A Revelation of God

Before the death of Isaac, he called Jacob before him, blessed him, and directed him to go his uncle Laban in Padanaram to seek a wife.  Though Jacob had the birthright and his father's blessing, he was commanded to leave home and all that was familiar.  Unlike his outdoorsman older twin Esau, Jacob was a "plain" man who preferred living the comforts of home.  His dad gravitated to manly Esau, and his mother favoured Jacob.  He was a homebody, and apparently preferred spending his day tending stew over working outside.  In his advancing age Isaac sent Jacob away, and it must have been hard for him to leave.  I imagine many would have felt rejected and ostricised at that moment.

Jacob went from sleeping in the comforts of his tent to sleeping under the stars with rocks for a pillow.  After laying down to sleep in the darkness, in a dream God revealed Himself to Jacob.  Jacob had been sent away by his father, but God's eyes were upon him though he was alone.  Genesis 28:12-15 reads, "Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: "I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."

See how God made a mundane thing like a night's sleep miraculous!  Darkness gave way to the light of divine revelation, and loneliness was swallowed up by God's assurance.  God promised to be with Jacob, to keep him, bring him into the land, and would not leave him until all was accomplished.  When Jacob woke from his dream, the place had not changed but he had.  Genesis 28:16-19 says, "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it." ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!" ¹⁸ Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously."  A place where out of necessity rocks were used as pillows became "The house of God."  The God of the house had revealed himself to Jacob, and he went forth to Padanaram with blessing and comfort from God's promises.

Jacob trembled at the revelation of the Living God, the One who graciously called to Him and promised to provide and protect Him.  We might feel ostricised, isolated, and rejected, but the God who sees will come to those who cry out to him.  We may be far from others, yet God is always near to us.  Jacob went out from under the watchful eyes of his mother and likely lamented his situation.  After God revealed himself, Jacob knew he was not alone.  Perhaps he spoke within himself words to the same effect uttered by Paul in Romans 8:31:  "If God be for me, who can be against me?"  A man is blessed to go forth even to unknown territory through faith and confidence in God and not in himself.  This is the man who will be prosperous and have good success (Joshua 1:8).

God Exists; Therefore I Think

Old news came across my Facebook feed the other day about how Pope Francis boldly declared support for evolution saying, “When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,”  I believe the Bible provides evidence God is far greater than a magician using sleight of hand who seems able to do everything - without waving a "magic" wand.  That fact God can do everything is the precise conclusion Job came to when God revealed Himself in Job 42:1-2:  "Then Job answered the LORD and said: ² "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You."  A god who cannot do everything is not God, and certainly not worthy of worship.

The words of the Pope do not affect my beliefs in the slightest, but unfortunately much of the world sees him as speaking for the church with a degree of authority.  My entire life has been lived in a season during which Darwinian evolution is widely believed to be a reasonable means to explain the origin of species, and consequently anyone who believes in the literal creation of the world by God according to the Bible account is often ridiculed or at least seen to be a bit soft in the head.  Now G.K. Chesterton was a Catholic, and he spoke a lot more rational sense in his book Orthodoxy concerning evolution than Pope Francis from a philosophical vantage point on this subject.  Pope Francis reasoned evolution does not contradict scripture, yet Chesterton claimed evolution suicidal to reason.  Consider carefully this excerpt from a brilliant chapter titled, "The Suicide of Thought:"

"Evolution is a good example of that modern intelligence which, if it destroys anything, destroys itself.  Evolution is either an innocent scientific description of how certain earthly things came about; or, if it is anything more than this, it is an attack upon thought itself.  If evolution destroys anything, it does not destroy religion but rationalism.  If evolution simply means that a positive thing called an ape turned very slowly into a positive thing called a man, then it is stingless for the most orthodox; for a personal God might just as well do things slowly as quickly, especially if, like the Christian God, he were outside time.  But if it means anything more, it means that there is no such thing as an ape to change, and no such thing as a man for him to change into.  It means that there is no such thing as a thing.  At best, there is only one thing, and that is a flux of everything and anything.  This is an attack not upon the faith, but upon the mind; you cannot think if there are not things to think about.  You cannot think if you are not separate from the subject of thought.  Descartes said, "I think; therefore I am."  The philosophic evolutionist reverses and negatives the epigram.  He says, "I am not; therefore I cannot think," (Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy. New York: Lohn Lane, 1909. 39-40. Print.)

I do not find it particularly troubling in itself that people see evolution as intelligent and creation by God as idiotic, but I am greatly concerned when professing Christians yield to evolutionary dogma for a second.  All people have a prerogative given by God to think and believe what they want.  If you are a Christian, consider this:  we can only be Christians through the reasonable rock-solid doctrines contained in scripture.  We are beneficiaries of real promises in the Bible and transformational power from God - not metaphors or poetry from which we can draw superficial comfort or peace.  God's Word claims He spoke the world into existence, and thus God's Word has power beyond compare.  If Christians do not believe what is plainly written in the Bible, that God created all things to bring forth after their own kind, how can they believe in heaven, hell, sin, or that they are even saved?  Evolution does not need God, so why does God need evolution?  I need God as truly as I need the light and warmth of the sun, air to breathe, and water to drink.  If this makes me weak, stupid, and pathetic I will accept that gladly, for in my God there is strength, wisdom, and truth.  Darwinian evolution offers nothing but blind determinism, no freedom of thought or will.  Evolution commonly believed thrives on death, but God is the One who supplies life - and eternal life at that.

Knocking In

Being an immigrant opens a new world to explore and enjoy.  There are countless adjustments to life after moving to a new country.  Australia is a culture permeated with sport, and it didn't take long after moving to Australia to notice the popular sports are quite different to those I was familiar.  Instead of growing up playing baseball, kids play cricket or compete in "Little Athletics" (track and field events).  I have never seen gridiron (American football) played in a park, but I have seen plenty of rugby.  Australian football (footy) bears no resemblance to any football I knew previously, and netball seems to be more popular than basketball.

There is great personal enrichment available for all who will humbly lay aside what is familiar and be open to new things.  I remember hearing a message from Alan Redpath who hailed from Britain when he spoke of the "raw material" Abraham was made of, this flesh which "needed knocking in and knocking about."  Before I came to Australia, I didn't know "knocking in" is a cricket reference.  Before a English willow cricket bat can be used, it needs to be "knocked in." This process takes many mundane and tiring hours of using a special mallet or ball (these days rollers are used as well) to compress the wood fibres so the bat will not split or crack when the ball is hit.  A bat which is properly "knocked in" performs far better as well, the ball springing off the prepared surface almost like a trampoline.  I would never have understood this reference unless I had come to Australia and learned about cricket.

What Alan Redpath said is true concerning our lives when we first come to Christ.  There is a period of "knocking in" required to maximise our usefulness.  But if "knocking in" is a reference to putting away sin, repentance, growing in faith, and walking in obedience, the process of "knocking in" will continue until the LORD calls us home!  The process of preparing a cricket bat is time consuming and even tedious at times, but let us remember our justification and sanctification work in us to fulfill God's purposes concerning us.  We do not exist for ourselves but for God's sake and His glory.  When a batsman scores runs he will be complemented with, "Good knock mate!"  May the same be said of us when we run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.  It is the one who expertly wields the bat who receives the glory for a "good knock," and may we be faithful implements in the hand of our Master who brings great increase to His kingdom.

Pain in the Process

A great challenge in our Christian walk is working through painful trials.  A couple of useful books on the subject is The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis and Where is God When it Hurts? by Philip Yancey.  We labour hard to reduce and eliminate it when we can, but pain isn't a bad thing when viewed through a biblical perspective.  Pain is a useful sensation (excruciating as it can be at times) to notify us of physical damage and prevents us from wounding ourselves further.  It is not fun to be robbed of sleep or rest due to pain, yet we can still find solace in Christ as our rest.  Our bodies heal much better and faster than wounded hearts and minds.  There is no prescription a doctor can supply to heal a broken heart, and what is impossible with men is possible with God.  The only time physical pain truly is a thing of the past is when a Christian enters into eternal glory.

Last Saturday I sprained my ankle playing baseball, and I did a quality job.  My ankle and foot swelled a bit and blood from the torn connective tissue pooled in a colourful bruise.  When I showed a picture of my ankle to a mate who has personal experience with ankle injuries he replied something to the effect of, "It's good you have swelling because it means most of your ligaments are still intact."  I must say this was an eye-opening perspective.  If there are no ligaments attached there would be no tearing or swelling:  only weakness and pain.  My ankle bruised because I had ligaments to tear.  Jesus brings healing for ankles, hearts, minds, and restores souls.  There will be pain in the process, but His love will carry us through.

When we are born again, God removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. The ligament of God's love provides a new depth of feeling and compassion for others we never had before.  We are given love for people we have never met and care deeply about their pains.  I have heard it said "Love hurts," and truthfully love makes a person willing to hurt for others.  Jesus was willing to endure the pain of the cross for me, and He provides the strength to endure suffering for His sake.  As much as we dislike pain and try to avoid it, this world is filled with it.  All people face the reality of pain, and God makes us sensitive to the pain of others because we have been born again.  A dead man feels no pain.  Only Christ provides meaning behind suffering which is profitable and reveals God's grace.