Newsletter - June 2006

Dear Friends:

Our lives are full of questions, aren’t they? We wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow, what has happened in Iraq overnight, what we should wear to the neighborhood picnic, and why we are here on earth in the first place. Many of our questions may not be of great significance, but some of them are critically important. As we listen to philosophers debate, as we read current literature, and as we talk to friends, we realize that the basic questions of life are few but the answers we find will affect us for now and forever.

Then, as Christians, we realize that all of the really important questions of life are answered in the Bible. I thought it might be helpful to look at a few of the most often asked questions together today and summarize how, in a really basic sense, the Bible deals with each of them.

How did we get here?

This is always a question in the mind of man. How did the world “happen”? How did we as humans get here? Evolutionists and secularists have all kinds of theories, but have been unable to prove those theories with any scientific credibility. If instead of looking to theories, we look into the Bible, we find that God is revealed as the Creator and designer of the universe in which we live. God created the earth and everything that grows on it, animals, the worlds around us, and mankind. He set a system in place whereby mankind would have meaningful work to do, would be sustained by what the ground produced, and would be able to help God develop the world in creative and meaningful ways. God and man were in perfect relationship.

Why is there suffering in the world?

The problem of evil is another problem that philosophers and thinkers through the ages have wrestled with. You have heard those who question the existence of God asking, “If there is a God, why does He allow so much suffering and injustice in the world?” Again, the Bible is clear in its revelation that Satan is the source of all evil in this world. He came and convinced Adam and Eve that his way was better than God’s way and, at that point, sin gained a foothold in the world. The ground was cursed, Satan was cursed, and man and woman were driven from the garden. Their relationship with God was broken. Not only did sin get a foothold that fateful day in the Garden of Eden, but sin is progressive so it gets worse and worse as time goes on. Thus today we see a world full of sin, suffering, and dehumanizing behavior.

What is God like?

Probably one of the most wonderful gifts that we receive through studying the world’s history as recorded in the Bible is an understanding of the nature of God. Many of His characteristics are revealed to us in the Bible, but here are few of the major attributes we see.

• Power. The narratives and the literature of the Bible tell us of a God who is powerful enough to create the world, to destroy it with a flood, to overpower armies on behalf of his people, to shut the mouths of lions for Daniel, to part the Red Sea for Israel, to raise the dead, heal the sick, calm the sea, and so on. Evidence of His might and power are on nearly every page of the Bible.
  
  
• Redemptive. We also see a God who was heartbroken by the fall of man and who immediately put into place a plan that He had set up within the Godhead before the world was even created. That plan would provide a way for mankind to be forgiven for his sinfulness and to be restored to full relationship with the Triune God. The plan, as we now know it, included the second person of the Trinity entering space and time to become a man, live a perfect life, and then to offer Himself as a sacrifice (the final in a long line of imperfect sacrifices) for any human being who will simply accept with thanksgiving the payment that Jesus made for his sins and submit his life to God’s control.
  
  
• Love. Only a loving God would be so gracious as to provide a way for fallen man to be forgiven and restored. Only a loving God would pay a price so huge to be reunited with rebellious creatures. God specifically reveals evidence of His loving nature throughout the Bible by His relationships with key characters such as Moses and David, and by Jesus’ relationships with His disciples, His mother, Mary Magdalene, the Rich Young Ruler, and others.
  
  
• Mercy. Throughout the entire Old Testament, we find Israel coming near to God, then wandering away from Him. Each time, He kept the door open if they would just come back, repent, renew their vows to be faithful to Him. Even their exile in Babylon had a time limit. God did not want to punish them without mercy. His ultimate goal was restoration.
  
  
• Patience. God is described over and over again by the biblical writers as being “longsuffering.” He is patient as He calls people to Him even if they seem to be unresponsive. He wants every one to come. He wants no one to live forever without Him. So He calls, He nudges, and He patiently waits.
  
  
• Faithfulness. We learn many things about the character of God from the Bible, but as we look at the broad sweep of human history covered from Genesis to Revelation, one characteristic stands out among all the rest: God is faithful. When He makes a promise, He will be faithful to that promise. He will not change His mind or back down on anything He has said He will do. We can trust Him to be true to His Word and we have written history covering centuries of time to prove that our reliance on His faithfulness is well founded!

How do I live a good life?

• Rules for living. The Old Testament law set a standard that God required of all who would be rightly related to Him. The Ten Commandments were the beginning and the foundation for all the laws that would follow. The sacrificial system was set up to atone for the sinfulness of humankind because God knew that they would not be able to live up to His laws and, therefore, provided a way for them to receive forgiveness for their failures. In the New Testament, Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the law by living a perfect, sinless life. He fulfilled all the requirements of atonement/sacrifice by dying on the cross. His resurrection from the grave is the Father’s acceptance of the once-for-all offering that He made. Now, instead of a list of laws to keep, we have only two rules to follow: Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength; and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Easier said than done, right?
  
  
• Wisdom for living. But we are not left without guidelines for living healthy and productive lives. The wisdom books of the Bible are chock full of wisdom for our lives today. The instructions/advice given in the book of Proverbs is every bit as apropos today as it was when it was written. The Ten Commandments are as valid today as they ever were and show us how to live well in this world. And the epistles are full of commands and guidelines from the early church leaders on how we are to conduct ourselves with one another and within the church. If we read the Bible for no other reason, it would give us wisdom for living that would allow us to live meaningful, productive, and relationally successful lives.
  
  
• Power for living. The best part about the message of the Bible is that it does not leave us to struggle with self-help methods for living moral lives. Instead, when we become disciples of Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells us and begins to transform us little by little into the kind of people who can live the kind of life God desires for us to live. As Christians, we are re-born, we are re-made, and eventually we are transformed into Jesus-like men and women. We cannot do this by following ways of wisdom or by following a list of commands. We can do this by allowing the Spirit to live God’s life through us.

What is going happen to this world?

People have an inborn sense that things cannot keep going as they are. They are haunted by the question of what will come next. They wonder how it all will end. Most of all, they wonder what will happen to them. The Bible gives us insight into these questions, too.

• The end of evil. The Bible gives us full assurance that God has won the war with evil. He will bring that victory to completion in His own way and in His perfect timing, but justice will be served, wars and suffering will be over for good, and Satan, his demons, and all those who chose to follow him will be cast into outer darkness forever, never to have the opportunity to bring evil or curses on any creation of God ever again. We can live with injustices today knowing that ultimately God will set everything right and will make all things new. The sad truth is, though, that even many people we know and love who do not choose to follow Jesus, will be included with Satan and his followers when the earth is cleansed from evil. We must continue to pray that they will make a decision to follow God’s way while there is still the merciful opportunity to do so.
  
  
• The destiny of God’s people. We are told that the earth as we know it will be cleansed from all evil and restored to the state it was in at the time of original creation. Eventually we (as the church) will be married to Jesus and will live forever in the light and joy of His presence. There will be no sin, no suffering, no regrets, and no sorrow. We will be made complete and will be in total fellowship with God and with one another.

This newsletter got a little long, didn’t it? I trust, though, that it was helpful and will encourage each of us to get into God’s Word to understand the powerful way in which it deals with the things that matter most to us and to the needy world around us. As we take in the message the Bible gives, we are able to make it part of our lives and then to share its truths with sincerity and love with those who may ask a reason for the hope that we have (I Peter 3:15).

Ponder and enjoy!

Bev

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