Thursday, February 25, 2010
Nature, Miracles, and Richard Dawkins
February 25, 2010
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Clay Miller: God does not need to “do a miracle” or “give a sign” to prove His existence. He exists. And He has given all of us sufficient evidence in creation itself, in nature itself to know this. Miracles are not needed to validate God’s existence. Miracles were used to protect or get the attention of people to doctrine God was presenting, especially in Jesus’ ministry and the apostles’ ministries. Those miracles did indeed prove there was a “Miracle Worker”…someone supernatural. But the miracles in and of themselves are not for convincing atheists. Richard Dawkins is an atheist hero. He works in science and evolution and sees evidence of God everywhere and refuses to acknowledge His existence. A miracle would do no good…He cannot allow himself to presuppose a supernatural explanation for anything no matter how “miraculous”. He would rather believe possible aliens created our world (???) than God, he just does not want that “alien” to be the God of the Bible. The only miracle that can save such people is the inner working regenerating miracle of the Holy Spirit. And if God acts out that one, even Dawkins can be converted.
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: “In Paul’s account, the testimony of the creatures was without contradiction. God Himself justifies this way of proceeding by his own example, and remits Job to the consideration of the creatures, to spell out something of His divine perfections. And this is so convincing an argument of the existence of God, that God never vouchsafed [granted; allowed] any miracle, or put forth any act of omnipotency, besides what was evident in the creatures, for the satisfaction of the curiosity of any atheist or the evincing [proving] of his being, as he hath done for the evidencing those truths which were not written in the book of nature, or for the restoring a decayed worship, or the protection or deliverance of his people. Those miracles in publishing the gospel, indeed, did demonstrate the existence of some supreme power; but they were not seals designedly affixed for that, but for the confirmation of that truth, which was above the ken [mental perception] of purblind [nearly blind] reason, and purely the birth of divine revelation. Yet what proves the truth of any spiritual doctrine, proves also in that act the existence of the Divine Author of it. The revelation always implies a revealer, and that which manifests it to be a revelation, manifests also the supreme Revealer of it. By the same light the sun manifests other things to us, it also manifests itself. But what miracles could rationally be supposed to work upon an atheist, who is not drawn to a sense of the truth proclaimed aloud by so many wonders of the creation? Let us now proceed to the demonstration of the atheists folly…”
Clay Miller: God does not need to “do a miracle” or “give a sign” to prove His existence. He exists. And He has given all of us sufficient evidence in creation itself, in nature itself to know this. Miracles are not needed to validate God’s existence. Miracles were used to protect or get the attention of people to doctrine God was presenting, especially in Jesus’ ministry and the apostles’ ministries. Those miracles did indeed prove there was a “Miracle Worker”…someone supernatural. But the miracles in and of themselves are not for convincing atheists. Richard Dawkins is an atheist hero. He works in science and evolution and sees evidence of God everywhere and refuses to acknowledge His existence. A miracle would do no good…He cannot allow himself to presuppose a supernatural explanation for anything no matter how “miraculous”. He would rather believe possible aliens created our world (???) than God, he just does not want that “alien” to be the God of the Bible. The only miracle that can save such people is the inner working regenerating miracle of the Holy Spirit. And if God acts out that one, even Dawkins can be converted.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Immobile, Dead, Blind, and Slaves
February 23, 2010
Genesis 1:6-8
Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 7Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
Clay Miller: “Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt” –Augustine. Creation obeyed God because God caused creation to obey Him. Our hearts are no different being dead as they are apart from Christ. I agree whole heartedly with Henry in that what God requires He Himself works in us. He grants regeneration, He makes us alive. He grants faith. He grants repentance. He grants all good we do. It is hard to fathom or even feel this due to His wisdom and ability to work through us in the way He does. But in the end all things are what they are because He did it. If this imposes upon some humanistic idea of free will, then so be it. The Bible does not teach the kind of free will people think it does…rather it teaches us that our will are captive, slaves of sin, dead, immobile, and blind. Our wills are in bondage to our hearts and our hearts are corrupt. We have the freedom to choose…but not the ability to choose God. We will always not choose or choose some corrupt form of God, because our hearts are incapable of seeing the true God’s worth and beauty…unless God intervenes and frees us, makes us alive, mobilizes us and opens our blind eyes. I thank God for this mercy!
Genesis 1:6-8
Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 7Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
Matthew Henry: “2. The creation of it [the firmament]. Lest it should seem as if God had only commanded it to be done, and someone else had done it, he adds, ‘And God made the firmament’. What God requires of us he himself works in us, or it is not done. He that commands faith, holiness, and love, creates them by the power of his grace going along with his word.”
Clay Miller: “Grant what thou commandest and then command what thou wilt” –Augustine. Creation obeyed God because God caused creation to obey Him. Our hearts are no different being dead as they are apart from Christ. I agree whole heartedly with Henry in that what God requires He Himself works in us. He grants regeneration, He makes us alive. He grants faith. He grants repentance. He grants all good we do. It is hard to fathom or even feel this due to His wisdom and ability to work through us in the way He does. But in the end all things are what they are because He did it. If this imposes upon some humanistic idea of free will, then so be it. The Bible does not teach the kind of free will people think it does…rather it teaches us that our will are captive, slaves of sin, dead, immobile, and blind. Our wills are in bondage to our hearts and our hearts are corrupt. We have the freedom to choose…but not the ability to choose God. We will always not choose or choose some corrupt form of God, because our hearts are incapable of seeing the true God’s worth and beauty…unless God intervenes and frees us, makes us alive, mobilizes us and opens our blind eyes. I thank God for this mercy!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Creation...to the Gospel
February 22, 2010
Clay Miller: It is good to point out God’s creation as evidence of God. He leaves clues about Himself all over our lives so that we are without excuse right now. His nearness is evident. Not only did He create this massive universe, but He acts in it. Our existence is evidence of Him. And it is clear that He is not like idols made by human hands…He is real, and mighty, and infinite, and a God to whom we must give account. We all know this. It is just a hated fact that men will fight with all their might to conceal from their own hearts.
The sad thing is, the fighting is in vain, and there is an alternative that would save the fighter…As they say, when you cannot beat them, join them. The evidence is there, and now God bids you through written communication to come to Him, through His Son, and know Him, be reconciled to Him; be saved from your guilt. God sent Jesus Christ to die for those who would believe on Him for eternal life. Jesus was without sin. Yet on the cross, He willingly submitted to the Father’s wrath on behalf of all those who would ever believe. On the cross, God the Father’s wrath literally exploded on His Son, as He treated Jesus as if He had committed every sin of every person who would ever believe. Jesus did not sin, nor did He become a sinner on the cross…The Father judicially treated Him “as if” He were the guilty one.
The other side of the transaction is just as amazing…God the Father treats the believer “as if” he or she had lived the perfect life of Christ. Christ’s life, His righteousness, is credited to the believer’s account. This is what it means to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness. We are not righteous in and of ourselves but God treats us as if we are…just like He treated Jesus as if He were us, though He was no sinner in and of Himself. It is amazing what the God of this amazing creation has done for sinners. I hope this helped some people see that.
Stephen Charnock: “2. We are often in the Scripture sent to take a prospect of the creatures for a discovery of God. The apostles drew arguments from the topics of nature when they discoursed with those that owned the Scripture…
Romans 1:19
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
…as well as when they treated with those that were ignorant of it, as…
Acts 14:16-17
who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."
…And among the philosophers of Athens…
Acts 17:27, 29
so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us… Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising.
…such arguments the Holy Ghost in the apostles thought sufficient to convince men of the existence, unity, spirituality, and patience of God. Such arguments had not been used by them and the prophets from the visible things in the world to silence the Gentiles with whom they dealt, had not this truth, and much more about God, been demonstrable by natural reason: they knew well enough that probable arguments would not satisfy piercing and inquisitive minds.”
Clay Miller: It is good to point out God’s creation as evidence of God. He leaves clues about Himself all over our lives so that we are without excuse right now. His nearness is evident. Not only did He create this massive universe, but He acts in it. Our existence is evidence of Him. And it is clear that He is not like idols made by human hands…He is real, and mighty, and infinite, and a God to whom we must give account. We all know this. It is just a hated fact that men will fight with all their might to conceal from their own hearts.
The sad thing is, the fighting is in vain, and there is an alternative that would save the fighter…As they say, when you cannot beat them, join them. The evidence is there, and now God bids you through written communication to come to Him, through His Son, and know Him, be reconciled to Him; be saved from your guilt. God sent Jesus Christ to die for those who would believe on Him for eternal life. Jesus was without sin. Yet on the cross, He willingly submitted to the Father’s wrath on behalf of all those who would ever believe. On the cross, God the Father’s wrath literally exploded on His Son, as He treated Jesus as if He had committed every sin of every person who would ever believe. Jesus did not sin, nor did He become a sinner on the cross…The Father judicially treated Him “as if” He were the guilty one.
The other side of the transaction is just as amazing…God the Father treats the believer “as if” he or she had lived the perfect life of Christ. Christ’s life, His righteousness, is credited to the believer’s account. This is what it means to be clothed in Christ’s righteousness. We are not righteous in and of ourselves but God treats us as if we are…just like He treated Jesus as if He were us, though He was no sinner in and of Himself. It is amazing what the God of this amazing creation has done for sinners. I hope this helped some people see that.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Can Nothing Create Something?
February 20, 2010
Genesis 1:6-8
Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 7Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
Clay Miller: The firmament is mainly considered the breathable atmosphere God created for us. It is the “first heaven”…the second heaven being outer space and the third heaven being the place where God dwells. In 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul speaks of being caught up to the third heaven, he is speaking of heaven as we normally think of it…the place where God dwells.
I was discussing origins with some friends the other night and we talked about the absurdity of “nothing” creating something. This is what many today believe. And I don’t think they have thought it through as they try to “picture it” happening. There was nothing, and suddenly it…wait…”it”…nothing is not an it. Nothing is nothing. But for arguments sake, they envision nothing suddenly creating something in some space…WAIT! Space? There was no space…there was nothing. And if you ask them why this nothing suddenly created itself…well something caused it to…WAIT! Something? What? What caused nothing to suddenly create itself and where did that something, or force come from? It is absurdity!!!! But who cares! It makes them feel deep and smart and…sophisticated?
God even accounts for space. He created space too. God is incorporeal and does not have to inhabit space. He is self-sufficient. He is Spirit. Too wonderful for you? Too lofty? Ah, that is why He is God and we are not. God is the self-sufficient, self-existing Creator of all else. He created space, and on day two of the creation account, He made a habitable atmosphere for the human race He would crown His creation with. He hung the earth on nothing. He spread out the skies…He did it! His name is The Lord.
Genesis 1:6-8
Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 7Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
Matthew Henry: “We have here an account of the second day’s work, the creation of the firmament, in which observe, 1. The command of God concerning it: Let their be a firmament, an expansion, so the Hebrew word signifies, like a sheet spread, or a curtain drawn out. This firmament is not a wall of partition, but a way of intercourse…
Job 26:7
He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.
Job 37:18
With Him, have you spread out the skies, Strong as a cast metal mirror?
Psalm 104:3
He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,
Amos 9:6
He who builds His layers in the sky, And has founded His strata in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the face of the earth-- The Lord is His name.
Clay Miller: The firmament is mainly considered the breathable atmosphere God created for us. It is the “first heaven”…the second heaven being outer space and the third heaven being the place where God dwells. In 2 Corinthians 12, where Paul speaks of being caught up to the third heaven, he is speaking of heaven as we normally think of it…the place where God dwells.
I was discussing origins with some friends the other night and we talked about the absurdity of “nothing” creating something. This is what many today believe. And I don’t think they have thought it through as they try to “picture it” happening. There was nothing, and suddenly it…wait…”it”…nothing is not an it. Nothing is nothing. But for arguments sake, they envision nothing suddenly creating something in some space…WAIT! Space? There was no space…there was nothing. And if you ask them why this nothing suddenly created itself…well something caused it to…WAIT! Something? What? What caused nothing to suddenly create itself and where did that something, or force come from? It is absurdity!!!! But who cares! It makes them feel deep and smart and…sophisticated?
God even accounts for space. He created space too. God is incorporeal and does not have to inhabit space. He is self-sufficient. He is Spirit. Too wonderful for you? Too lofty? Ah, that is why He is God and we are not. God is the self-sufficient, self-existing Creator of all else. He created space, and on day two of the creation account, He made a habitable atmosphere for the human race He would crown His creation with. He hung the earth on nothing. He spread out the skies…He did it! His name is The Lord.
Friday, February 19, 2010
God's Megaphone: Creation
February 19, 2010
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Clay Miller: Socinians were best known for their rejection of God’s omniscience (All-knowingness), their claim that Jesus did not exist until he was born into the world, and they rejected the propitiatory view of the atonement. Charnock here informs us that they also denied that nature was effectual evidence of God’s existence. Romans 1:19 makes it clear that God has shown His existence in all men…and I would add…
Psalm 19:1-3
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
…They have the heavens showing His glory, the sky and atmosphere showing his power and creativity; they have succession of days revealing so much including His faithfulness, and they have night after night revealing His amazing knowledge. And there is no place, no people who do not have this megaphone in their lives.
“The Scripture ascribes a knowledge of God to all nations in the world…not only a faculty of knowing, if they had arguments and demonstrations, as an ignorant man in any art hath a faculty to know; but it ascribes an actual knowledge (verse 19) ‘manifest in them’; (Verse 21) ‘They knew God”. “This was a little difficult wording to comprehend but what Charnock was saying is that the Bible not only says we have the faculty to know, like we all have the faculty or ability to do things we do not yet know how to do, but, unlike a mere faculty to know God, we all have actual knowledge of God. It is clear to us all. It is just as sinners, we don’t want it to be…unless God changes our affections.
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Stephen Charnock: “I have spoken the more of this place, because the Socinians use this to decry any natural knowledge of God, and that the existence of God is only to be known by revelation, so that by that reason anyone that lived without the Scripture hath no ground to believe the being of God. The Scripture ascribes a knowledge of God to all nations in the world…
Romans 1:19
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
…not only a faculty of knowing, if they had arguments and demonstrations, as an ignorant man in any art hath a faculty to know; but it ascribes an actual knowledge (verse 19) ‘manifest in them’; (Verse 21) ‘They knew God;’ not they might know him; they knew him when they did not care for knowing him. The notices of God are as intelligible to us by reason, as any object in the world is visible; he is written in every letter.”
Clay Miller: Socinians were best known for their rejection of God’s omniscience (All-knowingness), their claim that Jesus did not exist until he was born into the world, and they rejected the propitiatory view of the atonement. Charnock here informs us that they also denied that nature was effectual evidence of God’s existence. Romans 1:19 makes it clear that God has shown His existence in all men…and I would add…
Psalm 19:1-3
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard.
…They have the heavens showing His glory, the sky and atmosphere showing his power and creativity; they have succession of days revealing so much including His faithfulness, and they have night after night revealing His amazing knowledge. And there is no place, no people who do not have this megaphone in their lives.
“The Scripture ascribes a knowledge of God to all nations in the world…not only a faculty of knowing, if they had arguments and demonstrations, as an ignorant man in any art hath a faculty to know; but it ascribes an actual knowledge (verse 19) ‘manifest in them’; (Verse 21) ‘They knew God”. “This was a little difficult wording to comprehend but what Charnock was saying is that the Bible not only says we have the faculty to know, like we all have the faculty or ability to do things we do not yet know how to do, but, unlike a mere faculty to know God, we all have actual knowledge of God. It is clear to us all. It is just as sinners, we don’t want it to be…unless God changes our affections.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
First Day(s)
February 18, 2010
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Clay Miller: The “new world” Henry is speaking of is the church age, after the resurrection of Christ, which happened on a Sunday. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. It is the day the church sets aside for a God-centered, God-focused time of corporate worship and personal devotion. Sadly, it is now used very little for God. Maybe, just maybe, people go to church, but they give very little of the rest of the day to God. I know I am guilty of this. This is actually a subject that has been on my mind lately and that the time has come to research. Some of the things I want to nail down are why the church replaced the Sabbath, what is acceptable on the Lord’s Day, what kind of devotion should that day be used for, and on a personal level, how can I implement all of it in my life and family? As I go through the Bible verse by verse, and come to this issue, I will comment more and share better thoughts as I gather them together. One thing is for sure…First day’s of this creation and of the Christian era are special.
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Matthew Henry: [Observation #] “6. That this was the first day’s work, and a good day’s work it was. The evening and the morning were the first day. This was not only the first day of the world, but the first day of the week. I observe it to the honour of that day, because the new world began on the first day of the week likewise, in the resurrection of Christ, as the light of the world, early in the morning. In Him the dayspring [dawn] from on high has visited the world.”
Clay Miller: The “new world” Henry is speaking of is the church age, after the resurrection of Christ, which happened on a Sunday. Sunday is the Lord’s Day. It is the day the church sets aside for a God-centered, God-focused time of corporate worship and personal devotion. Sadly, it is now used very little for God. Maybe, just maybe, people go to church, but they give very little of the rest of the day to God. I know I am guilty of this. This is actually a subject that has been on my mind lately and that the time has come to research. Some of the things I want to nail down are why the church replaced the Sabbath, what is acceptable on the Lord’s Day, what kind of devotion should that day be used for, and on a personal level, how can I implement all of it in my life and family? As I go through the Bible verse by verse, and come to this issue, I will comment more and share better thoughts as I gather them together. One thing is for sure…First day’s of this creation and of the Christian era are special.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Is God Good For His Promise?
February 17, 2010
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Clay Miller: Man seeking God in his own way will not be rewarded. The reward that matters is Jesus Christ…knowing God. And God has prescribed how sinful men can know Him. It is by recognition of his sinfulness, and believing on Christ for forgiveness of sin. We come to God only through Jesus. That simply means, we do not come to God on our own merits, but on His merits. But in order to come to Him on Christ’s merits, we must believe Christ died for our sins and that God credits that righteousness to the sinner’s account. True belief bears fruit. Ideas have consequences. Causes have effects. There will be a changed life in a true believer.
Why do people “love” God? True Christians do because of what He has done in and for them. They believe God will keep His promise and reward them with salvation. Knowing this results in a deep love for God. If I knew there was a God but I did not know of His salvation, His reward, of those who put their faith in Christ’s righteousness, I would not love Him…I would hate Him, I would wish He did not exist because I would know I am condemned by Him and without hope. So just believing in God is not enough. I must have the faith He speaks of. Faith that pleases Him. That is not merely faith that He exists. But faith that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. What kind of reward? The fulfillment of His promise to save me in Christ. That is the faith that pleases God.
Here is the point. God has promised a reward to believers. There is no way for sinners to know about or what that reward is unless God reveals it. In Scripture, God reveals the offer and the reward. The next step is loving the reward…having affection and passion for the reward. In order for that to happen the sinner must see the sinfulness of sin, and the amazing grace of the atonement. Two people can read the same gospel and one may not believe it, and the other does. What made the difference? Was the one who accepted God’s offer more sensitive? More loving? Smarter? No. The difference is God opens the heart of the one who believed…which is why he believed. That man will read or hear the gospel, be affected by it, turn from himself to Christ and have a love and passion for Him forever. He believes God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and will seek Him, as He is, for the rest of His life….more later.
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Stephen Charnock: “For it is not a seeking God in any way of man’s invention, that renders him capable of this desired fruit of a reward. He that believes God as a rewarder. Must believe the promise of God concerning the Messiah. Men under the conscience of sin, cannot tell without a divine discovery, whether God will reward, or how he will reward the seekers of him; and therefore cannot acts toward him as an object of faith. Would any man seek God merely because he is, or love him because he is, if he did not know that he should be acceptable to him? The bare existence of a thing is not the ground of affection to it, but those qualities of it and our interest in it, which render it amiable and delightful. How can men, whose consciences fly in their faces, seek God or love him, without this knowledge that he is a rewarder? Nature doth not show any way to a sinner, how to reconcile God’s provoked justice with his tenderness, The faith the apostle speaks of here is a faith that eyes the reward as an encouragement and the will of God as the rule of its acting; he doth not speak simply of the existence of God.”
Clay Miller: Man seeking God in his own way will not be rewarded. The reward that matters is Jesus Christ…knowing God. And God has prescribed how sinful men can know Him. It is by recognition of his sinfulness, and believing on Christ for forgiveness of sin. We come to God only through Jesus. That simply means, we do not come to God on our own merits, but on His merits. But in order to come to Him on Christ’s merits, we must believe Christ died for our sins and that God credits that righteousness to the sinner’s account. True belief bears fruit. Ideas have consequences. Causes have effects. There will be a changed life in a true believer.
Why do people “love” God? True Christians do because of what He has done in and for them. They believe God will keep His promise and reward them with salvation. Knowing this results in a deep love for God. If I knew there was a God but I did not know of His salvation, His reward, of those who put their faith in Christ’s righteousness, I would not love Him…I would hate Him, I would wish He did not exist because I would know I am condemned by Him and without hope. So just believing in God is not enough. I must have the faith He speaks of. Faith that pleases Him. That is not merely faith that He exists. But faith that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. What kind of reward? The fulfillment of His promise to save me in Christ. That is the faith that pleases God.
Here is the point. God has promised a reward to believers. There is no way for sinners to know about or what that reward is unless God reveals it. In Scripture, God reveals the offer and the reward. The next step is loving the reward…having affection and passion for the reward. In order for that to happen the sinner must see the sinfulness of sin, and the amazing grace of the atonement. Two people can read the same gospel and one may not believe it, and the other does. What made the difference? Was the one who accepted God’s offer more sensitive? More loving? Smarter? No. The difference is God opens the heart of the one who believed…which is why he believed. That man will read or hear the gospel, be affected by it, turn from himself to Christ and have a love and passion for Him forever. He believes God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him and will seek Him, as He is, for the rest of His life….more later.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Lord at All Times
February 16, 2010
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Clay Miller: The sun is setting as I type this. Night is coming. Soon I will go to bed. But God stays up. He never sleeps. He has no weakness requiring sleep. He is always strong. He is Lord while I sleep. He is Lord while I am awake. He is Lord when there is understanding (light); He is Lord when there is ignorance and error (darkness); He is Lord when things are just and right in the world (light); He is Lord when injustice is prevailing in the world (darkness). He has His uses for all of it. He is controlling it all. Therefore I can rest in Him.
More and more as I grow older and learn from God’s word and experience which I measure with God’s word, I am learning that every aspect of my life should be God-centered. So what Matthew Henry says here about consecrating both night and day to him, makes sense to me. God established a faithful succession of light and darkness for us…it is a reminder that He is faithful even when we are not. More later…
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Matthew Henry: “[Observe] 5. That God divided them from each other by distinguishing names: He called the light day, and the darkness He called night. He gave them names, as the Lord of both. Let us acknowledge God in the constant succession of day and night and consecrate both to His honour, by working for him every day and resting in him every night.”
Clay Miller: The sun is setting as I type this. Night is coming. Soon I will go to bed. But God stays up. He never sleeps. He has no weakness requiring sleep. He is always strong. He is Lord while I sleep. He is Lord while I am awake. He is Lord when there is understanding (light); He is Lord when there is ignorance and error (darkness); He is Lord when things are just and right in the world (light); He is Lord when injustice is prevailing in the world (darkness). He has His uses for all of it. He is controlling it all. Therefore I can rest in Him.
More and more as I grow older and learn from God’s word and experience which I measure with God’s word, I am learning that every aspect of my life should be God-centered. So what Matthew Henry says here about consecrating both night and day to him, makes sense to me. God established a faithful succession of light and darkness for us…it is a reminder that He is faithful even when we are not. More later…
Monday, February 15, 2010
God is Just and Does Punish Sin; Yet He Justifies Sinners?
February 15, 2010
Clay Miller: Again, I am cutting short of finishing this long paragraph by Charnock…for one, it is long, and two it is loaded with great material. Believing in God does not save; nor does believing Jesus exists. That is a kind of faith that can be called a dead faith when not accompanied by a love and passion for God and Jesus Christ. And something very profound to me that Charnock said was that this love and passion for Him must be the way God appointed, not some market driven, culturally cool, contemporary way. People today try to “please” God in ways they think are, well, more relevant than what God prescribes in His word. So now I see mega churches all over the place, even churches that started with a survey on what people want church to be, rather than caring about what Scripture says church is to be. They say it is more relevant and as long as it is sanctified with the profession of doing it for Jesus it is okay to God. I disagree. The Bible does too. God is to be worshipped and sought through the preaching of the word and in truth and spirit. Not with gimmicks, or fashion, or trends, or coolness…not by toning down messages so as to not preach on who God says He really is. God is worthy of our reverence, out attention to learning His word. The faith He is pleased with is a faith not only grounded in knowing Scripture but also in desiring to know it and to living it out as He has said to. Most people would have no idea what Charnock is talking about when he says that we must believe that God is of the ability and will to justify a sinner in the way he has appointed “for the clearing of the holiness of His nature and vindicating the honor of His law violated by man”.
What he is speaking about is how God can be both just and the justifier of sinners. How can God save a sinner without violating His own holiness? How can He justify a sinner without ignoring the deserved punishment? It would be unjust of God to overlook even one sin. And He is perfectly just. So how does He save us? He punished the sinner’s sin in Christ. Christ took the blow. So the violation of Clay against God was indeed punished. Christ took it for me. So God remains just in punishing sin. And He justified me…declared me not guilty! This is the faith He has granted me and effected a passion and love for Him above all. True faith must believe that this reward is true for those who believe. More later…
Stephen Charnock: “The apostle speaks of the faith of Abel, the faith of Enoch, such a faith that pleases God: but the faith of Abel testified in his sacrifice, and the faith of Enoch testified in his walking with God, was not simply a faith of the existence of God. Cain in the time of Abel, other in men in the world in the time of Enoch, believed this as well as they: but it was a faith joined with the worship of God, and desires to please Him in the way of His own appointment; so that they believed that God was such as He had declared Himself to be in His promise to Adam, such an one as would be as good as His word, and bruise the serpent’s head. He that seeks to God according to the mind of God, must believe that He is such a God that will pardon sin, and justify a seeker of Him; that He is a God of that ability and will, to justify a sinner in that way he hath appointed for the clearing of the holiness of His nature, and vindicating the honor of His law violated by man. No man can seek God or love God, unless He believe Him to be thus; and he cannot seek God without a discovery of His own mind how He would be sought…”
Clay Miller: Again, I am cutting short of finishing this long paragraph by Charnock…for one, it is long, and two it is loaded with great material. Believing in God does not save; nor does believing Jesus exists. That is a kind of faith that can be called a dead faith when not accompanied by a love and passion for God and Jesus Christ. And something very profound to me that Charnock said was that this love and passion for Him must be the way God appointed, not some market driven, culturally cool, contemporary way. People today try to “please” God in ways they think are, well, more relevant than what God prescribes in His word. So now I see mega churches all over the place, even churches that started with a survey on what people want church to be, rather than caring about what Scripture says church is to be. They say it is more relevant and as long as it is sanctified with the profession of doing it for Jesus it is okay to God. I disagree. The Bible does too. God is to be worshipped and sought through the preaching of the word and in truth and spirit. Not with gimmicks, or fashion, or trends, or coolness…not by toning down messages so as to not preach on who God says He really is. God is worthy of our reverence, out attention to learning His word. The faith He is pleased with is a faith not only grounded in knowing Scripture but also in desiring to know it and to living it out as He has said to. Most people would have no idea what Charnock is talking about when he says that we must believe that God is of the ability and will to justify a sinner in the way he has appointed “for the clearing of the holiness of His nature and vindicating the honor of His law violated by man”.
What he is speaking about is how God can be both just and the justifier of sinners. How can God save a sinner without violating His own holiness? How can He justify a sinner without ignoring the deserved punishment? It would be unjust of God to overlook even one sin. And He is perfectly just. So how does He save us? He punished the sinner’s sin in Christ. Christ took the blow. So the violation of Clay against God was indeed punished. Christ took it for me. So God remains just in punishing sin. And He justified me…declared me not guilty! This is the faith He has granted me and effected a passion and love for Him above all. True faith must believe that this reward is true for those who believe. More later…
Friday, February 12, 2010
Trials Can Be Bible Study
February 12, 2010
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Clay Miller: First, nothing in Genesis 1 would give any indication that each day was anything more than a 24 hour cycle that we experience to this day. The only way anyone would come to this conclusion is if they were trying to force some kind of pet evolutionary theory onto the account. On the contrary, it clearly states there was evening and morning…a regular day. Added to that, any time a number precedes this term for day, it always reflects the regular solar day. This was the “first” day. And it does not matter that the sun was not created until the 4th day. Whatever the light was, it had its time in a regular cycle and three days later was replaced with the sun. God could have created all six days worth of work in a less than a nanosecond, but He had a purpose, part of which was to establish what the entire world recognizes as “the week”.
Second, In the same way physical light and darkness take turns and have their uses…so in the spiritual sense, or in life in general. God has His purpose for times of darkness in our lives. He uses afflictions, dark times, to teach us. I have often said that difficulties are Bible study…because many times our trials are exegeting Scripture (drawing the meaning out of texts). And then in another sense, light and darkness can illustrate productive times and restful times. Both have their place and both are needed faithfully.
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Matthew Henry: “4. [Observe] That God divided the light from the darkness. Yet he divided time between them, the day for light and the night for darkness, in a constant and regular succession to each other. Though the darkness was now scattered by the light, yet it takes its turn with the light, and has its place, because is has its use; for, as the light of the morning befriends the business of the day, so the shadows of the evening befriend the repose [calmness] of the night, and draw the curtains about us, that we may sleep the better.”
Clay Miller: First, nothing in Genesis 1 would give any indication that each day was anything more than a 24 hour cycle that we experience to this day. The only way anyone would come to this conclusion is if they were trying to force some kind of pet evolutionary theory onto the account. On the contrary, it clearly states there was evening and morning…a regular day. Added to that, any time a number precedes this term for day, it always reflects the regular solar day. This was the “first” day. And it does not matter that the sun was not created until the 4th day. Whatever the light was, it had its time in a regular cycle and three days later was replaced with the sun. God could have created all six days worth of work in a less than a nanosecond, but He had a purpose, part of which was to establish what the entire world recognizes as “the week”.
Second, In the same way physical light and darkness take turns and have their uses…so in the spiritual sense, or in life in general. God has His purpose for times of darkness in our lives. He uses afflictions, dark times, to teach us. I have often said that difficulties are Bible study…because many times our trials are exegeting Scripture (drawing the meaning out of texts). And then in another sense, light and darkness can illustrate productive times and restful times. Both have their place and both are needed faithfully.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
It Is Evident
February 11, 2010
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Clay Miller: There are some things reason tells us we must believe based on faith. Science cannot answer such things. Where did life begin? What was eternal? How did that eternal thing (or person) effect what we see existing today? I really do not care that “scientists” call me unsophisticated for being consistent when they are all over the place with their really corny theories and assumptions. I don’t have to say, “I don’t believe it is possible for that 80 story building to have evolved itself into the perfect functioning facility it is today, that is ridiculous”, and then in the same breath say, but this infinitely more complex universe and all that is in it with its synergy and interdependence, did evolve from nothing into what it is today by itself, by chance.” That is telling. So call me what you will, but at least I don’t apply different rules to reason in order to support a pet theory. It is plain and evident that God exists. He created to show this existence. It is infallible evidence.
I liked Charnock’s description of God’s power displayed…God revealing “sparks” of His power in what He created. All this massive universe and its energy is just a spark of His power.
We can go far in knowing something of God and His existence by creation alone…but we can only go so far. We need Scripture to fill in necessary blanks, to tell us more about the character of this Creator. When we get to this point, we have to believe by faith, because we cannot see such things physically, and the evidences of some characteristics of God can obviously be misinterpreted to cast doubt on Him or to turn people against Him. For example, God is love, yet when we see suffering in the world, the skeptic is quick to cast dispersion on God’s character. We may not see “love” as we think it is, but we do believe He is love and has a purpose that will work to our better end…because He is faithful too! We would have a hard time deducing that from nature alone. So Scripture takes us above our natural understanding. So of course we believe some things by faith. We are not God and do not claim to be. But then, neither is the naturalistic evolutionist who believes by faith (because he was not there in the beginning and cannot replicate it) that the world created itself. More later…I stopped in the middle of a paragraph on Charnock’s part because it was super long…
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: “For, 1. God in regard of His existence is not only the discovery of faith, but of reason. God hath revealed not only his being, but some sparks of his eternal power and godhead in his works, as well as in his word…
Romans 1:19-20
“…because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…”
…’God hath showed it unto them,’—how? In his works; by the things that are made, it is a discovery to our reason, as shining in the creatures and an object of our faith as breaking out upon us in the Scriptures: It is an article of our faith, and an article of our reason. Faith supposeth natural knowledge, as grace supposeth nature. Faith indeed is properly of things above reason, purely depending upon revelation. What can be demonstrated by natural light, is not so properly the object of faith; though in regard of the addition of a certainty by revelation it is so. The belief that God is, which the apostle speaks of…
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
…is not so much of the bare existence of God, as what God is in relation to them that seek him, viz [namely] a rewarder.”
Clay Miller: There are some things reason tells us we must believe based on faith. Science cannot answer such things. Where did life begin? What was eternal? How did that eternal thing (or person) effect what we see existing today? I really do not care that “scientists” call me unsophisticated for being consistent when they are all over the place with their really corny theories and assumptions. I don’t have to say, “I don’t believe it is possible for that 80 story building to have evolved itself into the perfect functioning facility it is today, that is ridiculous”, and then in the same breath say, but this infinitely more complex universe and all that is in it with its synergy and interdependence, did evolve from nothing into what it is today by itself, by chance.” That is telling. So call me what you will, but at least I don’t apply different rules to reason in order to support a pet theory. It is plain and evident that God exists. He created to show this existence. It is infallible evidence.
I liked Charnock’s description of God’s power displayed…God revealing “sparks” of His power in what He created. All this massive universe and its energy is just a spark of His power.
We can go far in knowing something of God and His existence by creation alone…but we can only go so far. We need Scripture to fill in necessary blanks, to tell us more about the character of this Creator. When we get to this point, we have to believe by faith, because we cannot see such things physically, and the evidences of some characteristics of God can obviously be misinterpreted to cast doubt on Him or to turn people against Him. For example, God is love, yet when we see suffering in the world, the skeptic is quick to cast dispersion on God’s character. We may not see “love” as we think it is, but we do believe He is love and has a purpose that will work to our better end…because He is faithful too! We would have a hard time deducing that from nature alone. So Scripture takes us above our natural understanding. So of course we believe some things by faith. We are not God and do not claim to be. But then, neither is the naturalistic evolutionist who believes by faith (because he was not there in the beginning and cannot replicate it) that the world created itself. More later…I stopped in the middle of a paragraph on Charnock’s part because it was super long…
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
"Let There Be Light" is a Big Deal!
February 10, 2010
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Clay Miller: If you consider light, what it is, what it does, and how it is useful, this passage suddenly becomes a big deal. Tonight I met with my friends Aron and Jim. We meet each Wednesday night and are studying through issues with books supplementing us. It is an accountability/study time. We are going through Battle for the Beginning by John MacArthur. Tonight’s reading was about this passage and MacArthur gave several interesting, though complex to my mind, facts about light. Here are some:
1. Physicists struggle to explain light. It has characteristics of particles and waves. Light photons behave like particles. Sort of like dust except dust has volume and light photons do not. These photons move at a measurable velocity and this is where we get the idea of the speed of light.
2. Light also has the characteristics of a wave with variable frequencies. In waves, energy is transferred from point to point without the transfer of matter. So this is different from particles which transfer energy with the transfer of matter.
3. Light is a form of energy. It is essentially electromagnetic radiation with frequencies. There are long wave radiation, radio waves, microwaves, and infrared rays at the high end…with ultra violet rays, gamma radiation and X-rays at the low end. The middle is visible light with all the colors. Without light, there are no colors.
4. Did you listen to the radio today? If you did you were listening to a signal that was using technology that was taking advantage of the properties of light. There are short wave frequencies that travel vast distances, and long wave frequencies (FM) that are more localized.
That is just a few details. The point is, “God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light” is a BIG DEAL and a very intelligent, powerful act. I may never read this passage again without thinking “wow”! Yes light was “very good.” And light is absolutely necessary for us to be sustained…yet God is not sustained by light but sustains light. Light is complex indeed, and powerful beyond comprehension…but it is harnessed and controlled by God…so How complex and powerful must He be!
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Matthew Henry: [Observe] 3. That the light which God willed when it was produced, He approved of: ‘God saw the light, that it was very good’. If the light is good, how good is He that is the fountain of light, from whom we receive it.
Clay Miller: If you consider light, what it is, what it does, and how it is useful, this passage suddenly becomes a big deal. Tonight I met with my friends Aron and Jim. We meet each Wednesday night and are studying through issues with books supplementing us. It is an accountability/study time. We are going through Battle for the Beginning by John MacArthur. Tonight’s reading was about this passage and MacArthur gave several interesting, though complex to my mind, facts about light. Here are some:
1. Physicists struggle to explain light. It has characteristics of particles and waves. Light photons behave like particles. Sort of like dust except dust has volume and light photons do not. These photons move at a measurable velocity and this is where we get the idea of the speed of light.
2. Light also has the characteristics of a wave with variable frequencies. In waves, energy is transferred from point to point without the transfer of matter. So this is different from particles which transfer energy with the transfer of matter.
3. Light is a form of energy. It is essentially electromagnetic radiation with frequencies. There are long wave radiation, radio waves, microwaves, and infrared rays at the high end…with ultra violet rays, gamma radiation and X-rays at the low end. The middle is visible light with all the colors. Without light, there are no colors.
4. Did you listen to the radio today? If you did you were listening to a signal that was using technology that was taking advantage of the properties of light. There are short wave frequencies that travel vast distances, and long wave frequencies (FM) that are more localized.
That is just a few details. The point is, “God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light” is a BIG DEAL and a very intelligent, powerful act. I may never read this passage again without thinking “wow”! Yes light was “very good.” And light is absolutely necessary for us to be sustained…yet God is not sustained by light but sustains light. Light is complex indeed, and powerful beyond comprehension…but it is harnessed and controlled by God…so How complex and powerful must He be!
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Usefulness of the Evidence of God Around Us
February 8, 2010
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Clay Miller: It is good for me to note the evidences of God’s existence daily. It is sweet to see creation justify His Being. It causes me to wonder…to ponder on things about Him. It keeps me from sin. That last phrase of the first paragraph, “will dash their pleasure with unwelcome mixtures” made me wish I had a commentary on this book. What was he saying? I came up with two things…One, he is transitioning from the sweetness of the evidences of God to a believer to the bothersome nature of the evidences of God to unbelievers. It is a big damper when a sinner is reveling in sin, and he is reminded of a God that exists that will hold him accountable for his sin. Two, he is speaking of a believer who is sinning and reminded of God’s presence. This brings a violent battle to the Christian mind. So, either way, these evidences of God in our reasoning is useful.
God gave us two books so to speak…Natural revelation and Special revelation. Natural revelation is the world we inhabit with all its creatures. These speaks loudly to the existence of God. Special revelation is the Bible…Scriptures. This declares who the evident God is and what He is like. The Bible is the only book that makes sense of not only the physical origins and nature of our existence, but also the spiritual purposes for those creatures by the designer we know has to be there. More later.
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: “Nor is it unuseful to those who effectually believe and love him; for those who have had a converse with God, and felt His powerful influences in the secrets of their hearts, to take a prospect of those satisfactory accounts which reason gives of that God they adore and love; to see every creature justify them in their owning of Him, and affections to Him: indeed the evidences of a God striking upon the conscience of those who resolve to cleave to sin as their chiefest darling, will dash their pleasures with unwelcome mixtures.
I will further premise this, that the folly of atheism is evidenced by the light of reason. Men that will not listen to Scripture, as having no counterpart of it in their souls, cannot easily deny natural reason, which riseth up on all sides for the justification of this truth. There is a natural as well as a revealed knowledge and the book of the creatures is legible in declaring the being of God, as well as the Scriptures are in declaring the nature of a God; there are outward objects in the world, and common principles in the conscience, whence it may be inferred.”
Clay Miller: It is good for me to note the evidences of God’s existence daily. It is sweet to see creation justify His Being. It causes me to wonder…to ponder on things about Him. It keeps me from sin. That last phrase of the first paragraph, “will dash their pleasure with unwelcome mixtures” made me wish I had a commentary on this book. What was he saying? I came up with two things…One, he is transitioning from the sweetness of the evidences of God to a believer to the bothersome nature of the evidences of God to unbelievers. It is a big damper when a sinner is reveling in sin, and he is reminded of a God that exists that will hold him accountable for his sin. Two, he is speaking of a believer who is sinning and reminded of God’s presence. This brings a violent battle to the Christian mind. So, either way, these evidences of God in our reasoning is useful.
God gave us two books so to speak…Natural revelation and Special revelation. Natural revelation is the world we inhabit with all its creatures. These speaks loudly to the existence of God. Special revelation is the Bible…Scriptures. This declares who the evident God is and what He is like. The Bible is the only book that makes sense of not only the physical origins and nature of our existence, but also the spiritual purposes for those creatures by the designer we know has to be there. More later.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Creation and New Creation Parallel
February 7, 2010
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Clay Miller: Nothing supernatural in Scripture should surprise us after we learn from the very beginning the power of God. This first chapter is more designed to demonstrate the God we are dealing with than it is to merely inform us of origins. God can do whatever He pleases.
Jesus is God. Read John 1 and Hebrews 1. Those among many other passages clearly demonstrate the deity of Christ…which is why Scripture also speaks of worshipping Jesus and it does so without a blush. He is God.
The act of creation is a physical metaphor, or analogy of what God does to a dead soul. The soul is without form and void…purposeless…and God says, “Let there be light and there is light shining in our hearts giving us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!.
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Matthew Henry: “[Observe] That the light was made by the word of God’s power. He said ‘let there be light’; He willed and appointed it, and it was done immediately. The word of God is quick and powerful. Christ is the Word, the essential eternal Word, and by Him the light was produced, for ‘in Him was light, and he is the true light, the light of the world’…
John 1:9
“That was the true light which gives light to every man coming into the world”
John 9:5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
The divine light which shines in sanctified souls is wrought by the power of God, giving the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ, as, at first, ‘God commanded the light to shine out of darkness’…
2 Corinthians 4:6
‘For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.’ “
Clay Miller: Nothing supernatural in Scripture should surprise us after we learn from the very beginning the power of God. This first chapter is more designed to demonstrate the God we are dealing with than it is to merely inform us of origins. God can do whatever He pleases.
Jesus is God. Read John 1 and Hebrews 1. Those among many other passages clearly demonstrate the deity of Christ…which is why Scripture also speaks of worshipping Jesus and it does so without a blush. He is God.
The act of creation is a physical metaphor, or analogy of what God does to a dead soul. The soul is without form and void…purposeless…and God says, “Let there be light and there is light shining in our hearts giving us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Of Course They Would Do This.
February 6, 2010
S“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Clay Miller: We all operate on the principle of happiness. The problem is our hearts are corrupt and we think happiness is found in something created rather than the Creator Himself. That is our nature. So we very naturally begin to try to explain away the evident existence of God. No matter what we see, we refuse to believe, or really, to admit there is a God…or at least the God of the Bible to whom we must give account of our lives.
We do not naturally love God. So, what would a person in a world God created, who does not love God, do? He would try to convince himself that God is an illusion, not real…or, he would try to make up a God that is acceptable to himself. Both ways deny God.
This is all to say that, of course sinners will deny the God of the Bible. What else can they do to feel good about going on in their sin? They love sin more than God but are not willing to admit that they could be so corrupt as to make such a choice…so they deny Him altogether or they make up a god who is “cool” with what they do. This is the world we live in. This is the culture we are called to engage. May God do mighty things in the hearts of those we speak to!
S“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: “It is necessary to depress that secret atheism which is in the heart of every man by nature. Though every visible object which offers itself to our sense, presents a deity to our minds, and exhorts us to subscribe to the truth of it; yet there is a root of atheism springing up sometimes in wavering thoughts and foolish imaginations, inordinate actions, and secret wishes. Certain it is that every man that doth not love God, denies God; now can he that disaffects Him, and hath a slavish fear of Him, wish His existence, and say to his own heart with any cheerfulness there is a God, and make it his chief care to persuade himself of it? He would persuade himself there is no God, and stifle the seeds of it in his reason and conscience, that he might have the greatest liberty to entertain the allurements of the flesh. It is necessary to excite men to daily and actual considerations of God and his nature, which would be a bar to much of that wickedness which overflows in the lives of me.”
Clay Miller: We all operate on the principle of happiness. The problem is our hearts are corrupt and we think happiness is found in something created rather than the Creator Himself. That is our nature. So we very naturally begin to try to explain away the evident existence of God. No matter what we see, we refuse to believe, or really, to admit there is a God…or at least the God of the Bible to whom we must give account of our lives.
We do not naturally love God. So, what would a person in a world God created, who does not love God, do? He would try to convince himself that God is an illusion, not real…or, he would try to make up a God that is acceptable to himself. Both ways deny God.
This is all to say that, of course sinners will deny the God of the Bible. What else can they do to feel good about going on in their sin? They love sin more than God but are not willing to admit that they could be so corrupt as to make such a choice…so they deny Him altogether or they make up a god who is “cool” with what they do. This is the world we live in. This is the culture we are called to engage. May God do mighty things in the hearts of those we speak to!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Light and Darkness
February 4, 2010
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Clay Miller: Light is an amazing thing. For a great condensed treatment of light, I would recommend John MacArthur’s book “Battle for the Beginning” and the chapter on these passages. While light is complex, and a mystery in many ways, it is quite simply why our eyes can perceive images. Without it, we are in the dark, which is why the terms light and dark are often used in Scripture to refer to knowledge (light) and error/falsehood (darkness). The terms are also used to describe purity/holiness (light) vs. sin/wickedness (darkness). Without light, spiritually speaking, we are in the dark, in error, in sin. God shines the light into our hearts and we see the truth and the beauty of it. We gain knowledge of God and are made holy (positionally) and are sanctified (practically becoming more holy with time).
So when Matthew Henry says the first thing wrought in the soul is light, he is saying that God turns on the power that was off that was preventing us from seeing the irresistible beauty of Jesus Christ. He literally awakens the soul, gives sight to the spiritually blinded man/woman. This is regeneration. It precedes faith. It is the act in which the Holy Spirit makes us alive, who were once dead, to the things of God. It is effectual. It is the great convincing knowledge implanted into our hearts and will. This is my testimony. I was once in darkness, and through the truth of the gospel, God shone His saving effectual knowledge into my mind and being and made me to see Him for the worth and great Being He truly was. This is the meaning of being born again. More later…
Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Matthew Henry: “We have here a further account of the first day’s work, in which observe, 1. That the first of all visible beings which God created was light, that by it we might see his works and his glory in them, and might work our works while it is day. Light is the great beauty and blessing of the universe. In the new creation, the first thing wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit captivates the will and affections by enlightening the understanding. Those that by sin were darkness by grace become light in the world.”
Clay Miller: Light is an amazing thing. For a great condensed treatment of light, I would recommend John MacArthur’s book “Battle for the Beginning” and the chapter on these passages. While light is complex, and a mystery in many ways, it is quite simply why our eyes can perceive images. Without it, we are in the dark, which is why the terms light and dark are often used in Scripture to refer to knowledge (light) and error/falsehood (darkness). The terms are also used to describe purity/holiness (light) vs. sin/wickedness (darkness). Without light, spiritually speaking, we are in the dark, in error, in sin. God shines the light into our hearts and we see the truth and the beauty of it. We gain knowledge of God and are made holy (positionally) and are sanctified (practically becoming more holy with time).
So when Matthew Henry says the first thing wrought in the soul is light, he is saying that God turns on the power that was off that was preventing us from seeing the irresistible beauty of Jesus Christ. He literally awakens the soul, gives sight to the spiritually blinded man/woman. This is regeneration. It precedes faith. It is the act in which the Holy Spirit makes us alive, who were once dead, to the things of God. It is effectual. It is the great convincing knowledge implanted into our hearts and will. This is my testimony. I was once in darkness, and through the truth of the gospel, God shone His saving effectual knowledge into my mind and being and made me to see Him for the worth and great Being He truly was. This is the meaning of being born again. More later…
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Truth Matters: Think It Through For Yourself
February 3, 2010
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Clay Miller: I went through a time, in my early 20’s where I began to ask myself why I believed what I did. I was frustrated with the way churches operated. I was frustrated with the lack of commitment by church members. I was frustrated especially by the indifference of church people in the area of defending what they said they believed. I could not defend much. I was taught verses here and there to defend certain things, but when someone brought up other passages that seemed to teach something different, I was confused. I totally believed the Bible was the word of God (an issue I would deal with during that time too) which means I totally believed in God. But I just didn’t believe that things were right where I was going at the time…that testimony is for another day. I almost gave up. But God, in His providence, led me to read a book my old youth minister had given me when he was concerned I might be getting into the health/wealth, name-it-claim-it, prosperity heresy…which I was a little at the time. He had given me that book years before…for some reason, near quitting, I read it, of all books. It was an eye opener for one reason…I saw for the first time that Christianity had real answers and there were reasons that some disagreements were really important, even to the point of disqualifying certain systems as heretical. For the first time, I learned about apologetics.
This peaked my curiosity and I began to search out more information. I resolved to read my Bible again with a more focused deliberation and to accept what it taught, but not to let any system with contradictions be acceptable. This was hard for me. I am not what you would call intellectual. But God was taking a simple minded person and showing me things I knew were there, but people had explained away, and He was convincing me of those truths. I found myself making sense of the Bible more than ever and I found that everyone has a system with a name, whether they know that or not. Contradictions bothered me. But the one system I found that I truly believe is consistent throughout is reformed theology…and I am speaking in the areas of justification, sovereignty of God, and the depravity of man especially. Now I can say I thought for myself my worldview. I don’t believe it just because my parents taught me, though they were used by God tremendously. I don’t believe what I believe because my youth pastor or other pastors told me to…though God used them greatly as well in many ways. And I do not believe because my friends do…I lost most all of my friends because of my beliefs, though God brought me great like-minded friends immediately.
I really think everyone should consider/think through why they believe what they believe and force themselves to honestly think it through and while they may have to accept some hard truths and humbling truths, they should not accept blatant, unexplainable contradictions. We will not be saved because we are riding the coattails of our parents or teachers or friends. As the illustration goes…just because you are born in a garage, it does not make you a car. Just because you are born into a Christian home, it does not make you a Christian…And just because you were raised to think one way, that does not mean it is right. May God help us all to see truth. Truth matters.
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: “It is fit we should know why we believe, that our belief of a God may appear to be upon undeniable evidence, and that we may give a better reason for His existence than that we have heard our parents and teachers tell us so, and our acquaintance think so. It is as much as to say there is no God, when we know not why we believe there is, and would not consider arguments for his existence.”
Clay Miller: I went through a time, in my early 20’s where I began to ask myself why I believed what I did. I was frustrated with the way churches operated. I was frustrated with the lack of commitment by church members. I was frustrated especially by the indifference of church people in the area of defending what they said they believed. I could not defend much. I was taught verses here and there to defend certain things, but when someone brought up other passages that seemed to teach something different, I was confused. I totally believed the Bible was the word of God (an issue I would deal with during that time too) which means I totally believed in God. But I just didn’t believe that things were right where I was going at the time…that testimony is for another day. I almost gave up. But God, in His providence, led me to read a book my old youth minister had given me when he was concerned I might be getting into the health/wealth, name-it-claim-it, prosperity heresy…which I was a little at the time. He had given me that book years before…for some reason, near quitting, I read it, of all books. It was an eye opener for one reason…I saw for the first time that Christianity had real answers and there were reasons that some disagreements were really important, even to the point of disqualifying certain systems as heretical. For the first time, I learned about apologetics.
This peaked my curiosity and I began to search out more information. I resolved to read my Bible again with a more focused deliberation and to accept what it taught, but not to let any system with contradictions be acceptable. This was hard for me. I am not what you would call intellectual. But God was taking a simple minded person and showing me things I knew were there, but people had explained away, and He was convincing me of those truths. I found myself making sense of the Bible more than ever and I found that everyone has a system with a name, whether they know that or not. Contradictions bothered me. But the one system I found that I truly believe is consistent throughout is reformed theology…and I am speaking in the areas of justification, sovereignty of God, and the depravity of man especially. Now I can say I thought for myself my worldview. I don’t believe it just because my parents taught me, though they were used by God tremendously. I don’t believe what I believe because my youth pastor or other pastors told me to…though God used them greatly as well in many ways. And I do not believe because my friends do…I lost most all of my friends because of my beliefs, though God brought me great like-minded friends immediately.
I really think everyone should consider/think through why they believe what they believe and force themselves to honestly think it through and while they may have to accept some hard truths and humbling truths, they should not accept blatant, unexplainable contradictions. We will not be saved because we are riding the coattails of our parents or teachers or friends. As the illustration goes…just because you are born in a garage, it does not make you a car. Just because you are born into a Christian home, it does not make you a Christian…And just because you were raised to think one way, that does not mean it is right. May God help us all to see truth. Truth matters.
To Those Who Read
I would love to know you read these from time to time...I get visitors and have a tracker on here that tells me sometimes where visitors are from...I obviously have no one following the BLOG but myself so it is nice to know you stopped by. Feel free to leave a note letting me know where you are from. It is interesting to me. Have a blessed day.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Dead is Dead
February 2, 2010
Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form [tohu] and void [bohu]. and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Matthew Henry pointed out the account we have here of the first matter and the first mover. The comments on the account of the first matter can be found on the January 31st 2010 entry. This entry will deal with the account we have here of the first mover.
Clay Miller: God created every measure of seemingly endless space and created all the matter that inhabits that space. That is a big deal. There was no force outside of God that He used, nor was there a force He had to work against. He alone existed before there was anything else. The Holy Spirit makes an entrance onto the scene of Scripture pretty quickly as the first mover…the force that acted on the creation. And what did He do? He set them into existence and set them in order. This is a pretty powerful act (understatement). And it is a beautiful picture of the Spirit’s activity on that which is otherwise dead…and shows us in a physical picture, what He does to a spiritually dead person when that person becomes what the Bible calls a new creation…
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
…I am in Christ because I am a new creation…but who is the Creator here? Whose new creation am I? Did I create my new spiritual self? Or, did God create my new spiritual self? I cannot and will not take credit for being in Christ because God tells me I am in Christ because of Him, not me…
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
…So in the same way the Spirit moved upon dead, inanimate matter at the beginning of time, so He must move upon a dead spirit in order for it to move and have life. Now, someone may be thinking or asking about what I mean by a dead spirit. If we are alive, is not our spirit alive? Yes and no. It is alive, but it is a corrupt spirit and so there is a sense in which it is dead…it is dead to God. It is dead to sensitivity to loving God truly as He is and as He is worthy to be loved. The Bible describes our condition as being “dead in sin”. Dead! Not drowning, not dying, but dead. A corpse is unresponsive. You can kick it, woo it, scream at it, sing to it, etc…but it is dead. And unless God intervenes and awakens it, so that it can and will respond to outside stimulus, it will remain dead. This is our spiritual condition.
The good news is God is the source of life in the first place. He is the one who animated this universe, gave it its energy and breathed life into its creatures. So this passage, as Henry notes is really a faith-building encouragement that God can make alive any dead matter, including the human spirit that is dead to Him. He must do it if one is to be saved. And when He does it, the new life responds to His call. God is an all-powerful amazing God.
Genesis 1:1-2
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was without form [tohu] and void [bohu]. and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Matthew Henry pointed out the account we have here of the first matter and the first mover. The comments on the account of the first matter can be found on the January 31st 2010 entry. This entry will deal with the account we have here of the first mover.
Matthew Henry: “The Spirit of God was the first mover: He moved upon the face of the waters. The Spirit of God begins to work, and if He works, who or what shall hinder? God is said to make the world by His Spirit…
Psalm 33:6
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth
Job 26:13
By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
…and by the same mighty worker the new creation is effected. He moved upon the face of the deep. God is not only the author of all being, but the fountain of life and spring of motion. Dead matter would be forever dead if He did not quicken it. And this makes it credible to us that God should raise the dead.”
Clay Miller: God created every measure of seemingly endless space and created all the matter that inhabits that space. That is a big deal. There was no force outside of God that He used, nor was there a force He had to work against. He alone existed before there was anything else. The Holy Spirit makes an entrance onto the scene of Scripture pretty quickly as the first mover…the force that acted on the creation. And what did He do? He set them into existence and set them in order. This is a pretty powerful act (understatement). And it is a beautiful picture of the Spirit’s activity on that which is otherwise dead…and shows us in a physical picture, what He does to a spiritually dead person when that person becomes what the Bible calls a new creation…
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
…I am in Christ because I am a new creation…but who is the Creator here? Whose new creation am I? Did I create my new spiritual self? Or, did God create my new spiritual self? I cannot and will not take credit for being in Christ because God tells me I am in Christ because of Him, not me…
1 Corinthians 1:30
But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption
…So in the same way the Spirit moved upon dead, inanimate matter at the beginning of time, so He must move upon a dead spirit in order for it to move and have life. Now, someone may be thinking or asking about what I mean by a dead spirit. If we are alive, is not our spirit alive? Yes and no. It is alive, but it is a corrupt spirit and so there is a sense in which it is dead…it is dead to God. It is dead to sensitivity to loving God truly as He is and as He is worthy to be loved. The Bible describes our condition as being “dead in sin”. Dead! Not drowning, not dying, but dead. A corpse is unresponsive. You can kick it, woo it, scream at it, sing to it, etc…but it is dead. And unless God intervenes and awakens it, so that it can and will respond to outside stimulus, it will remain dead. This is our spiritual condition.
The good news is God is the source of life in the first place. He is the one who animated this universe, gave it its energy and breathed life into its creatures. So this passage, as Henry notes is really a faith-building encouragement that God can make alive any dead matter, including the human spirit that is dead to Him. He must do it if one is to be saved. And when He does it, the new life responds to His call. God is an all-powerful amazing God.
Monday, February 1, 2010
God Defines God
February 1, 2010
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Clay Miller: I guess it is safe to say we live in a tottering culture. Most of much of what is taught today is built on athiestical foundations and man has replaced God as the center. When the true and only foundation is replaced with anything else, it is like building a house on a sandy beach. It won’t stand the scrutiny of rational thought. Most such arguments (foundations) are self-refuting.
I am glad Charnock mentioned the essential nature of God’s eternality. God defines God. This is where many religious groups build on a wrong foundation. There are teachings within so-called Christianity that teaches that we are little gods, and of course Mormonism teaches that God was once as we are now and they will become gods themselves. This is impossible on two accounts: One, God is eternal:
Deuteronomy 32:27
The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!'
1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 9:14
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
1 Chronicles 16:36
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And all the people said, "Amen!" and praised the Lord.
Psalm 41:13
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen
Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Habakkuk 1:12
Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
Hebrews 7:3
without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Two, no one is not from everlasting can suddenly be from everlasting. There is one God. “I am the first and I am the last, apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6). No one can become God.
“We must first believe that he is, and that he is what he declares himself to be, before we can seek him, adore him, and devote our affections to him”—If you are seeking a god who is not the God that has revealed Himself in the Bible, and not seeking Him as He is, you are seeking another god…which does not exist. This is why understanding the attributes of God goes very far in how we interpret the rest of Scripture. Hopefully this will become more and more clear as we continue this study of the Existence and Attributes of God.
“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: The existence of God is the foundation of all religion. The whole building totters if the foundation be out of course: if we have not deliberate and right notions of it, we shall perform no worship, no service, yield no affection to him. If there be not a God, it is impossible there can be one, for eternity is essential to the notion of a God; so all religion would be vain, and unreasonable to pay homage to that which is not in being, nor can ever be. We must first believe that he is, and that he is what he declares himself to be, before we can seek him, adore him, and devote our affections to him…
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
…We cannot pay God a due and regular homage, unless we understand him in his perfections, what he is; and we can pay him no homage at all, unless we believe that he is.”
Clay Miller: I guess it is safe to say we live in a tottering culture. Most of much of what is taught today is built on athiestical foundations and man has replaced God as the center. When the true and only foundation is replaced with anything else, it is like building a house on a sandy beach. It won’t stand the scrutiny of rational thought. Most such arguments (foundations) are self-refuting.
I am glad Charnock mentioned the essential nature of God’s eternality. God defines God. This is where many religious groups build on a wrong foundation. There are teachings within so-called Christianity that teaches that we are little gods, and of course Mormonism teaches that God was once as we are now and they will become gods themselves. This is impossible on two accounts: One, God is eternal:
Deuteronomy 32:27
The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!'
1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Hebrews 9:14
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
1 Chronicles 16:36
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! And all the people said, "Amen!" and praised the Lord.
Psalm 41:13
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel From everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen
Psalm 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Habakkuk 1:12
Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
Hebrews 7:3
without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.
Two, no one is not from everlasting can suddenly be from everlasting. There is one God. “I am the first and I am the last, apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6). No one can become God.
“We must first believe that he is, and that he is what he declares himself to be, before we can seek him, adore him, and devote our affections to him”—If you are seeking a god who is not the God that has revealed Himself in the Bible, and not seeking Him as He is, you are seeking another god…which does not exist. This is why understanding the attributes of God goes very far in how we interpret the rest of Scripture. Hopefully this will become more and more clear as we continue this study of the Existence and Attributes of God.
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