Gen 15:1-21 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Don't be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." Abram said, "Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, seeing I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" Abram said, "Behold, to me you have given no seed: and, behold, one born in my house is my heir." Behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir, but he who will come forth out of your own body will be your heir."
Yahweh brought him outside, and said, "Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." He said to Abram, "So shall your seed be." He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
He said to him, "I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it." He said, "Lord Yahweh, how will I know that I will inherit it?" He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." He brought him all of these, and divided them in the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he didn't divide the birds. The birds of prey came down on the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.
When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him. He said to Abram, "Know for sure that your seed will live as foreigners in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them. They will afflict them four hundred years. I will also judge that nation, whom they will serve. Afterward they will come out with great wealth, but you will go to your fathers in peace. You will be buried in a good old age. In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."
It came to pass that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. In that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
It is very easy to read over this account and miss something important, something which speaks to the reason Abraham believed God. If you are like me, you probably think that when God tells Abraham to go out and count the stars, that Abraham went out, looked up at the night sky, and upon seeing so many stars in the sky, believed God. Look at any Bible story book and you will see just such a picture. We think Abraham believed God based upon what he could see (based upon the stars in a night sky). Upon reading the text more carefully, I no longer believe that is what happened.
Notice that Abraham centered his "complaint" around what he could see. He even invited the Lord into this realm, by saying 'behold' twice. In other words, he was appealing to what he could see as his reason to question God.
Now, before we get into the very next part, let's skip over that and look at what happens right after, when God cuts his covenant with him. There are 2 time statements that shed light on something we would not otherwise have known about the time of day it was when Abraham was told to go out and look at the stars.
Those 2 time statements are 'When the sun was going down', and then shortly after that, 'when the sun went down, and it was dark'. This is at the time of the covenant being cut between God and Abraham.
Now with those time statements in mind, go back and reread God telling Abraham to go out and count the stars, if he is able. What time of day would this have been? You guessed it, daytime! And how many stars can you see during the day? NONE! If you are wondering, 'ok, that's interesting. So what's the big deal about that?'
Abraham was taught an object lesson in faith, which resulted in his belief. You see, while he was appealing to God based on what could be SEEN, God was appealing to Abraham based on what was true, but NOT SEEN!
When Abraham went out during broad daylight he could see there were no stars to count, yet he knew that even though he could not see stars, they were there. That is faith. It is evidence based on what is not seen. He could therefore 'SEE' that God could be believed, despite him not 'BEHOLDING' it yet. Just as those stars would surely appear when it became night, he could see that somehow, someway, God would do what he promised. And thus the lesson of faith was taught.
May we never allow what we 'behold' to get in the way of what God promises us, for truly it is that we live by faith and not by sight.
Ron
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
End of Comparisons-Example From Paul
Paul showed the mind of Christ in this matter also when he described his experience of going up to Jerusalem concerning the matter of circumcision and the keeping of the Law of Moses. Notice how the 3 apostles, Peter, James, and John, were spoken of. Then notice the contrast in how Paul viewed them:
Gal 2:1-9 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in--who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery-- to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Can you see the difference? To the believers who were in Jerusalem, they SEEMED to be something. They had the APPEARANCE of being a somebody. Whether they felt this way about themselves or not, the text does not say. But I can truly say that someone who is held in such an esteemed way is very tempted to believe it about themselves. The situation creates such a temptation.
The fact that Paul says that they SEEMED to be this shows that he did not agree with their assessment. He used that word 4 times. His assessment is what I have highlighted in red. God is NOT partial. He does not have his esteemed favorites, greater ones and lesser ones. It was God alone who equipped Paul for his ministry. These apostles, when they met with Paul, were able to add not ONE thing to what he had been given.
By the way, Paul was not putting down the apostles, rather, he was putting down the false ideas that appearances and comparisons produce in us if we let them. It is easy for us to fall into the same game today, where we look at the eloquence of someone, or their stature, or their status in life, and we put them on a proverbial pedestal. In looking up to them, we have now created a comparison where they are above and we are below. There is no such dichotomy in the body of Christ however. Let the comparisons melt away into the nothingness which they truly are. :) Your worth, your value, is equal, and without partiality, to God, for he sees you in the ONE body, we exist as the corporate Christ.
Ron
Gal 2:1-9 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in--who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery-- to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)--those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.
Can you see the difference? To the believers who were in Jerusalem, they SEEMED to be something. They had the APPEARANCE of being a somebody. Whether they felt this way about themselves or not, the text does not say. But I can truly say that someone who is held in such an esteemed way is very tempted to believe it about themselves. The situation creates such a temptation.
The fact that Paul says that they SEEMED to be this shows that he did not agree with their assessment. He used that word 4 times. His assessment is what I have highlighted in red. God is NOT partial. He does not have his esteemed favorites, greater ones and lesser ones. It was God alone who equipped Paul for his ministry. These apostles, when they met with Paul, were able to add not ONE thing to what he had been given.
By the way, Paul was not putting down the apostles, rather, he was putting down the false ideas that appearances and comparisons produce in us if we let them. It is easy for us to fall into the same game today, where we look at the eloquence of someone, or their stature, or their status in life, and we put them on a proverbial pedestal. In looking up to them, we have now created a comparison where they are above and we are below. There is no such dichotomy in the body of Christ however. Let the comparisons melt away into the nothingness which they truly are. :) Your worth, your value, is equal, and without partiality, to God, for he sees you in the ONE body, we exist as the corporate Christ.
Ron
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The End of Comparison
Eph 2:15 having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace;
Once there were two men, Jew and Gentile. Each, compared to one another, had reason to consider the other as unlike them and unworthy of the other.
Now there is but one man in the eyes of God, and that one man is Christ himself, the exact and express image of God. All the comparisons have died with the divided old man. In Christ there is no more comparison, for comparisons are based upon similarities AND differences. There must be both. Christ has brought us out of that realm into the realm of NO comparison. He is the image of God, and what he is, he has made us to be as his body. We are truly one EVEN AS the Father and Son are one.
May we be blown away by such truth and moved to treat each other as is fitting the ONE body, to care for and nurture even the LEAST member in our eyes, because there is, in reality, NO least member is God's eyes. Remember, Paul said such parts are assigned more honor, thus showing God's view of them as truly not the least, and not to be compared to anything called "great," for such comparisons are only according to what SEEMS to be the case, but is not.
1Co 12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,
1Co 12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,5
1Co 12:24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,
1Co 12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.
How wonderful that we are in a body, so that, all comparisons being done away with, we are free to have mutual concern for one another.
Ron
Once there were two men, Jew and Gentile. Each, compared to one another, had reason to consider the other as unlike them and unworthy of the other.
Now there is but one man in the eyes of God, and that one man is Christ himself, the exact and express image of God. All the comparisons have died with the divided old man. In Christ there is no more comparison, for comparisons are based upon similarities AND differences. There must be both. Christ has brought us out of that realm into the realm of NO comparison. He is the image of God, and what he is, he has made us to be as his body. We are truly one EVEN AS the Father and Son are one.
May we be blown away by such truth and moved to treat each other as is fitting the ONE body, to care for and nurture even the LEAST member in our eyes, because there is, in reality, NO least member is God's eyes. Remember, Paul said such parts are assigned more honor, thus showing God's view of them as truly not the least, and not to be compared to anything called "great," for such comparisons are only according to what SEEMS to be the case, but is not.
1Co 12:22 On the contrary, those members that seem to be weaker are essential,
1Co 12:23 and those members we consider less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our unpresentable members are clothed with dignity,5
1Co 12:24 but our presentable members do not need this. Instead, God has blended together the body, giving greater honor to the lesser member,
1Co 12:25 so that there may be no division in the body, but the members may have mutual concern for one another.
How wonderful that we are in a body, so that, all comparisons being done away with, we are free to have mutual concern for one another.
Ron
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Son, Lamb, and Lion
blessed is the son, who showed us father's grace,
blessed is the son, who for the human race,
became a mortal man, submitting to time and space,
blessed is the son, the son of man.
blessed is the lamb, who took away our sin,
blessed is the lamb, condemned it all within,
the likeness of our flesh, the victory he did win,
blessed is the lamb, the lamb of god.
blessed is the lion, he rules and he will reign,
blessed is the lion, to whom we all proclaim,
that he alone is lord, it is our one refrain,
blessed is the lion, of judah
we come as one to praise, we come as one to call,
on him who gives us love, on each one does it fall,
and as we take him in, he manifests to all,
thus he fills all things, both great and small.
by the power of, the spirit of our lord,
we declare right now, all in one accord,
no matter what the cost, it's one we can afford,
the lord has paved the way, who is adored.
we are all one heart, the song of grace we sing,
we live in the light, the message of truth we bring,
to vanquish all that's dark, by the faith of our great king,
the one we call the lion,
the one we call the lamb,
the one we call the son,
we love you lord.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
MENU OR MEAL?
Trying to get your sustenance from reading the Scriptures, instead of looking to the Word of God for it, is like eating a menu instead of the meal. That is the mistake the religious leader in Jesus day made. They looked to the scriptures to find life, when Life himself was standing right in front of them, being pointed to by the Scriptures they were reading.
The menu bears testimony to the meal, that it exists. The menu moves you to the meal. That is exactly the function of the Scriptures. They bear testimony to the Bread and Water of Life, as realities. The Scriptures move you to feed on the reality.
Ron
The menu bears testimony to the meal, that it exists. The menu moves you to the meal. That is exactly the function of the Scriptures. They bear testimony to the Bread and Water of Life, as realities. The Scriptures move you to feed on the reality.
Ron
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
THEN PUT TO DEATH YOUR MEMBERS WHICH ARE ON THE EARTH
Col 3:5-6 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
Paul wrote these words to believers in Colossae. At first glance, it appears as though the members on the earth he is speaking of here are alive and working in their members, and in need of them putting those members to death.
In a nutshell, I believe that this verse is rightly understood in light of Col 2:20, which I will get to shortly. However, let us just think through this a bit. If the above understanding is true, then the question becomes, how does one go about putting these members to death? How would you answer?
More to come...
Paul wrote these words to believers in Colossae. At first glance, it appears as though the members on the earth he is speaking of here are alive and working in their members, and in need of them putting those members to death.
In a nutshell, I believe that this verse is rightly understood in light of Col 2:20, which I will get to shortly. However, let us just think through this a bit. If the above understanding is true, then the question becomes, how does one go about putting these members to death? How would you answer?
More to come...
ALL IN CHRIST, OR IN CHRIST ALL?
Recently, in sharing with something my understanding that God has redeemed all of mankind, and all will, each in their time, acknowledge that willingly, I shared the correspondency I see in 1Co 15:22:
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
The usual response you will hear to this verse is this:
Yes, all who are in Adam die, and since everyone is in Adam, we all die.
All in Christ will be made alive, and since not everyone is in Christ, that only applies to believers.
If the scripture were worded that way, I could agree with them. However, a subtle twist has taken place which changes the entire meaning of the verse. For it does not say "all in Adam die, so also all in Christ will be made alive." "Adam" and "Christ" are the cause here, and that cause is for the same "all."
The scriptures make it very clear that God reconciled all things to himself "in Christ," on the cross. That is where all mankind has been ever since. I would ask, where does it say that anyone isn't in Christ? You will not find that anywhere, although you can find scriptures which you can make to imply to you that some are not.
Let me give an example:
Someone might say that the scripture says "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." You might say that he would not use the word "if" if everyone were in Christ, so he is speaking only of a select group.
I agree with what Paul says here, but not with what you think it means. Where does it say that some are not in Christ? Does the "if" cause you to doubt that everyone is a new creation? You see, you would have to read that idea into the text in order to make it say that. This statement by Paul was not written so that the reader might wonder if they are indeed in Christ. It was written to assure them that they indeed are. He wanted them to believe the truth. It is no different than when he, on another occasion, wrote: "If you have been raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above..." Again, not written to question whether any of these believers was raised with Christ, for indeed, they all were. It was written to get them to think, "Ah, yes! He is speaking of me, and you!"
I just read a blog by a brother who made this wonderful comment, that when Paul said there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, that he did not just mean there is no condemnation for us, but that we condemn no one as well. Think on this:
The only place there is no condemnation is in Christ Jesus. Then why is there so much condemnation today, even among those who believe? Because we have not yet grasped this statement as true. The world still operates under the power of condemnation, a power that Christ shattered on the cross. The only reason anyone still feels condemnation is because they either believe what someone tells them about themselves, or they believe themselves that they are guilty or shameful in some way.
The truth, however, remains the same regardless: There is NO condemnation. The only way I can condemn another person is to see them after the flesh, and identify them with it. I can do that with believers as well as unbelievers, as well as myself. But as I listen to the Spirit, who says not to see ANY MAN (or woman) after the flesh, then truly there can be no condemnation, for I see them as they truly are, whether they are believers or not.
Ron
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
The usual response you will hear to this verse is this:
Yes, all who are in Adam die, and since everyone is in Adam, we all die.
All in Christ will be made alive, and since not everyone is in Christ, that only applies to believers.
If the scripture were worded that way, I could agree with them. However, a subtle twist has taken place which changes the entire meaning of the verse. For it does not say "all in Adam die, so also all in Christ will be made alive." "Adam" and "Christ" are the cause here, and that cause is for the same "all."
The scriptures make it very clear that God reconciled all things to himself "in Christ," on the cross. That is where all mankind has been ever since. I would ask, where does it say that anyone isn't in Christ? You will not find that anywhere, although you can find scriptures which you can make to imply to you that some are not.
Let me give an example:
Someone might say that the scripture says "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." You might say that he would not use the word "if" if everyone were in Christ, so he is speaking only of a select group.
I agree with what Paul says here, but not with what you think it means. Where does it say that some are not in Christ? Does the "if" cause you to doubt that everyone is a new creation? You see, you would have to read that idea into the text in order to make it say that. This statement by Paul was not written so that the reader might wonder if they are indeed in Christ. It was written to assure them that they indeed are. He wanted them to believe the truth. It is no different than when he, on another occasion, wrote: "If you have been raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above..." Again, not written to question whether any of these believers was raised with Christ, for indeed, they all were. It was written to get them to think, "Ah, yes! He is speaking of me, and you!"
I just read a blog by a brother who made this wonderful comment, that when Paul said there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, that he did not just mean there is no condemnation for us, but that we condemn no one as well. Think on this:
The only place there is no condemnation is in Christ Jesus. Then why is there so much condemnation today, even among those who believe? Because we have not yet grasped this statement as true. The world still operates under the power of condemnation, a power that Christ shattered on the cross. The only reason anyone still feels condemnation is because they either believe what someone tells them about themselves, or they believe themselves that they are guilty or shameful in some way.
The truth, however, remains the same regardless: There is NO condemnation. The only way I can condemn another person is to see them after the flesh, and identify them with it. I can do that with believers as well as unbelievers, as well as myself. But as I listen to the Spirit, who says not to see ANY MAN (or woman) after the flesh, then truly there can be no condemnation, for I see them as they truly are, whether they are believers or not.
Ron
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