Tag / Bible

by Greg

Freedom To Not Be Free

As I mentioned a while back, I’ve been reading through Paul’s letter to the Christians in Corinth. (1 Corinthians.) I’m trying to do it in bigger chunks to get a broader perspective of what Paul is talking about in this letter. It’s one that has always slightly baffled me. Paul (a life-long rule keeper) speaks tirelessly of God’s grace in other letters (to the Romans, Ephesians, Galatians…) but in his letters to the Corinthians, he seems to just be laying down rule after rule to “keep… or else.”

I still haven’t found a chunk of time to read it all at once, but I read chapters 1-10 today, and noted a theme running through that section. Paul does indeed speak of the freedom of the believer (via God’s grace through our connection with Jesus) but moreover, he speaks of our freedom to not be free.

Specifically, in what we’ve deemed “chapter eight”, Paul uses the example of eating meat that was sacrificed to idols. We don’t come upon such a circumstance very often these days, but that was a major deal then. He basically says that, of course, the meat is fine to eat (neither it, nor the demons to whom it was offered have any power) but the greater issue is the heart of other believers who think that it does.

In other words, it’s not about what we do… it’s who we do it to, or do it for.

Sure, we have the freedom from religious (and perhaps in particular, superstitious) practices, as we know God is not persuaded by any of those … but if by exercising that freedom we lead another believer to sin against their own conscience (another fascinating concept… that “sin” is arbitrary, relative, or subjective?) then we have done a greater injustice than that person’s “sin.”

I think it all still boils down to, “Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.” (Steven Curtis Chapman‘s paraphrase of Micah 6:8.) 🙂

We do have freedom. Life in Jesus is freedom. Freedom from sin, guilt, shame, and even “religious rules” and obligations. But our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose to not be free—to love—for the benefit of everyone around us.

More thoughts to come from this letter, I’m sure.

by Greg

This Message Is Christ

For some reason, I keep wanting to read the book of 1 Corinthians lately. I haven’t figured out why just yet, but it keeps popping into my mind. So, I’ve begun a few times, but I also have felt like I want to read the whole thing through in one setting, to perhaps get a better “big picture” context of the letter the apostle Paul penned.

But as I began one day recently, I noticed this long paragraph (which I broke into two, for easier on-screen reading).

“For God, in his wisdom, made it impossible for men to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead God decided to save those who believe, by means of the “foolish” message we preach. Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom.

As for us, we proclaim Christ on the cross, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles; but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For what seems to be foolishness is wiser than men’s wisdom, and stronger than men’s strength.”

I’ve read these words before, and heard them expounded upon. But for some reason they just presented the simplicity of the good news so clearly to me.

I love that the focus of our relationship with God is not on us. It’s on him. Not in a narcissistic way, as some imagine. God isn’t looking for people to “Become a Fan” on heaven’s Facebook. He wants to know us, and us to live life with and in him, and he makes that possible, not us.

“God made it impossible for men to know him by means of their own wisdom.” We can’t figure out God. We won’t get all the answers. It’s not even about the answers. Read on.

Paul explains that the Jews (his people) wanted God to reveal himself through powerful miracles. They expected God’s Messiah to come, and they expected him to be the King that would rule. They like that God would do big and powerful things for them.

The Greeks (Gentiles) wanted God to be the ultimately wise being. They wanted him to prove he was God by having all the answers.

This is like us. We still want these things from God today. We want him to fix stuff (we want to see his power), or we want to have all the answers. About him, and/or about our life and the world around us. We want to know “truth”—meaning, have black and white facts that we can know as “truth.”

But we—those who united with Jesus—”proclaim Christ on the Cross.”

This is not a doctrine. He’s not saying we need to know what the words propitiatory, salvific, atonement, and other such scholarly sounding verbiage mean. The point is almost the opposite. It’s not something to be figured out. It’s not something to overwhelm by force. It’s weakness, and nonsense.

But it’s Jesus.

this message is Christ, who is the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”

In the end, what we are looking for, God’s power and wisdom (and everything else) is in Jesus. Jesus on the cross. The ultimate (meaning greatest) act of love, and the ultimate (meaning final) act of reconciliation of our relationship with our Father God.

“…by him [Jesus] we are put right with God, we are God’s holy people, and are set free.”

I truly believe that the good news (the “Gospel”) the message that Jesus lived and taught and asked his friends to share with everyone they know is this: Jesus. He is the Life, the Way, the Truth … you can’t miss that in pretty much every book of Scripture. Jesus is life.

I happened upon an old blog post today. It’s included in my book Life In The Rearview Mirror. It is titled Knowledge. It’s fun to look back a few years and see that God was just beginning to open my eyes a bit to the reality that I might not know everything. 🙂

And it continues today. Yet somehow, as he helps me realize that truth, the simpler truth that all of the stuff we try to know about him (men’s wisdom) is really not that important… life becomes clearer. Not that I have all the answers in life. But perhaps I know the most important one?

The message is Christ. By him we are put right with God, we are his holy people, and we are set free.

by Greg

Significance

It has struck me again recently just how significant Jesus is.

It’s not just that our entire calendar is based roughly on the year of his birth some two thousand years ago now. (Though that’s pretty significant.) It’s not just that there are people all over the entire world who know his name and use it today both to invoke blessing and as a curse word. (Do you know anyone else who has reached such a status?)

It’s not the statues, paintings, songs, building, even entire religions that bear his name that reveal his full significance.

We celebrate the birth of this man every year on December 25th because he is the visible likeness of the invisible God.

Listen to how Paul describes him at the beginning of his letter to the Colossian Christians:

Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the firstborn son, superior to all created things. For by him, God created all things in heaven and on earth, the seen and unseen things, including spiritual powers, lords, rulers, and authorities. God created the whole universe through him and for him. He existed before all things, and in union with him all things have their proper place.

Colossians 1:15-17

The book of Hebrews also calls Jesus God’s final and perfect revelation. (Read Hebrews chapter one for more.) In John chapter one it refers to him as the Word (logos) and talks of how all was made through him.

That’s fairly significant.

Let’s read on in Colossians.

He is the head of his body, the church; he is the source of the body’s life; he is the firstborn son who was rasied from death, in order that he alone might have the first place in all things.

Colossians 1:18

I think we who call ourselves Christians really believe and want to live this out. We want Jesus—not us—to sit on the throne of our hearts. He is the center of all we are and do. He is supreme in all things.

What I see though, suggests otherwise.

I think that—like I referenced a bit at the top—one of our biggest problems is how much we over-signify Jesus, if that were possible. Obviously, that is not really possible, as the descriptions of him from these books would suggest. However, as we further “deify” and remove him from the intimate relationship he chose to have with us, passing through a woman’s birth canal just as all the rest of us have, and living through the subsequent mess that our world and our lives can be … he also experienced all of the joys he created us to know and live. God came to be one of us, to be with us; “Emmanuel.”

So it’s less about what wise, learned people say about him… it’s certainly not about all of the traditions, rituals, ceremonies, and other various observances we have amassed along the way. Those are fine, but the core of the entire universe is Jesus. Just him.

For it was by God’s own decision that the son has in himself the full nature of God. Through the son, then, God decided to bring the whole universe back to himself. God made peace through his son’s death on the cross, and so brought back to himself all things, both on earth and in heaven.

Colossians 1:19-20

The cross is not just about death. The cross is about life, and peace. Reconciliation. Redemption. (Check out Romans chapter five. Fantastic stuff about what God did through the cross.)

When we reduce the Good News that Jesus came to deliver in person to a set of rules to obey, and a code of ethics, we are totally missing the point. JESUS is the point. We need to watch what he does, hear what he says, follow where he leads. We need him.

[Jesus said,] “And this is eternal life: for men to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”

John 17:3

This Christmas, don’t just remember that “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” … get to know him. He is the reason for everything. Knowing him is eternal life. It really, truly is all about him.

Now that’s significant!

by Greg

Unseen Help

My two boys and I have been trying to read through the book of Luke this month. At least the beginning, where we got to read again the story of Jesus’ arrival. It really is both ordinary and incredible all at once.

We read the part about the angel appearing to the guys who were taking care of sheep in the middle of the night. And then how there were lots more angels with that one angel all of a sudden, and they were singing! (Or shouting?)

Luke 2:8-15
That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

After reading that, and talking about the craziness of an angel just appearing out of nowhere, and then a million more showing up and chanting in unison, kind of like a pep rally from heaven. The contrast I was pointing out was how that was shockingly weird compared to the very ordinary entry of God into his created world. Born just like the rest of us. Spent his first night in a barn (not like most of the rest of us). Fairly ordinary.

To ensure that it wasn’t only ordinary, God chose to let some (ordinary) folks in on it. In a super-incredible way.

As we were talking about those angels and the super-incredibleness, Ian said, “How far away do you think people could see that? Was it only the shepherds who saw it?”

“Good question!” I replied. It was! I wonder if God chose to reveal the news only to those men right there. You’d think that “vast hosts of … armies” and the”radiance of the Lord’s glory” might be somewhat conspicuous. But I wonder…

Ian’s question reminded me of a story from the prophet Elisha’s life. I couldn’t remember exactly, so I told them I’d look it up and we’d read it together. It was related in that an army of angels was all of a sudden revealed to one person (and in position for battle) when before they had been unseen. (Perhaps like the angels the night Jesus was born?)

The story is from 2 Kings, and is fascinating.

2 Kings 6:8-23
When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would confer with his officers and say, “We will mobilize our forces at such and such a place.”

But immediately Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel, “Do not go near that place, for the Arameans are planning to mobilize their troops there.” So the king of Israel would send word to the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he would be on the alert there.

The king of Aram became very upset over this. He called his officers together and demanded, “Which of you is the traitor? Who has been informing the king of Israel of my plans?”

“It’s not us, my lord the king,” one of the officers replied. “Elisha, the prophet in Israel, tells the king of Israel even the words you speak in the privacy of your bedroom!”

“Go and find out where he is,” the king commanded, “so I can send troops to seize him.”

And the report came back: “Elisha is at Dothan.” So one night the king of Aram sent a great army with many chariots and horses to surround the city.

When the servant of the man of God got up early the next morning and went outside, there were troops, horses, and chariots everywhere. “Oh, sir, what will we do now?” the young man cried to Elisha.

“Don’t be afraid!” Elisha told him. “For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.

As the Aramean army advanced toward him, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, please make them blind.” So the Lord struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked.

Then Elisha went out and told them, “You have come the wrong way! This isn’t the right city! Follow me, and I will take you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to the city of Samaria.

As soon as they had entered Samaria, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, now open their eyes and let them see.” So the Lord opened their eyes, and they discovered that they were in the middle of Samaria.

When the king of Israel saw them, he shouted to Elisha, “My father, should I kill them? Should I kill them?”

“Of course not!” Elisha replied. “Do we kill prisoners of war? Give them food and drink and send them home again to their master.”

So the king made a great feast for them and then sent them home to their master. After that, the Aramean raiders stayed away from the land of Israel.

There is so much to this story! I wish that I currently had time to share my thoughts on this one, but I’ll stick to the link to the first story for now…

The armies of heaven (as they were described in Luke) were apparently poised to assist Elisha, though no one could see them. And, when Elisha prayed that the servant could see them, my guess is that only the servant could then see them (along with Elisha). The rest of the story is fascinating, too, with some Jedi mind tricks played on the army sent to capture Elisha. Who knew 2 Kings was the source of George Lucas’ inspiration?

Also, it is interesting to note the description of this unseen army. “Horses and chariots of fire” sound rather menacing! If these are the same “armies of heaven” that are in Luke’s story, no wonder people are always afraid when they see these guys!

I’m not sure if more than the sheep herders were able to see the messengers that night. Perhaps they were the only ones to see the spectacular first christmas light show. That would fit God’s apparent M.O. He slipped in, nearly unnoticed. And it continued for many years to come. Even when he was working miracles, there were times (it seems) when his students forgot who he was, and he was—in a way—God, unnoticed.

There is something so ordinary about him. It’s fun to read the Christmas story and see how he came to be one of us. He is not like us, but he chose to be. God came to live with us. The unseen became seen.

Incredible.

by Greg

Blessed Are Those…

But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God.
Psalms 146:5 (NLT)

At our home school group yesterday, a friend of ours spoke of the people he had met and is currently helping in Sierra Leone, one of whom is a 10-year-old boy named Joseph that he and his wife (rather miraculously) financially support.

When speaking of that boy and his amazing smile, he reminded the group of 9 and 10 year olds in the room of the verse quoted at the top of this post from Psalm 146. While some translations use the word “blessed” in place of the word happy, the meaning of the word in the original language is more akin to our words for “happy”. The happiness that he saw in the faces of the people there—including and especially in the face of Joseph—is definitely a result of where their help and hope comes from.

You may have favorable circumstances in life at the moment. You may not. Circumstances can and do—and will—change. They just will. But God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He doesn’t change. If at our core, He is our source of life, help, hope… our bread of life and living water … then happy will we be.

by Greg

Life Is You

So… it always happens this way…

In the middle of intense busyness and while feeling quite burdened and overly stressed … a song was birthed.

I really don’t do that much anymore. I can easily push them aside, the little lyrics and melodies and piano/guitar riffs. I have other stuff to do. And, well, I really do. But today, it just didn’t work. The song was coming out whether I wanted it to or not. (These are the kind that I write in about 15-20 minutes total.)

It’s pretty cool because, this is definitely a lot of what I have been thinking lately. Two things I wish I could pass along to other believers—really just everyone—is that they are so treasured by God the Father, and that they truly are lovable. The other thing (that is often a product of understanding the first thing) is the freedom from religious and performance-based mindsets. God wants a relationship with us, not a behavioral adjustment.

I haven’t played it enough to have a coherent audio recording of it yet, but I figured I’d publish this “first draft” of the song lyric here, just for fun. Maybe I’ll add the audio at a later date. (Though I’ll probably do that here…)

For now, here’s the song I couldn’t keep back: 🙂

Life Is You
© 2009 Greg Campbell

Part of me wants to sit down and write a song for you
So you can know the freedom I do
Part of me wants to give up my very life for you
So you can know the Way, the Life, the Truth

Part of me wants to give everything that I can give
And end all the hunger I see
Part of me is aching for everyone to see
They are beautiful inherently

Pre-Chorus
(But) it seems so futile, it seems so pointless
I’m not getting through
My words don’t seem to have the power
To really show them you

Chorus
I will just live it, live this life with you
And watch you open eyes
I will just live it, the Way, the Life, the Truth
Until they realize
You are the Way…
You are the Truth…
You are the Life… the Life
Life is You!

(Instrumental loop, then pre-chorus to Chorus)

Bridge
There is nothing that has been made that isn’t from you
There is nothing that has been made that isn’t for you
‘Cause you are the Way, you are the Truth, you are the Life… Jesus
‘Cause you are the Way, you are the Truth, you are the Life, yeah!

(Chorus 2x to end)

Life is You… you are the Life
Life is You… (ad lib)

Related Scriptures, if you’re interested: John 14:6, 17:3, Ephesians 1, Colossians 1:15-23(ish), and probably more…

by Greg

My Quiver is Full

This morning I had a little quiet time before the children woke up (because I got up early to see our friends off on their journey home) and I decided to pick up my Bible and read something random. I’ve been reading through Genesis, love to read the Gospels, recently read the book of Amos, been reading Proverbs with the kiddos, and the book of Galatians is always an interesting destination to me.

But today I just flipped the pages and ended up in the Psalm one hundreds.

I spied Psalm 127 and decided to start reading.

Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.

That seemed familiar enough, and a cool reminder that life works best when God starts it (remember?)

As I kept reading, I noticed that I should make a plaque with Psalm 127 on it and hang it prominently on the front of our house! 🙂 This whole, short psalm seems to be my life in a nutshell. (There’s more in Psalm 128, too!) God has definitely blessed us, and we love living a life of complete trust in his provision (and protection of that provision). We’re learning to trust him more every day.

I’ll leave you with the psalms … enjoy!

Psalm 127
1 Unless the Lord builds a house,
the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the Lord protects a city,
guarding it with sentries will do no good.
2 It is useless for you to work so hard
from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat;
for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man
are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

Psalm 128
1 How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
all who follow his ways!
2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
How joyful and prosperous you will be!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
4 That is the Lord’s blessing
for those who fear him.
5 May the Lord continually bless you from Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.
6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!

by Greg

Distorted View of God

Now, hear me out. I have a feeling my words here could be misunderstood. But I also think I may be seeing something from a slightly new angle (for me) that may also be helpful to you.

As I’ve been reading Genesis again, I’ve been watching for how God is interacting with us (people) in the stories. What seems to be his heart. Where is the person we see in Jesus in the gospels. I’ve commented here already on how much I can see that God is with us, and wants to be. Even though we have been a mess pretty much from the start. That’s amazingly cool.

Another line stood out to me.

When Seth [son of Adam and Eve, after Cain killed Abel] grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people first began to worship the Lord.
Genesis 4:26

Wait. Say that again?

It was during his [Enosh, grandson of Adam] lifetime that people first began to worship the Lord.

Really? What about Adam? And Eve? And Cain and Abel… what about the offerings that they brought, the ones that were acceptable and unacceptable. Didn’t God establish some kind of worship rules and schedule for them to follow? He didn’t?

Huh.

Strangely, in this brief, overviewish jaunt through Genesis so far, one thing I have noticed is that God did not require worship. At least, I haven’t seen it. What I have noticed is a slow progression in the way we (people) feel towards him and interact with him.

In Genesis 2, Adam and Eve spent time literally in God’s presence. And he with them. When they had to fess up to eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, God was walking around in the garden. He was right there.

There is a line in this account that I remember just chuckling at as a kid. Remember it? “Now, although Adam and his wife were both naked, neither of them felt any shame.” Tee hee! They were naked! Isn’t that funny!?

Until this day, I don’t think I really understood the significance of that. The fact that there is no shame was revealing much more than the basis for a life of nudism.

Consider the role shame seems to play not only in the next chapter, but the next ten chapters of Genesis, as sin completely overwhelms the human race, and Genesis says, “all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil.” The first effect of shame was that they felt they had to cover up their bodies. God found them hiding from him, the account says, because they realized they were naked. But could it also have been that they realized they had chosen what God had told them not to?

Following that, notice that Cain and Abel both start bringing offerings to God. Already, they are separating God from themselves. Adam did not do that. Adam and Eve did not. But one generation later, that is what is happening. And God continued to be with them.

Then Seth was born, and as I wrote above, it was during his son Enosh’s lifetime that people first began worshipping the Lord. Another step towards removing ourselves from God, distancing ourselves from him.

By the time Noah and his family got on the ark, God told them to make provisions for sacrifices which they offered after the flood was over and they were all alone on the planet.

Now, did God command them to offer sacrifices? Didn’t he by saying bring enough animals for a sacrifice demand to be worshipped? I don’t think so. Jesus said that God allows for divorce because the people had hardened their hearts. God knew that even “righteous” Noah and his family felt the need to offer sacrifices – which seems to be another step further down the road of separating ourselves from God than Cain and Abel’s offerings. (Says nothing of a “sacrifice” in that instance.)

Do you see how important it was that we had no shame?

The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

We’re almost to Easter. Easter is often a time when we implore people to feel shame. Remember that it was our fault that Jesus went to the cross! He grudgingly took our guilt upon him, all the way to the cross, scorning its shame. Wait, what? It doesn’t say “grudgingly”? Oh? Right! It says this:

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:5

Great pleasure. From the beginning of time, all God has wanted is to have a relationship with us. Him… with us. He pursues us. I submit that we, out of understandable shame, are the ones who separate ourselves from him. Not that he is not deserving of reverence and awe and worship. He is. But I believe he made us to be his kids… not his subservient subjugated subjects.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 (NIV)

Jesus defeated sin, death, and shame on the cross that day. “For the joy set before him.” We’ve read before that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” It’s so hard to see it, because we live with shame. We move God off to a distance because we know our shortcomings. He is holy, different, other. And he is. But I think what he wanted us to see in Jesus – the perfect representation of who he is – is that he’s not afraid to get a little dirty.

I think it’s great to sing to and worship God and even remind ourselves just how amazing and awesome he really is. But in the end, what he seems to want most of all, is for us to just be with him. To know him.

Jesus, and the cross, gives us the freedom to do that. The freedom to be ourselves – naked – with him.

That’s something worth celebrating.

by Greg

God With Us

You have probably seen the words, “God With Us,” around Christmas time. Perhaps along with the word, “Emmanuel.” In my mind, it conjures up images of the baby Jesus, lying in a feed box. They are Chrismas words. In fact, it’s the theme and title (sort of) of our Christmas album.

As I’ve been reading through Genesis, I’ve noticed that from the very beginning, those words have always been true.

It’s apparently not just a New Testament idea. God did not suddenly change his mind about us, deciding it would be OK to hang out with us, once he fixed everything on the cross. Certainly that moment in history was important in restoring our relationship with God (see Romans 5), but as I’ve seen again from even the very moment we chose to separate from God, he was with us.

In Genesis 2, the account of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and the serpent and the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil… yeah, that story… God was with us. He walked with them in the garden. Even when they were hiding in shame, he was there – and made them coverings.

Even when he posted angels with flaming swords at the entrance of the garden (where the Tree of Life was) God did not remain there, he was present with Adam and Eve and their kids. The next chapters are the unfolding story of how people began to multiply. There were many more people, and God was with them. We see even the story of Cain and Abel, sons of Adam & Eve… God was there to receive their offerings, it seems like he was there in person. The relationship continued, even though it was now different. There was no record of Adam or Eve bringing “offerings” to God before that.

(Interestingly, there’s no record of God asking for those yet, either…)

God even talks to Cain after he killed Abel. He gives him a mark, so that others won’t kill him. As the story unfolds, God is there – right there – throughout. Even though it’s getting worse and worse. Shouldn’t the sin scare him away?

As the story continues, it doesn’t scare him… but it does “break his heart.” It gets so bad that he resolved to get rid of everything. Start over. He chooses to save one person, because his is “righteous”. The qualifications for “righteous” were interesting to me.

He [Noah] consistently followed God’s will, and enjoyed a close relationship with him.
Genesis 6:9

We talk about having a “relationship” with Jesus today, but I don’t remember seeing that as the major qualification of “righteousness” in the Old Testament. Wasn’t it about sacrifices and offerings and repentance and all that? (Actually, Hebrews says that all of those who were “righteous” from the OT were made righteous by their faith…. hmm…)

So God found someone who “had a close relationship” with him, and proclaimed him as the only righteous person on earth. I like, also, that he “consistently” rather than “always” followed God’s will. It was about a relationship, rather than 100% obedience to a code of laws.

The biggest thing I get from the first 10 chapters of Genesis is that God is with us. From the beginning when all was perfect, through the time that we separated ourselves from him, to after that, through the cleansing of the giant Flood, and afterward… God is there. He’s not afraid to be near “sinful” people. The whole story of human history I think is one of God wanting to be in a close relationship – like with Noah – with us. That’s the point. Everything he does, everything he did from the beginning points to that.

More to come…

by Greg

The Story of Creation

I have been wanting to intentionally, methodically read through the Old Testament again recently, and somehow chose today to start that process. I almost started in a book other than Genesis, but decided, how can you not start there?

I’m glad I did.

I noticed a few things in what I read that I wanted to write out here.

First, I noticed that there was an order to things. There was definitely a process to the story. From formless and void to separating the waters. From separating water from water (which is pretty interesting) to separating water from land. Then the lights: sun, moon & stars. Then plants, animals – also in a sequence – and then finally, people. There was an order.

Why did he do that? Why didn’t he just—POOF—make everything? How did he choose the order? Did one thing build on the other? Was each step part of his original blue print? Is God such an artist that he was even just “making it up” as he goes? Could he have been that spontaneous? Was he simply enjoying the process?

Who can know? Not I. But the fact that he built one thing upon another stuck out to me. Maybe not the way I would have done it. (But, thankfully, I’m not God.)

Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.

This was another cool thing I noticed. Not only did he make stuff, he made it so that the stuff could make stuff. Amazing. We can’t really imagine infusing life into anything, especially from nothing… but he infused so much life, and such a pattern, that the life he created could also re-create. Plants, fish, birds, animals, even people. He built in the ability to reproduce “of the same kind.” That really should be amazing, I think. Perhaps we’re so used to it—it’s just how it is—but, really… it is astounding.

Jesus did say, “I am the Life.”

Mostly, I noticed that God is incredible, and I hope to see him more in the pages of the Old Testament again, through the slightly dimmer vision of those who knew him before he was fully revealed in Jesus. We’re pretty lucky in that regard. Jesus – the full representation of God – made himself known, and after defeating sin, and death, and shame by dying on the cross, he got back up and lives with us today. Here. Now.

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
Hebrews 1:1-3