God Puts Up

God is patient and longsuffering.  As God who is omnipotent and almighty He does not need to endure pains or the folly of men, but He chooses to do so because of His loving character.  Kings of earth can easily pass unpleasant tasks to their many servants.  It seems the more power or authority one possesses the less patient he or she needs to be, but God expresses the exact opposite.

Consider the gracious love which prompted God not only to bring the nation of Israel out of Egypt but to endure them in the wilderness after they rebelled against Him.  Paul said in Acts 13:17-18, "The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. ¹⁸ Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness."  And what were the ways of the sons of Israel?  Let's see:  murmuring, complaining, disobedience, idolatry, rebellion, falsely accusing God of wanting to kill them when He sought to save them, and much more.

Before we judge the Israelites harshly, we must recognise we are in no way superior.  These folks were no worse sinners than we are!  The takeaway from Paul's words should not be to nod approvingly in judgment of sinners but to rejoice in the gracious salvation of our God.  We are no prize, yet God has reached out to us whilst mired in sin.  He has long endured our ways and continues to entreat us kindly and provide for all our needs - even when we have been thankless and ungrateful.  How great is the LORD and worthy to be praised!

Having received such grace and love from God, may we be moved to love one another.  We are exhorted in Romans 13:8, "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law."  Having been adopted, forgiven, reconciled, redeemed, and accepted by God's grace, we owe others a continual dose of the infinite love God has lavished upon us.  No one is worthy of such love and grace, yet we have freely received it through faith in Jesus.  God loves us when we were yet sinners, so clearly this love should not be restricted only to the redeemed or who we deem worthy.  If people must be worthy, where then is grace?  Let us be patient as our LORD is patient towards us.

There is an old saying:  "Put your money where your mouth is."  Basically, this infers if we believe something to be true, we should take action to back it up.  "Put up or shut up," another line goes.  The way God "put up" with His people conveyed the love He had for them.  He did not merely tolerate them but He provided for their needs and guided them in the right way.  He spoke with them, protected them, and ultimately sent Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of all who believe.  If we are indeed children of God, it's time to love people we have been avoiding.  It's time to pray for people who have ill-treated us.  It's time to bless those who have cursed us.  Let's show grace to others according to the grace we have received from God.

The Implications of God's Word

Reverse engineering is the process of deconstructing a man-made object to observe how it has been designed and operates.  When sophisticated military equipment is stranded in a hostile region it is a standard practice to destroy it so enemies cannot analyse, copy, or obtain good data from it.  Technological secrets are highly guarded, and there are safeguards in the industry to prevent copyright infringement.  Studying a complete and functional product can offer tips and clues to how it was made and possibly improve upon the design whilst reducing cost.

When people respond in faith to the Gospel, it is likely they already have established views concerning how the earth or people came to be.  Their worldview has already been established and primarily what has influenced it is secular.  The Bible presents a totally different view concerning our origins and the significance of life.  As children we tended to agree with our parent's views, and as we grew older we were exposed to various teachings and philosophies in school, university, and online.  Those who come to Christ as adults are faced with deconstructing their existing and impotent worldview through the revelation of the Word of God.  The vain wisdom and philosophies of man could not save or deliver from sin, but Jesus Christ is able to do everything.

Sometimes I wonder if people who claim to love and know Jesus Christ observe what He says.  He spoke explicitly of creation in Mark 10:6:  "But from the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female.' "  Jesus said in the beginning everything was created in six days, fully-formed as male and female.  This explicitly speaks against any kind of Darwinian evolution to account for the living creatures which are seen in the earth.  The question is not if the chicken or egg came first, but exposes how evolution cannot answer the question where the rooster came from needed to reproduce.  God created people, provided them a gender, and commanded them to multiply.  The genealogy in Luke 3:38 takes us back to the first man Adam, the one God created from the dust of the ground and breathed into him a living soul.  Adam and Eve gave birth to their own kind, and their second son Abel was mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 23:35 and Luke 11:51.  To believe these are literal people likely will deconstruct a lot of beliefs held previously.  To claim man evolved from another kind or that Adam is figurative stands in opposition to the teachings of Jesus.

That's just the beginning.  There are a lot of implications in believing God created the heavens and the earth as it is written in Genesis 1 and the genealogies of scripture.  It is strong evidence the earth is not as old as evolutionists claim (and this number has more than doubled in my lifetime).  Jesus also spoke plainly of Noah and the judgment of a wicked world in the form of a great flood which destroyed the earth (Matt. 24:37-38; Luke 17:26-27).  Having been raised reading and looking to the Bible for truth, I was always surprised how in my public high school classes there was never mention whatsoever of a great flood but an "ice age."  Creation by the word of God, a relatively young earth, and the judgment of the great flood are all confirmed by scripture, and despite widespread scorn (from the same who scorn the suggestion of God's existence) there is good science which supports it.  If we really believe and trust in Jesus, we will take to heart the things He explicitly said, for nothing God has said is untrue or without purpose.

The New Testament is full of references to men and women spoken of in Genesis and speaks of God's creation and judgment of the world as a matter of fact.  Judgment is never a popular subject, but praise the LORD God has told us of what was, is, and is to come.  He has made a way of salvation for all who believe, and our belief is founded on the sure Word of God.  If we will believe God's promise to forgive us sins and grant us entrance into heaven, believing in the existence of Adam, Abel, and Noah - and all the following implications - should not be a stretch.

Focusing On Jesus

During a prayer meeting at church last night I was reminded of the lame man by the pool of Bethesda.  John 5 relates how a great number of sickly, blind, lame, and withered who waited for the moving of the water.  These were desperate people who hoped for a miracle, and patience alone was not enough to bring healing.  The great irony of the situation is healing came not only to the alert but the fittest among them.  The first one to enter the pool after being stirred by an angel would be the only one healed of any infirmity.  The blind couldn't see the water move and the lame couldn't move to respond fast enough.  For nearly all who languished hope had been swallowed by despair.

John 5:5-7 says, "Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" ⁷ The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Verse 5 introduces the reader to a lame man who had suffered from an infirmity for almost four decades and long remained at the pool's edge.  Jesus walked up to the man and asked, "Do you want to be made well?"  The man did not answer the question at all.  His response shows a preoccupation with his hopeless situation:  I am alone, I have no help, I am too slow, and others too fast.  In his mind healing could only come one way, and this could not happen in his current circumstances.

Into this pitiable and hopeless situation entered the Son of God, Jesus Christ!  John 5:8-9 says, "Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." ⁹ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath."  Jesus is the Healer and Saviour who found the man in his time of need, and He comes to you and me today in our time of trouble ready to save.  What I love about this passage is the man had a very limited view of how he might be healed, yet without meeting any of his criteria Jesus spoke and simply overruled!  It is true healing does not always occur immediately and none of us will be without troubles in this life, yet Jesus is able to heal abundantly, exceedingly beyond what we can ask or think when we look to Him.

How the world needs Jesus, and this lame man needs Him more than ever.  What a great and awesome God we have who seeks us out in our time of need.  Who are we to criticise the timing of God who allowed 38 years of infirmity or allowed it in the first place?  The ways of God are past finding out, for without sorrow and despair we could not recognise joy if it looked us in the eye and shook our hand.  There the Prince of Peace stood, and the man poured out his lame complaints.  Jesus knew the man's weakness, his infirmity, and how long it had been since he had been well.  Jesus loved him, came to him, spoke with him, and healed him.  Let us look to Jesus and praise Him rather than focusing on our lameness or circumstances.  This is the true path to life and joy forevermore!

It's Not Too Late!

Sin by nature is insidious, and it always leads to death.  The way which feels so right leads to destruction.  The soul that sins will surely die, and like the presence of fatal disease often produces severe symptoms in the living, sin brings suffering and misery.  God is gracious and merciful to warn of the dangers of sins and instructs us to walk uprightly.

Solomon taught his son to fear the LORD and keep the commands near to his heart because seducers and flatterers who induce us to sin are everywhere.  Read for yourself the consequences one faces when they yield to sin in Proverbs 7:21-23:  "With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, with her flattering lips she seduced him. ²² Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, ²³ till an arrow struck his liver. as a bird hastens to the snare, he did not know it would cost his life."  All these examples share a common theme:  the victim never realised the danger until it was too late.

When baiting a hook to fish, presentation is important.  Care should be taken to conceal the sharp and shiny hook within the appetising bait.  A skilled angler knows good presentation is not enough.  Many of varieties of fish will take the bait and spit it out again.  Tap, tap goes the fish, but don't set the hook too soon:  wait until the fish ingests the bait or begins to carry it away.  That is when the angler pulls strongly on the hook to "set" it, and it isn't long before the fish is exhausted and successfully landed.  Satan presents sin in the manner most pleasing and appetising to the flesh.  There is always a hidden cost to sin which is conveniently left out, like an unscrupulous salesman who is secretly aware but silent concerning a severe mechanical flaw in a car.

The ox did not discern the intent of the one intending his slaughter, and the fool who followed his heart never imagined he would be confined in the stocks.  No fighter could prepare himself to deflect an arrow he never saw coming, and a bird that flies speedily upon a familiar route cannot avoid the hunter's snare.  How much pain, bondage, and suffering we save ourselves when we recognise and repent of our sin!  Here the Word of God is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.  The Holy Spirit provides conviction of sin and guides us into all truth.  Praise the LORD He does not only warn us of evil but leads and empowers us to do good.  And glory to God, Jesus Christ is able to forgive all our sins when we repent through His blood shed on Calvary.  We've all been pierced by sorrow from our own sin, and Jesus has been pierced for us.