We are accepted November 27, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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Everyone from the greatest sinner to the greatest saint needs the grace of God.  Everyone who wanders through the veil of tears that is this fallen world is tested, tried, and assaulted by our adversary, the prince of the power of the air,^[1] who goes about like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour.^[2]  Our fallen body and soul are open to him and his minions.  And if that isn’t bad enough our own sinful desires lure us into trap after trap.^[3]

Surrounded and attacked by all this it seems natural that we would cry out with Paul, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”^[4]

There is an answer to this cry.  We don’t stand alone before the heavenly court of justice.  If we did not even one of us would deserve anything except eternal damnation and separation from God.  Instead of standing alone in the withering judgement fire “we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”^[5] and the fire of His presence becomes for us the life-giving warmth of His love.

We need to praise the glory of God’s grace, His unmerited favor because, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”^[6]  We may have been the worst of sinners.  We may have cursed God and persecuted His people but once we turn from the darkness to the light, once we embrace Him and are born again all that changes.  We change and the world around us changes.

Peter sums it up well when he says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.^[7]”

The author of Hebrews goes into even greater detail showing how the eternal sacrifice of Christ is superior to the shadow sacrifices of the Old Covenant.

“Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 1And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”^[8]

This is the description of our present state.  We are accepted.  We have entered our inheritance.  Today we “see in a mirror, dimly,”^[9] but once this perishable has been swallowed and replaced by imperishable,^[10] we shall see “face to face.”^[11]  For “Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”^[12]

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[1] Ephesians 2:2

[2] I Peter 5:8

[3] James 1:14-16

[4] Romans 7:24 NKJV

[5] I John 2:1 NKJV

[6] Romans 5:8 NKJV

[7] II Peter 2:9-10 NKJV

[8] Hebrews 9:12-15 NKJV

[9] I Corinthians 13:12 NKJV

[10] I Corinthians 15:53-54

[11] I Corinthians 13:12 NKJV

[12] Ibid.

The Fifth Law of Thermodynamics November 13, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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Whether we call it “Flipping the switch,” or “Mashing the button,” when we do it, we expect the light to come on.  But if there’s no power all we end up with is a futile finger exercise.  Even a flashlight needs batteries.  No power, no light.  It’s the power of the sun’s thermonuclear inferno that provides the natural light illuminating life on earth.  

In the arcane world of physical cosmology and astronomy the debate about Dark Matter and Dark Energy consumes the attention of the best and the brightest even though this has about as much everyday walking around relevance as the ancient question, “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin.”  We’re told that which is invisible is measurable.  Some scientists go so far as to say that only 4% of the universe is physically observable, made up of matter.  The remaining 96% say is dark or invisible.

We’re told if these unknown and unknowable quantities aren’t factored into our calculations our accepted laws of physics, at the universal and the infinitesimal ends of the scale, don’t work.  They just appear to work within the observable bubble scientists call “The Space-Time Continuum” or as we call it out here in the work-a-day world, “Reality.”  

In other words, though these intricate Laws of Physics may look and are presented as rock solid, they aren’t.  It’s good to remember these and all Laws of Science are just theories constantly in search of either affirmation or repudiation.

What this tells us about the reality we observe is that science says it isn’t what it seems.  If the Dark Matter – Dark Energy theory is correct most of what is – is invisible to us.  If it isn’t true, we’re relying on science based upon physics which we know is incomplete, imprecise, and fundamentally wrong.  If the foundation is bad how can the structure built upon it be good?  If the basic assumptions of science are faulty, how can we trust it to reveal the universe around us?

Some people believe that science is based on fact and religion is based on faith.  When we learn that once quantum physics intersects with normal physics and once Dark Matter and Dark Energy collide with observable matter the claptrap of the modern scientific edifice is shown to be a house of cards built upon multiple leaps of faith disguised as logical assumptions.

If some want to embrace theories as dogma acting as the Apostate Apostles of Scientism preaching a religion of materialism that is their right.  However, I do find the way the “If I can’t feel it, see it, or hear it; it isn’t real,” crowd twist themselves into prattling pretzels over the problem of Dark Matter and Dark Energy extremely interesting.

The many atheists in the religion of materialism tell us Christians that believing in a world we can’t see all around us making that which we can see possible is drivel.   At the same time, they use their incantation of equations to prove that the world we see is made possible by that which we cannot see.  One of the most fascinating phenomena I’ve ever witnessed is the fact that these evangelists of physical evidence can’t see the hypocrisy of their cult-like adherence to their anti-deity dogma in the face of believing and espousing basically the same set of facts.

Just a few questions for the High Priests of Pragmatism:

If the universe has an end, then it must have had a beginning.  Every beginning has a cause.  What was the primary cause of the universe?

Or, if the universe is never ending doesn’t that in and of itself prove the existence of eternity?

If the universe is infinite yet expanding where would something that is infinite expand?  

If the universe is finite yet expanding, into what is it expanding?

Our solar system is powered by the sun.  Without the sun there would be no planets, no life.  If our sun was not there, there would be nothing here. 

I am speaking of physical power, physical light, and physical life.

If we turn our attention to the spiritual reality, God is the source of everything.  And Jesus Christ as the Son of God and His incarnation is the perfect physical expression of God.  Coming to sinful man Jesus was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a sacrificial death, rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven where He is seated right now on the right hand of God the Father.  If we repent of our sins accept Jesus as our Savior, He will cleanse us of our sin nature and unite us with Himself.  We will become one with all other believers and one with God.  

Jesus is the power of God.  And without that power there is no light, and we walk in darkness.  For Jesus is the light of the world.  He is the light that shines through the darkness and the darkness can’t understand it.  We are descended from our father Adam, and we enter this world with a sin nature separated from God whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.  Unless and until we turn from the material world and embrace the spiritual, we cannot even understand what has just been said.  It will be gibberish, the ranting of a fool.  For the spirit cannot be understood with the natural mind.

Forsake the world of darkness and embrace the light.  Leave the City of Man and be translated to the City of God.  

The Laws of Thermodynamics are:

The Zeroth Law: If two systems are both in thermal equilibrium with a third system, then they are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

The First Law: The energy gained (or lost) by a system is equal to the energy lost (or gained) by its surroundings.

The Second Law: Natural processes tend to go only one way, toward less usable energy and more disorder.

The Third Law: A system’s entropy approaches a constant value as its temperature approaches absolute zero.

Even in the natural scientists say that the visible is dependent upon the invisible.  That is based on their conjectures.  Christians base their beliefs on the revelation of God.  Though He reveals Himself in all creation we cannot think our way to Him.  We cannot deduce Him or imagine Him apart from His revelation for He is eternal, infinite, omnipotent, and omnipresent.  These are all attributes beyond the grasp of our finite minds.  However, because He has chosen to reveal Himself to us in and through Christ, we know the material is dependent upon the spiritual.  

Scientists say there are three laws, but we all see four.  Which brings me to the 5th Law of Thermodynamics: No power no light.  Turn from the beggarly forces of the physical and embrace the infinite power of God and let the light of Christ blaze forth in your spirit.  Then let your life become a beacon as that light illuminates the world around you. 

No Jesus no peace.  Know Jesus know peace.  

How Do I Get to Heaven? November 6, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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Many people believe they can find their own way to heaven.  They think they can figure it out on their own.  That’s sort of like trying to lift yourself up by your own bootstraps. I’ve often offered a one-hundred-dollar bill to anyone who can do that.  I still have that hundred-dollar bill.   

Some people think they’ll get to heaven by being a good enough person.  Some may even fool others into thinking they’ve accomplished it.  But in our heart-of-hearts we all know who we are and where we’re lacking in this department. 

Some think they’ll have the “Christ” experience and transcend from the normal to the paranormal.  I once attended a church that started preaching this as doctrine.  Instead of rising into the heavenlies they descended into blatant sin and error calling that which was bad good and good bad. 

Some think that belonging to the “Right” church, following the “Right” rules and the “Right” regulations will do the trick.  Others follow philosophy, psychology, or sociology, biology or some other “ology.”  Still others think that education will enlighten them to the point of revelation or evolution will grow them into the presence of God.  We can’t think our way to God.  He’s bigger than our mind can conceive, or our intelligence can comprehend. 

Then again, some don’t even believe in God.  Some think they can accept or reject Christ, ignore God and still end up with God when they die.  An old saying goes, “You don’t prepare for heaven by raising hell here on earth.”  Some think someone else is going to pray them into heaven.  And then there are those who think there are many paths to heaven.  Another old saying goes, “I know there is no Heaven, and I pray there is no Hell.” 

Some treat Jesus as just one of many avatars along with Buddha and Muhammed.  But when they do this, they call Jesus a liar and how could a liar be a reliable spiritual guide.  Because Jesus doesn’t mince words, He claims to be the only way to heaven, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”[1]  

To understand this and to appropriate its power into our lives we need to take a leap of faith.  We need to confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead.[2]   For as the passage continues, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”[3]   Those who reject the claims of Jesus say, “Show it to me and I’ll believe.”  However, the way it works is believe and you will see. 

These scoffers might want to check the company they keep.  When Christ hung on the cross paying the penalty for sin the Chief Priests, the Scribes, and the Pharisees laughed at him saying, “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”[4]  

Before we can stand on solid enough ground to take such a great leap of faith we need to arrive at certain realizations. 

First, we must realize that God is a person.  By this I mean He is a personal God not just a “Force.”  Some believe that the mere idea of personhood when applied to God implies some sort of limitation and therefore should never be applied to what is supposed to be an omnipotent and omnipresent reality.   

I think this belief arises because these people unknowingly agree with a by the ancient Greek philosopher Protagoras, “Man is the measure of all things.”  This is usually interpreted to mean that the individual human being, rather than a god or an unchanging moral law, is the ultimate source of value.  This belief is taught and ingrained throughout our modern Godless education system to the point that when most people graduate from secondary school this forms part of their subconscious foundation of so-called “Common Sense.” 

Based on this erroneous belief people assume since our personalities are limited therefore, personality in and of itself is limited.  This, however, is wrong.  We are a flawed example.  God is the only perfect personality, and though He is endless in all ways we are but a pale reflection. 

This realization of God’s personhood is vitally important.  Without this knowledge it’s impossible to be convinced of His utter supremacy.  If God is not a person, how can we sin against Him?  And if instead of sinning against a person we are merely violating the rules of some system, that sounds like something we should be able to appeal.  If there’s no sin and we’re either working with the “Force” or against the” Force” we might ask, “Is there only one Force or are there multiple “Forces” out there?”   And if there are multiple “Forces,” can we chose to be ruled by one that supports our lifestyle choices, so we don’t work against it?  

This type of thinking easily becomes circular and leads to philosophical tail chasing. 

When we acknowledge that God is a person we’re almost assuredly convicted of our sins.  We instinctively realize that there’s no way for us to measure up to the holiness of God.  We understand intuitively that there is a barrier created by our abject unworthiness and God’s all Holy presence.  Anyone who recognizes the vastness of the gulf between our sinfulness and God’s sinlessness sees that we need to be forgiven if we stand any chance of ever entering His divine presence.   

Conversely, if we deny God’s personhood it’s easy to fall prey to the spirit-of-the-age and its apparently easy going, “I’m Okay You’re Okay” attitude.  Everything is beautiful.  Who needs forgiveness if there is no personal God and there is no sin? 

The true message of Christian evangelism is to the sinner: the one who is conscious of God.  If there is no acknowledgement of God as a person as an individual separate reality the word of God will fall like seeds on the street that birds quickly snatch up and take away.[5]  

As a former atheist I can personally attest to the fact that unless and until we come to an acknowledgement of God as a personal reality there’s no way that we can be open to the Gospel.  To the sinner who faces his total inability to approach a Holy God the first and foremost message of the cross is, “You’re forgiven through His sacrifice and grace.”  And that’s how we get to Heaven. 

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[1] John 14:6 NKJV

[2] Romans 10:9

[3] Romans 10:10

[4] Mark 15:32

[5] Mark 4:1-20

How Can I Trust the Bible? October 30, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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Sometimes we try to define God’s words and actions too perfectly.  In our arrogance we think we can adequately describe exactly what God always means in all situations.  This easily can lead us into thinking our doctrines are God’s doctrines.  We act as if God is sitting on the throne studying our catechisms and judging by our standards.

When we do this, we’re trying to put God in a box.  The biggest problem with this is that when God decides to draw outside the lines, we run the risk of misidentifying a move of God as a heresy because it violates one of our rules.

It’s good to devote our efforts to grasping the meanings of God’s Word; however, we must always be aware that it’s possible to veer from seeking understanding to believing we have cornered the market on this valuable commodity.  We just can’t reduce the immensity of God into formulas.  In any equation we devise to represent God, His Word, or His actions the “X” of God is always undefined. 

Eternity, infinity, and omnipresence are all terms we can define but we can never fully comprehend.  The reality of God, the only self-existent One is as far removed from our understanding as the operation of a supercomputer is from an amoeba.  Or as one of the prophets put it, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’”[1]

We must acknowledge that we can’t think our way to or through God’s truth.  Our human minds are fundamentally incapable of encompassing such immensities.  As the man who wrote most of the New Testament tells us, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”[2]

Many unbelievers and sceptics try to cast aspersions on the Word of God by pointing out what they perceive as contradictions in the text.  When we’re reading or meditating in the Word if we encounter anything we feel is a contradiction don’t let it weaken your faith instead stand on faith. Instead of wavering do as one of the New Testament authors suggests, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.  For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”[3]

And don’t despair, don’t think I just can’t understand this.  Don’t think God has given us a puzzle instead of a revelation.  Just because we can never fully understand all of it does not mean we can’t understand any of it.  Just because we can’t use God’s Word to develop a spiritual unifying field theory for every person everywhere every time it doesn’t mean we can’t understand enough with God’s help to have a reliable guide for life.  The Bible itself addresses the ability of the born-again believer to embrace the revelation of God, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”[4]

And for those who say, “The Bible has been translated so many times by so many people how can we know it’s the true unadulterated Word of God.”  Personally, I believe that if the God of all creation went to all the trouble to send prophets and apostles over thousands of years of time to write down His Word to humanity and if after thousands of years of unbelievers trying unsuccessfully to burn and destroy that Word it has not only survived, but it has also thrived. I can believe His Word has ended up in my hands in a pure enough form for me to hear what He’s saying.

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[1][1] Isaiah 55:8-9

[2] 1 Corinthians 2:14

[3][3] James 1:5-8 NKJV

[4] 1 Corinthians 2:12 NKJV

Dr. Owens’ Newest Book: New Old Sayings Volume Six October 24, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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The idea that God speaks to us is in a deeply personal way is nonsensical to the worldly.  The truth of the matter is: God speaks. And that says it all.

Dr. Owens offers here the sixth volume of New Old Sayings.  He doesn’t end this book by saying, “Thus said the Lord.”  He doesn’t claim literal inspiration for what is contained within these pages.  However, he does believe and proclaim that God speaks to him.  How does he say to God speaks to him?  He maintains that God speaks to him primarily through His Bible.   And he believes God will speak to anyone who will listen.  He also says, “I’ve found God weaving His way through nature, people, books, songs, paintings, poetry, movies, and websites.  Everywhere I look I see God.  His voice flows through my reality touching everything.   Even those who reject God, those who try with all their might to deny Him give context and substance to His words for He includes them in His revelation saying, ‘The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

New Old Sayings Volume Six

Finding Peace Amid Chaos October 16, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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Rudyard Kipling in If, which I believe is the best poem ever written begins, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,” setting the stage for a recitation for the human qualities needed to rise above worldly circumstances.  These are the types of mature actions and reactions visible when the shifting tides of daily life don’t toss us about like a piece of driftwood in the surf.  Maturity provides stability and confidence not shaken by the ebb and flow of change marking the boundaries of life.  

Reading these traits often exposes the arrested development of those of us who may have grown up but have failed to mature. 

This poem illuminates human wisdom as brilliantly as a bright light on a dark night reveals all within its circle of radiance.  It’s a work of brilliance by a man who was more than a journeyman wordsmith, a true master of the English language.  And like other works of genius, it exposes timeless truth that can change the life of anyone who assimilates its message and lives out its guidance.  Other works such as How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, or The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell are examples of this wisdom that can help us mature into successful people in a world filled with more obstacles than opportunities. 

However, while wisdom, if it’s accepted and acted upon can help us succeed and prosper it cannot by itself bring us to the peace which passes all understanding.[1]  Happiness is the world’s substitute for joy causing immature people to waste their lives tickling themselves to death for a smile.  In the same way the tranquility flowing from success and prosperity is the world’s substitute for peace.  True peace can only come from God for humanity needs peace with God to have peace within themselves. 

You see when humanity decided to follow Satan instead of God, we immediately found an unbridgeable gulf between us and God.[2]  This left a God shaped hole in our hearts and nothing can fill it except the God who created us.  On our own we can’t think our way to God.  We can’t follow enough rules, laws, or pious regulations to reach God.  Someone had to pay the price for all the sin from Adam to eternity and no one could do it except an eternal being.   

We were guilty and in need of a mediator, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.”[3]  In the court of heaven, we needed an attorney to represent us before the throne of justice, “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”[4]  You see He has paid the price and is ever ready to show the proof of His sacrifice since, “He solved the sin problem for good—not only ours, but the whole world’s.”[5] 

Jesus pointed the way to peace with God. Telling us, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” 

Salvation is easy for, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”[6]  Having done that it flows from the reborn spirit with in us that we will follow Him, doing the works that He did as He leads us into all peace.[7]  And in His living word He gives the formula for peace, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”[8] 

There is an ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”  In America today we find ourselves in the most interesting of times.  So as the endless election winds down to its inevitable conclusion, whether we face the resistance, riots, and impeachment that will greet a Trump victory or the shabby world of Progressive authoritarianism devolving from a Biden win, don’t let it steal your peace.   

As He prepared to pay the ultimate price to ransom our lives Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”[9]  And no matter how confusing, challenging, or frustrating it may become remember Jesus also said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”[10] 

Let us bear up under these interesting times knowing that our faith in Christ makes us not just followers of God but children of God, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”[11]   

Don’t be discouraged, instead hang on to your faith.  Don’t forget that the blinding lights and roaring furry of this crisis is but a blink of the eye for, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”[12]   And, “we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times; the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.”[13] 

Keep the faith.  Keep the peace.  We shall overcome. 

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[1] Philippians 4:7

[2] Luke 16:22-26 NKJV

[3] I Timothy 2:5 NKJV

[4] I John. 2:1 NKJV

[5] I John. 2:1-2 MSG

[6] Romans 10:9 NKJV

[7] John 14:12

[8] Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

[9] John 14:27 NKJV

[10] John 16:33 NKJV

[11] Romans 8:17 NKJV

[12] II Peter 3:8 NKJV

[13] II Corinthians 4:17 MSG

Believe it Confess it Receive it Live it October 9, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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Here’s one of those fifty cent words we Christians throw around, Omniscient. In other words, God is all knowing.  Since He’s the Alpha and the Omega the first and the last He knows the end from the beginning and everything in between.   

All of which brings forward a question that’s a mystery often presented as a conundrum some people pose as a veiled attack against the reality of God. 

They ask, “If God knows everything doesn’t that mean He knew Adam would fall even before He created him in the first place?  So why do we make a big deal about God making a way for salvation when He created man to fail?”  Some even compare this to the fireman who starts a fire then calls in the alarm so that he can become a hero for putting it out. 

The biblical answer for this is found in Paul’s rendition of the story of Pharaoh hardening his heart against God found in Romans chapter nine: 

For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.  Therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. 

You will say to me then,

Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?’ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? 

What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”[1] 

That’s it.  “Does not the potter have power over the clay?” Remember what we were originally “God formed man of the dust of the ground.”[2]  Adam was nothing but a clay mannequin until God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”[3] It was only  after this that “man became a living being.”[4] 

We are the clay.  He is the potter. And the fact that He made one “for honor and another for dishonor”[5] is none of our concern.  It is the fact that He made a way for the dishonorable to become honorable is what this is all about. 

The first work of God for our salvation was His decision that He would make a way for us to become not only reconciled to Him but become His children.  This is not based on anything we’ve done, will do, or could ever do.  It is not because of any good which is in us.  It is based solely on the love of God. 

This truth gives us perfect security and assurance in our transitory world of sin.  For the love of God never fails, never wavers, and is always everywhere dependable, reliable, and ever present.  What can the world do to us when we’re safe and secure in the love of God? 

Paul expressed this  perfectly in his letter to the Romans, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[6] 

Though all may be saved not all will be.  All of us were born in sin.  We carry embedded in our fallen bodies the burden of Adam’s original sin.  Then along the way we all contribute to that sin burden ourselves.  All these sins were paid for at the cross.  All of us can have Adam’s sin as well as every sin we have ever or will ever commit washed away by the blood of Christ’s sacrifice however, not all will avail themselves of this glorious gift. 

Look at it this way; if I purchase a brand-new car and I offer it to you.  If you accept the gift, it’s your car.  But if you refuse to accept it, it may have been purchased for you, it may be waiting right there in your driveway, but if you don’t accept the gift, it isn’t yours. 

From the first moment that we confess Christ as our Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead we’ve walked in the kingdom of God.  Our steps may still be visible in the natural world, but we’re walking in the Spirit.  Before that, Satan held the title deed to our lives.  We were born into the line of the first Adam, sold in sin and separated from God.  But, once we’re born-again we stand in the line of Christ, the last Adam. [7]

God places us in His family, and He has work for us to do.  “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”[8]  

And since He has work for us to do, He has prepared us for that work.  Every gift, every talent, every opportunity we have has been strategically placed in us and in our lives to help us fulfill the mission God has for us.  He doesn’t send us on to the battle without equipping us for the fight[9].  We aren’t some kind of busted up, raggedy sinner who just barely scraped in by the skin of our teeth.  No!  We’re the born-again children of God bought with the precious blood of Christ.[10]  In Him we are the righteousness of God.[11] 

We’re washed in the blood of the Lamb[12] who takes away the sins of the world.[13]  Believe it.  Confess it.  Receive it.  Live it.  We not only stand blameless before God our Father we stand redeemed and holy in the love of Christ, children of God received before the throne not as one who lived a wasted life of sin,[14] but instead as one who is set right, accepted, and honored as a member of the Body of Christ, a living stone in the temple of God.   

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[1] Romans 9

[2] Genesis 2:7

[3] IBID.

[4] IBID.

[5] Romans 9:21

[6] Romans 8:38-39

[7] I Corinthians 15:45

[8] Ephesians 2:10

[9] Ephesians 6:10-18

[10] I Peter 1:17-19

[11] II Corinthians 5:21

[12] Revelation 7:14

[13] John 1:29

[14] Luke 15:11-32

All That Really Matters October 2, 2024

Posted by Dr. Robert Owens in Uncategorized.
Tags: Bible, Christianity, Faith, god, Jesus
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Back when I was an atheist, and I believed this is all there is I was passionately interested in politics, economics, and current events.  I was committed to working for my side and to defeating the other guy.  Now that I’m a born-again child of God, a citizen of Heaven, and merely a pilgrim here^[1] I follow the ever-changing kaleidoscope of civic events more like a soap opera.   

Yes, I understand that within this bubble we know as the space-time continuum the ins and outs of who’s up and who’s down actually make a difference.  For example, it will have a profound impact on the United States whether we hand the government over to socialist revolutionaries or if we deliver it to capitalists.  However, in the grand scheme of things this makes about as much difference as which queen bee is laying eggs in which hive. 

I came to this level of a wokeness after years of Bible study, prayer, and fellowship with God.  Just as a caterpillar goes through a metamorphosis and becomes a butterfly, I believe humans go through much the same process.  Only instead of a two-stage process like a butterfly we go through three stages. 

First, we’re a fetus (in Latin fetus means little one) for nine months.  Second, we’re born into this world and live here for as long as we do.  And finally, we pass from this world into eternity.  Let’s see: nine months, maybe 120 years, eternity.  Which stage do you think is the real deal?  The nine months prepare us for the 120 years and the 120 years prepare us for eternity.  Two of these stages are merely steppingstones for the main event.  Therefore, I contend that humans are in fact eternal beings who pass through two stages of development to become what we were created to be. 

All that really matters in this stage of our development is the direction we’re facing when we leave it.  Are we looking to God and putting our faith in Him?  Or are we looking to the world still grasping for all it has to offer?  Think of it this way: if when we’re a fetus inside our mother the umbilical cord is wrapped wrong or if there is a chromosomal problem, we could enter life with some sort of handicap that we will spend the next 120 years dealing with.  In the same way if we enter eternity facing in the wrong direction, we will spend eternity dealing with the ramifications of that choice. 

From my personal Christian perspective here’s the 411 on how we turn from the world and face in the right direction. 

Everyone can see that this world is broken.  Evil runs rampant.  The bad are rewarded.  The good are crushed.  Sickness, poverty, and oppression are on display in every direction.  If God is good, why would He create such a horror show? 

The easy answer is He didn’t.  When He was done with creation He paused and looked around.  Surveying all that He had done, and it was “Good.”^[2] 

Then man turned away from God, embraced Satan, and God cursed the world while at the same time promising that a Savior would come who would step on Satan’s head and deliver humanity from the grip of the evil we chose.^[3] 

The price was a sinless sacrifice, the good for the bad.^[4]  No human could do it because none of us has ever or could ever live a sinless life.  Therefore, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to be incarnated as a human, live a sinless life, and then offer himself up as a sacrifice for us all.  After His sacrifice Jesus descended into hell and as an eternal being suffered the punishment for every sin that had ever or would ever be committed. Then He was born-again in the very heart of darkness, triumphed over Satan, and God raised Him from the dead.^[5]  Jesus led all those who had died waiting for this deliverance out of Satan’s grasp^[6] and emerged on the third day with the keys to death and hell.^[7] 

After spending forty days instructing His disciples on how to carry the message of the best news ever to the world He ascended into heaven.  Ten days later the Holy Spirit arrived and filled the new believers so that from then on, they were no longer earth-bound humans. They were instead wall-to-wall God twice-born children of the Most High God on a pilgrimage here with a mission^[8] to share their experience to be witnesses.^[9] 

There it is in a nutshell.  The word Gospel means “Good News” in old English.  So, when you get filled to overflowing with all the bad news the world vomits up every day why not turn to the good news.   

Don’t worry about what you can’t do anything about.  Do you think if you missed one news broadcast or if you stopped watching them forever it would make any difference to what is happening on the stage of the world, or would the actors just keep reading their lines and playing their parts?  The bad news impacts us more than we can ever impact it. 

It’s like a joke making the rounds: 

An English asks an Amish fellow, “Why isn’t the COVID rampaging through your communities?”  The Amish fellow says without hesitation, “Because we don’t have any TVs.” 

The TVs, radios, magazines, and papers may carry the news, but only the Bible has the Good News.  It all comes down to choices: “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”^[10]  In other words no matter what, we’re all going to serve somebody.  It will either be any one of the countless gods of this world or the one true God. 

How do you make that choice?  Is it by joining the right church?  Is it by attending the correct services, worshipping in a certain way, or following any of the endless rules the world invents to complicate and build a barrier between us and the God who wants us to join His family?  No!  Not only has He made it simple He has made it easy.  All we need to do is confess Jesus as the Lord of our life and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead and we will be saved.^[11]  That’s it.  Do that and we have joined God’s family.  Then we can pour ourselves into His Word so that its life-giving Spirit will fill us and recreate us.   

Forget about the bad news and study the Good News instead. Let’s “Eliminate the negative, accentuate the positive, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t with mess mister in between.” 

Or to put it another way, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”^[12] 

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[1] 1 Peter 2:11-12

[2] Genesis 1:31

[3] Genesis 3

[4] Isaiah 53:1-5

[5] Colossians 2:15

[6] Ephesians 4:8

[7] Revelation 1:17-18

[8] I Peter 2:11-12

[9] Acts 1:1-11

[10][10] Joshua 24:15

[11] Romans 10:9

[12][12] Hymnal.net, accessed 5-15-21, https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/645