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November 17, 2014

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Death, Heaven, Hell, Resurrection

What is the resurrection?

Some time in the future there will be a restoration to life and judgment of every person who has ever lived. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” All men will one day be resurrected to be judged by God.

First there will be a resurrection for the saved. That resurrection takes place during the rapture, an event made popular recently in the Left Behind series of books and movies. The Bible reveals to us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that the dead bodies of the saved will be restored to life and taken up to meet Jesus. The saved who are still alive at the time of the rapture will then be taken up to meet Jesus.

Those who have been raptured will be taken into heaven and judged by Christ for how they have served Him. As His servants, they will answer to Him for how they have used what He has given them and how they have worked for His kingdom. This judgment is not a judgment of sin, for the believers sin has been taken away. This judgment is a judgment of stewardship, in which the believer is rewarded or rebuked depending on the faithfulness of his service for Christ.

Eventually, the believer will enter into a perfect eternity in the New Heaven and New Earth. This perfect eternity has nothing to do with floating around on clouds and playing harps. The Bible tells us almost nothing about this eternity. What we do know comes from Revelation 21 and 22. For the believer, eternity will be completely free from all sin, sorrow and suffering. All who are saved will live on this earth in faithful service to God, glorifying and enjoying Him forever.

Long after the believer’s resurrection will be the resurrection of the unsaved. Just before God wipes out this universe He will bring before His throne for judgment all who have died without trusting Jesus. Revelation 20:11-15 gives a terrifying picture of this event. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

All the unsaved will stand before God and be judged for their disobedience to His Word. Because they have not believed in Jesus, God finalizes their condemnation. This judgment is not a second chance at salvation, but is the final official declaration of their guilt before God. All those who have not believed Jesus for salvation, Satan and all the demons will be condemned and sent into the Lake of Fire forever. In the lake of fire they will suffer for eternity, paying the penalty of their rebellion against God.

The resurrection of the saved is a resurrection to life and eternal joy. The resurrection of the unsaved is a resurrection to death and eternal suffering. None have to endure the eternal suffering of the Lake of Fire. When He died on the cross, Jesus paid the consequences and suffering of sin. He extends salvation to all who will turn to Him and trust only Him for forgiveness of guilt and cleansing from sin. God promises eternal life to all who believe Jesus to salvation.

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November 12, 2014

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Death, Heaven, Resurrection

What Happens After Death?

The question of what happens to a person after death is a matter of great importance. If there is some sort of existence after death, we do very well to understand as much about it as possible. We are wise to learn what it is like, if there is a place of reward or  punishment, joy or sorrow.

Opinions about the afterlife cover a broad spectrum of ideas. Some believe nothing happens after death. The body is placed in the ground and the person no longer exists anywhere in the physical or spiritual universe. Some believe the spirit of the person is reborn in the body of another creature to atone for wrongs done in previous lives. After many such reincarnations the spirit is finally able to be peacefully united with the universe. Some believe the spirits of good people go to heaven and the spirits of bad people go to hell. The list could go on and on. Truly many questions exist about the afterlife.

The first and most important thing to consider is that no one has died and returned to life to tell us what things are like on the other side. Yes, people have had visions or dreams in which they claim to have seen heaven, hell or the spirit world. Whatever your opinion of their claims, one thing is certain, they did not die and return to life again. Beyond that, even if someone did claim to die and return from the dead to tell us what it is like, there would be no way to prove his claims.

Capturing evidence of the afterlife is impossible. The issue of understanding what happens after death begins with recognizing you are going to have to believe someone’s view of the afterlife. Will you believe the Vikings and their visions of Valhalla? Will you believe Buddhist or Hindu concepts of Nirvana? Will you believe the Muslim ideas of Paradise? Will you believe the Atheist’s idea of death as final? Will you believe the Christian teachings of Heaven? One’s understanding of what happens after death is a matter of faith. You must decide who you are going to believe. I invite you to believe the information that comes directly from the One who created man, who has died and returned to life, who created Heaven and Hell and who has told us what happens to those who die. The Bible is the only reliable source of information about what happens after death.

The Bible teaches that man is a living soul. When God created man He breathed into man the “breath of life and man became a living soul.”(Genesis 2:7)  God formed man out of the dirt, but He gave to man something else, something that was not from dirt but directly from God. He gave to man a spirit, a soul, which does not crumble away or cease to exist but lasts forever. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” So the first thing we need to know is that death does not end our existence. Our body returns to dust, but our soul returns to the God who created it.

At death, God deals with the soul of man according to his relationship with Christ. John 3:18 says “He that believeth on (Jesus) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he believeth not in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Before we die our fate is already decided based upon whether or not we have believed in Christ for forgiveness and salvation.

At death the soul goes immediately into heaven or hell. In Luke 16 Jesus tells about two men, one rich the other a beggar. These two men died and one went immediately into heaven and the other directly into hell. We know this was immediate because the man in hell prayed that someone would go tell his brothers lest they also come to hell. The entered immediately into a place of punishment or blessing, without long delay, a time of sleep, limbo or purgatory.

The deciding factor in where the soul goes is if you have turned to Christ for salvation. This issue is not decided based upon whether you have been good, gone to church faithfully, been baptized, confirmed or prayed over. The decision is made by you. If you believe Jesus is God the Son who became a man, died on the cross to forgive your sin, rose from the dead three days later and if you have confessed Jesus as God trusting in only Him to remove your guilt God declares you will have eternal life in His presence. If you trust Jesus for salvation you will enter into heaven and live forever in joy. If you do not, you will enter into hell and be forever separated from God in sorrow and suffering.

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November 12, 2014

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God

What gender is God?

John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit”. God does not have gender as we thing of it. God is not a man or woman. Neither is God androgynous, that is, He is not a blending the two genders together. God is Spirit and completely outside the male and female frame of reference He has given to mankind.

What we know about God we know from His Word. In the Bible God tells us what He wants us to know about Himself. Anything we know about God comes from God’s Word. In the Bible God only refers to Himself using masculine terms. God the Son, Jesus, taught us to pray, “Our Father, which art heaven.” He repeatedly refer to God as His Father. Throughout the Old and New Testament God is always referred in masculine terms. While it is not proper to say God is a man or that God is male, it is equally improper to say God is a woman or female. God is God and God always describes Himself to humanity using masculine terminology. That is why we refer to God as He. That is also one reason why it is incorrect to refer to God as she or it.

We don’t get to define or describe God for Him. God defines and describes Himself and demands that we submit to His explanation of Himself. Some have said the masculine pronouns are used only because the writers of the Bible were men writing in time of male dominance and seeking to support their patriarchal ways. That supposition denies the Divine inspiration of the Bible. According to 2 Peter 1 the men who wrote the Bible wrote as “they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The books of the Bible are not “cunningly devised fables.” The words of the Bible are those words which were spoken by God. The men who wrote these words wrote only what God wanted them to write. Their writings are not distorted by culture or prejudice. Their writings are directed by God’s own Holy Spirit. God has revealed Himself using masculine pronouns, and we need to refer to Him according to the revelation of Himself that He has given in His Bible.

We cannot know anything about God other than what He has told us about Himself. God is far greater than anything we can ever imagine about Him. While God is far greater than our ability to understand, He is never anything other than or contrary to what He has told us about Himself in His Word. We must turn to the Bible and allow God to teach us who He is and what He is like.

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November 10, 2014

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Uncategorized

Are there different levels in heaven?

The Bible doesn’t give any indication that Christians will be placed in different levels of blessing or importancs in heaven. The Bible does teach that God’s servants are rewarded for their faithfulness and obedience in serving Him (1 Corinthians 3:8). However, the Bible seems to indicate that these rewards are not kept but are given back to Jesus as an act of worship and recognition that He alone is worthy to be praised (Revelation 4:11). We also know that during the time when Jesus reigns over the whole earth as King in Jerusalem certain faithful disciples will be given positions of leadership and responsibility in that kingdom. However, those positions of authority will be as part of Jesus’ earthly government during His thousand year reign. This period of time, known as the millenium, will end with a final great rebellion led by Satan and then the ultimate destruction of the universe as we know it. After that God will create a new earth and new heaven. In the newly created eternally perfect universe, which is what most people refer to as Heaven, the Bible doesn’t tell us anything about certain people having positions of special privilege or rank. What the Bible does tell us about this state is found in Revelation 22, “And his servants will serve Him, and they shall see His face.” It seems that in heaven, those who are saved will have equal status as God’s servants and equal access into His presence. There will not be any low level Christians or VIP saints.

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November 8, 2014

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Who was Cain’s wife?

In Genesis 2 the Bible tells about God’s creation of man and woman. Genesis 3 tells about humanity’s sin and the awful consequences of that sin. Genesis 4 tells us about the first two children born into the world. Those two children were Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel in his rage at being refused by God for his disobedient sacrifice to God. Cain is driven out of the land where his parents lived and condemned to be a fugitive for the rest of his life. Genesis 4:17 says, “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch.” If you have followed along up to this point, there seems to only be three people on the planet. Adam, Eve and Cain. So, some ask, where did Cain find a wife? With a little bit of thought, the answer is not that difficult to figure out. Obviously, there is a jump in the story line. The tale jumps from Cain being cast out to the increase of Cain’s family. In the gap between Cain’s banishment and Cain’s marriage Adam and Eve had more children, probably many more children. We don’t know how much time passed before Cain took a wife, but it’s possible that Adam and Eve’s children married and had children. We know from later in the book of Genesis that people married closer family members than we do today. In fact, it is not until the book of Leviticus that we find it forbidden to marry siblings, half sibling and in laws. In Genesis 4 the most obvious answer is the right answer. Cain probably married a sister, or maybe a niece. His wife came from the only available population of humans, the descendants of his parents Adam and Eve.

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November 6, 2014

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Current Events, Marriage, The Bible

Why did God allow people in the Old Testament to have more than one wife?

He didn’t. God established the standard for marriage on the day He created man. God made one man and one woman. He put them together in the garden as man and wife. The Bible tells us because of God’s created design, “A man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:25) The design of marriage, one man with one woman, has not changed since creation. The Bible also tells how man sinned and soon began to operate in opposition to God’s design for marriage. As a result, we find in the Bible men like Jacob, David and Solomon who had multiple wives and concubines. This fact is often brought up in arguments to show that Christians who insist marriage is a permanent union between one man and one woman are being foolish. According to this line of arguing, the Bible does not insist on one man-one woman marriage. Does the Bible allow for a different definition of marriage? Absolutely not. Certainly there were men in the Bible who did not marry according to God’s plan and design. Those men were not always condemned in the Bible for their disobedience. The lack of direct condemnation of a person’s example does not prove God did not view that action as sin. We can find in the Bible a number of examples of disobedience that are not directly condemned. For example, in the book of Judges a man killed a woman and cut her into pieces. The Bible does not explicitly condemn that specific act of murder, so are we to assume that the Bible actually approves of murder despite it’s clear commands to the contrary? Of course not. That would be foolish. Because people in the Bible do things that are forbidden elsewhere in the Bible does not mean the Bible has changed and now God approves of their actions. Second, those who make the case that God somehow approves of polygamy because he allowed it in the Old Testament make it sound like the Old Testament is filled with polygamists. The fact is, there are very few saints in the Old Testament who were polygamists. Two very common examples are David and Solomon. God did not approve of David’s sin, nor did He excuse it. God had commanded in Deuteronomy 17:17 that the kings of Israel were not to have multiple wives. David is called a man after God’s own heart, yet we know he had several wives. David and Solomon were in clear disobedience of that command and they paid an awful price for their disobedience. Because of David’s polygamy, his family was ripped apart and he had to deal with open rebellion by one son and covert rebellion by one of his generals. Solomon’s case was even worse. Solomon’s many wives led him away from the worship of God into idolatry. One other example is the patriarch Jacob. Jacob’s multiple wives are actually a part of his punishment for deceiving his father Isaac and result in great turmoil within his family. The Bible clearly defines marriages as one man permanently joined to one woman. The Bible never approves of polygamy and shows abundant examples of the dire consequences when we fail to follow God’s design.

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November 6, 2014

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Apostles, Church

Was Paul Married

No. Paul was not married. We know this from 1 Corinthians 7:7-8. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul discusses several questions the church had about marriage and singleness. In that discussion he tells them, “I would that all men were even as I myself. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.” Paul is stating that he is single. Paul is not giving a command to never get married. Paul goes on in that chapter to teach that it is not wrong to get married, and if one is already married they should not leave their spouse. In other books Paul highly praises marriage and teaches some of the most wonderful truths about marriage. Paul is not giving a command that church leaders should remain single. In the book of 1 Timothy Paul teaches that pastors should be “the husband of one wife” and later Paul says teaching that forbids marriage is a “doctrine of devils”. Paul does not place any restriction against marriage for those who are church leaders. If anything, it seems preferable for the pastor to be married. Paul himself was single and recommended singleness as a great way to serve the Lord, but singleness is not required of anyone by the Bible.

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November 6, 2014

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Jesus, Uncategorized

Did Jesus have brothers and sisters?

Yes he did. All four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, mention Jesus’ siblings. For example, Matthew 13:54-56 says, “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” The people of Nazareth refused to believe that Jesus is God the Son sent to save men from sin. They said instead, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” They knew Joseph and knew that Jesus had grown up as Joseph’s son. They also knew Jesus mother, Mary. And then they looked around the crowd and began to identify Jesus’ siblings. These names cannot be names of cousins and distant relatives, because the people are talking about Joseph and Mary and the children of Joseph and Mary. Te people said of Jesus, “His brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?” Jesus grew up in a family with at least seven children, himself, four brothers and at least two sisters. After Jesus birth, Mary and Joseph had children together, the half-brothers and half-sisters of Jesus.

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January 31, 2013

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With all the problems in churches today, should I still go to church?

Many people give many different reasons for not going to church.  Some claim the building will collapse on them if they enter a church.  Others consider themselves to be too good to associate with the hypocrites that attend.  Others have had bad experiences while at church and some have been hurt by someone in authority. If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you have an obligation to attend church. Hebrews 10 commands all Christians to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” None of the reasons offered by people professing to be Christians justify disobedience to the commands of God.

Yes, there are many problems within churches. No minister is perfect, no church is without flaw.  Every one who attends brings some evil habit, bad attitude or wrong desire with him into the church. Despite these problems (or maybe because of these problems) the Christian needs to be in church. However, the not every problem in a church should be overlooked, there are some churches you simply should not attend. You should not attend a church whose teachings disagree with the Bible, especially if they disagree with the major truths of the Bible about salvation, God, Jesus and Scriptures. You should not attend a church that knowingly allows its leaders to live in sin. While you should try to find the best church you can, you should not expect any church you attend to be free from problems, nor should it surprise you if the church goes through a time of intense troubles. The church is filled with people who are struggling with sins. They may be saved (just because someone attends church is absolutely no guarantee they are Christian), but they are still imperfect. Some of them may be all out hypocrites, who live one way on Sunday and completely different during the week. That’s still not a good reason to not go to church. Refusing to go to church because of the sinful people that attend is like refusing to go to the doctor’s office because there are always sick people there. If you are a Christian, you need the church. You need sound preaching and teaching from the Bible. You need a pastor to care for your soul. You need other Christians to interact with you and help you be more obedient to God’s Word. You cannot live the Christian life apart from church.

The church is far greater than the buildings, the ministers or the people who attend.  The church is God’s only institution designed to strengthen believers and shape believers so that they look like Christ.  Only in the church can we gather with other believers in common worship of God, lifting up together our praise and thanksgiving for His salvation, His Holy Spirit, His grace, His love and His strength which allows us to live lives pleasing to Him.  Only in the church do we find the accountability of brothers and sisters who love us, who want to help us look like Christ and who are willing to invest themselves into us.  Only in the church do you have the ability to create relationships under the authority of the Word of God, the protection of the church leadership, based on the common ground of salvation and brotherhood in the family of God.  God has commanded Christians to attend church.  When we obey that command, we find that God blesses our obedience, giving us a family that is built on the love of God.  Some of the reasons folks give for not going to church are real issues that need to be fixed, but they do not mean you get to disobey God’s command to “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.”  Find a good church that you can attend, get under the regular preaching of the Bible and get involved with the lives of other Christians. Join yourself to a local church that believes, practices and teaches the Word of God.

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January 31, 2013

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The Bible

What are the Differences Between the Old and New Testaments?

In simplest terms, the Old Testament is the part of the Bible that was written before the birth of Christ. It includes 39 books, between Genesis and Malachi. The New Testament is the part of the Bible written after the Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and return to heaven. It is the 27 books starting from Matthew and ending with the book of Revelation.

More specifically, the Old Testament begins with the book of Genesis which tells about the creation of the world, the introduction of sin and God’s choosing of Abraham’s family to be a special people for Himself. The rest of the Old Testament (except the book of Job), tells about the Israelites, Abraham’s descendants, and God’s dealings with them. The New Testament begins with the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which tell of Christ’s birth, life, execution and resurrection. The rest of the New Testament (except the book of Revelation) is the history of the beginning of the church and letters written to some of the first churches and pastors. The book of Revelation tells of the end of the church age and of God’s final judgments on the world, Satan and all unbelievers.

Of course, with anything as important and influential as the Bible, there are some wrong ideas about the Old and New Testaments that many people think are true. For example, some people think the Old Testament shows a God that is all about wrath and judgment and the New Testament shows a God that is all about love and grace. This idea has gained such strength that some people actually believe the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. This is absolutely not true. The God of the Old Testament is a God of love and wrath, just as is the God of the New Testament. For example, the book of Song of Solomon is a beautiful picture of God’s love for his people. The book of Exodus is all about how God in his love rescued the Israelites from their slavery in Egypt. In the New Testament, an entire book, the book of Revelation, describes the coming pouring out of God’s wrath on mankind. The Bible, though it has two testaments and many individuals books, is one Book telling of the one God and His work to redeem a people to Himself for His glory.

Another wrong idea that people have is the belief that the Old Testament doesn’t really matter anymore. Some people write it off as if it’s nothing more than ancient history, or untrue stories that don’t have any real application for us today. God tells us, through the apostle Paul in Romans 15:3 that the things which are written in the Old Testament are for our learning, that through the Scriptures we will have comfort and hope. The Old Testament really does matter for us today showing us how God deals with His people, teaching us much about the character and work of God, and giving us many examples of how we should live today.

The Old and New Testaments are both equally the Word of God. They are written for our benefit and they teach us about God, His work to save people from their sin and His eternal plans for His glory. The Old and New Testaments are different primarily because of their relationship to Christ, the one before and the other after, and because of the different people being discussed, the Israelites in the Old and the church in the New. Though the testaments are different, they are part of the same story unfolding the great work of God “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”