CROSS & CULTURE

 This book is a must read. It is a wake-up call for those Christians who were asleep while the enemy was sowing weeds among the wheat. To change the metaphor , Cross and Culture describes the pouring of the West's Christian foundations, the cause of its concrete cancer, and the remedy.

Do yourself a favour and get a copy while there's still time for Christians through Christ to stop the rot.

TIME & SPACE

                                                                Time & Space

‘Space, the final frontier.’ So began the opening line of Star Trek which ran for three seasons from 1966-69. The starship Enterprise was on a five-year mission: ‘to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.’ When we think of space, we may think of outer space. And when we think of time, we may think of years. The Enterprise on its five-year mission in space speaks of the two things, i.e., time and space.

Space and time can be measured on earth by length, breadth, and height, providing a three-dimensional view of space. And a clock and a calendar can do the same for time. However, a souped-up starship Enterprise travelling through outer space at the speed of light and above causes the average mind to boggle. What happens to time and space when their laws seem to be altered or even denied? We’ll leave that one with Einstein and Hawking and their ilk! However, there is One who is above and beyond time and space, One who transcends everything in creation.

The Creator, i.e., the Triune God, is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, and Omniscient. Time and space, therefore, are creatures of the Creator’s creating, and, as such, one would expect to see as it were His fingerprints all over everything His hands have made, including time and space. For, “The heavens [space] declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day [time] they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” Psalm 19:1-2. Notice the word “knowledge”. The word “science” is derived for the Latin for knowledge.

The Star Trek series were works of fiction, science-fiction. However, each episode was based on knowledge, i.e., science or scientific knowledge. God, for His own glory, has designed space to reveal knowledge to human beings, i.e., creatures that He created in His own image. Therefore, it would be a mistake to omit Him from any scientific equation. Yet, that is what many scientists do! That is why the Enterprise was seeking ‘out new life and new civilizations’ in outer space! The presupposition is that if life forms spontaneously formed on the planet earth, then it must be the same on other planets in outer space. This, of course, is faulty reasoning because it removes God and the knowledge (science) He has revealed in His creation and, more particularly, in His Word. If there are any technologically advanced (or other) beings on any other planets, then God is their Creator as He is ours. Thus, there are two types of science: that which presupposes God and that which does not.

Time and space are revelation of God. ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’ Genesis 1:1. Time began in the beginning when the eternal God created it along with space, into which He placed created matter, which includes stars and planets. There are scientific laws because God is the original Law giver. Science-fiction shows such as Star Trek bend and even break these laws. However, this is not to say that we should not test and explore God’s laws, even in entertaining ways. But let us do it to His glory!

‘Thus says the LORD: “If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season…”’ Jeremiah 33:20. God has covenanted with time, and also reveals Himself in space. Therefore, glorify Him in time and in space as we ‘boldly go where no man has gone before.'

POST-CHRISTIAN?

 

What comes to mind whenever you hear the word post-Christian? Do you have visions of a previous golden age when the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick-maker all did their work consciously to the glory of God? Does the word post-Christian conjure up memories of a time all the nations had beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks and studied war no more (Isaiah 2:2-4; Micah 4:1-5)? No? Then what do those people mean when they say post-Christian? I think they mean that Christianity had more influence in the world in the past than it does now.

Probably the most valuable thing I learned from being in the army for a dozen years is that leadership means influence. Is that it? Christianity had better leadership in the past than it does now? That sounds about right. As recorded in the New Testament, after Pentecost, Christians full of the Holy Spirit began to turn the world upside down with the Gospel (Acts 17:6). Yes, influence!

In one of His parables Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened” Matthew 13:33. Has the kingdom of heaven been spread throughout the whole world at any previous point in history? Sure, Britain and Europe and their subsequent colonies throughout the world had been to lesser and greater extents leavened with the spread of the kingdom of heaven. However, none of these were bona fide sustainable Christian nations. Clearly. the leaven of the kingdom of heaven still had a lot more influencing to do.

Yes, there were some glimmers of hope that our Christian prayers would be answered, e.g., “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” Matthew 6:10. There was Constantine, who become the Western Roman emperor in 305 whose influence ended the up to that point persecution of Christians for a while. However, you really have to wait till the Reformation beginning in 1517 to see the influence of the Gospel take off once more.

God raised up good and strong leadership during the Reformation and afterwards, men like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Knox et al, the Puritans and the Presbyterians in Britain, and the Reformed in Europe. To be sure, these influences made a major impact on the developing world. However, the Reformation, as much as it was a force for good, was not the exactly a “Golden Age”. The opposition from the forces of darkness was legion. Christians were tortured and burnt at the stake for believing the Gospel never mind spreading it!

So, when was this Christian era that came before this supposed post-Christian era? From what I can see of history, the Gospel and its influence has always been met with opposition. Sometimes that opposition was greater than lesser, and sometimes lesser than greater. However, Jesus is still the Hope of the nations (Matthew 12:21; Isaiah 42:1-4). Therefore, we look forward to a future Christian age. The signs from the past show that this is not only possible, but that His kingdom will come, and that His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So, we’re back to leadership, i.e., Christian influence. What is happening in the pulpits throughout the land, throughout the West? Not much! We’ve got packed church buildings, correction, concert auditoriums, lots of singing, handclapping, but not much Gospel. Sure, there may be a pep-talk with some verses of Scripture thrown in to sanctify it, but, as the old lady said at the burger shop drive-thru in the old TV commercial, “Where’s the beef?”

How can Christians be expected to “turn the world upside down” when they don’t know the Scriptures, and worse, they don’t know how to apply what little they do know? Scripture should influence art, architecture, economics, science, education, i.e., everything. A big one would be politics. 

Recently, many Christians did not like the way President Trump combed his hair, used Twitter, and said a bad word or two, while having a shady past. Therefore, they were happy to see Joseph Biden become USA president in Trump’s stead. Biden immediately set to work dismantling all of Trump’s great achievements which he accomplished by his pro-Christian stance in the Whitehouse. The nations in the Middle East had begun to beat their swords into ploughshares regarding their tensions with the nation of Israel. Indeed, Trump was nominated for three (or was it four?) Nobel Peace awards for his hard work there. He was surrounded by a Christian influence. He kept Communist China in its place and eased the tensions to almost zero with Communist North Korea. No mean feat!

Biden? Pro-abortion, pro-war, anti-worker, immediately closing the Keystone Pipeline, (getting Canada offside by doing so!), and ensuring that the oil has to be shipped at the extra cost to the tax-payer by truck and rail, and making USA dependent on foreign oil imports (with all its dangers and costs, keeping the Suez Canal open etc.). The bottom line is that Trump under Christian influence was far better for the world than Biden under so-called post-Christian (a.k.a. Secular) influence.

Yes, it’s Jesus Christians follow, not politicians. However, I hope you can see from this short essay the major impact the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven can make when Christian leaders use it properly, be it in politics (as briefly just demonstrated), art, education, music, capitalism, economics etc.

Where are we at today? Well, we’re still looking forward to that Christian era that we’re supposed to be “post” of. We’re locked in the midst of worldwide germ-warfare. Leftist/Progressive governments have declared their totalitarian hand by insisting on extended lockdowns for little or no logical and/or scientific reasons. The terrified masses simply conform to their agenda. We live in a climate of fear, fear of COVID-19, fear to discuss it for fear of being berated by others and/or locked up by the government for non-conformance. There seems to be no end in sight to the spontaneous lockdowns.

In Australia it is unwise to travel interstate lest you get stuck away from home due to a random lockdown. Yes, it’s germ-warfare inflicted on innocent people. Kids not being permitted to go to school may perhaps have some benefits, such as having a break from Secular indoctrination!

Progressivism, Socialism, and Communism all go hand in hand. When Christianity retires from the cultural battlefield, these three stooges move into stronger positions. The hammer and the sickle are the symbols of Communism. Whenever Communism goes quiet it is merely the hammer swinging back to take another blow. Then wham! The “three stooges” won’t go away until Christianity once again has strong leadership. Christianity won’t have strong leadership until the Gospel is rediscovered. The Gospel won’t be rediscovered until Christians seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Calvinism is the direct and total antithesis of Communism. The former is about doing all things (music, ironing, mathematics, physics, chemistry, building, war, peace, living, dying etc.) to the glory of God. Communism, with its attendant Socialism/Progressivism, is all about the glory of man with man-made systems of government, Godless art, movies, architecture, biology, sex, child-rearing etc.

O.K., if you don’t wish to call yourself a Calvinist, at least learn how to understand and then apply the clear teaching of the whole Bible in your life. Then you will become a greater influence for good. Then the leaven of the kingdom of heaven will begin to spread through the whole batch of dough, i.e., your nation and the world, then the mustard seed will begin to grow into a great tree, then we will see the age of Christianity.

Post-Christian? The nations have to be Christianized before they can become post-Christian. So, let’s get on with it…   

THREE TABLES

                                                                    THREE TABLES 

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:34-40.

Introduction

Jesus had been doing battle with theological legalists and theological liberals. The Pharisees, the theological legalists, had just asked Jesus back in Matthew 22:17, “Tell us then, what is Your opinion? Is it right, [some render this word as “lawful”], is it lawful to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” In other words, is it in accordance with the Old Testament Scriptures to pay taxes to Caesar? To which Jesus gave His famous reply, Matthew 22:21, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.

Then the Sadducees, the theological liberals, the ones who don’t believe in the Resurrection and angels, also tried to trip Jesus in His words. Matthew 22:28, “Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?” Jesus replied telling them that at the Resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but will be like the angels in Heaven. Yes, you Pharisees, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.”

“When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching” Matthew 22:33. Should we pay taxes? Yes! Should we believe in the Resurrection? Yes! Why? Because the Scriptures and the power of God tell you to.

Verses of Scripture could be piled up about paying taxes, the Resurrection, and the power of God. And it’s all about knowing the Scriptures, including the Old Testament.

But that wasn’t my sermon. That was merely my introduction! With that background, I’d like us to consider Matthew 22:37-40 in particular.     

 

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.  

A Table for God

Jesus had been dueling with the Pharisees, then the Sadducees who were all trying to trip Him up in His words. Now it’s the turn of an expert in the Law. Notice what Jesus says is the first and greatest commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” That is part of the Shema in Deuteronomy. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children.” Deuteronomy 6:4-6b.

What was the promise that God made in Jeremiah 31:33-34 picked up again in Hebrews 10:16? “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time says the Lord. I will put My laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” God has written His laws on your heart, soul, and mind!

What laws? God’s laws! What are God’s laws? Hint. There’re ten of them. The Decalogue, God’s ten words, i.e., the Ten Commandments, have been written by God the Holy Spirit on every Christian’s heart. Think about that. Paul says, “For we know that the law is spiritual” Romans 7:14a. And we know that spiritual things are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). Your heart, like the Ark of the Covenant of old, now contains the Ten Commandments! Wow!

God spoke ten commands, i.e., ten times we read, “and God said, ‘Let there be…, Let Us…’” etc. in Genesis 1, as He spoke things into being. No doubt there is a relationship between those ten words spoken by God and the ten words, as in the Ten Commandments.

Are you able to rattle off the Ten Commandments like you can the Lord’s Prayer? Anyway, loving God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind has to do with what we call the first table of the Law. It’s a table for God.

A table, if you don’t know, is a tablet, like the two tablets of stone, upon which the finger of God had written the Ten Commandments, you know, the ones that Moses came down the mountain with.

God, the same LORD who brought Israel out of Egypt the land of slavery, has brought you the Christian out of the world, i.e., the land of slavery to self, sin, and Satan.

Pharaoh was a puppet of Satan. Pharaoh represented the Devil. All of us are in bondage to Satan till the LORD our God sets us free from our captivity to sin. Once He sets you free, then He gives you a new heart, a new nature, and a new record. He writes His laws on your heart and mind.

Now, firstly, you are to have no other gods but God. Secondly, you are not to form any false images of God in your mind or physically by your hands. And you have certainly not to bow down, i.e., submit to any of them. Thirdly, you are not to take the LORD’s name in vain. You are not to misuse His name. And fourthly, you are to work diligently six days a week. But you are to set aside one day out of every seven to Sabbath, i.e., is to rest. Sabbath means rest, i.e., rest in God.

Put God first in everything. Form no idols. Always honour His name. And whether you’re a butcher, baker, candlestick maker, or even retired, honour God by doing stuff for six days, but mind and rest one day in every seven. Go to church on Sunday and rest in the Lord, i.e., rest in the finished work of Christ.

The Lord’s Day, i.e., the Christian Sabbath, is a window through which we glimpse Heaven. Take away the Sabbath and you take away a picture of Heaven, i.e., Christians at rest with the Lord in their midst.

His covenant promise to us, as stated in Jeremiah 30:32 for example, is, “So you will be My people, and I will be your God”. This is God’s Covenant Promise, and is a refrain repeated throughout the Scriptures. And what is God’s Covenant Law? The Ten Commandments including the preamble, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Exodus 20:1b. Therefore, “You shall have no other gods before Me” etc.

God uses covenant language as He covenants with you, His people. In any covenant, generally, there is a preamble stating who the covenanting party is with a bit of history, then the covenant stipulations, which, of course, have certain penalties attached or implied for breaking any of them.

  Therefore, when Jesus says, that the first and greatest commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”, He is simply summarizing the first table of the Law. And, in accordance with the 1^st Commandment, He is putting God first.

Then He goes on to talk about the second table. Before we look at the second table, i.e., the table for your neighbour, let us summarize. The first four Commandments teach us our duty towards God.

1.     No god but God. 2. No images of God. 3. No misusing His name. And, 4. No forgetting to honour Him by taking one day’s rest every week.

How do you keep the first table? You’ve to do so by using the new spirit that God has given you along with your new heart, i.e., the spirit of love. You keep the first table of the law by loving “the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” out of gratitude for what He has done for you in Jesus Christ.

A Table for Your Neighbour

The second table of God’s Law teaches us our duty towards our fellow human beings. Now, if you’re anything like me, and I know you are, because we’re all fallen human beings, you’ll find some people harder to love than others.

Though not always true because we’re fallen, but it’s usually easiest to love mum, dad, i.e., parents, then sisters, brothers, i.e., siblings, then friends. However, you’ll find as you go through life that there’re some people who bring out the worst in you, maybe the playground bully, some religious nutcase, or some politician, just fill in the blanks.

Anyway, some people seem to have a gift of showing you that, like chips and bashes, and old beer and wine stains on a wooden table, there still remain sin-stains on your heart. There is a residue of sin that can spoil the beauty of the new heart that God has given you, the new fleshly table or tablet with the Law written on it by His finger, i.e., your heart.

However, if you find yourself detesting, i.e., hating another human being, the good news is that, for the Christian, the Holy Spirit will convict your spirit of this wrongdoing, i.e., this breaking of God’s Law. Which of the Ten Commandments specifically teaches us not to hate? Yes, the “You shall not murder” Commandment, i.e., the 6^th Commandment.

Jesus summarizes the last six Commandments, i.e., the second table of the Law by saying, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Where did He get that idea from? Yes, Leviticus 19:18, “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18.

How do you love your neighbour as yourself? By honouring fathers and mothers, i.e., all those in lawful authority, by not murdering other human beings either physically or spiritually, i.e., by hating them in your heart.

By being sexually pure before marriage and during marriage, by not stealing possessions from others, including their good name, by not telling lies, i.e., distorting the truth, and by not sinfully desiring or coveting or lusting after things. Dead easy! Not!

Some people think those signs you see on approaches to motorways are funny, the ones that say, “Wrong Way. Go Back”. The two tables of the Law, or, as summarized by Jesus in these two commandments about loving God and your neighbour as yourself, are a signpost. The Commandments point you to Jesus.

Of the two commandments, i.e., the summary of the two tables of the Law, Jesus says, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Jesus is speaking of the Old Testament when He says, “the Law and the Prophets”. Another way of saying Old Testament is Old Covenant. The Old Testament or Covenant shows us our need for a new covenant.

In Acts 15:10 Peter calls the old covenant with all its stipulations, “a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear.” The Apostle Paul puts it like this in Galatians 3,

“Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one.

Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. Galatians 3:19-22.

The administration of the covenant under Moses was very strict. There was the Moral Law, i.e., the Ten Commandments, there was the Judicial or Civil Law that applied to Israel as a corporate body. And then there was the Ceremonial Law. The Ceremonial Law essentially was the Gospel in the Old Testament, wherein everything, from Circumcision to Passover, Tabernacle to Temple, animal sacrifices to High Priests were all signposts pointing to Jesus.

But now that the reality to which the signposts were pointing has come, the Ceremonial Law has been done away with. We can study, gather and apply general principles from Old Testament Judicial or Civil Law, but it has gone with the dissolution of Israel as a Theocratic state with the coming of Christ, and especially at the demolition of the Temple. However, the Moral Law, i.e., the Ten Commandments, remains.

The Presbyterian Church of Babinda up in Far North Queensland had a huge block of wood with the Ten Commandments written on it standing behind the pulpit, forcing the congregation to view them every Sunday. The church building was demolished in a cyclone during the 1980s. The only thing left standing was the huge block of wood bearing the Ten Commandments!

It’s interesting to note the word “hang” in, “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” These two commandments summarizing the Ten Commandments are the two well-driven nails upon which the whole of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, like a picture hangs.

The Ten Commandments, and as summarized by Jesus in the two commandments, love God and neighbour, are revelation of the character of God, in whose image and likeness we have been made. Christians are being remade into that perfect image.

A Table for Two

Jesus brings the two tables of the Law together. The writer to the Hebrews says,

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3.

Jesus, the Son, is the “exact representation” of God’s being. Who is Jesus? Jesus is God and Man in one Divine Person forever. Jesus is the One who is answering the question that the lawyer put to Him to test Him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Then Jesus summarizes the two tables of the Law.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

If Jesus is truly God, then you are to love Him as God. Jesus first in all things. No false images of Him. No using His name as a swear word. Remembering Him at work, rest, and play, and that we rest in Him.

And if Jesus is truly Man, then we are to love Him as we love ourselves. Honour Him as you would your parents, look out for His wellbeing as in not murdering Him in any way shape, or form. Be faithful to Him as a bride to her Husband, His Church being His bride. Not stealing from Him, including not stealing any of His glory. Not denying or lying about Him. And not coveting anything but Him.

Jesus is the incarnation of God. Isaiah says that He is our covenant. Of Jesus, God says, “I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles” Isaiah 42:6b, (see also Isaiah 49:8). Jesus is God’s Covenant Promise, and He is His Covenant Law. Everyone on Judgment Day will be judged by and against Jesus. As Peter says in Acts 10:42,

“And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead” Acts 10:42.

Jesus is God clothed in the garments of human flesh. He is the Middle Person in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Three Persons, but one God.

Where does the love come from with which you are to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself? Love comes from God. God is love. Love is eternal because God is eternal. The eternal Father eternally loves the eternal Son and the eternal Spirit, just as the Son eternally loves the Father and the Spirit, and as the Spirit eternally loves the Father and the Son.

So, we see then that each Person in the Godhead loves the Other Persons. Each Person, therefore, loves God and He loves His Neighbour as Himself. Each Person is looking out for the wellbeing of each of the other Persons, and for the Godhead as a whole. Thus, God loves God and His Neighbour as Himself.

When God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” He did so by writing His Covenant Law, albeit in positive terms, upon his heart. Paul in Romans 2:15 alludes to this when he says that the Gentiles, “have the requirements of the law written on their hearts” and talks about their consciences either accusing them or excusing them.

So, to be made in the image and likeness of God, whatever else it means, means that we were designed by God to reflect Him by loving God and our neighbour as ourselves. But we don’t! How do we know we don’t? God’s Law shows us that we don’t. And the Holy Spirit convicts us. And we look away from ourselves to the Saviour of sinners. i.e., Jesus, for forgiveness.

Jesus is God’s Law as it were with arms and legs. He loved God with all His heart, soul, and mind, and He loved His neighbour as Himself. Indeed, He kept God’s Law in its entirety perfectly! And He did it for love. “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.

The Son honoured His Father by being obedient to Him even unto death. And, by dying on the cross to pay for our sins He has reconciled us to God. Jesus Christ is the two tables of the Law in the flesh.

The Gospel is the spirit of the Law. The spirit of the Law is about loving God and your neighbour as yourself. Therefore, not only is Jesus the Law of God with arms and legs, but His also the Gospel of God. The Law convicts us of our sins and the Gospel forgives us of our sins.

Conclusion

Jesus is the perfect picture of God and man reconciled. He has two natures. He is God and He is Man in perfect harmony. And He is the table for two so to speak. He is where we meet with God, just you and Jesus.

Because of Him you now can sit down with God and sup with Him. Because of Him, you the Christian, are no longer at war with God and with your neighbour.

Because of Him you are now able, albeit imperfectly, but, unlike before you were converted, you are now able to love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, and love your neighbour, including even the unlovable, as yourself.

CHANCE & DESIGN

                                                                 Chance & Design

With God nothing is left to chance. All is by design. God’s sovereignty over His creation means that everything is under His control. There is great comfort in knowing that even seemingly random things, like a sparrow or a hair from our heads do not fall to the ground outside of His attention. Yes, God designed it that way.

This, of course, inevitably brings up the questions of man’s freewill and the origin of evil. Very much related, both are by design. However, one must quickly add that this is not to say that God is the author of evil. Yes, ultimately, evil would not exist (with its attendant suffering) if the eternal God had not created His creation and mankind. But, ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth’ Genesis 1:1.

God’s eternal plan to give His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, a people, and a kingdom in which only righteousness dwells, was planned in the Godhead. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are bringing it to pass. The Fall of angels and mankind was part of that plan.

Adam and Eve had freewill while being tempted by an already fallen Satan. As Man’s representative, Adam exercised his freewill to side with Satan against God. After the Fall he still had a freewill. However, post-Fall he now had something he did not have pre-Fall: a sinful nature. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. We all die because we are sinners. We sin because, like Adam, we have a fallen or sinful nature.

The Fall of Man through Adam was part of God’s grand design. God had created Adam with a good nature, i.e., holy, righteous, and with a true knowledge of God. However, though forewarned of the consequences, Adam wanted to be like God knowing good and evil, i.e., determining good and evil by his own standards. The forbidden fruit was an outward test for Adam on probation. By Adam eating the forbidden fruit, mankind has set itself up as God. The great evil is that Man would rather suffer in this life, die, and go to Hell, than have God rule over him!

Immediately upon Adam’s (and mankind’s) Fall, God began to reveal His abhorrence of sin and evil and His remedy to deal with it. Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8). One has only to trace the genealogy of Jesus’s humanity from Adam to His birth to see that it was by design. His ancestors went through many narrow escapes as the Serpent and his seed tried to destroy the Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15). ‘But when the fulness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons’ Galatians 4:4-5. To be born under the law is to be born under the condemnation of the law. But not Jesus. Unlike us, the law showed Him to be righteous and perfect in every way, and as such, the perfect Redeemer. Jay Adams says, ‘The cross was not merely an act of compassion and mercy directed toward mankind; it was a cosmic event in which God demonstrated who and what He is before all the universe.’

God has left nothing to chance, past, present, or future. Christians have a glorious future to look forward to with Him on the new earth because He has designed it that way. Therefore, though we may miss it, every little thing is significant to God. So, call on Jesus. Why? Because, ‘We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose’ Romans 8:28.