God's First Choice

Above him [the LORD] were seraphim [angelic beings], each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isaiah 6:2-3 (NIV)

I once taught a Christian retreat on the book The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges. I posed the question to our group, “Which do you believe God wants to be known for first, His love or His holiness?” Everyone immediately responded with “His love,” and gasped when I said, “His holiness.” Love is what we have been taught, and it is the world’s mantra, but He wants to be known for His holiness first, for that is what defines Him.

That God is love is true and while Paul writes of love being the greatest virtue (1^st Corinthians 13:13) the angels around the throne are not crying “Love, love, love is the LORD Almighty.” God wants to be known first for His attribute of holiness.

To be holy means to be separated from something, and to God it is a complete separation from anything that challenges His character, and that is all sin. God demanded this separateness from human spiritual corruption throughout Scripture. He especially demanded separation from His presence for the protection of the Children of Israel and even Moses himself (Exodus 19:12, 33:20).

Why is it so important to study the attributes or character of God? Tim Challies in his article Counterfeit Detection, Part 1, says federal agents are not trained to spot counterfeit currency by studying counterfeit currencies, but by studying legitimate bills. By knowing what is right, they can more easily catch what is wrong. Knowing the attributes of God can cause us to pause at something we hear and say, “Wait a second, that does not sound right. It goes against the character of God.” Jesus said the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth (John 16:13). Holy truth comes from the mind and heart of God Himself.

It is well to understand that because God exists in perfect holiness, everything He does is perfect. Things may not play out like that in our estimation, but often down the road when we see the result, we can stand in amazement at the beautiful wisdom in His answer. It may not have been as swift as we may have liked but it was done right. When we do not understand God’s ways, we can cling to God’s worth, that in His holiness He is good even when times are not.

The definition of His holiness puts all His other attributes into finer focus. Studying the real thing helps us immediately identify the counterfeits. Even the angels who are ever before Him never cease to call out the eternal truth of His holiness (Revelation 4:8)

His perfect attribute of holiness means we are spiritually renewed in Him through the holy perfection of Christ, having full access to the Throne of Grace. Holy is the Lord. It is not what we can do for ourselves but what He can do for us. He is our blessed hope. Blessed be His perfect and holy name forever!

Maranatha,

Ken

Attributing God's Character

-to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forever-more! Amen. Jude 1:25 (NIV)

It is my observation that most humans seem to be in love with love. It is the same here in the South where I live. Love is the cure all and the answer to every reality, but if we love something, can love ever be wrong?

According to God’s word, love is especially given to represent His character and nature. To love outside of that can lead to misrepresentation of His character and attributes. Yes, while God is love He cannot love sin which is contrary to His nature and complete holiness. He has carefully laid out a moral compass for us to follow in Scripture, detailing what He loves and abhors. He commands us to be in tune regarding His nature and character and to compare any question we have about an issue against His attributes. As Scripture so rightly professes there is a way that seems right to us but can end in ruin (Proverbs 14:12). So, how can we know?

A serious word study on the character of God can have an encouraging and stabilizing effect on our walk with Him. When confronted by God’s character, as He exists in His perfect, and divine sentient Being, then we can be sure that what we know what His nature reveals of His will, a will that rightly directs us to love the things He truly loves.

In future devotional thoughts, I will be sharing the major attributes of God’s image and character. These are attributes that ought to be dynamically shaping our own characters in a godly manner, for we were created to be sharers of this image (Gen. 1:26). I want to begin with His Eternality. He has no beginning, but has always existed (Revelation 1:8, 4:8). This attribute surely sets Him apart with no equal.

One of the most amazing things in considering the eternality of God is how important we are to Him. Because God is all-knowing (omniscient) you have been on His mind and in His thoughts for all eternity past.

God says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please,’” (Isaiah 46:10).

God’s eternal life spring means He remains unchanging throughout all eternity, as will His Son Christ Jesus (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8). Who else could be totally trustworthy otherwise? A God who wears out and perishes is just a god, and all the gods of the nations are idols (Psalm 96:5), but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and joy are in His dwelling place (1^st Chronicles 16:26-27).

He is the only One you can put your full trust and hope in. His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, are evident and clearly understood (Romans 1:20). They will continually shine like the Son (Mark 9:2-4, Revelation 1:16).

Next week, does God want to be known for His love first, or His holiness? The answer may surprise you. I hope to see you then as we continue our look at the attributes of the One, True and Living God.  

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13).

Maranatha,

Ken

Any Mistake, Right or Wrong

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.” Revelation 12:10 (NKJV)

Baseball manager and word whiz, Yogi Berra, was one who could, in baseball parlance, put the ol’ English on the ball. Once asked why his team lost that day’s game. His reply was quick and pure Yogi, “We made too many of the wrong mistakes.” I’m pretty sure he did not mean to infer there were right ones.

When it comes to the mistakes you have made in your own life, our adversary, the Devil, is so skillful in whispering things that are so condemning as to make you cringe. He and his angels have had thousands of years to hone those skills and with the greatest cleverness and animus, they present your mistakes, and, for a few, murky pasts, to God, day, and night.

When they say, “[Your name here] did [remember that one?], and certainly deserves to be punished and forsaken,” our Advocate (one who stands up for you), Jesus Christ, rises to your defense. He says, “Father, [your name Here] may have done that, but [he, or she] has put their trust in Me and asked Me to forgive their sins. That sin was laid to my charge at the cross and the penalty You required was paid in full by My blood. There is nothing here to charge to their account. I ask for a dismissal.” The Father will nod in the affirmative and say, “Yes, that payment was, and is, acceptable to Me. Dismissed! You are free to go.”

When Satan and his legions bring up our past they must surely be reminded of their future. They will be thrown down and cast into the lake of fire prepared for them (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10). They believe it and tremble (Matthew 8:29, James 2:19).  Satan knows the forgiving power of the shed blood of Christ but never gives up trying to get you to buy into his bird with the broken wing will never fly so high again routine.

We are Created in the Image of God (Genesis 1:27) and because of that Satan is pouring out his worst on us to mar and destroy us. Jesus said the Devil was a murderer and liar from the beginning (John 8:44). If he cannot murder you outright, he will try to murder your relationship with Christ through lies meant to mislead and discourage you.

The name ‘Satan’ is translated accuser. He is a master deceiver who will work to dishearten you into giving up and staying away from God. But hear me, that is just the time you need to turn to the Father in true repentance. He wants you to come to Him!

When we sin, we do have an advocate with the Father in His Son Jesus Christ (1^st John 2:1). When Jesus was nailed to the cross Satan is the one who got hammered and he knows it. No mistakes, right or wrong, go unforgiven in Christ. That’s the English on that ol’ ball and it don’t need no more claifyin’ eder.

Maranatha!

Ken

Blown by Every Wind

I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. Romans 11:1

This week I was able to open a dialogue with a young man who is a believer in Replacement Theology. R.T. is the teaching that because Israel has rejected her messiah, her place in God’s redemptive plan is finished and the Christian Church has replaced them with the church as having God’s ultimate favor and approval. There is no longer a place for Israel.

This man also espouses the belief that there is no rapture of the Church, but it will have to endure the horrors of the coming seven years of the Great Tribulation.

Let me speak first to Israel being replaced. I encourage those with lingering doubts that Israel will remain in God’s plan to read fully Chapter 11 of Paul’s epistle to the Romans. Replacement Theology is a doctrine of men, not of Scripture.

Salvation was given to make Israel envious (Romans 11:11). The content of Replacement Theology can be skillfully argued and debated but the best commentary on the Scriptures are the Scriptures themselves. The final fact always returns to the indisputable evidence in favor of the survival of the Jewish nation and its people. Christ does not return to rule from Washington, Paris, London, or Rome. He returns to rule from Jerusalem, which was in Israel the last time I checked. Scripture teaches Israel will survive if the heavenly bodies give light and the sea waves roar (Jeremiah 31:35-36).

Secondly, is the Church going to suffer the wrath which God is going to pour out upon an unbelieving world during the Great Tribulation?

My friend believes it will be so. He gives the illustration that Noah was not taken out of the flood but had to go through it, as Lot did the destruction of Sodom. Point taken. But Lot did not have to go through it. God did remove him and his daughters to a place of safety in Zoar (Genesis 19:20-23), and in bringing Noah and his family through the Great Flood He did so as he and his family were needed to repopulate the earth (Genesis 8:15-17).

The wrath poured out during the Great Tribulation is from God onto a world steeped in unbelief and rejection of the sovereign rule of His Son. As cruel and as horrible as the damage Satan will do through the anti-Christ, God’s judgment will be far more effective in its intensity to get the attention of the earth’s population to repent, and millions will (Revelation 7:9, & 14). But it will also be the time God will bring Israel to repentance and salvation in her Messiah.

The rapture of the church has been attacked by critics as the brainchild of Anglican priest John Nelson Darby. They contrive it as an errant doctrine new within the last 200 years. They say Darby invented the rapture theory after an accident an accident due\ring his recovery from December 1826-January 1827.

However, reading the early church fathers we find in their writings they too believed and looked for the rapture of the church, so it was not a new teaching. Christian speaker and author Chuck Missler often ridiculed those who taught the Church would not be raptured but be shoved into the blowtorch of the Tribulation. To paraphrase he said, “I cannot imagine Jesus saying to His Bride, ‘I will be coming for you, but first I’m going to put you in a place where you’ll get knocked around and beat up, then I’ll come get you and we’ll get married.’”

Jesus warned us to be always on the watch that we may be able to stand before the Son of Man in that day (Luke 21:36). He was not just speaking of the first century church or the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, for many of the things He mentioned have yet to happen on the earth (Matthew Ch. 24, Luke Ch. 21). Paul writes that God elected the Jews and loved them on account of the patriarchs and God’s call is irrevocable (Romans 11:28). Israel will never be replaced.

The time for the Devil is short and he knows it. He is amping up people, governments, and enemies in the spiritual realm to defy God and destroy the human race. That is the bad news. The good news is discovered in comparing Scripture with Scripture and rightly dividing the word of truth finding God has not surrendered His throne to anyone. His righteous holy plan of redemption will be done in accordance with His will, and Satan and his angels will burn (Matthew 24:41).

The man I am communicating with to my knowledge still believes in the deity of Christ and that He is the only Way, Truth, and Life. What this brother has are convictions and a difference of opinion on how things will happen. He remains a brother-in-Christ. We agree on the doctrine of salvation and differ on how God will accomplish the end times but agree it will get done.

 I am very sure I hold some views that can be considered somewhat skewed, and the Lord will rightly reveal eternity to us as it is and will be. We can differ on how God does it while holding to the unalterable doctrine of salvation only through the finished work Jesus Christ.

While there is much going on in the world that can be confusing and misleading, we can be aware and cautious not to be blown about with every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).

Scriptures in both the Old and New testaments hold the knowledge and wisdom to discern the truth. Let us follow the example of the Bereans of Acts 17:11. They were noble-minded believers for they examined the Scriptures every day to see if what they were being told was true. They proved by the Scriptures the Gospel first given to the Apostle Paul by Christ Himself (Galatians 1:12). That is wisdom and gives comfort and peace. Let us do so that we may mature and grow in its benefits.

Maranatha!

Ken

 

Is There a Problem with Paul?

Paul, an apostle-sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead- Galatians 1:1 (NIV)

I recently heard Pastor Gary Hamrick relate a conversation he had with an Orthodox Jewish acquaintance in Israel as to why the gentleman had an issue with Jesus. The man quickly countered and said, “Oh, I have no problem with Jesus. My problem is with Paul. He was a traitor. He turned against his Jewish faith and teaching.”

Paul is by far the most instrumental first century figure to preach the Gospel of Yeshua of Nazareth as Israel’s prophesied Messiah. Many love him and there are a few who heartily dislike him. Paul began as Saul, born into a Jewish family in the Roman province of Tarsus (modern south-central Turkey). In later life he joined the faction of the elite Jewish sect called the Pharisees (Philippians 3:5-6).

His journey to faith began, amazingly, with a deep-seated hatred of the people of the way (Christianity-Acts 9:2, 24:14-). He zealously persecuted the Church with arrests and even participated in one execution that we know of (Acts 7:54-8:2).

But who died and made Paul the spokesman for presenting the Gospel? Jesus did (Acts 9:15-16).

Saul, as he was first known, was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:27). After his miraculous conversion he was called to take the message of the Messiah to the Gentiles. In doing so he changed his name from the Jewish Saul to the Romanized Paulus to be more readily acceptable to Gentile society.

I have read many bible teachers who refer to what he preached as “Paul’s gospel.” But was it Paul’s ideas? He taught it but it was not his gospel or even his idea. He received this teaching from no other than Christ Himself. He was so cautious in misrepresenting it that he placed himself, or even any angel, under divine curse should they preach a gospel other than the one he first preached (Galatians 1:8).

Let the reader be aware in the latter reference to angelic beings bringing a false gospel. It is well to investigate the full message and meaning of any angelic announcement of a gospel and not the Gospel of biblical Scripture. If a message denies that Jesus exists within the Triune Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it is anathema, or under the Divine Curse of God. I defy anyone to show in Scripture where Paul taught such a blasphemy that denied the deity of Jesus. He always championed the full deity of Jesus Christ, for only God could be the only Perfect way to redemption.

There was never a problem with Paul. In coming to believe and follow the Way he did not betray his Jewish roots; he enhanced them through the fullness of God in the flesh (2^nd John 1:7). There is no other name given to us by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). The Word of God stands firm and has never been proven wrong. 

Paul preached what he received in direct revelation from Jesus Christ Himself, and never compromised or changed it, and neither should we. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 5:1). Let us be encouraged and stand firm in that.

Ken

What Happened When That Hippie Hugged Me

“A new commandment I give to you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 12:34-35

I recently had the great delight of seeing the movie Jesus Revolution. It is Pastor Greg Laurie’s experience of coming to faith in Christ during what has become known as the “Jesus Movement.” Beginning in the late 1960s and early ‘70s thousands of young people who initially became disenchanted with the San Francisco Haight-Ashbury hippie scene found redemption and significance through faith in Jesus Christ.

The movie was of especial interest to my wife and I as we had grown up in Southern California and got to spend a lot of time attending services in Calvary’s big tent.

It was a time chockfull of “Jesus Freaks.” Most were kids that found that the promise of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, was as empty of real and lasting meaning as they thought their parent’s churches had been.

They left San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District hippie experimentation and through the ministry of people like former hippie-turned-street-preacher, Lonnie Frisbee, and the pastoral leadership of men like Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, were introduced to the reality of a real and lasting relationship with Jesus Christ. It was the experience with God they were seeking. This generation found a satisfying life of grace and truth (John 1:14), not in what the world was offering but through the lifechanging power that God offered through His Son (John 3:16-18).

I grew up in a hardline Christian denomination that was heavy on judgement and light on grace. There were many prohibitions within our church’s doctrinal naughty list that smacked of rebellion against God and my church’s traditional doctrines, with dancing, and going to movies high on the sin. Card playing was in the “questionable” bracket. Dominos-OK. But the greatest sin in my church was “mixed bathing.” It was not taking baths with the opposite sex, as that would have been bad enough. Mixed bathing was where boys and girls were together in their swimsuits at pool or seashore. Oh yeah, and did I mention long hair? There was that too.

When the Beatles hit the U.S. in ’64 with their “Beatle cut” hair that tickled the tops of their ears I immediately judged them as the Four Fab Squids, rebellious English losers in need of fiery judgment, or at least to be stuffed back onto a TWA flight to Liverpool. All through high school I kept my hair cut “high and tight.”

Attending a service at the Calvary Chapel tent was a new experience for my straightlaced denominational upbringing. Guys in Nehru Jackets, Jesus tunics, tie dyed T-shirts, beards, long hair, shorts, beads, sandals and big Bibles were well…different. I remember during one worship time a guy with beautiful blond hair to his waist, raising his hands in adoration to the Lord who had given him a new life. I thought, “Are these guys for real? Looking like that? If they had really accepted Christ, they would go to the barber and stop trying to conform to the world.” It was twisted and legalistic thinking, yet I continued to hold onto my bias that anyone whose hair touched their ears was still a squid.

Then one evening, for my own good, the Lord allowed me to get ambushed. I got Hippie Hugged. I had just walked into the tent with my brother when this hippie in a baggy white shirt and hair past his shoulders, and beard to his chest, walked up to me. He opened his arms, smiled at me, and said, “Good evening, my brother, the Lord bless you!” and hugged me with the greatest show of genuine love. It was what I have come to call a golden moment of the Holy Spirit, when He imparts a beautiful truth that changes a life. He spoke to me as He had to Peter, “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 10:15).

I recommend this movie along with the book of the same name by Greg Laurie and Ellen Vaughn. We are currently seeing God redeeming the times with another spiritual awakening beginning amongst the youth of many universities within our nation and even around the world. Where Satan is determined to destroy those made in God’s image, all humanity, Christ is always faithful to raise up His banner of victory in our defense, for the Father has given Him all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18).

His salvation is available to everyone, longhairs, shorthairs, bearded and cleanshaven, red, and yellow, black, and white, we all are precious in His sight. No one who asks to come into fellowship with Him will be denied. I used to think His acceptance depended only on my how I looked or performed, until the time I got hugged by that hippie. 

We only need come to Him with the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). All who love their brother and sister live in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble (1^st John 2:10). The Lord certainly does move in mysterious ways to see His will done in our lives, even to do so through the hug of a hippie.

Ken

When Christ Frees You from the Curse

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5

Most of us have become masters at blaming. It began in Eden when sin entered the picture, ushering in pain, suffering, and death (Genesis 3:6-7, 5:5) for before all that it was all perfect and good (Gen 1:31). Adam blamed God for giving him the woman who caused him to sin. The woman blamed the serpent who lied to her, and we have been blaming everyone and everything for our sorrows ever since. God, unfortunately, is still the number one target of our ire as the cause of it all, but God had nothing to do with it.

The curse of sin and evil on Creation was the outcome of Adam and Eve believing Satan’s lie and acting in favor of his deception (Genesis 3:4). The free choice of Earth’s original parents to rebel against God’s loving provision and this resulting disaster called human life is now the why of it. It will be played out until Christ, the eternal how of it getting fixed, fully redeems it back to its perfect creative design.

Adam and Eve had no excuse for their rebellion for they had been duly warned of the consequences of disobedience. People will say, “OK, so maybe God didn’t make it happen, but if he knows everything, then he allowed it, so that makes him a monster.” On the surface of pure emotion that seems plausible but glosses over the character of God’s true love.

We humans enjoy using the phrase “God is love” without really understanding its core truth. To first be a God of love, He must first be a God of freedom, granting us the self-determination to willingly return our love to Him.

God doesn’t do bots. He did not do so with us or even the holy angels. Would you want a robotic mate to kiss you only when you put a thumb to your remote? That would make You the controller of the “love,” and the maker of a preprogrammed response. Your ‘mate’ would have no choice of their own except to obey your command. You alone would be the giver and receiver of that kind of perceived love, but that is no love at all. To exist, love must be free to either be willingly accepted and returned in kind or refused.

God is not the cause of Earth’s misery, but He is in the process of repairing it. He will bring a complete and pristine restoration to the heavens and the earth. Jesus told John a day is coming when He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain and God will live among us (Rev 21:1-4).

A time is coming when the Bride of Christ, the Church of true believers and acceptors of His redemptive work, will be forcefully (instantaneously with power and authority) received to Himself, and in that instant the dead in Christ will be resurrected first and those of us still living will be transformed into bodies made to last for eternity (1^st Thessalonians 4:14-18). He ends with the admonition to encourage one another with these words.

Today’s picture is truly worth a thousand words. All we are, have become, or lost, will be instantaneously changed and renewed (1^st Corinthians 15:51-52). Whatever we desire to be and have will be done with such exquisite precision that it will be far beyond anything we could even ask for or imagine (1^st Corinthians 2:9). We will be fully healed in soul, body, and mind. No missing limbs, no cluttered minds, no scars, and no more emotional baggage.

Jesus puts His word on it when He tells John that He, Jesus, is making everything new and to ‘flag it,’ holding Him accountable to the written word.

Jesus says with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). That even includes rearranging the atoms of the cremated back into their bodies, or rapturing a child from a wheelchair. Remember He spoke the universe into existence (Genesis 1:3) so why would we balk at Him rearranging molecules back into DNA, bone, and tissue? He says, “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).

We made this mess called humanity, but God sent His only Begotten Son to fix it (John 3:17-18). Let the only thing you lay at His feet be your humble thanks with grateful worship, looking forward to His glorious appearing when He will free you from the Curse.

Ken