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January 7, 2015
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Who dat? – Part 3
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].
As one last evidence in our remonstrance against DAT, let’s practice what true science preaches and test the feasibility of DAT in that way. True science teaches that we are to form a hypothesis, and then take it to the lab to test it in a controlled environment. This means we are to test the hypothesis in an environment where we can account for all the variables. Once the hypothesis has passed the test in the controlled environment, then and only then do we put it into practice in the real world to see how it fares out there.
I hope you caught my reference to “true science”. This is important. History, of which geology perforce belongs, cannot be tested in the lab. How can we take the past into a lab? Uh, that would be a “we can’t”. History and geology are not true science. They are fields of speculation, of surmises, especially when dealing with pre-history where we cannot even read the words of men who were contemporaries during those times. We can state nothing in our studies of those times but surmises.
Here’s how it works in reality, dear friends. Some musty-smelling old geology gent makes a visit to the Grand Canyon. He looks at how deep it is, watches how fast the river waters are moving through it, checks the density of the rock, and pulls out his abacus to do some calculating. “Ah ha!” he blurts out. “I’ve figured out how long it would take for this here river, running at its present rate across the rock we now have showing, to cut through the rock to form the Grand Canyon.
Listen to 2 Peter 3:3-4:
Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
That, by the way, is the definition of uniformitarianism, my friends. Uniformitarianism teaches that all things have occurred, still occur, and will continue to occur, at the same rate they now occur. Hence our musty-smelling geologist gent did his figuring on the basis of the rate which the river now flows and figured the rock was the same as it is now. This is because the central premise of uniformitarianism is that all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.
Oh, there is so much more we could share on this subject, but we mustn’t unduly lengthen this post. Read my book Genesis: Volume 1 for a more in-depth investigation. Before we close, I said we would practice what true science preaches and test DAT by the Word of God. Yea, 2 Peter 3:3-4 exposes uniformitarianism. But we still haven’t applied DAT to any actual Scripture. So let’s do so now, and then we’ll close on that note and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy [Exodus 20:8-11].
Now let’s apply DAT’s teaching about the word “day” to this text.
Remember the sabbath multi-millions of years, to keep it holy. Six multi-millions of years you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh multi-millions of years is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six multi-millions of years the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh multi-millions of years; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath multi-millions of years and made it holy.
If you think that makes sense, methinks you must’ve been sniffing something illegal! Tada.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
January 6, 2015
Who dat? – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].
Yes, it is perfectly true that the sun and moon were not created until Day 4. If the only way there could be a literal 24-hour period of time was for there to be a sun and moon first, then our Bible-believing geologists’ presumptions would have a logical foundation. But light was created at the very start of creation (Genesis 1:3). The opposite of light, viz., darkness, existed already (Genesis 1:2). Hence part of the earth had light and part had darkness. Is that not “day” and “night”?
When God speaks, He only tells truth. He said there was an evening and then a morning, the first day. Whatever way He determined to use in measuring a literal 24-hour period of time, we don’t know because He didn’t explain it to us. But that He had a literal 24-hour period of time He did tell us.
God employed the sun and moon to measure time for man’s benefit. But they weren’t needed by Him to measure time. He already knows how long a literal 24-hour period of time lasts, even without the sun and moon. We mustn’t limit God to our finite understanding, dear people, or we make His Word to mean what we think. In that case we are conformed to the world, when we are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
As for the Hebrew word for day, when it is used in the Bible in a generalized way, then it doesn’t per se mean a literal 24-hour day. But it does mean a relatively brief period of time on the measuring stick of history. Often the prophets used words of time to express periods of time. Still, when they did so, a “year” expressed a considerably longer period of time than a “week” expressed. And a “week” expressed a noticeably longer period of time than a “day” expressed. In that context we must have been born last night to believe we can stretch a generalized usage of the word day to mean multi-millions of years! No! Even if we were born at night, it wasn’t last night!
We’ve not finished with vetting their surmises just yet, so don’t go away! The prior paragraph referred to a GENERALIZED usage of the word day. An example of this would be the phrase “the day of the Lord”. No one in their right mind reads that, giving it some thought, and concludes it HAS to be a literal 24-hour period. No! But it has to be a relatively short period on the measuring stick of history. What’s more, it refers to a GENERAL period of time, not necessarily a literal 24-hour period of time.
Now read the quote from Genesis 1 with which we began this post. Do you see a GENERALIZED usage for each “day”? I certainly hope not. Each “day” was a specific period of time: one day, a second day, a third day, etc. Every single time—NO exceptions!—but every other time in the Bible when the word “day” is used with a number, it refers to a literal 24-hour period of time.
Don’t take my word for it. Do a search of the word “day” and cull the times it occurs with a number. Every time without exception a specific usage of the word “day” occurs, it unmistakably refers to a literal 24-hour period of time. Would someone please hand the Kleenex box to our Bible-believing “Who DAT?” supporters. They need to wipe their eyes.
Let’s stop here for today and allow them time to have a good cry. They’ll need it before we zap them again with some more Bible. Praise the Lord Jesus! That sounds like a plan. Let’s go do it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
January 5, 2015
Who dat? – Part 1
HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Romans: Volume 9 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].
We’ve spent the past three posts studying the Gap Theory. We won’t repeat any of our findings here. The reader may reread the prior three posts if he/she so desires. I mention the Gap Theory because of the topic of our current post. Whereas the Gap Theory attempted to fit the Bible into the theories of contemporary geology—viz., by finding multi-millions of years between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis 1—there is another clever method to account for multi-millions of years in Genesis 1.
It is the subject of today’s study, dear friends. It is known as the Day-Age Theory, or DAT for short (aka “Who dat?”). This theory of contemporary Bible-believing geologists is a close cousin to the Gap Theory. The two have even been rumored to kiss on occasion.
Anyway let’s not digress. The Day-Age Theory means just what its name states. Each “day” in the creation account of Genesis 1 was not a literal 24-hour period of time. No! Each “day” was an age, a period of millions of years. On each “day”, each period of millions of years, God created only the embryonic form of what was created that “day”.
Then God went off somewhere over yonder someplace to do who knows what, while He allowed Mother Nature to take over. So evolution and uniformitarianism did their thing, and things evolved at a snail’s pace. Hence the need to read into each “day” a period of millions of years.
The proponents of DAT claim Biblical support for their hypothesis by noting that the Hebrew word for “day” in the Bible does not always mean a literal 24-hour period of time. “Just look at the phrase ‘the day of the Lord’,” asseverates our learned scientist. “That doesn’t refer to a literal 24-hour period of time. Besides, the sun and moon weren’t created until Day 4. So how could there have been literal 24-hour periods of time before Day 4?” Feeling his oats, he nominates himself for a Pulitzer, before taking his bows followed by taking his seat.
Wow! I am floored, good friends. The wit and wisdom oozing from those audacious remarks are quite intimidating. Methinks we had best tuck our tails between our legs and make a mad dash for the hills. No sense in staying here and taking up the gauntlet. No logic in playing David against the big, bad wolf, er, I mean against Goliath. Contemporary science with the aid of our Bible-believing geologists are much too formidable to quarrel with, aren’t they?
Stuff and nonsense! They can chant “Who DAT?” back and forth at each other and give high 5s all around if they are so inclined. I prefer to let God do the talking. He does that in His Word, by the way. So let’s stop looking directly into the face of science falsely so-called, and turn our eyes to the Bible. Come along with me as we do so. You won’t want to miss what God has to say.
Oh, but wait a sec. We are out of time and will have to wait for our next post to continue this conversation. See you then. Don’t forget to pay a visit to Jesus in the interim.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
January 4, 2015
Look! I found a gap in the Bible! – Part 3
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].
Now let’s get to the point of Genesis 1:1-2 and the quandary faced by our Christian geologists. In order to save face with the unbelieving geologists, their Christian counterparts need to figure out how the creation account of Genesis 1 can contain millions upon millions of years. That’s a toughie. Just read Genesis 1 and you’ll realize there ain’t no such critter there (pardon my French)!
Nonetheless they need to discover a new find so as to fit in with modern geology. So they sniff and snort all over, under every word and between the lines, leaving no stone unturned. These are determined fellows, let me tell you! They aren’t about to give up until they find such a critter. They want to find it so badly, you see, that they can’t help but see it even where it’s not.
Suddenly out of the dark comes a blinding light!
Hark! I see the lost multi-million years! I did it! Now I must write a book about my grandiose discovery. I’ll get rich and all my atheistic counterparts will have to bow down to me. Ain’t I a dandy one?
So our Mr. Dandy writes his book. In it he points to Genesis 1:1 and declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Then he pauses for effect before continuing, “God doesn’t make any junk, my good man, but according to verse 2 He did.” Then he recites verse 2. “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” He continues spouting his genius, “Something’s amiss here. But don’t be nonplussed because I’ve discovered the answer!”
He then goes into a gnarled and meandering extrapolation to explain his answer. He sees Genesis 1:1 as stating that, way back millions upon millions of years in the past, God created everything. Then something happened to throw the world into chaos, leaving it “formless and void”, with “darkness…over the surface of the deep” (verse 2).
Well, alas for the poor earth, but the good Lord left it in a mess for millions upon millions of years, before He finally decided to fix it. Who knows why He would dilly dally for all those multi-million years? Perhaps He was busy with some other world doing who knows what. In any case God finally decided to fix up this old world, like you or me buying a dilapidated dump as a fixer-upper.
“And that is where Genesis 1:2 comes in,” he asserts with aplomb. “The earth fell into chaos, and multi-millions of years later the Spirit of God hovered over the chaotic mass to fix it.” Then he adds while taking his bows, “I am a great one!”
This is known in today’s parlance as the Gap Theory. The surmise deduces that a gap of millions upon millions of years occurred between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis 1. Who woulda thunk it! Not me…and not you…nor anyone else who wasn’t determined to find such a critter. The text doesn’t read that way. We have to take that preconceived notion with us into the text, if we will find it there.
That approach, dear friends, wears the appellation eisegesis. It means that we read into the Bible what we want to find there. The proper approach carries the title exegesis. It means that we read what is in the Bible and pull it out of the text. Eisegesis adjusts the Bible to fit man’s thinking. Exegesis adjusts man’s thinking to fit the Bible. This is what the Apostle Paul taught in Romans 12:2, which was quoted earlier in this post.
We need to know about the Gap Theory because it is out there today and we will stumble upon it sooner or later in our studies. If we aren’t aware of its origins and pitfalls, when we stumble upon it we will wind up stumbling over it!
Let’s visit with the Lord Jesus now and allow His Word to transform us by the renewing of our minds. We will be the better for it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
January 3, 2015
Look! I found a gap in the Bible! – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].
Many of our contemporary scientists of geology function on the basis that God doesn’t exist. Ergo, they must needs discover how their god, Mother Nature, created the earth and all the universe. But then again, there are some geologists who do believe in God, even the God of the Bible. They are sincere and, as far as we can know, truly born again.
These Christian scientists are experts in a field which operates under the assumption that God doesn’t exist. Hence they are outnumbered, isolated, and ridiculed if they mention the Bible. In order to function in such an environment, they find it necessary to acclimate to their environment. So they attempt to adjust the Bible to fit with contemporary geology.
Dear friends, Rule #2 for Bible study exposes this approach as erroneous: the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We aren’t to adjust the Bible to fit man’s understanding. Quite the opposite! We are to adjust man’s understanding to fit the Bible. Listen to the Apostle Paul express it:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [Romans 12:2].
See! If we adjust the Bible to fit modern science’s beliefs, we make modern science to be god. This is what Paul meant by being conformed to this world. When we elevate the Word of God to its rightful place as per Rule #2 for Bible study, then we adjust man’s beliefs and ideas to fit the Word of God. Paul calls this being transformed by the renewing of your mind.
On that note let’s cease with our study today and betake ourselves to the Word of God. Only by means of His Word can we have our minds renewed so that we are transformed into the image of Jesus. And believe me, that is a good thing. We will continue this study in our next post.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
January 2, 2015
Look! I found a gap in the Bible! – Part 1
HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Romans: Volume 9 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].
When I was a wee little lad, I had this issue that needed to be resolved. If I did something wrong and got caught, I hemmed and hawed, shuffled the feet, and attempted to muddy the waters of truth by mincing words. It was convenient, you see, to leave off essential details, so as to make the case against me not so bad as at first blush might appear. Guess what? It never worked! Adults know what’s what. They see right through such shenanigans.
In this self-styled modern scientific age, there are those adults who mimic my childish shenanigans. They only believe what they can see with their own eyes and touch with their own hands—aka doubting Thomases! Many suchlike rascals bombastically look down the nose at the Bible as a collection of old wives’ tales. Others, though, hold the Bible in reverence—sometimes superstitiously even—while all along clinging to the anti-spiritual asseverations of science falsely so-called.
This presents them with a conundrum. On the one hand they cling to the findings of contemporary geology textbooks, while on the other hand they profess belief in the Bible. The two historically being irreconcilable, they find it necessary to attempt a reconciliation. Truth be told, the Bible and true science are not at odds. The Bible and historical studies by atheists are.
I make reference to the findings of evolution and uniformitarianism, dear friends. Those fields of contemporary science don’t begin with a tabula rasa and let the evidence take them where it will. They enter the fray with preconceived predilections.
To them the Bible is wrong, and that long before the investigation even begins. They assert,
There is no such thing as God! The spirit world, life after death, eternity—all such things stem from the fear of half-wit cave men who couldn’t understand the facts like modern scientists can. So these cave men imagined such concepts to explain the world and life and death.
Do you see how this is circular reasoning, how it begs the question? They assume the truth of what they are supposed to prove, and then they look for corroborating evidence to prove them right. Any evidence which doesn’t fit into this mold, well, let’s just ignore it!
Such an approach is no different than faith, though it is quite different than Biblical faith. Biblical faith is belief in the words of the Bible. The man-made faith of these scientists is belief in their preconceived predilections! They don’t believe in the existence of God, so God doesn’t exist. How’s that for logic, huh? Boy, these guys are good!
We will take up this issue further in our next post. Until then why not spend some time alone with the Lord Jesus. He can teach us quite a bit about this matter.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
January 1, 2015
Janus the Baptist? – Part 2
NEWS FLASH!!! Acts: Volume 8 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John [Matthew 11:13].
We concluded our last study by observing how the Roman god Janus signified the end of one thing and the start of another thing. This concept has great bearing on the text quoted to begin this study. The Covenant of Law lasted until John Baptist arrived on the scene. Suddenly the Covenant of Grace took center stage, whether it was evident to folks at the time or not. Can anyone say “Janus the Baptist”?
The period of time, from John the Baptist until the day of Pentecost fifty days after Jesus rose out of death, was a sort of transition period. God sent His Son Jesus into the world, Jesus the God-man, in fulfillment of His promise to provide mankind with the seed of the woman. Jesus is Israel’s promised Messiah. Jesus is the prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). Jesus is the One who implemented the Covenant of Grace (John 1:17).
John the Baptist was the person sent from God to identify the Messiah. John baptized people as a sign of repentance, in order to prepare them for the Messiah when He appeared. Then John identified Jesus as the Messiah, after which he directed people to follow Jesus their Messiah.
This means John began his ministry while Israel was under the Covenant of Law, but he departed this earth after the Covenant of Grace was being proclaimed by Jesus. Ergo, the time of John the Baptist was a transition period between the Covenant of Law and the Covenant of Grace. This made John the Baptist a sort of Janus. Janus the Baptist… Has a nice ring to it.
The transition period ended and the Covenant of Grace came in full force, when the Church was born on Pentecost. The birth of the Church signified the temporary setting aside of the nation of Israel as the people through whom God would carry out His plan for the earth. From that time until the Rapture of the Church at the end of the Church Age, the Church contains the people through whom God is carrying on His work on earth.
The Law came through Moses and was given to the Israelites as the legal code for the Promised Land while Israel dwelt there. Grace came through Messiah Jesus and is given to the Church during the Church Age.
This is why Jesus declared that the Old Covenant was preached until John the Baptist came on the scene. John introduced Jesus the Messiah to Israel under the Law. Jesus did several things as the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world (i.e., the seed of the woman). Here are some of them:
He fulfilled the Law for Israel
He died on the cross to pay the penalty for mankind’s sins
He rose out of death to provide forgiven sinners with new life
He ascended to heaven as the high priest for redeemed men
He sent the Holy Spirit to give birth to the Church
So why would anyone in his right mind want to put himself under bondage to the Law and the prophets again? That’s lunacy! Jesus freed us from bondage to the Law, enabling us to freely live for Him in holiness.
The Law and the prophets lasted until John the Baptist. John’s long been gone. Now is the day of grace. Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
December 31, 2014
Janus the Baptist? – Part 1
NEWS FLASH!!! Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John [Matthew 11:13].
It’s Final Four week, that time of the year when the four best men’s college basketball teams go at it to determine a national champion. Consider how men’s college basketball games are structured. There are two halves, with each consisting of twenty minutes, for a total of forty minutes per game.
Once a college player graduates, if he is fortunate enough to move on to the NBA, he discovers he must make some changes in his perception of the game. For one thing there are no more “halves”, and for another the game no longer lasts forty minutes. The NBA game is divided into quarters, with each consisting of twelve minutes, for a total of forty-eight minutes per game.
And then there is the matter of how many games are played in a season. For the college ranks the number hovers around thirty, but for the NBA it soars to eighty-two. Hmm. “30” versus “82”. That’s a lot of difference! So no longer are there around 30 games per year, each consisting of only forty minutes. Suddenly the one-time college player must play 82 games of forty-eight minutes each. Think those guys are worn down by the end of the regular season?
I thought about this when I read the quoted text which began our study today. College rules apply for a time, then suddenly new and entirely different rules apply for the NBA. So it was with the Covenant of Law versus the Covenant of Grace.
Jesus noted how long the Covenant of Law lasted when he declared, “all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John”. That would be the John of John Baptist fame. UNTIL JOHN, i.e., up until the time of John the Baptist, the Law and the prophets were in effect. The Old Covenant was God’s rule of Law for Israel.
Then suddenly the forty minute games became forty-eight minutes long, and the two halves transformed into four quarters. What once consisted of about 30 games suddenly metamorphosed into 82 games. Things were drastically different, you see, once John the Baptist came on the scene.
This calls to mind the Roman god Janus. Janus had two faces, with one facing behind and the other facing forward. The name “Janus” is where our month “January” derives its name. Janus looked to the past and to the future at the same time. Just as January 1 begins a new year by looking backward and then going forward, so too did the Roman god Janus. Janus signified the end of one thing and the start of another.
Oh, dear. We’ve come to the end of the line already. Let’s call it a day and begin afresh tomorrow. Some time alone with Jesus sounds about right just now. Won’t you join in?
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Matthew: Volume 7 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
December 30, 2014
It’s Not Natural!
HOT OFF THE PRESS!!! Romans: Volume 9 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes is now available from CreateSpace (paperbacks) and Kindle (eBooks). Click on the link to the right of this page to go to Amazon and place your order.
That by them you may become partakers of the divine nature [2 Peter 1:4].
We have seen a resurgence in the last generation or so of characters from classical mythology. The Greeks and Romans were polytheists (believers in many gods), not people of God’s covenant. They didn’t have the Scriptures and didn’t want them either! They preferred to make up their own accounts about the gods and ethereal life. They created these gods after their own image and according to their own personalities and behaviors.
They even fabricated many supernatural creatures which were composed of different parts of humans and animals. The Harpies were one of many examples of this. A Harpy was a rapacious and filthy monster with the body of a bird and the head of a woman. In Genesis 1 we learn that God created each species to produce after its own kind, thus denying this combination of different species. But when sinful man rejects the Word of God and goes his own way, he can’t help himself. He has to approve of what the Word of God decries.
If you watch sci-fi movies you’ve observed many a strange creature. Some are taken from mythology and some are imagined by the writers of the script. Even wonderful shows which promote Christianity have made use of mythological creatures. Just consider The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. I highly recommend these movies (and the books!) with no qualms. The mythological creatures are not promoted as reality. They are used to depict a mythological world, while teaching morality and fidelity and sound spiritual principles.
But you know, such creatures are not natural. They are escapees from the imagination of polytheists in a long ago time. The Greeks and Romans believed in such fantasies. That’s what happens when man’s mind rejects the Word of God in favor of its own imagination. Out comes everything not of God, including such unsavory critters as the Harpies.
There is another thing which is unnatural, and Peter brought it to light in his second epistle. Ever since Father Adam sinned by disobeying the Word of God and eating fruit from the kogae tree, he and all his progeny—which includes you and me and every last human being—have been conceived in sin and born with a sin nature. That is what natural means for we humans today. A sin nature wants what the Bible forbids and rejects what the Bible applauds!
What is not natural for sinful man is to become partakers of the divine nature. That is about as unnatural as it gets! But that is just what Peter brought to light for the Christians. To become partakers of the divine nature is supernatural, beyond the ability of sinful nature. It can only be accomplished by grace through faith. It requires the One Who is above nature to intervene in nature to bring it to pass—aka a miracle.
God did this in the Person of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. If you read and meditate on 2 Peter 1:1-11, you will be taught considerable spiritual truth with respect to accomplishing the supernatural in your life. You will learn how to become partakers of the divine nature. Peter begins with faith, which is how we are born again in the first place, viz., by grace through faith. Whoever is born again already has the divine nature in him or her.
Peter wants each Christian to go beyond being born again, by maturing spiritually into holy men and women of God. When we’re born again, we become spiritual babies who need to grow up, just like in the natural realm. Peter enumerates seven qualities to add to our faith. By following this spiritual exercise regimen, we Christians can grow beyond the baby stage and mature spiritually. Here is Peter’s list of what each saint is to add to his or her faith (verses 5-7):
moral excellence
knowledge
self-control
perseverance
godliness
brotherly kindness
love
Why don’t we spend some time reading 2 Peter 1:1-11 and give special attention to how we can incorporate those seven qualities into our character. It will be well worth the effort.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B00507WC86
