Eve-the first woman-disobeyed and deceived.
Adam-the first man-was inconstant in his obedience.
Cain-the first son-murdered in jealousy.
Noah-God’s steward of a new earth-became drunk.
Father Abraham lied.
Jacob surpassed his grandfather’s lies with great skill.
Jacob’s sons deceived, murdered, and enslaved.
Moses’ anger at his people caused him to disobey God.
We could go on and trace the heritage of sin from Moses’ day to our own. Every one of these people I have mentioned had their reasons. Many of them felt justified in their actions. None among them are irredeemable villains. To the contrary, we would consider most of them to be exemplars of virtue.
But at some point in our lives, just as in theirs, you will be forced to make a choice, and like them, you will choose wrong. Though you act with the best of intentions, you will have deviated from God’s will for your actions. It is for this reason that the Apostle Paul wrote:
There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
If you recognize the truth of these words, if you have been justified by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we invite you to share with us this meal of bread and wine.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Water Flows Down Hill...
Water flows down hill and so does sin. Judah and Israel sinned by violating the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other God before me”. That rejection of God and the religious practices associated with the worship of false Gods led them to violate the second greatest commandment, “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”.
In their worship of false Gods they sacrificed their own children by burning them in fire. Once that line was crossed, human life was devalued and they started killing each other.
In their worship of false Gods they had sex with male and female cult prostitutes. Once that line was crossed their spousal vows were devalued and they started committing adultery with each other.
These two examples of hard core sins led to every other kind of sin.
Once God is devalued and we elevate our wants over God, there is no restraint for what we do but our own self will… and that is not much of a barrier.
God’s Laws build us up and make us better people. The law of self will creates miserable people. Water flows downhill and gathers force and speed… so does sin.
Believe in God and put him first in your life… you won’t be sorry.
In their worship of false Gods they sacrificed their own children by burning them in fire. Once that line was crossed, human life was devalued and they started killing each other.
In their worship of false Gods they had sex with male and female cult prostitutes. Once that line was crossed their spousal vows were devalued and they started committing adultery with each other.
These two examples of hard core sins led to every other kind of sin.
Once God is devalued and we elevate our wants over God, there is no restraint for what we do but our own self will… and that is not much of a barrier.
God’s Laws build us up and make us better people. The law of self will creates miserable people. Water flows downhill and gathers force and speed… so does sin.
Believe in God and put him first in your life… you won’t be sorry.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Israel and Judah's Sin
So why did God cause Israel and Judah to be slaughtered and sent into captivity?
In large part because they violated the number one commandment,
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God”.
This was the biggy, there was no commandment greater than this one and they not only violated it but they stomped and spit on it. They didn’t just have some nominal belief in another God (which would be bad enough). They did horrible things in service to these so called Gods.
Manasseh, King of Judah, built altars to various gods in Jehovah’s temple, he sacrificed his own son in fire, practiced divination, sought omens and consulted mediums.
Subsequent reform minded Kings tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord.
“They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.”
These practices were either invented in the minds of their practitioners or inspired by some demon.
Why forsake the true God and follow after these horrible things? All I can surmise is there must have been some attractive feature or validation of these practices. Perhaps through coincidence or demonic power something they thought was good came from these practices.
Whatever it was, it was wrong, and God sent numerous prophets who used different teaching methods over hundreds of years to get them to turn from their evil behavior. He was not nearly so patient with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Lessons to be learned
- If it is true that punishment fits the crime then disobeying the first commandment must be a horrible crime because its punishment was horrific. After the Jews came back from captivity they never again had a problem with idolatry. Horrible crime, horrible punishment, behavior corrected.
- God is loving and just. In his love he patiently tries to correct our behaviors but eventually if our behavior is not corrected he will give us a just punishment.
- Don’t believe everything you hear… be discriminating. Part of the problem with God’s people was they listened to false prophets and ignored the true prophets. We must compare what people say with the scriptures… that takes a little bit of effort.
In large part because they violated the number one commandment,
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God”.
This was the biggy, there was no commandment greater than this one and they not only violated it but they stomped and spit on it. They didn’t just have some nominal belief in another God (which would be bad enough). They did horrible things in service to these so called Gods.
Manasseh, King of Judah, built altars to various gods in Jehovah’s temple, he sacrificed his own son in fire, practiced divination, sought omens and consulted mediums.
Subsequent reform minded Kings tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the temple of the Lord.
“They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal. They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire. They practiced divination and sought omens and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.”
These practices were either invented in the minds of their practitioners or inspired by some demon.
Why forsake the true God and follow after these horrible things? All I can surmise is there must have been some attractive feature or validation of these practices. Perhaps through coincidence or demonic power something they thought was good came from these practices.
Whatever it was, it was wrong, and God sent numerous prophets who used different teaching methods over hundreds of years to get them to turn from their evil behavior. He was not nearly so patient with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Lessons to be learned
- If it is true that punishment fits the crime then disobeying the first commandment must be a horrible crime because its punishment was horrific. After the Jews came back from captivity they never again had a problem with idolatry. Horrible crime, horrible punishment, behavior corrected.
- God is loving and just. In his love he patiently tries to correct our behaviors but eventually if our behavior is not corrected he will give us a just punishment.
- Don’t believe everything you hear… be discriminating. Part of the problem with God’s people was they listened to false prophets and ignored the true prophets. We must compare what people say with the scriptures… that takes a little bit of effort.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Judah and Israel
With the passing of King Solomon the singular nation of Israel divided into two separate nations… Judah and Israel. Over the course of time both nations rejected God and his laws. In spite of repeated warnings, Judah and Israel sank deeper and deeper into sin until finally God empowered foreign nations to decimate them and take them into captivity as a punishment.
First, Israel was conquered with great brutality and taken into captivity by the Assyrians. Assyria took the survivors as slaves and spread them over the Assyrian empire. They would never come back from this captivity. Instead Assyria would re-people the land of Israel with Assyrians. During New Testament times this area included “Galilee of the Gentiles” and Samaria and would be looked down on by the Jews from Judea. Jesus’ home town of Nazareth was in Galilee.
Secondly, several years later Judah would be conquered by the Babylonians, also with great brutality. The Babylonians however kept a remnant of Judeans in the area. In addition, the Jewish slaves they took would not be scattered but kept together in groups. God promised them that their captivity would only last 70 years and encouraged them with prophets to correct the behavior that led to their punishment. Unlike the captivity of Israel, the scriptures identified these great prophets who worked with Judah during their captivity.
Next week I want to begin a more detailed look at the behaviors that led to the punishment of Judah and Israel and how to keep God happy with us.
First, Israel was conquered with great brutality and taken into captivity by the Assyrians. Assyria took the survivors as slaves and spread them over the Assyrian empire. They would never come back from this captivity. Instead Assyria would re-people the land of Israel with Assyrians. During New Testament times this area included “Galilee of the Gentiles” and Samaria and would be looked down on by the Jews from Judea. Jesus’ home town of Nazareth was in Galilee.
Secondly, several years later Judah would be conquered by the Babylonians, also with great brutality. The Babylonians however kept a remnant of Judeans in the area. In addition, the Jewish slaves they took would not be scattered but kept together in groups. God promised them that their captivity would only last 70 years and encouraged them with prophets to correct the behavior that led to their punishment. Unlike the captivity of Israel, the scriptures identified these great prophets who worked with Judah during their captivity.
Next week I want to begin a more detailed look at the behaviors that led to the punishment of Judah and Israel and how to keep God happy with us.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Cecilia Garza
Great news... Cecilia, the daughter of Jesse and Olga Garza, decided to reject Satan and accept Jesus Christ and was baptized recently.
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