Randy – Wisdom From the Word

Apologetics Part 4

The Fine-Tuning Argument

In looking at the Fine-Tuning argument we begin with the two scriptures I referenced for the Teleological Argument. Yet we dig a little deeper.

³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3 (NKJV)

² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:2–3 (NKJV)

The phrase we are zeroing in on is, “upholding all things by the word of His power.” While some translations say ‘powerful word’ or something similar the NKJV, ESV and NASB all correctly use the literal phrase in Greek, ‘word of His power.’ It is the continual release of Jesus power through His spoken word that both created and sustains the universe. As Paul put it under the inspiration of the Spirit.

¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:16 (NKJV)

Jesus is the source and sustainer.

Now to look at the Fine Tuning Argument using an analogy. Imagine I hand you what looks like a puzzle box but there is no picture on the cover of what the puzzle is supposed to look like and when you open it you find random pieces of cardboard with no rhyme or reason and no pictures on them. I assure you that if you simply put the pieces in the box, shake it vigorously and dump it on the table the puzzle will form and there will be a clear picture. Instead of shaking the box you might be tempted to tell me to give my head a shake since what I have proposed is ridiculous. Which of course is true. If we want a puzzle to put together, we need a picture that tells us what it will look like and pieces cut with interlocking shapes so that when they are put together, they will reflect the picture on the box.

Now we consider the universe. The generally accepted theory for the beginning and creation of the universe is the Big Bang model. Whether one believes in the concept of a singularity or the idea that everything came from nothing, the basic concept is that matter exploded and expanded and time, space and matter now exist. The big question is whether the universe could have been created by a random unintentional explosion and planets just happened to form or whether a divine intelligence was behind it all.

This takes us to the cosmological constants. In brief, if the constants were different, if the universe had expanded more quickly or slowly than it did then the planets would never have formed or it would have collapsed back on itself. Even atheist Stephen Hawking acknowledged the importance of fine tuning, noting, “The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many fundamental numbers, like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron …. The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.”[1] On their website, using a conservative approach, the Discovery Institute provides a list of 22 fine tuning parameters (List of Fine-Tuning Parameters | Discovery Institute).

One argument some present in seeking to refute the idea of a fine-tuned universe is the idea of the multiverse. The theory being that there are multiple universes and we just happen to live in the one that supports life as we know it. The problems of course are many. First, we have zero evidence for other universes. Next, for any other universe to exist it would be subject to the same cosmological constants to exist and last, where is this universe generating machine? It isn’t a tenable position.

Another term that highlights fine-tuning is the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ is a term used by some to describe where we live, earth. The term is drawn from the children’s story where things needed to be ‘just right’ for Goldilocks. If earth were closer to or farther from the sun all of our water would either freeze or evaporate. We can thus conclude that we are simply ‘lucky’ to have the orbit we do around the sun or we can conclude that Jesus ‘upholds all things by the word of His power.’ I choose the latter.

[1] A Brief History of Time, Hawking, Stephen, p. 125

Apologetics Part 3

The Teleological (Design) Argument

Imagine something with me for a moment. It is summer and my car is very dirty, I go to the hardware store and when I return to the parking lot, I find the phrase ‘wash me’ written in the dust on the back window. In telling you about this incident I comment and say, “Isn’t it strange how the wind spelled ‘wash me’ on my back window while I was in the store.” Would your first thought be that I was being rational and logical? I think not.

Yet many evolutionists would have us place our faith in something incredibly more complex than my strange assertion about ‘wash me.’ We now look at design. An early proponent of the design argument was philosopher and clergyman William Paley. In the late 18^th century he used the analogy of divine watchmaker and compared the regular workings of the solar system to the coordinated and designed movements of a clock or watch. Which led to atheist Richard Dawkins 20^th century work, The Blind Watchmaker. We will come to Dawkins shortly.

We begin our review of design with a couple of quotes from Stephen Jay Gould, an ardent evolutionist whose quotes are readily available on the internet. He said the following, “The absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design, indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualist accounts of evolution.” He also said, “Charles Darwin viewed the fossil record more as an embarrassment than as an aid to his theory.” Obviously Gould responded by repudiating evolution right? No, he simply came up with new theories that he could also not prove.

We also have what the famous atheist Richard Dawkins said, “Biology is the study of complicated things that have the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” Gould was among other things an evolutionary biologist, as is Dawkins. Are their comments above any more credible than my assertion that the wind wrote ‘wash me’ on the window of my vehicle? We will see.

Biochemist Michael Behe, who wrote Darwin’s Black Box, highlighted for us the concepts of irreducible and specified complexity. The black box term comes from the idea that things are happening at a mysterious and unseen level. This of course aligns with scripture, which says the following.

³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3 (NKJV)

What Behe discovered is that the cells in our body are powered by microscopic machines. Machines he described as follows, “In short, highly sophisticated molecular machines control every cellular process. Thus the details of life are finely calibrated, and the machinery of life enormously complex.”[1] These cellular machines demonstrate specified complexity. An example of specified complexity being our DNA code. DNA has a four-letter alphabet and the instructions contained within the DNA in every cell in our bodies are specific, written out in an ordered manner in this four-letter alphabet (the most well-known advocate of specified complexity is Willam Dembski).

We know that instructions don’t write themselves any more than the wind wrote ‘wash me’ on my car window. As Bill Gates of Microsoft fame said in his book The Road Ahead, “DNA is like a computer program but far, far more advanced than any software ever created.” DNA contains specified complexity pointing to the designer of this complex code.

In addition to specified complexity, we have irreducible complexity. Behe described it in this manner.

“By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning. An irreducibly complex system cannot be produced directly (that is, by continuously improving the initial function, which continues to work by the same mechanism) by slight, successive modifications of a precursor system, because any precursor to an irreducibly complex system that is missing a part is by definition nonfunctional.“[2]

Here Behe directly refutes Darwin’s idea that organisms developed and became more complex through successive slight adaptations. What we have with irreducible complexity is molecular machines that have interdependent parts. One part cannot function without the others, meaning the parts could not have evolved gradually as the organism would then be nonfunctional. We go back to my dirty car. If I have an engine but am waiting for my driveshaft to evolve, I have a useless vehicle. If I want more power and create larger chambers for my pistons but don’t simultaneously include larger pistons I have a non-functional machine. In nature this would have meant creatures unable to survive while they ‘evolved’ the needed parts. In conclusion, what we see in all living creatures, from the single celled amoeba to the human brain, is function written into our DNA, in a word, design. This is a brief overview of the subject but enough to highlight and identify the importance of design. Next, we will look at fine tuning, another reality that points to both design and a designer.

[1] Behe, Michael J.. Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (p. 14). Free Press. Kindle Edition.

[2] Behe, Michael J.. Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution (pp. 56-57). Free Press. Kindle Edition.

Apologetics Part 2

The Cosmological Argument

Have you ever wondered why there is something rather than nothing? While I cannot pretend to provide a complete answer to that question, we can answer the question in relation to why the cosmos and we as humanity are here. The Cosmological Argument, or as it is also known, the Kalam Cosmological Argument (Kalam is an Arabic word meaning eternal), is generally stated as a logical syllogism.

Everything that began to exist had a cause.
The Universe began to exist.
Therefore, the universe had a cause.

The obvious implication is that the source of the universe was uncaused and since space, time and matter came into being with the creation of the universe the cause must be timeless, spaceless and non-material. Another word for this description is of course God. We see this in the following scriptures.

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 (NKJV)

²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:28 (NKJV)

³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

John 1:3 (NKJV)

We have in the first four words of scripture an anchor point for everything else we believe. Scripture doesn’t try to prove Yahweh’s existence, it assumes it. While the Cosmological Argument doesn’t get us to Yahweh, it does get us to a supernatural being creating the universe. Scripturally we know that Being is Yahweh.

Currently there are various ideas that seek to avoid the beginning of the universe and the resulting implications. The Steady State theory (an eternal universe) was believed by many scientists in the 20^th century, including Einstein. He built a fudge factor into his theory of relativity to accommodate his belief and when it was scientifically established that the universe was expanding, and thus had a beginning, he acknowledged it as his greatest scientific blunder.

We also have the non-scientific idea of a continually expanding and contracting universe that ignores science. The Second Law of Thermodynamics notes that things tend to move toward a disordered state. Entropy is scientifically well established and our universe is using up energy and heading toward heat death without outside intervention (taking us back to God). Thus, it cannot have been forever expanding and contracting. This idea also has inherent in it the idea of infinite regress. The problem of course is that if we have no starting point it is impossible to ever arrive at today! Another idea is the multiverse theory that posits multiple universes, in spite of the fact that the only one we know of is our current one and ignores the science that any universe that came into existence would be subject to the same fine-tuning parameters as the one we do know exists.

Perhaps Einstein was right when he said, “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.” More pointedly, James Tour, one of the top chemists in the world and a believer, said, “Only a rookie who knows nothing about science would say science takes away from faith. If you really study science, it will bring you closer to God.”

Thus, in coming closer to God we come back to an uncaused first cause, a being not measured in terms of infinite regress but one who has always been, eternal. In their book, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, Geisler and Turek provide the characteristics of this uncaused first cause. They say it must be,

self-existent, timeless, non-spatial, and immaterial (since the First Cause created time, space, and matter, the First Cause must be outside of time, space, and matter). In other words, he is without limits, or infinite; unimaginably powerful, to create the entire universe out of nothing; supremely intelligent, to design the universe with such incredible precision (we’ll see more of this in the next chapter); personal, in order to choose to convert a state of nothingness into the time-space-material universe (an impersonal force has no ability to make choices). These characteristics of the First Cause are exactly the characteristics theists ascribe to God.

A scientist who was an agnostic, but who recognized the implications of his research was astrophysicist Robert Jastrow. A famous quote from his book God and the Astronomers, is below and provides a fitting conclusion to our look at the Cosmological Argument.

At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

Let’s join them on this highest of peaks.

Apologetics Part 1

I am going to spend some time doing posts on apologetic points that support a scriptural worldview. The idea of apologetics is rooted in the scripture verse below. The word defense is the Greek apologia and means to ‘speak in defense of.’ Everyone who defends a position, even if they are not aware of it, is functioning as an apologist.

¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)

Our other term for this series is worldview. When I wrote my book on worldview, I defined it as The lens through which we view and interpret reality. Think of it as a pair of glasses. If you change your prescription what you see changes. Our worldview is the prescription.

Any worldview needs to address four key aspects, origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. We can assess any worldview by assessing how it addresses origin, meaning, morality and destiny. A failure to adequately address these issues highlights a worldview that lacks coherence.

Christianity answers these four questions in a coherent way, while materialism, more specifically scientific materialism, fails in this regard. Science itself aligns well with faith. Let’s take a look at materialism.

Origin – Scientific materialism promotes the idea that we are merely a cosmic accident and holds to the idea of abiogenesis in place of creation. That is, the idea that life began by a lucky accident. Abiogenesis has never been proven, and in fact if one of the many lab experiments were able to produce life from what scientists believe were the conditions early in the life of our planet, they would merely prove that intelligence is required to produce life.

Meaning – In materialism our origin is inconsequential and accidental. There is no inherent meaning in scientific materialism. Given we are assumed to be a cosmic accident we may choose to attach meaning to life or certain activities but there is no inherent meaning.

Morality – Ideas of right and wrong can be derived, but there is no objective standard, merely social constructs.

Destiny – We came from nothing and go to nothing.

When we apply these four points to Christianity, we have a coherent worldview.

Origin – In brief, God is the origin of what we see and of us.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 NKJV

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)

Meaning – Our purpose and meaning are rooted in His calling on our lives.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. Romans 8:28-30 NKJV

Morality – Morality is found in what God defines as right and wrong in terms of behaviour.

⁸Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10 NKJV

Destiny – Our destiny is eternal, heaven with Jesus.

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)

Thus, we see that a Christian scriptural worldview is a coherent worldview. A key point is that our natural tendency is to think with our worldview rather than about our worldview. In this series my hope is that you will think about your worldview and how to align it with scripture.

NOTE – I do not have a set number of posts predetermined for this series as I have yet to write them. In the next two posts I will address the Cosmological Argument then the Teleological (Design) Argument. At the end of the series, I will provide a suggested list of books and authors to consider. This series will be a brief overview of each subject not an exhaustive study, as volumes have been written on each area that I will address. My goal is to provide you with some basic material to defend our common faith.

A Hearing Heart

As we conclude this year and prepare for the next, I thought it would be helpful to provide an area of focus given the transition to a new year is often a time of reflection for us. To that end we will look at the need to hear both Jesus’ voice and His heart and look at how our hearing requires a particular posture of our own hearts. We begin with a verse that is dear to me.

¹ The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:1 (NKJV)

Most translations have the word ‘plan’ rather than ‘preparations.’ Yet the Hebrew word means to arrange or set up, thus I think preparations is the better translation. Imagine inviting someone over for dinner. My wife prioritizes having everything ready before guests arrive, which means I need to have the same focus. So, there is a plan for the meal but most of the work is preparing more than planning. The table is set, the house is cleaned, and the food is ready, everything is prepared.

In the same way, Proverbs tells us that we need to prepare our hearts, get them ready for fellowship with Jesus. I recognize that we can pray at any time and place. The day before I wrote this I went for a walk with a friend. Afterward we stood on the edge of the parking lot with hands clasped and my hand on his shoulder and we prayed as people drove by. I thought, if someone asked what we were doing I would say, “We are praying,” as in, it should be obvious and normal, though it presently isn’t in our culture.

While acknowledging that we can pray at any time and place, there are times of prayer, our meetings with the Father, that require a different approach – preparation. That preparation may include the time we set aside, the place where we meet with Him, and very importantly in our culture, the distractions we avoid. Like much of our culture, I am prone to the distractions of social media. I know that if I want to sit with Jesus and hear His voice and heart, I need to deliberately set aside the things that can draw my heart away. In short, I need to obey the scriptural injunction and prepare my heart.

While preparation is important in terms of space and distractions, another aspect is hiding His word in our hearts so that when we need to hear from Him the Spirit can bring to mind and highlight scriptures that we know. David put it this way.

¹¹ Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)

We hide His word in our hearts by reading and meditating on His word and His character (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-13, Romans 12:1-2, Philippians 4:8).

An example for me that I seek to integrate into all that I do is a verse from Psalms that I meditate on, reading and reflecting on it pretty much daily.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 NKJV

Following David is a difficult task, and I find applying the first part of this verse much easier than the second. My words are generally just fine, my thoughts, not always the case. David began this Psalm extolling the grandeur of creation and then moved on to the immeasurable greatness of the Law before focusing in on how to walk uprightly before Him. Here is more context.

¹² Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. ¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be innocent of great transgression. ¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:12–14 (NKJV)

David is saying that if the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts are focused on Yahweh we will be kept from presumptuous sins and not engage in any great transgression. For me the additional part is that I will hear His heart. Paul presented this quite clearly in Galatians. He gave two lists of what we could choose to meditate on and then pointed out that we will reap from the field in which we choose to sow.

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians 5:19–23 (NKJV)

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Galatians 6:7–9 (NKJV)

In conclusion, to hear His heart we need to prepare our hearts to hear and receive. That requires intentionality on our part, which includes setting aside undistracted times, hiding His word in our hearts, and cultivating an awareness of His presence in our hearts and minds throughout each day. This creates a prepared and properly postured heart.

A Note – In January I will present some apologetics material and anchor it in scripture. I present this to provide you with tools to defend our faith in a culture increasingly hostile to it and derisive of it. If there is a particular topic you would like covered, please comment and I will have a look and see if it is an area I have material on or can research.

The King is Coming – Part 3

In scripture Paul references two Adams and the Man Christ Jesus. A man lost dominion over creation and corrupted it, as we saw in the first post in this series. In part 2 we saw the impacts. Here we conclude by looking at what the last Adam accomplished. We begin with two of Paul’s references to Jesus.

⁴⁵ And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45 (NKJV)

⁵For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV)

Now we know who Jesus is and what He accomplished in creation for we have it in scripture.

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:15–16 (NKJV)

We also have a brief description of what He accomplished in His incarnation, the full glory of God dwelling in human flesh.

¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, ²⁰ and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Colossians 1:19–20 (NKJV)

Knowing all of this let’s put it together.

In The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus sated that all authority had been given to Him. An odd statement for the One who demonstrated His authority in creating all things that we see and can’t see. Understanding it requires understanding the first and second Adam’s Paul referenced. In Eden, through his sin Adam lost dominion and authority to Satan and brought sin and destruction into all of creation. The only way for everything to be restored was for a perfect man, the last Adam, Jesus, to pay the price and redeem creation and humanity. Jesus shed blood on the cross restored this authority as He did what He did as a man not as God.

Jesus lived a sinless life as a man. Though always fully God and fully man at His conception in Mary’s womb, this king incarnate, the One who came from heaven to earth did what He did as a man, He set aside His divine abilities. I don’t know how; I only know that it is the testimony of scripture. In doing so He redeemed us and creation, so as we celebrate His birth let us also be thankful for His faithfulness and obedience to the Father throughout His earthly life that purchased our salvation.

Merry Christmas!

NOTE for some the idea of Jesus carrying out His earthly ministry without His divine abilities is a new or strange idea. I wrote a brief two part series on this in 2015. The link is below.

http://wisdomfromtheword.ca/the-man-christ-jesus-part-1/

The King is Coming – Part 2

In my last post I concluded saying that we would look at why Jesus needed to redeem us and how it relates to the delegation of authority in the kingdom of God. Thus, we begin with the why part which we find in Genesis 3. This is the famous chapter where the serpent tempted Eve and she, and subsequently Adam, partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This act infected all of creation with sin and also affected Adam and Eve’s dominion. They now had dominion over a broken and fallen creation and gave much of their authority to the serpent, Satan.

We see the fruit of this loss of authority in scripture with Satan tempting Jesus. Satan offered to give Jesus his kingdom (Matthew 4:8-10, Luke 4:5-7) and Jesus refused it. Some have attempted to deny Satan’s offer was real as scripture says he is both a liar and the father of lies. The point however is that as the father of lies it is his nature is to deceive and here he sought to deceive Jesus by offering a shortcut to authority and a way to avoid the cross. Scripture shows the authority of Satan and his minions in the following verses.

³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. John 12:31 (NKJV)

³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. John 14:30 (NKJV)

¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. John 16:11 (NKJV)

⁴ whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NKJV)

² in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NKJV)

These verses explain Jesus’ statement in The Great Commission that all authority had been given to Him.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Matthew 28:18 (NKJV)

Jesus redeemed us from both sin and the dominion of the kingdom of darkness (Colossians 1:13) and has delegated to us the responsibility of furthering His kingdom on the earth by bringing people from the kingdom of darkness to light and demonstrating His kingdom by reflecting Jesus’ nature and character in all that we do.

Next week we will go deeper by looking at the significance of Paul’s statement “The Man Christ Jesus” in 1 Timothy and tie it back to The Great Commission and the first and second Adams that Paul references in 1 Corinthians 15.

The King is Coming – Part 1

This month many celebrate Advent, the Sunday’s leading up to the celebration of Jesus arrival as a baby, one wrapped in swaddling cloths of course. I am personally quite convinced that Jesus was born in the fall, however, given that there is a broad practice of celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25 I am looking at what the arrival of our King means in reference to the broader kingdom of God. We begin with an overview of the kingdom, look at what Jesus’ birth inaugurated and conclude with what He accomplished through His crucifixion and resurrection.

When Jesus was born in the earth as a helpless baby the kingdom of God was presented to earth in a new way because the King had become one of us. Yet to have all authority Jesus had to live, be crucified and then resurrected (this will be addressed later). We begin defining and briefly explaining the kingdom of God.

The etymology of kingdom is uncertain but at the most basic level, a kingdom is anywhere that falls under the king’s domain or dominion. We see in scripture that ‘The kingdom of God’ and the ‘kingdom of heaven’ are two ways of referring to the same thing.

¹⁷From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 (NKJV)

¹⁴Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and thekingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15 (NKJV)

The kingdom of God operates through delegated authority with Yahweh the divine king as the ultimate source of all authority, an authority that He can delegate to others. We see this in Genesis.

²⁶Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)

Adam and Eve were given dominion over the earth and the creatures on it. Yet they corrupted their delegated dominion through sin (Genesis 3) and their sin affected all of creation (Romans 8:20-21), which brings us back to Advent. Jesus came to save us from sin and restore what was lost. We have this angelic prophetic message given to Joseph regarding Jesus birth.

²¹ And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (NKJV)

We later have this statement regarding our salvation and restoration in Revelation.

⁹ And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, Revelation 5:9 (NKJV)

In Greek the word redeemed refers to purchasing something, in this case us! Next week we will delve into why Jesus needed to redeem us and how it relates to the delegation of authority in the kingdom of God.

Encounters

Encounters with the Living God can change us. Salvation, the new birth, is an encounter, an event that initiates a process. As we then walk with Jesus we should be growing and reflecting more of His character. Paul describes this ongoing process as Christ being formed in us (Galatians 4:19) and it is seen in his teaching around the works of the flesh in contrast to the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-26) and the sowing and reaping principle he presents (Galatians 6:7-10). The ongoing process of spiritual growth is built on daily faithfulness. Isaiah described is as ‘precept upon precept, line upon line (Isaiah 28:10).

In a faithful daily walk there are also moments or opportunities of encounter. There is an expression, ‘Character isn’t formed in crisis it is revealed.’ What we have daily sown into our lives is what will be revealed when we encounter a significant challenge. We see an example in the life of Isaiah in chapter 6, in particular, verse 3-7.

³ And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” ⁴ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” ⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Isaiah 6:3–7 (NKJV)

Prior to this encounter, Isaiah had been prophesying judgement during the reign of Uzziah. After Uzziah died Isaiah saw Yahweh on the throne (John informs us this was Jesus – (John 12:37-41) and essentially said, ‘Oh no! I’m also in trouble!’ Isaiah shifted from pronouncing judgment on others to pronouncing it on himself.

When Isaiah saw Yahweh/Jesus on the throne he acknowledged that he was in need of cleansing. Then one of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal and when it touched his lips (Isaiah had been using his voice to pronounce judgment) said his inequity and sin were removed. As an aside, if you have an image of a cute cherubic figure in mind, banish that. Seraphim literally means ‘burning ones.’ These fiery creatures burned with holiness and zeal for Yahweh and His glory. Cherubim in scripture are similar, guardians of sacred space who protected Eden after Adam and Eve were banished and guard the ark of the covenant.

Now back to Isaiah’s encounter. The fruit of the encounter was a prophetic ministry that spanned decades (I once calculated it at 55 years, scholarly speculation varies from 40-60 years). It led to Isaiah prophesying Jesus’ birth, the restoration of the nation, the crucifixion and a number of other significant events with Isaiah being known as the ‘prince of prophets.’

Now the key here is not that Isaiah had an encounter, it is his response. I have sought to be faithful in my daily walk but I have also had encounters with His presence. I don’t claim anything like Isaiah’s experience, yet I once had an encounter where it felt like the Spirit unveiled eternity to me. It was a brief frightening experience that was only resolved in my heart and mind a couple of decades later. I trust that I responded correctly but don’t fully know. I do know that encounters with His presence are opportunities. Thus, I suggest, let’s daily walk with Him, seek His face and be prepared for encounters that drive our walk deeper.

PS – do you have something to share from your walk with Jesus?

Values, What a Concept Part 3

I close this series looking at the challenges of aligning our values and worldview with scripture. The first thing to note is that this is a real battle, spiritual warfare. As I noted in my last post, “The presentation of our body to His service and the considering of ourselves as dead to our former way of life, sin, are both acts of spiritual warfare that establish and enforce His victory in our lives and make us salt and light in our culture.”

To intentionally engage in this transformational process, we need to draw on His grace to swim against the tide of our culture and the spiritual influence of darkness, which is of course a significant part of our current culture. We draw on His grace in two ways. One, way is by asking for the Spirit’s help, the other is intentionally stepping into this battle by seeking to find and engage in the things He has prepared for us to do. Paul said it this way.

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8–10 (NKJV)

The Lord has already prepared things for us to do, our part is to discern and engage in them. While there may specific things each of us need to discern, some things are clearly laid out for all of us. Jesus presented a number of them in the Sermon on the Mount, here is a brief sample.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43–48 (NKJV)

If you haven’t thought of these as acts of spiritual warfare and engaging in cultural transformation, they are, and when you engage in them you are modeling the values of the kingdom. This is presenting our members as instruments/weapons of righteousness (Romans 6:12-14, 17-19) and presenting our body as a living sacrifice and aligning our thinking and acting with the values of the kingdom (Romans 12:1-2).

Let’s daily do that.