Steven Colborne's Blog, page 45

Blessings at Christmas

Dear friends, I hope things are well with you. I haven’t posted for several weeks as I’ve been working on plans for a new venture, something that has been in my thoughts for years but now is seemingly the time that the Lord wants to progress the project. I will have more to say about this early next year, but anyone who has read my book God’s Grand Game may be able to guess.

Thank you very much for your generous support of this blog in 2020. It has been a very active year of blogging for me, and I am always surprised by the subtle, brilliant, surprising ways God works in the world and in my life. Thanks be to God, who is not far from anyone.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!

The Fall of Man: Why is this Bible story important?

In the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, we find the story of the Fall. The passage of Scripture which describes the Fall has been interpreted in very different ways by theologians, and in this article I would just like to offer a few thoughts that have come to me personally as I have considered the passage.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'”

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.”

(Genesis 3:1-7) ESV

The story of the Fall continues on, and to quote the passage in full and discuss it would be too large an undertaking for a single blog post. I considered doing a series on this passage, but I’m sure that there are theologians who would do a much better exegetical job on this passage than me. Perhaps it’s something I will return to another time. For the purposes of today’s post, I will just focus on the verses quoted above, and offer a few thoughts.

In my 2018 book entitled An Almighty Predicament: A Discourse on the Arguments For and Against Christianity I discussed the Fall of Man. I considered that the passage could be interpreted as a warning against pride. The Bible talks about how God forbids Adam and Eve to ‘know good and evil’. To me, this seems to suggest that God is forbidding certain types of knowledge. There are certain things which it is not necessary for human beings to know, and perhaps one of these things is the intricacies of how good and evil work.

God doesn’t reveal everything to us during our lives on Earth. There are always mysteries that we have to live with, such as what God (who is eternal) was up to 400 billion years ago, for instance, and whether we exist as individuals in any sense prior to our conception, as well as what God has planned for the Universe 800 billion years from now (if God is still creating universes at that time).

A related consideration is that perhaps the passage describing the Fall is a metaphorical way of God wanting to state his authority in the opening pages of the Bible. Perhaps God is highlighting the fact that obedience to him is one of the most important things that he requires, and one of the most important aspects of the universe he has chosen to create. At the heart of the passage is the subject of command and obedience. This is God setting out the relationship that human beings are to have with him — he has all authority, and human beings are to obey him.

Another consideration that theologians discuss in relation to this passage is the nature of the serpent. I often hear theologians talk about the serpent as representing Satan (the devil). There is clearly evidence for this in the book of Revelation, where Satan is described as ‘that ancient serpent’ (Revelation 12:9) and also ‘that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan’ (Revelation 20:2).

It seems that God is introducing the idea of Satan — and the idea that life on Earth is a battle with the devil — in the opening book of the Bible. This is God’s plan for human beings; that we are caught up in a struggle between God (who is good) and Satan (who is evil), and we are commanded to obey the good, and flee from evil, as evil only deceives us and leads to suffering. Of course, this all very much relates to the person of Jesus, who is the one who defeats evil once and for all and is the centrepiece — the cornerstone — of God’s plan for Planet Earth, and God has chosen Jesus to be the victor in this great battle once and for all.

The final theme I would like to highlight from this passage of Scripture is the subject of responsibility for sin. Temptation is part of life, and we must avoid temptation and trust in God. Even the Lord’s Prayer contains the line ‘lead us not into temptation’, and the centrality of that prayer to the Christian life demonstrates that avoiding temptation is central to God’s plans — central to the first book of the Bible, and central to the teachings of Jesus, who is God incarnate.

The serpent tempts Eve, and Eve tempts Adam — why did God include all this? Well, when we start playing the ‘blame game’ we get into all kinds of difficulties. How many marriages have broken down because people have not been focused on forgiveness (which Jesus commands us to practice) but instead engage in quarrelling to try to make each other responsible for whatever happened? The wisest way to live is to accept responsibility for our sins, and in doing so declare to God that we are willing to be humble before him rather than arrogant and proud. Life isn’t about who’s right and who’s wrong, it’s about obedience to the One who has all power and authority. When we accept Jesus, we are saying to God: Your way is the right way; the only way.

So I believe God uses this passage in Genesis to highlight a number of important things, but at the centre is God’s authority. We would do well to take heed of this authority and spend our lives trying to understand the whole of the Bible, which is a guide book concerning how we are to relate to God, and how we are to serve him, which is the best thing we can do if we seek happiness, peace, and mercy.

If you’re new to the Christian faith, I invite you to check out a book I recently published entitled ‘Thanks Be To God’ which contains 20 passages of Scripture central to the Christian faith, and short reflections on each passage which I included in order to provide some context and insights. You can find out about the book, and all my other books, on the Books page. Thank you for reading and God bless you.

The Steadfast Love of God

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died — more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans.

God is the only source of true peace and stability in this life. Being eternal in nature, he is also unshakable and steadfast in his love and in his plans, which are revealed in our generation through the Bible. God invites us to run to him in times of distress (Psalm 50:15). Thanks be to God.

Here is Wisdom

“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.

“Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

The words of Jesus in the Gospel according to Luke.

The Bible

“This book is the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; this is the royal Law; these are the lively Oracles of God.” With these words the Moderator of the Church of Scotland hands a Bible to the new monarch in Britain’s coronation service.

From the Preface to the English Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized Edition
Copyright © 2002 Harper Collins Publishers

Friends of the blog! I wish you health, peace, and happiness during the Christmas season

I Will Walk with Integrity

I will sing of steadfast love and justice;
to you, O Lord, I will make music.
I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.

I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.
A perverse heart shall be far from me;
I will know nothing of evil.

Whoever slanders his neighbour secretly
I will destroy.
Whoever has a haughty look and an
arrogant heart
I will not endure.

I will look with favour on the faithful
in the land,
that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
shall minister to me.

No one who practises deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.

Morning by morning I will destroy
all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers
from the city of the Lord.

From the book of Psalms, a psalm of David (Psalm 101).

“Reader, how fares it with your family? Do you sing in the choir and sin in the chamber? Are you a saint abroad and a devil at home? For shame! What we are at home, that we are indeed.” (Spurgeon)

Why Did God Choose to Create?

Greetings, friends of the blog. Today, I’d like to share some thoughts in relation to the question of why God might have chosen to create human beings and other creatures.

In my book God’s Grand Game: Divine Sovereignty and the Cosmic Playground I speculated that one reason why God might have chosen to create could be a kind of loneliness. Due to God’s omnipresence, I believe there is nothing outside of God, which means that in reality God is all that exists, and any material things and creatures exist within God. God’s boundlessness is, I believe, something which could never be changed, and there will never be a possibility for anything to exist outside of him.

What must it be like for God, I questioned, to never have another free being with whom to interact? What must it be like for God to be alone for all eternity? I wondered whether God might have created human beings for the purpose of relationship.

A related question I raised in the book concerns what it must be like for God to be unable to cease existing. I believe existence is part of God’s essence, so taking a break from existence might be impossible, even for an all-powerful God.

I acknowledge that these speculations are rather anthropomorphic, but the Bible does say God created man in his own image, so speculating in this way isn’t necessarily problematic. I also acknowledge that understanding God completely is beyond my limited human comprehension, and that’s part of being human — God has created human beings with certain limitations and has made certain things mysterious to us.

I would like to share something T. D. Jakes said when he was addressing a conference a few years ago:

“It is suggested that God made man because he is lonely, but I disagree. If God was lonely then he needed something outside of himself to fulfil himself. But the Bible says he is complete within himself. He is the all-sufficient one, lacking absolutely nothing to make him whole.”

T. D. Jakes, Megafest 2013

In a blog post I wrote in 2019 entitled Life: Tragedy or Comedy? I speculated on this matter in more depth. As I say in that post, I believe the question of whether or not God suffers is incredibly important philosophically, because if he does suffer we might understand our own suffering in a different way to if God doesn’t suffer. Please read that article for an elaboration on this point.

I have come to agree with T. D. Jakes — that it’s most likely God is absolutely complete. But why, then, does God choose to create? Some people might find my description of the universe as a ‘cosmic playground’ created by God as part of a ‘grand game’ to be a strange way of describing things. But the reason why I chose the word ‘game’ in my book title relates to the question of God’s purpose in creation. I believe that unfolding the story of the universe is God’s pastime; God’s entertainment; God’s play.

Someone might rightly ask how I can describe reality as a ‘game’ when there is so much suffering in the world. I understand this point and I acknowledge its validity. However, when looking at the big picture of existence, and looking at the question of whether or not God is ultimately kind and merciful, I maintain a hope that he is.

Let me put the question to you: Haven’t you always found God to be merciful in your life, after you have gone through the challenges he has placed in your path?

I believe that God probably creates because creating is entertaining for him. Whether or not this is the truth of the matter I may never know during my life on Earth, but I hope things will become clearer one day, perhaps after death. In terms of understanding God’s purposes as they relate to human beings on Earth, I’m grateful to have the ‘instruction manual’ of the Bible to guide me in terms of answers to all of the most important questions related to God’s purposes for human beings.

Comments about comments!

Greetings in Christ, friends of the blog! I’m delighted to write to you with a smile on my face, as the prayers of people close to me are making a big difference in my life and in the lives of those around me. While there are still some obstacles to overcome related to my accommodation, I’m feeling much more positive about sorting things out with my at times troublesome neighbours. Within the mental health system the issues that people deal with can be quite complex, so it sometimes takes time.

But God is faithful and if we submit to him humbly we can trust that he will make our paths straight!

I must apologise, once again, for having been an absolute nightmare when it comes to moderating comments. I have been so afraid of encountering hurtful negativity, that at times I have simply deleted comments which upon first glance I perceived could be unkind attacks. I’m really sorry if any of you are annoyed with me or are mystified as to why your heartfelt comments simply vanished!

I am hoping to be able to improve my levels of patience and gentleness when it comes to reading and moderating comments. Sadly, I’ve encountered a lot of unkind behaviour in my past which has impacted the way I deal with these things. I pray that God would help me.

I also ask for your prayers for everyone in the house where I live. It is a house divided into three flats and everyone in the house has (or has had) mental health problems. There is lots of healing taking place but there are also some lies of the enemy lingering around, so we all still need prayers.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

Ephesians 6:12

Love to you all and thanks again for your patience and understanding! Peace and blessings

How do I Love my Neighbour?

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’

“Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

From the Gospel according to Luke.

New Book: ‘Thanks Be To God’

Hello, friends! I hope you are all happy and well today. I’m just publishing a post to let you know about a new book I have released. The book is based on the Scripture reflections I’ve been sharing on this blog over the last few weeks. The idea is that the book will serve as a useful introduction to Christianity for anyone who is curious but doesn’t know much about the Bible.

The book shares 20 passages of Scripture from throughout the Bible; all scriptures that God prompted me to include for whatever purposes he has with them. After every passage of Scripture, I offer a short reflection to put it into context and highlight certain things.

If you’re a regular follower of this blog, you will have seen me sharing these reflections in recent weeks. You don’t necessarily need to purchase the book if you’re content reading my blog posts, but please consider whether this book might be suitable for someone in your life who needs the peace and love of Jesus.

I don’t intend for this book to be a substitute for reading the Bible, but rather an introduction to the Bible that will help spiritual seekers who are perhaps afraid of the majesty of the Bible but are somehow drawn to the person and teaching of Jesus.

The book will be available from Amazon (in Kindle and paperback formats), from Apple, Kobo, Google Play, and all the other usual digital retailers. As the book becomes available in different stores I will be updating this page with the links in the coming days.

I hope you like the cover! If you know what the image represents in Biblical Christianity, leave a comment below

Jesus is Lord

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

“And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

“But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The words of Jesus in the Gospel according to John.

We have all sinned. The only question is whether a person is willing to humble themselves before the God who created the universe, to choose to walk in the light and to come into alignment with his good and loving purposes. God is willing to forgive all who truly repent. Thanks be to God.