. What evidence for the age of the universe has God left behind in the record of nature?
No single piece of data taken in isolation is enough to close the case file on the length of the creation “days” in Genesis 1. However, with the addition of each piece of evidence, the case for interpreting “days” as long periods of time becomes more compelling.
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Praying and Baking Cookies
God's plan, for some mysterious reason, includes our prayers. I picture it this way: When children are small, they love to help their mother bake cookies. Mom certainly doesn’t need their help, and their efforts certainly don't improve mom’s baking skills. When the father comes home, the children offer him cookies squealing, "Daddy, look what I made!" Then the mother would boast of their wonderful baking skills (even though the cookies didn’t turn out very good!).Truth is, she just loved having them alongside her as her little helpers. She treasured those moments together when they learned from her.
I believe it's the same way with God. He doesn't need our help but He loves our company, and He loves teaching us, especially about Himself. Prayer is one way He does this.
Let's look at this analogy even more closely. Who benefited greatest from the baking lesson? Certainly not the father as the cookies still weren’t very good. And certainly not the mother as she ended up with more mess to clean up. Yes, you've caught on. The beneficiaries were in fact the children. The experience increased their overall aptitude and was rewarding.
Similarly, my prayers are my participation in “baking God’s cookies.” God does not need me to pray since He knows the ingredients and the recipe for His cookies better than anyone, but He loves my participation in His plan, and is rewarding me for it with eternal life. I benefit most for cooperating with God. I am the one who is blessed, and better still, I am changed (2 Corinthians 3:18). Alas, I am so often blinded to this truth, convinced that what I do is more important than what I pray.
Prayer is a privilege in which God invites us to be part of the outworking of His plan. After all, God's plan is to conform us to His image, and one of His greatest tools to implement that is prayer. So, I say "Let's pray!" “Let’s make some cookies!” Let's enjoy being God’s children by joining Him in prayer.[Back to Home]
"We Have Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself"
At the beginning of World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt addressed the American people with the above words. He wanted to calm frightened citizens concerning America’s entry into a war situation.
With the terrorist attacks of 9-11-01 on our country, and with the ongoing bombing and turmoil in the Middle East, many are fearful on a daily basis. Will there be chemical, biological or nuclear attacks within the United States?
Roosevelt wanted to calm the whole nation’s fears, but these words would be much more appropriately spoken by Paul, Peter, John, James, the other apostles, or from the pulpit of God’s Christian church services. Only to a converted Christian with Jesus dwelling within does this sentence have any real meaning.
FEAR CAN MANIFEST ITSELF ONLY BECAUSE OF A BELIEF IN SEPARATION. AS LONG AS YOU ARE SOMETHING APART FROM GOD, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE FEAR IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER.
Fear is subtle and hidden like a snake coiled in the grass, liable to strike at any time in our mind, at the most unguarded moment, when least expected. Its only power is given to it by our thought process, and it can be swollen in our mind from a snake into a dragon. All thoughts of evil are like toy balloons in that they are enlarged until finally the capacity is overloaded and they burst.
THE ANSWER TO ALL FEAR IS YOUR CHRISTIAN REBIRTH AND LIVING UNION WITH CHRIST. Union with God is not an impossible, mystical thing, as believed in former times. Things of the spirit are realities NOW, and the things of matter, though present, are transient. The moment you see yourself as separated and wander into the limitations of the thought world of separated independence, you are subject to the laws of fear: fear for your life, fear of disease, fear of debt, fear of people. And all of these fears are backed up by plenty of evidence and tangible proof.
The one who is filled with fear sees the “ten thousand fall at your right hand,” and is so convinced of the reality and power of evil that he fails to notice those who pass through unscathed. When Jesus had His agony in the garden, He knew how to do this very thing. He immediately “went to the Father” and recognized His oneness with Him. The belief in a separate power disintegrated, and the manifestation of evil vanished.
The enemy comes at you in one of many ways. Evil begins to become sure of itself because of your acceptance, but when the renewed awareness of this union of you with Christ takes place, the blinding, exposing light causes evil to flee.
This sudden appropriation of oneness is accompanied by the realization of how to eliminate the object of, or the belief in, fear. The Israelites had different “cities of refuge” into which they could run for every differing degree of fear. We have the same God. This “running” into God is not as symbolic as it appears. It is an actual fusing of you with Christ within you, and from that moment YOU are a majority, and you will know the powerlessness of the fear belief.
The Life of God through Christ is flowing through you and finding expression by the spiritually extended senses. And that is sufficient to illuminate any darkened condition. The Philistines built up a great monster in Goliath - even as you and I have done at times - and Israel’s army gave him so much power in their minds that the fear of total destruction came upon them. But there was a way of escape. David and his five pebbles brought the monster down. You, with your five senses extended into their spiritual capacity, are more than a perfect match for any giant of fear that can confront you.
The thing that you fear in your mind is sure to injure you, one way or another. It may never have an embodiment in material things; it may be a devastating, unseen fear which never comes to actual manifestation, but it is just as powerful and has “come to injure you” just as definitely as if it had a body and menaced your life.
Jesus comes to dwell in a Christian with the invitation to escape instantly the dire evil of human FEAR. You can and will learn to run into His arms and the fury of the human fear thought will calm as did the waves on the Sea of Galilee when Jesus commanded them.
“It is I, don’t be afraid!” You begin to see this “I” standing in the midst of the evil situation, and this very recognition dissolves the thought- image or mask which has been hiding it from your view.
Our purpose in this Christian life is to grow finally to the point which is so full of the acceptance of Christ that it can and does say, “Even if You slay me, yet I will say You are God” - and the last stand is taken. Even if You allow me to die - yet will I acknowledge this One and Only Power.
At first, in the Christian walk, this may seem a little confused, and you will find little there. You have “come out from among them.” You begin pushing out the “borders of your tent” farther and farther - daring to take more and more of the awareness of Christ in you, and accepting it as natural and real and true. This builds into a recognition of the presence of God, YOUR Father, YOUR Dad, here, there and everywhere. And if God, YOUR Father, YOUR Dad, is for you, “who can be against you?”
Separated from God in soul or spirit, you are naked and afraid, and you try to hide from Him (but can find no place where He is not). And this Christian recognition of Christ as here and now present within is enough to untie the knottiest human law that was ever conceived. All this by “a way you know not of,” and can never find out, because in every instance, it comes by way of a different manifestation. You will cease to speculate or wonder HOW this removal of the fear of evil can take place - that is no concern of yours. Suffice it to say that it will take place in one of those natural ways which are so mystifying to the human thought that it flees from the brightness of His coming.”
At long last you will arrive at: “I CAUSED MY OWN FEAR BECAUSE I
TEMPORARILY BELIEVED I WAS SOMETHING SEPARATE FROM GOD. I TEMPORARILY BELIEVED THAT I HAD A LIFE WHICH WAS DISCONNECTED, BUT WHICH COULD BE MOMENTARILY JOINED WITH HIM THROUGH AFFIRMATIONS OR PRAYERS.”
The complete identification of Christ as your life, living and thinking through you, and really, as you, is only temporarily obscured when you persist in looking at the waves and the snakes lapping and crawling at your feet, instead of seeing things and people through His eyes.
The truth is that the Christian is forever in union with Jesus Christ, in union with His Life within, and all that is necessary to remove human fear is to BRING THAT FACT BACK TO REMEMBRANCE.
There is a quick and sudden change of outlook when the Lord is recognized as being IN the terrifying situation that confronts you. If this be terrorism in your home town, He is there awaiting awareness. If this be an incurable disease, He is there awaiting awareness. True, He may apparently be covered over with an avalanche of human beliefs. But all this covering is nothing but so much mist to the brightness of His coming. And at this awareness “coming”, the mist is absorbed like water poured on hot desert sands.
“I am with you” ALL WAYS, as well as ALWAYS - you have this instant answer with you and really within you. It is constantly there, awaiting recognition. Nothing is too small, nothing too great to call out “Christ is with me because He is IN me!”
Finally, as you accept the awareness of the Power to remove fear, you will understand the Love divine that is a part of you - the Love of this Father God who is everything to you, His child. This is a Dad who is instantly available and ready to neutralize all your ills and FEARS. The deep love and sacred commitment in this divine Family lifts you above mortal FEAR.
This is the perfect “Love that casts out FEAR,” and is recognized as unconditional and automatic. It is this love, therefore, that you can bring to another in the throes of some terrible panic or fear. This love can cover him just as Christ covers you like the soft feathers of protecting wings.
The world today may seem harsh and dangerous. We see around us many evils of human design that can cause our minds to be fearful. BUT THAT FEAR IS NOT THE DESIGNED LIFESTYLE OF A CHILD OF GOD.
Yes, Roosevelt was right! What have you to fear after you know Jesus Christ?
He is with you now. He is IN you now. “I am with you always.”
And the laws of sin, sickness, death, evil and FEAR are no longer potent.
Does God Choose Our President?
Since God is sovereign, does he make the ultimate decision in determining who will be the president, prime minister, or king/queen of a particular country, state, etc? Or, do humans play a part in choosing their supreme human leader?
There are some theologians and Christian thinkers - not to mention major streams of Christianity - that give one the idea that humans are more like robots, with God at the "master controls." In such settings the word "sovereign" is given great emphasis and repeated often - in those settings one may listen in vain for the idea of choice and free will. The Bible is quite clear that humans have choice. We humans are not like those remote controlled cars or boats that we can operate by battery power, with a device that sends a radio signal to them, determining which direction they will go. God has created humans with the opportunity and responsibility to make choices, to be themselves.
God is not a puppet master pulling our strings while we dance on his stage. Musically, we could say that God has given each of us the ability to play an instrument, to make the music of our lives, as it were. But, extending this metaphor, while he gifts us with the ability to make music, he doesn't insist on the exact genre and kind of music we play. He doesn't sit each and every one of us down on the stage, as a part of a symphony, insisting that we play every note of the score he has written. Rather he allows us to improvise - perhaps the music we make of our lives, with all of its decisions, is a little more like jazz than carefully orchestrated symphonies. At the same time, working with this metaphor, if we accept Christ, we will be in harmony, in tune, with the music that Jesus makes.
The fact of human choice by no means diminishes God's sovereignty. God is sovereign in that he works within the world of variables that he has given us, which is still a world of limitations (time and space), so that his will and his purposes still are fulfilled. I believe God moves within history, as humans make decisions, rather than insisting on history marching forward in lockstep fashion.
That means, among other things, that God will at times determine the precise person he wants to fulfill political or religious leadership. That certainly happened biblically - Cyrus being an excellent example. But on the other hand, it also means that God is not directly involved in determining the outcome of every election - from dogcatcher, mayor, senator, to prime minister and president. There are many times when humans receive the kind of leader they want (biblical example -first king of Israel - Saul).[Back to Home]
"This Is a Football!"
It’s that time again – football season is here! You can’t miss it even if you try. There will be high school games on Friday night, college games on Saturday and NFL games all day Sunday, Monday nights and occasionally other nights.
Critics of football note that football is as close to religion as some folks ever get. Critics of religion (like me) can only say “thank God” for that. Let’s get close to God, but lets’ get as far away from religion as possible.
The legendary coach Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers is said to have given a “THIS is a football” lecture to his team at the beginning of every season – and sometimes after a humiliating loss.
The lecture would begin with self-evident, elementary information – fundamentals so obvious new players not yet aware of Lombardi’s philosophy initially felt bewildered and even patronized. Holding up a football Lombardi would begin by saying. “THIS is a football.”
The lecture continued with the basics, as Lombardi told his team about the ways in which a football should be held, advanced down the field via a run or pass – and the way in which a football can be kicked, fumbled, intercepted and taken away.
At times he took the entire team to the field and walked them around the familiar territory – patiently rehearsing the dimensions of the field, the rules and how the game is played. Even rookies don’t like to wade through the fundamentals, and for veterans, well, elementary lectures can seem insulting and demeaning.
Lombardi’s principle holds true throughout many facets of life, including what it means to be a Christian. As “seasoned Christians” we are tempted to bypass the basics and fundamentals so that the game might begin.
But it’s the fundamentals and basics that determine whether the game is won or lost. Religious people can get excited about all kinds of games that are played within Christianity. Their cry – “let the games begin!”.
The “games” include:
* Promises of health and wealth in return for obedience to specific religious regulation, rites and rituals.
* Prophetic speculations about end times events and when they will happen.
* Crusading and forming picket lines against abortion doctors.
* Healing Crusades.
* Pay at least 10 percent of your income to a church or ministry.
* Refrain from eating certain foods or drinking certain beverages.
* Keep and observe certain days as holy, and make sure not to keep and observe other days that less enlightened souls keep and observe.
* Have all your doctrinal ducks line up, so that you are assured of having pure, unadulterated information and knowledge.
If you were asked to coach a group of Christians the way Vince Lombardi coached his football teams, where would you start? How would you begin your “THIS is a football” lecture to Christians?
I think “THIS is Jesus” is the place to begin. My “THIS is Jesus” discussion includes basic issues like God’s love and our relationship with Him based on and in His grace.
The core of “THIS is Jesus” is all about Jesus coming to live right within the new Christian (Galatians 2:20) in a relationship of union which will last forever. He is there right within you for the good times and the bad – when you do things good or bad. The Christian life becomes a daily transforming life that the risen Lord lives right within those who have trusted in and surrendered to Him.
“THIS is Jesus” includes the significance of the cross of Christ and His resurrection and walking by faith, not by sight. “THIS is Jesus” is all about the absolute centrality of Jesus Christ in our lives.
You can’t play football without a football. You can get dressed up in a football uniform (or a religious uniform). You can do what you’ve been told is the right stuff at the right time in the right place – but if you don’t have a football, then you’re not playing football.
The same principles apply to Christianity. The legendary Christian “coach” named Paul said that without the constant recognition of Jesus living in you, all the religious stuff in the world is “dung” (Philippians 3:8, King James version). Paul knew what religious legalism looked like and smelled like – and he also knew Jesus in him. If you don’t have Jesus living in you, you don’t have anything. And if you are a Christian and DO have Jesus living in you but don’t recognize His union, then all you have is religion.
For my money, one of the best “THIS is Jesus” talks is recorded in Philippians 3:1-11. It’s basic stuff, and it needs to be reviewed regularly.
I don’t mind repeating what I have written in earlier letters, and I hope you don’t mind hearing it again. Better safe than sorry – so here goes.
Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they’re interested in is appearances – knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it – even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting Christians; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.
The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash – along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant – dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ – God’s righteousness.
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience His resurrection power, be a partner in His suffering, and go all the way with Him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
Philippians 3:1-11 (The Message Bible) [Back to Home]