What was Jonah Thinking?

Jonah was the famously reluctant prophet of Israel who was sent to a pagan city, warning of Divine wrath and the danger of Judgment. Besides running away from the task of bearing that message, (with the dramatic episodes of the storm, being thrown overboard, and spending 3 days studying marine life from the inside) he pitched a tantrum when he saw that they heard the warning. At the very moment that God's wrath was turned away, Jonah's was kindled. (Text for the Biblical account of Jonah here.)

What provoked such an extreme reaction? Why was Jonah hell-bent on their destruction?

To examine this question, we need a little background.

The timeline of Jonah is not certain, but he appears to be the same Jonah spoken of in 2 Kings 14:25 this puts him between the division of Israel into two kingdoms, and the Assyrian conquest of Northern Israel. This would place him in the reign of Jeroboam II, whose reign was in the high 700's and low 800's BC.. With 721 BC the year that Assyria conquered Israel, and sent them to exile, that could place Jonah's work perhaps only 30-50 years before Shalmaneser's conquest.

Looking backward, these events would happen about 100 years after Elijah's work. The spiritual climate of Israel itself in Jonah's day can be seen by the wickedness of their king, Jeroboam II. Israel as a whole has turned to the Idols of their neighbors, and have adopted their manner of pagan worship.

Where did he Jonah go off the rails? For one thing, Jonah had obvious misgivings about God's right to exercise His authority over people.

In disobeying God, he tried to place his own will above God's. Asking to be thrown overboard was a desperate act. His conduct later does not support the notion that he said this to save the lives of others. It is more probable that even there, Jonah was trying, if he could control nothing else, to control time and place of his death. But God exercised his authority to forgive, which was just as much his authority as his authority to judge. And Jonah struggled with that. God's authority over his creation is a major -- possibly THE major-- theme of this short book.

What was the Hebrew understanding of their relationship with God? Why was it special?

For one thing, God had declared that Israel was special. God made specific promises to Abraham, Issac and Jacob. It did not even extend to all the natural offspring of Abraham and Issac, but only to the children of promise. So point one, God Himself made that distinction.

Next, the relationship to God rested on Covenant. God made a promise, there was a covenant sign (circumcision) and Israel (ideally) approached God in specifically the ways that God said one should approach him. In fact, several moments of judgment in Israel's history were directly related to people worshiping God in a way that he had not mandated. Wrong person, wrong method, wrong place, etc. The lesson they learned and re-learned through their turbulent history: God was to be treated as Holy.

David himself, in the famous standoff with Goliath directly referenced Goliath's uncircumcised status, as a deciding factor in who God would support in that battle.

Even in the New Testament, there are similar reminders that gentiles were "without God and without hope, strangers to the covenant of promise." We were outsiders, and could not hope to be reconciled to God without entering into covenant with him, and -- sadly God did not appear to be establishing new children to Abraham. (At least, not by the natural means. More on that later.)

Added to fact that they were strangers they were also idolaters. They approached gods, but not the True God. Observant Jews had witnessed God frequently chasten his own covenant people, sometimes very harshly, for turning to false gods. If God dealt that way with his children, how much more would a Hebrew have assumed that He would deal harshly with a uncircumcised nation for the same crimes?

Moses himself records God's mercy and forgiveness in the same sentence as "by no means clearing the guilty."

And let us be clear: to a Jew, who understood that the very reason the people of Canaan were given over to Israel was because of their sin, not Israel's righteousness, Nineveh was exceptionally wicked, and ripe for judgment.

But what was Nineveh? It was a bustling city on the principle East-West trade route. They would have been very cosmopolitan, bringing people (and gods) from abroad. They even officially adopted some foreign gods and added them to their pantheon. Think New York, Toronto, London, or some similar large center of commerce.

But more notably, they were very warlike. Even before Jonah, Israel was at war with what one writer called 'the bloodiest ancient civilization'. They were a very real threat to Jewish national security. Even their art was brutal:

Another work, The Battle of Til-Tuba, dates to the reign of Ashurbanipal and its depiction of bloody warfare reinforces the Assyrians’ reputation for ruthlessness. Considered the finest large-scale composition in Assyrian art, the monumental relief shows the Assyrians defeating the Elamites of southern Iran. Scenes highlight the Elamite king’s chariot crashing down, the king’s flight from the wreckage, and his capture and beheading, with the severed head being carried back as a trophy to Assyria. The story unfolds amid a backdrop of horrible carnage and the confusion of battle. (quote in full context here)

Some harrowing images of Assyrian art from that era here. It wasn't made to be beautiful, but to inspire fear of their enemies.

Jonah did not have difficulty with God exercising his right to judge the wicked. In fact, he expected that he himself would be thus judged when he was flung into the sea.

Jonah simply did not have a category in his thinking, for a Holy God forgiving sin "just because". God was not basing it on an existing covenant. Not on faithful devotion. Not on the slightest hint of godliness on the part of the Ninevites. Not on anything but God's unmerited favour.

If you want to get closer to the full force of his thought processes, imagine for a minute that you are in post WWII Germany. The Nazi War Crimes Tribunals are being held. The courtroom is filled with people whose arms bear the tattooed evidence of their time in Treblinka or another of the Death Camps. Families devastated by the War. People seeking justice. (These events were cultural equivalents of actual Assyrian practices.)

Imagine the defendant of a very high profile case. Maybe someone in Hitler's inner circle. One of the diseased minds from which the Nazi doctrine originally sprang. Evidence is presented against him. He is incontrovertibly guilty. He admits it. He says he is sorry, and it will never happen again. The judge pauses a moment, smiles, and with one swing of the gavel, declares that all charges against him have been dropped. The apology has been accepted.

How do you think the courtroom would react? The country? You?

Would you be pleased with the decision, or outraged? Disgusted maybe? Why?

The judge would be thought of as no better than the guilty man who he set free. Why? Because a judge cannot "wish" away wrong-doing. Someone 'must pay' for justice to be satisfied. Justice is not a sinful or carnal demand. It's origins are found in God's own character.

It could be that the commentaries all have it right: Jonah simply didn't think that Nineveh was worthy of God's kindness. Jonah's problem was that he objected to "who" God saved.

I wonder, though, whether it may have been not just "who" but "how" God saved that gave him trouble. Could he have wondered "how" God could do so without discrediting his own Holiness?

If so, that is a higher view of God's holiness than most people today have. And more consistent with New Testament scripture, as well.

Jonah, naturally, could not see the Cross, since it wouldn't happen for another 800 years or so. He had no context for how a foreigner could be reconciled to God. How could they "possibly" be made righteous? Well, today we have an answer that he did not have.

But that objection fits completely with the big idea in Romans 3:26:

²⁶It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In the context of the Cross, this passage demonstrates that God was not only establishing our innocence (by propitiation) but also establishing HIS innocence as well. He is not a God who winks at sin. He cannot be wicked as the judge in the illustration would have been. God is not only merciful, but also fully Just. Mercy does not destroy Justice. It finds a way "despite" justice. Christ Jesus crucified and risen is that way.

The God who is proclaimed Holy Holy Holy by the angels cannot dismiss sin, he must punish it. That was the Cross.

Glorious Saviour who loves us so much.
Glorious God whose righteousness is forever established.

Only God could have arranged so Great a Salvation.

Another lesson from David...

The Big Idea I want to develop here is how different sorts of people can correct us when we're wrong. People who are a better example of right living (as Nathan was to David) and even those who are a worse example of proper conduct. (like Joab)

Since I've been reading about David lately, with some helpful background from Eerdman's Handbook to the Bible, I've picked up on some things that I hadn't noticed before.

Like the fact that the soldier whose wife David stole was actually listed as one of David's "Mighty Men" (2 Sam 23:39, Uriah the Hittite), or the role different people close to him played in his life.

Much has been made of David's sin with Bathsheba. I'm not about to break down the details of it here, except to say that it says much about what someone can and will do to hide their guilt.

He brought a soldier home from the front, and sent him to his wife's waiting arms. That didn't work. Then he got Uriah drunk, and tried to have him go home to his wife. That didn't work either. Why? Because he was a faithful and loyal soldier whose comrades were on the field of battle. They were not enjoying the comforts of home, and neither would he. Beyond that, his was a pious answer:

"the ARK and Israel are staying in tents... how could I go to my house...?"

(Do you think that just maybe such a show of loyalty and integrity singed David's conscience?) So David arranged to have Uriah killed in battle, and then take the widow for himself.
He was charged of his guilt by Nathan the prophet in 2 Sam 12:9

⁹ Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.

Uriah was one of David's Mighty men!
He was probably one of the men in Ziklag with him when he was in exile. Brothers-in-arms. Murdered by the treachery of the very king he faithfully served.

God got his attention. There was fallout for his sin. But he repented.

(Sidebar -- if "you despise the word of the Lord" sounds familiar, it should. Similar language resulted in Saul losing the kingdom. See 1 Sam 15:26.)

The second example is Joab.

Joab, if you remember, is the commander of David's armies. Two of his rivals were assassinated. David specifically instructed Solomon to use his wisdom to hold him accountable for those murders. (I Kings 2:5-6) Oh, right. He also murdered Absalom, David's renegade son, when the King specifically instructed people not to harm him. This is to say, Joab is NOT a nice guy.

But being a wretched man does not mean David should have dismissed what he said.

Look (1 Chronicles 21:1-7):

¹ Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. ² So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, "Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are." ³ But Joab replied, "May the LORD multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?" ⁴ The king's word, however, overruled Joab; so Joab left and went throughout Israel and then came back to Jerusalem. ⁵ Joab reported the number of the fighting men to David: In all Israel there were one million one hundred thousand men who could handle a sword, including four hundred and seventy thousand in Judah. ⁶ But Joab did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, because the king's command was repulsive to him. ⁷ This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.

I'm not going to argue what prompted the census (Chronicles points to Satan, 2 Samuel points to God's wrath) or exactly why taking a census was wrong (beyond the instructions that certain things must happen when a census takes place -- Ex 30:12 ).

The fact is, that David -- the same David that is described as being a man after God's own heart, had to be reigned in from a stupid, reckless, wicked act by a serial killer.

The point is not that David lived a perfect life.
The point is that however big he blew it, he came back to God.

What does that tell us?

1) We need to be receptive to correction. And, by extension, we need to be accountable to others. We are too good at inventing reasons that our sin is "minor" to do without it.
Sin isn't minor.
Ever.

2) We take comfort that even people that are esteemed greatly in scripture have blown it, in big ways, and still were used by God. (Hebrews 11:32 had David among the significant examples of faith.)

3) We need a Redeemer. None of us is free from sin's influence. We are slaves to sin until Christ sets us free from it.

That's the whole point of the Cross.

How Eternal is Eternal Life?

I was asked an interesting question recently, which I will paraphrase this way:

Will there be Free Will and/or danger of falling again into Sin in Heaven?

There are two parts to this question. The first deals with our will, and the second deals with our security.

Let us begin with the will. Much is made of Free Will. Free will, in its truest meaning, is possessed only by God Himself. He has complete understanding of every situation, cannot be influenced by things 'outside of His control' (clearly), cannot be intimidated, bought, or act from a corrupt motive. He is free, every time, to make the best decision.

Nobody questions His free will, yet there are clearly things he "cannot" do. He cannot tempt or be tempted to sin(James 1:13), He cannot lie (Titus 1:2) He cannot deny Himself (2 Tim 2:13). Are we perhaps misunderstanding "free will"?

Luther said this about the free-will (so-called) in his famous 'Bondage of the Will"

You describe the power of "free-will" as small, and wholly ineffective apart from the grace of God. Agreed? Now then, I ask you: If God's grace is wanting, if it is taken away from that small power, what can it do? It is ineffective, you say, and can do nothing good. So it will not do what God or His grace wills. Why? Because we have now taken God's grace away from it, and what the grace of God does not do is not good. Hence it follows that "free-will" without God's grace is not free at all, but is the permanent prisoner and bondslave of evil, since it cannot turn itself to good.

Our will is not so free as we suppose when we begin, because we cannot, as fallen man, decide to be redeemed. We are dead in ourselves and must be made alive in Christ.

Romans 6:17-18 puts it this way:

¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. ¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

It works this way: You were once completely independent of an appetite for righteousness (Rom 6:20) you sinned, willingly and gladly. Put differently - you sinned of your own free will. What happens when you are Redeemed? You experience a New Birth. There is an internal overthrow of the Old and it begins to be replaced by the New. (1 Cor 5:17) We have new affections. We desire different things. We desire His Goodness, His kingdom. We Cherish His Lordship. Do we stumble? Yes. We are not yet conformed to His Image. But it grieves us. We cry out to Him for forgiveness (1 John 1:6-10) and strength to walk in Union with Him. This process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds is Sanctification.

We have the Surety (or down-payment) of our Redemption, none less than the Holy Spirit Himself.

We will be transformed, not merely in our bodies, but in our understanding, also. This mortality will put on immortality. We will no longer see in the glass darkly, but then face-to-face.

So, once we have been redeemed, we look forward to that great day when the promise becomes the reality.

The question, again, is can we lose our salvation once in Heaven?

I will ask you a question: Which has greater effect? Sin or Grace?
Romans 5:20-21 answers that for us. Sin abounds but Grace abounds much more.

Sin reigns over the sinner. To what end? Death and Hell. For how long? Eternally.
Can the condemned sinner ever "lose" his damnation? No. "It is where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. " or again.. "the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever and they have no rest day or night"

Romans 5:21 which tells us that sin reigns over the sinner to death, also tells us that grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Quickly breaking this down, arguing from the lessor to the greater: If we are confident that the eternal punishment is unyielding, unrelenting and undiminished for all eternity, what are we to suppose is meant by Grace (God's gift, not our effort) ruling?
How long is this rule? Eternal.
What is the eternal gift? Life.
By who or what is this gift provided? Through Jesus Christ Himself.

Still need assurance?
How about this?

One is Daniel's prophesy (remember that Son of Man is what Jesus called Himself)

¹³ “ I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.

His possession, which He bought with His blood cannot be taken from Him, and it will not be diminished or destroyed. It shall not pass away. We are that possession purchased with His blood (Rev 5:9; 1Pet 1: 18-19).

He said of us: (John 10:27-29)

²⁷My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ²⁸And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Are you concerned that you may yet be tempted in a place that has no need of Sun or Moon but that God Himself will be its illumination? In a place where there will be no night!

Remember that it is given unto man to die ONCE, and after that judgment (Heb 9:27)

Consider: Rev 21:27 -- nothing that defiles, nor abominations, nor anything that causes a lie shall enter, but only those in the Lamb's book of life.

And again: Rev 22:3

And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.

[If you do not see a curse, sin must be absent, because Sin is linked to the curse throughout the Bible.]

And if that were not enough: Rev 22:4

They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

Be encouraged. Stand strong. Put on the armor of light.
Your salvation is nearer now than when you first believed.

Thinking Biblically - Human Interactions

If you were to take an informal poll of a hundred Christians, and ask them what the Christian is to do when sinned against, the vast majority here and now might say "forgive him".

The problems don't begin until you probe deeper.

What do you do before that, and why?

Let's back up a little and look at Luke 17.

How does Jesus begin?
He tells them (I'm paraphrasing):
It is inevitable that some will sin, and that some will cause others to sin. This has enormous consequences which should not be taken lightly (He then mentions a millstone and the sea to drive that point home).

With the seriousness of sin as the backdrop for what is to follow, Jesus says:
"Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him."

Let's look at "yourselves", "rebuke", "repents", and "forgive" a little more closely.

1) Be mutually accountable to one another.
"Yourselves" - heautou (Strong's #1438). One meaning is "reciprocal, mutual, one another".

2) Boldly speak concerning sin
"Rebuke" - (epitimaō Strong's # 2008) In NT spoken of an estimate or judgment put upon what is wrong, and hence, to admonish, reprove; admonish strongly with urgency, authority, that is to say to enjoin upon, charge strictly, the idea of rebuke or censure being employed.

3) Repent
"Repent" - (metanoeō Strong's #3340) "This change is always for the better, and denotes a change of moral thought and reflection; not merely to repent of, nor to forsake sin, but to change one's mind and apprehensions regarding it; hence, to repent in a moral and religious sense, with the feeling of remorse and sorrow"

Said differently, this is not merely "I did a bad thing".
It is not merely "I'm going to stop doing that bad thing".
It is in fact, a changing of the thinking toward the "bad thing" itself.

4) "Forgive" - (aphiēmi 863) Describes complete acquittal. Carries a sense of being sent away, or set free. Guilty person treated as innocent.

The person (after repentance) is expected to be granted full release, and treated as innocent of all charges, regardless of any actual original wrongdoing. (Notice this treatment is not offered to the person who justifies their sin, but the one who changes his thinking toward it.)

Next, Jesus immediately ups the ante, and directly commands his disciples to forgive as often as they are asked to forgive.

This thought was so foreign to their way of thinking that the disciples cried out to Jesus to increase their faith. He responded with two parables. The mustard seed and the servant making supper for the master.

The fist parable addresses the disciples' ability to look at yourselves / rebuke / repent / forgive. It is a function of faith, and it does not require a so-called spiritual giant to do this.

The second addresses submission. We are to do this -- plainly and simply because He is Lord.

We are to look/rebuke/repent/forgive because we have been told to.
We are also to have a humble attitude to this. You are not unusually gifted for having rebuked, or repented, or forgiven. You have simply lived the life you were supposed to.

You should have an attitude, not of having been unusually faithful, but of having measured up to the basic expectation of Christian conduct.

In so far as we are warned from sin, we preserve the dignity and character of the Church. As we do that, we protect His name from being blasphemed by our conduct, and safeguard the Glory of God.

New Birth

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. -- John 1: 12 & 13

Have you ever sat down to think about exactly what this means? This chapter has so much good meaty doctrine, that it is easy to scan past these lines without weighing their implications.

These verses depict relationship with Jesus (received Him), and show His authority in redemption (He gave).

Next, we are introduced to the concept of the "right to become children of God." This is an interesting phrase because of the ideas it links together. It does not say the right to be children of God, but the right to become. This subtle distinction places the emphasis not on the ongoing continuation of life as a child of God, but upon the very entry into it. Keep in mind the underscoring of Jesus' divinity in John's gospel, and this phrase makes more sense. This is, after all, the same gospel in which Jesus declares "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father except by Me." This squares neatly with the claim Jesus makes in John 5:21, that he gives life to whom he wills.

To whom did Jesus give this right? It tells us three times: (1) as many as receive him, (2) who believe in his name and (3) who were born. When the author said "believe in his name," what is meant? Five letters in English that together spell Jesus? No, something more. There is a step at this point that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish. We must go beyond simply affirming his divinity, death, resurrection, and ascension. Even Satan can affirm these things, but, clearly, he isn't a child of God. Those who truly believe will be aligning themselves with Him and His word (by thought, word, and deed), and allow Him to dictate the terms of rightly relating to Him, rather than trying to squeeze God into their world view.

If some can possess this right, it follows that some do not. Remember the banishment from Eden? Their purity gone, our first parents entered into toil and death. An angel with a flaming sword gave a sense of finality to their loss of rights previously enjoyed with God, particularly as relates to fellowship. Now, in the fourth gospel, the Son is restoring these rights (particularly relationship) to whosoever receives him.

They were born. This references John 3:3, and echoes 2 Cor 5:17. It is called birth, as it is the entering into life. This entails a life lived differently. There are different values, goals, ideas, purposes, passions that are not somewhat different from the old 'life', but radically and completely antithetical to the worldly way we once lived. By 'old life', I refer to being "dead in our trespasses".

Yes, this text fits the overall model -- believe, receive, confess -- and description of the convert's proper response to both the conviction of sin and the call to faith. He does not, as preachers today would, stop there. He sets boundaries. He explains what the new birth isn't before launching into what it is.

The new birth, sometimes called regeneration, is contrasted to three things which it is not.

1) The new birth is not of blood. You do not enter into life simply by reason of your family or (by extension) community relations. Being descended from Abraham isn't enough. Nor is it enough to be raised in a Christian home, or by being a preacher's kid. It isn't passed down like a surname or title. Similarly, attending a church, Christian school, Christian club, or even a Seminary does not necessarily equate to a genuine inward transformation. This is simply not how this happens.

2) The new birth is not of the will of the flesh. While flesh can mean several things in scripture, one meaning was covered by 'not of blood', and of the remaining uses, only flesh in the sense of carnality, or sin seems to fit the text.

We dare not approach God for any selfish reason and expect he will answer. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4.3) God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (James 4.6; I Peter 5.5) Repentance is not merely a nice thing to include, it is pre-requisite to receiving grace.

If the reason you approach God is to be accepted in a group, or to assuage bad feelings about wrong behaviour, or to impress someone, or to appear less wicked, or even as a hedge against the possibility of Hell, you have not yet approached God. You remain in your sin and your soul is in peril.

Instead, approach God because, he is greater than we are. Approach him because there is no person, and no pursuit more worthy of our affections. When you do approach him, do so humbly because we have wronged him above all others by our thoughts, words, and deeds. He owes us nothing but judgment, but because of Jesus' work on the cross, he offers us grace.

3) The new birth is not of the will of man. You and I cannot decide one day to approach God. Jesus told us no man comes to the Father except by Him. (Redemption in Christ alone.) But Matthew 16:17 also states the necessity of revelation of who Jesus is by God the Father. We cannot choose today to ignore the call of God to repentance, and delude ourselves into thinking that once we are finished our own carnal living, just one more week-end, just one more shady business deal, just one more day of the shallow pursuits of life, and then turn back to God.

If this has been you, Today is the day of salvation. You have no promise of tomorrow. A man or woman with all this world has to offer, yet without God, has nothing.

What, then is the new birth?
The new birth is of God. It is God calling us to himself. All things are By him, to him, through him, for the praise his own glory. God, alone, exerts his right to give us life. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin, righteousness and judgment. It is God who regenerates the dead soul. It is God who chose us in Christ from before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. He predestined some to be like his Son, and called, and justified, and glorified. None of these things are left to us. He does it. It is offered to you.

Take it, and live.

Four Constants -- Redemption

Say, heavenly pow'rs, where shall we find such love?
Which of ye will be mortal to redeem
Man's mortal crime, and just th' unjust to save.

-- John Milton, Paradise Lost (Book III 1.213)

You can determine the importance of a thing by the priority given to it.

Consider medical treatment, for example. The average healthy person would never voluntarily injest a chemical cocktail whose properties would cause hair loss, vomiting, appetite loss, weakness, lethargy, immunosuppresion, sleep disruptions, general malaise and a host of other unpleasant consequences. Not even on a dare or a bet.

Take that same person, and tell them that they have a form of cancer which responds very well to Chemotherapy. Though still unpleasant, it suddenly seems a small price to pay. Life, in this example, is shown to take priority over convenience.

In addressing God's Redemption of Creation, it is no exaggeration to say that we are examining the single most pivitol event of all Time.

How can that be said with confidence? By examining the priority given to it by God Himself in His Word. (I Peter 1.19,20-- But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,).

When did God foreordain this? Before Man ever rebelled, before He created man a living soul, and even before He said "let there be light," the sacrificial death of Jesus had already become an accomplished fact in the mind of God.

Let's back up a little...

Knowing, then, that this is the pivitol event in history, it is impossible to give a full accounting of it here.

Redemption, in a theological sense, is the complete reversal of the curse initiated in The Fall (see previous post). It is, principally, the final payment of the totality of divine Wrath upon Sin. Secondarily, it is the reconciliation -- by God -- of fallen man to Himself.

The redeemed -- as those who will benefit from redemption are called -- had the plan gradually revealed to them:

Adam and Eve, received the promise of the Messiah, and then had their ineffective fig-leaf coverings replaced, by God, with clothes made from the skins of animals, foreshadowing sacrificial death as the remedy for sin. (Genesis 3)

Notice that the promise of the final resolution of sin (Messiah, or Seed of the Woman) was given greater priority than the temporary, symbolic measure of animal sacrifice. Notice also that God prepared the skins FOR Adam and Eve, a foreshadowing of divine grace, apart from works.

There were countless other types and symbols throughout Biblical history: God's substitute for Issac, Noah's Ark, and Passover being only three of them.

Everything was setting the stage for the Great Event.

Keep in mind, the sacrifice must be: (1) Freely Offered. (2) Unblemished. (3) Of Sufficient Value to Redeem.

None in the natural family of man would be a suitable sacrifice. All of us are tainted, having received, through Adam, a fallen nature. A sacrifice suitable to God must free of Sin. The sacrifice must also be of adequate value.

The sacrifice had to be sufficient to satisfy God's wrath against man's sin, and it had to be holy.

The only way God could be true to His Holiness, at the same time as extending grace and compassion to His Image-bearer, is to have His Son receive the due penalty of Divine Wrath in man's place. Sin having been punished, those who are found to be "In Christ" could be reconciled to God.

Having seen what was accomplished, namely the propitiation of sin, the restoration of relationship with God, and even the beginnings of the reversal of our corruption, let us examine the cost.

The Triune God had to send His Son to rescue us. Jesus, fully-God and fully-Man, was born into obscurity, misunderstood, mistreated, betrayed, sold out, mocked, beaten, cursed, humiliated, spat upon, forced to carry a cross, His scalp pierced with a mock crown, stripped naked, and then whipped until he was unrecognizable as a man, and His back looked like a ploughed field. Then He was committed to a form of death so horrific that even the bloodthirsty Romans had to devise a new word to describe the suffering involved. The word? "Excruciating".

This was the price. But as we saw in the opening remarks, there are times when the price, as unpleasant as it may be, has a 'payoff' that outweighs the price.

Jesus shared in our every weakness as people, yet did not sin. He knew apprehension. He would recoil at pain. He slept and wept and ate. He even sweat blood while praying in the Garden the night of His arrest.

Jesus had a priority that outweighed the pain, the shame, and the horror He would endure. It is summed up nicely in one verse:

Hebrews 12:2 "...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

What was the joy set before Him?
The result of the Cross: the Redemption of Man.

Such is His love for us.
(more here)

Four Constants -- The Fall

The Fall of Man is written in too legible characters not to be understood: those that deny it, by their denying, prove it. -- George Whitefield

The Cosmos was created perfect. God pronounced it good.

Until He gave it to us.

Should any of you not know what I mean when I discuss the Fall of Man, let me recap:

God created the universe in 6 days. Created Eden (Garden Paradise). Stocked it with everything man could want. God called creation good. It was unblemished, there was no sin, and no death. Adam (first man) called Eve (first woman) good. Everyone was happy. There was only one rule: One fruit from one tree in the entire garden was off-limits. Satan, in the form of a serpent, deceived Eve, she ate. She tempted Adam, and he ate. Both now sinful, were kicked out of Eden, were cursed, and became subject to death. All of the upheaval here on Earth, and the suffering in creation stems from that original act of disobedience.

Many people find this account difficult to accept as fact. Jesus was not one of them.

The two things people have the most difficulty with, in our culture are (1) the stark contrast before / after The Fall, and (2) the severity of the judgement for the sin once committed.

Have trouble believing the mess we live in now could ever have been in perfect balance? Consider decay. Over time, that which is in order, falls into disorder unless an outside force acts upon it. This can be seen in small scale, such as a room becoming dusty, or a large scale, such as the decaying orbits of planets and collapsing stars. It is therefore quite sensible to believe that the world was once more ordered than it is now.

With an Omnipotent, All-Wise God having Created it, why would it have been made to be anything less than perfect?

So, we see the world as it is now. We have Hurricanes, Famine, War, and horror shows like this. How could it happen? Did God mess it up?

Not at all. We did.

In corrupting ourselves with sin, we ourselves became subject to death, decay, and a vast array of resulting symptoms affecting our body, mind and emotions. (Genesis 3:16-19) The corruption of sin affected the world around us, as well.

Was that a reasonable response by God?

As though God's motives needed our approval! But let's play along, anyway, shall we?

We know God to be innately and thoroughly Holy. Sin is a direct affront to His Holiness. Therefore, the only view He may hold toward Sin is hostility.

It's not like any of the excuses we usually use would fit. "They did it because of their parents. Society. Poverty. Ignorance. The law was too severe. That was the only fruit they had to eat. It's the Government's fault." They did it to be 'Like God'. They were profoundly ungrateful to the God who made them, and wanted to usurp His authority for themselves.

God instituted death as the consequence for sin. Scripture specifically demonstrates His desire that man not live eternally in his fallen state. Why? Because if death did not intervene, man would 'live' eternally, becoming more offensive, shameful, and sinful, the longer his existance continued. There would be no point of redemption, as the method of redemption (sacrifical death -- see next post) would be impossible.

Man would become the undead monster that so many horror stories evoke. A body posessed with the ability to move, a spark of reason, leaving him little more than a predatory animal, with a permanent obstinancy to the One source of True Life. Always dying, but never dead. For God to leave us in that state would be far worse than to permit the death which comes. And if sinful man could not die, since God is hostile to sin, God would be eternally hostile to man.

Or, God could have killed them instantly. He did not, but He could have. Instead, He allowed the establishing of family. Descendants, cities nations. Had he killed instantly, his highest creation would have been forever lost.

But God had a better way... (here)