Rage against the Nation

I started my morning devotions with Psalms 2.

Psalms 2:1-3

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.”

Having read through the news reports this morning on the happenings surrounding Ferguson Missouri and the Grand Jury verdict about the Mike Brown case, I am reminded why we are in this position personally and as a nation. There are folks looting businesses. Vain! There are folks burning buildings… Vain! I am torn inside because of their actions. Having come to this Psalm only solidifies the reason for all of the rage that has come against a nation when it instead should be directed to an unseen foe.

In the book of Samuel, we read that the people/nation of Israel are demanding a king. Demanding a king? They already had a King, his name was Jehovah and he delivered them from Egypt and established them as a nation. None-the-less, the people still demanded to look like the rest of the world and wanted a figurehead to represent them. Yes even with a king anointed by God, men were doing what they thought was right in their own eyes, not according to the will of God.

The same story has played over and over throughout history, including our own nation. It is men wanting to live their own lives according to what is right in their own eyes. This is self-centered to say the least and it fosters the same. When men take God out of the picture, they suddenly set themselves up to become “kings” in their own eyes. We feel that we should reign as “Kings” of our own household. “Kings” of our own businesses. “Kings” of our own desires.

Certainly, this could work, if the kings were anointed by and subject entirely to God. But alas, when men are bent on doing everything which is “right within their own site” (and not necessarily God’s), things spiral out of control quickly. There is only room in a kingdom for one king. When more than one king tries to rule, ultimately conflict is born.

What would God desire in our Nation? He would desire that they turn to Him, the only true “King”. What would that Nation look like? I think it would look like this: It would have a leader who was chosen by God to lead this country according to God’s desire. It would lead to a government that was “By God” and “For God” made up of people who desired God’s will. It would lead to Government agencies that would maintain God’s laws and bring to justice those who would rage against Him. It would lead to citizens who desired the things of God and not live meaningless lives devoted only to self and personal gain. It would lead to parents who raise children to do the same. It would lead to God being blessed by such devotion and, the people, blessed in return for it.

Utopia? Perhaps, but that is what I feel God has in mind for us. But where do you begin? As a Christian parent, I think the best place to start is to teach our children to desire God and live according to His will. We need to lay down the crown of our own kingdoms and seek the mind of Christ. When our children rebel (and they will), our reaction is against their sin towards God and not about our own kingship. Authority, we have. But we should constantly direct them to their King.

If we start there, then maybe there won’t be a generation that decides it is right to rule over other men. We would become servants of our one true King and work for the glory He deserves. Then, we could belong to the Nation that God is building and welcoming new citizens daily.

God, Revelation, and Authority

Written in a time when the theological pendulum had swung to the far left of liberalism, previous editor of Christianity Today and Baptist theologian Carl F. H. Henry produced this six volume work in order to challenge the authenticity of the beliefs and convictions of theologians and Christians. Insightful beyond the day it was written, readers will find that his predictions about trends in theology are not only directly relevant to the intended audience, but they still ring true thirty years later.

Summary

Adamant about the need for having Christ as the foundation of our faith and the Scriptures as the authoritative norm, Carl Henry begins this thesis with a comprehensive look at where modern men, Christians and theologians have aligned themselves theologically. Even at the time of this writing, you can sense the early whiffs of post-modern thought processes beginning to be fleshed out. Henry notes that not only has the modern man started to rebel against the authority of the Bible, but he has started rebelling against all authority in general (7). Henry points out that “Disbelief now stems from claims that finalities and objective truth simply do not exist; the good and true are declared to be only revolutionary by-products and culturally relative perspectives” (9). There is a cultural plea to have our own words and ideas become the authoritative norm over Scripture. The idea that everything we perceive as good or evil should be filtered based on the culture in which we live is at the very root of our rebellion and the subsequent attacks that stem from them. These very attacks started in the Garden and Henry lays out each of these attacks and offers a proper defense from Scripture.

Even though attacks on Scriptural authority ultimately still come down to the serpent challenging the word of God, there are four main areas that Henry focuses on for the attack of Scriptural authority. These four main areas are the authority of the apostles, the authority of the Old Testament prophets in relation to the New Testament, the authority of Jesus and, finally, the authority of the written words of God Himself. Each of these areas are attacked not from a biblical perspective, but from a perspective of man’s own thoughts as established by cultural norms, social norms, experience, invalid critical thought, or textual criticism.

Apostolic-Prophetic Authority Through Jesus

The first three attacks are on the very authority of Jesus, along with the apostles and prophets that are attributed as the inspired writers of the Old and New Testament. In all cases and at all times, no authority is self-derived. It all comes from God. As Henry points out, when we speak of authority and power, it is “authority and power that the living God alone can wield underivedly and unrestrictedly” (26). It is this same authority and power that is given to the Old Testament prophets, Christ, and His disciples, and it is the same authority and power “bestowed by Christ that alone enables anyone to enter the kingdom of God” (26).

Our only source for knowledge concerning Christ’s authority and that He conferred it to the apostles, comes from the New Testament (27). The recorded proof that the Old Testament prophets and the apostles were given authority comes from the acts and miracles that were performed through them. Although the miracles and acts of the prophets and apostles were recorded for proof of their authority, “Paul always emphasizes that the apostolic commission derives from God Himself and that the work of an apostle required authorization by the risen Jesus” (29). Says Henry, “God is the authority who renders Scripture authoritative; inspiration is the special phenomenon that imparts this character of divine authority to the writings and logically necessitates fulfillment of written prophecies” (75). Like the Old Testament prophets, the apostles were also bearers of divine revelation. It was “only because God has made them bond slaves and constituted them verbal mouthpieces is what the apostles proclaim binding upon us” (30). In all, we must remember that Jesus is the promised Messiah. “The same authority first delegated to the apostles for their oral proclamation was later carried over into their writing” (33). By being written down, it could spread more quickly to more places in a more accurate manner. He is the Christ and our redeemer that was promised by the prophets and proclaimed by the apostles at God’s appointment.

Scriptural Authority and the Written Word

The larger of the attacks usually come in the form of logic based attacks on the very written words in Scripture. Henry establishes that Jesus “entrusted the interpretation of His whole life and work to specifically designated apostles...” (36). John 14:26 tells us that the Spirit would bring all things to remembrance to the apostles. They would later write down those things along with the meaning of the events that followed the crucifixion. Also, Christ “dogmatically endorses the Old Testament Scriptures as the authoritative word of God” (35). Henry continues, “The New Testament, in short, fully endorses the authoritative significance of the Old Testament Scriptures as mediating the declaration of God’s revealed will” (34). Of the apostles, Henry says “In their view Scripture is authoritative, because divinely inspired, and as such, is divine truth” (68). The authority of Scripture lies within the written word, not men’s interpretation of it (36). And, written words tend to be considered as more permanent than the spoken word, especially, in a post-modern world hung up on self determination of truth (37). So, with the establishment of the Authority of Christ, the prophets and the apostles, Henry moves on to another area of attack on the authority of Scripture; the very written words themselves.

Throughout the thesis, Henry discusses the nature of culture and our own logical thought processes and it’s affects on our beliefs in the Authority of Scripture. Through the theology birthed from higher criticism, we end up with doctrines that have no authority from Scripture. Henry says “A God who speaks no truths but authoritatively demands obedience, or a Bible that is held to be divinely authoritative although errant, seems to our wary generation far too reminiscent of totalitarian tyranny or literary myth either to serve the cause of biblical authority in its canonical understanding or to elicit trust” (44). No man’s experience can establish the truth. Henry says “In brief, the meaning of truth of any claim must meet the test of rational intelligibility, noncontradiction and consistency or it can only remain suspect” (49). No other source except God’s Word can sufficiently be claimed to settle authority. It is only through faith that Christians can take the Word of God as truth and thus make it authoritative in their lives. If Scripture is then believed to be errant, then there is no longer clear authority to be trusted.

Lastly, Henry addresses our transcendent God’s ability to provide and preserve His revelation to us and whether its words are literally true. That we have the words of God are held in proof by our faith in them. Henry says that one “argument deployed against the literal truth of biblical teaching is that all language and knowledge are culturally conditioned and are therefore relative” (113). These claims, however, are not sufficient because the writers themselves were writing from direct revelation, and not through cultural lenses (115).

Another argument is raised “against the possibility of our knowing literal truth about God is that finite language is too limited to depict the Infinite” (115). This, however, could only be assumed if you were trying to fully explain something infinite. Henry says that “Christianity counters these claims by insisting upon incarnational theology. It teaches that the Word of God not only became flesh but is also conceptually given, verbally expressible, and verbally expressed” (115).

Significance for Baptists Today

Baptists today, as well as most denominations, are being affected more by men’s thoughts today through the bombardment of progressive media outlets and culture than at any other time in the history of mankind. With advent and use of more means than we can count, the ideas of men are flowing at rates so quickly, we cannot even respond to one area of critical attack before five more have expanded on the same thoughts and expanded on them as an authoritative standard.

As I mentioned previously, even though Carl Henry wrote this material more than thirty years ago, it still rings true today. The thoughts and the thought processes that he chose to combat in this work not only abounded in his day, but they continue to plague every aspect of our society still. Having seen the beginnings of the post-modern age, Henry’s insight and work provides a positive direction Baptists should lean towards combating these serious threats.

Today we live in the culture that Henry described as coming to the surface in his time. It is a culture that generally holds to a post-modern worldview where every scrap of knowledge is believed to be relative to each person’s experience and to the norm of their culture. The writings that Henry combats in this article prove two things. The first is that Satan still tries to move the governing authority of men from God to his creation and secondly that since this material was published, there is an active audience seeking to suppress the truth and wanting to rule themselves.
It is imperative that through faith, we bear in mind where all authority and power originates; it is with God Himself. We must have faith that the gospel that we have heard is indeed the truth and that, although they are the words written down by men, they are the words delivered to us from the living God who wishes to have a personal relationship with His creation.

Henry notes that Atheism is the theological starting point of a large portion of our population today in America, not the place where people end up after losing their faith. We must stand strong and repel the attacks we receive from men trying to reason away the Scriptures while bearing the standard of Christ and His cultural norms. We must constantly be on guard to prevent the culture of our world from taking over our congregations and ruling the educational demands of our children. We need to rebut every question of “Hath God said” with “Yes, it is written here” and point to the only source of God’s revelation to his creation, Scripture. Failure to do so will, at least temporarily, leave our societies at the mercy of their own imaginings and lead entire generations down the path of destruction. We cannot let even the smallest portions of Scripture fall to the wayside. The whole truth must be presented, not just the parts that we personally relate to and approve of. It is important that we realize that the authority of Scripture is important in everyone’s life, not just ours. Whether while witnessing, in intercession, or in stewardship of creation, all things fall under the authority of Scripture and our God would have us to live accordingly. After all, the revelation of God’s redemptive plan is our only hope.

Since being thrown from the Garden, Man has sought to return in fellowship with his creator. Vital to our being is an unquenchable yearning to seek Him; all the while knowing that coming face to face with him would be our end. At the same time, God, in ever increasing and fuller expressions of His love, continues to provide us the way. It is daily that we multiply our transgressions and continue to show our unworthiness for such a gift. Yet God, from the beginning, has set in motion his redemptive plan.

When the Holy Spirit inspired the writers to copy down the Word, He was revealing to us the promise and hope of the Son and what was to come. After the cross, he directed the writing of the Gospels and it was sent to us as a helper and witness to the Son’s glory.

There once was a woodsman who cut down the tree which was made to be the cross of our Savior. We must never forget that God not only planted that tree, but he also watched it grow. All three persons of the Trinity knew full well what the sacrifice at the cross held in store. Do not think that all was coincidence.

When the Son became flesh and dwelt among us, it was to live perfectly before he was lifted up as our sacrifice. Each step he took on this earth was upon stones that groaned and cried out for mercy. In a carpenter’s abstract pride, the first blows of the hammer upon the nails, reminded the creator what it means to start something new; to finish something left uncompleted.

It has been said, that the cross is the full revelation of God. I would disagree. It may be the fullest revelation we have, but even still, there are things left unrevealed. We do not know yet what we will become, not until when we see Christ. Then we will know, for we will be like Him and can spend eternity learning of Him.

Is it possible to understand the Trinity?

In a quick response to the question, we would have to quickly say “no”. Because of the very nature of God being Infinite we may spend an eternity trying, but will never be able to understand him fully. We could, however, say that there are things revealed to us in scripture that allow us understand certain aspects or ideas about the Trinity. When viewing something, even by the sight of our own eyes, we suddenly realize that even though we can understand the thing within our focus, closer examinations usually only raise more questions.

To illustrate this, look into the night sky. When you view into space with the naked eye, there many factors that limit your observations such as location, the weather and your own eyesight. You could take those observations and say that you fully understand what you see within the limits of your existing knowledge. Once you have seen the same view through a telescope, your previous understanding will suddenly seem narrow and limited. This is because the focus has shifted to the need for understanding the smaller details that were unseen by the naked eye. If we can’t understand the nature of the creation that surrounds us, how ignorant would it be to state that we can understand the triune nature of the Creator Himself? The list of things that we understand about an Infinite God will always be shorter than the list of questions we raise.

However, within the view of what God has revealed about the Trinity to us through our relationships in creation, the Holy Spirit and the written word, there are certain things that we can understand about the Trinity. We need to be careful in how we approach these understandings and try not to idolize them. When men start believing they can understand more about God from other men than they can learn from God himself, they have placed their trust in men.

A discussion on Amos 2

The Israelites, being the covenant people of God, were not only guilty of tarnishing the image of men who were made in the image of God but, they were guilty of tarnishing the very image of the Creator Himself. They broke the covenant agreement between themselves and Yehweh; even to the point of selling out the righteous people and trading them for sandals that they would use to walk in the ways of their idols/gods. The weak in this land were oppressed further; and the virtues of the humble were no longer cherished but instead their ways were perverted, even to the point of enticing their most holy of people set aside by the religious vows of the Nazirites.

The very act of propagation was distorted in the land. God had given them this act to “Multiply and fill the Earth”. As part of the covenant people of God, they were promised to become as numerous as the stars of the sky. Instead they created idols/gods and used the act of sex to worship created things, on foreign altars, that are placed in a land that Yahweh had given to them.

To be in this covenant relationship, the Israelites were to be yoked with God, walking alongside him and carrying their portion of the load. Instead, they are found walking along another path and no longer pulling their share of the load and progress is stunted. If they had only known that the yoke was easy and the burden was light, especially, when bringing in the sheaves with God.

Prophets had obviously come along at various times. They were silenced as the people surrounded themselves with teachers that taught perverted things to those with itching ears.

Yahweh will respond to breaking this covenant in ways that had already been laid out. In Leviticus 26, Yahweh lays out the blessings and curses that will come upon the people based on their obedience to the covenant. Numerous times throughout the OT we see the Israelites being disobedient and then subsequently chastised for it. In the early parts of this book, we see God laying out the charge to a disobedient and rebellious people which are told they will receive the very curses Yahweh promised them for failing to “Walk together” with him. All the courageous will flee naked in that day even when no “man” chases him. It’s the story of all men. Walk with God, or flee from him trembling.

All manners of heresy are allowed to bloom without a proper view on the doctrine of the Trinity. A Lamb, which is not believed to be divine, merely produces wool which will be pulled over the eyes of men who are simply watching another Jew fighting for breath on a Roman tree. It justifies the actions of desperate men asking for a Son of fathers instead of the Son of God. It also strips the deserved authority and majesty earned to make the Lamb worthy of breaking the seals.

A Lamb which is not believed to be divine makes for an abundance of red-lettered heresy for men to thrust themselves upon. The damage done by a dull sword has a similar effect of causing men to lose life. It will not, however, pierce to the heart and recreate him.

A Lamb which is not believed to be divine leaves men created in the image of some other “US” which is yet to be revealed. This lack of divinity destroys inspiration and attacks the very binding of the Scriptures. The result leaves a loose-leaf collection of morality held together only by glue and the thoughts of men.

Without the doctrine of the Trinity, the fiery tongues of the Holy Spirit that filled those who would form the church would be as forked as the serpents’ and just as corrupt. What is the significance of the doctrine of the Trinity you ask? The accuser can whisper subtle heresy and point his finger where he wants. Father, Son, Spirit, however, would collectively answer “I Am.”

Day 30 – Isaiah 61:1-6

Today is the last day for this study. It has been 30 days of scriptural dessert that could nearly cause a spiritual diabetic coma. The passages I have entertained here for our study are richer than any earthly delight, and the truth ringing within leads our hearts to a common purpose, being servants of the King.

Coming now to this last passage, I am planning to take the advice of our mission’s director and continually look over these passages until the time for this particular trip to Romania is upon us.

1 Peter 2:5 says: “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

All too often, we fail to see that God has called each of us to be ministers of Jesus. These bodies of flesh are to be his temple and the Spirit is to Abide within us. All of us are also called “Priests” and with that, comes many responsibilities.

We live in a lost and dying world. We are to preach the gospel to those who are poor in spirit; Spread the news of a Blessed Hope to the afflicted and brokenhearted; To proclaim the Liberator to those in sin’s bondage; To proclaim the return of our Lord and Savior; and to comfort all those who have cause to weep for the state of this fallen world.

All you who are meek should consider all that the Lord has promised and bear witness to his truth till his return. There is a day coming when all will be made whole. Till then, continue in God’s Grace and run the race set before us.