Tag: Travis Peterson

Genesis 28:16

 

Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”

 

            It’s time for a reality check.  Is what you see all you see?  Is what you know all there is?  When you see a sunrise, a thunder storm, a snow drift, or a quarter moon, what do you really see?  When you hear a beautiful voice, a piano concerto, a skillful guitarist, or a moving rhythm, what do you hear?

 

            I ask these questions, not with the intension of getting you to philosophically question whether or not the chair you are seated in is really there or some other such nonsense, but rather, because I want you to think about how you perceive reality.  We see far too little.  We hear far too little.  We remember far too little about the real world in which we live.

 

            This reality came to my attention recently as I read through an account of the life of Abraham’s grandson, Jacob.  Jacob, as you probably know, was a sneak, a lying cheater.  He swindled his hungry brother out of his birthright and then duped his poor, blind father out of a blessing that wasn’t intended for him.  When Jacob’s brother had reached the boiling point, Jacob, on the advice of his mommy who was a trickster in her own right, ran away from home to his uncle’s place for safety.

 

            It was while Jacob was traveling, when he had camped out one night, that he saw something amazing in a vision from God.  Jacob saw a staircase stretching from earth to heaven, and saw that the Lord was there at the top of it.  Angels from God were traveling from heaven to earth and back again, and God was there overseeing it all.  The Lord told Jacob that he indeed would carry the blessing of God that had been given to his grandfather Abraham and to his father Isaac.

 

            When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”  And here we return to my original questions.  Jacob was living his life as if God were not there.  He was not an atheist, for sure.  Jacob believed in the God of his fathers.  Jacob even schemed to receive the blessing.  But, Jacob was practically living as an atheist, acting as though the presence of God was a non-factor.  Jacob lied, stole, and ran away, all with the assumption that God would play no role in this drama.  Only now did Jacob begin to realize that he had not seen nearly enough.

 

            So, back to the original question.  What do you see?  When you look at your life, do you live as though God is not a part at all?  Do you assume that what you will accomplish is only that which you are supposedly able to accomplish?  Do you assume that the people around you will not be impacted by the presence and power of God?  Do you see the sun, moon, and stars and forget the voice of the God who looked into the blackness of the void and said, “Let there be…”?  Do you look at political and financial news and assume that the nation will have to pull herself up by her own bootstraps in order to stand?  Do you assume that political change is what will help the people of the land to actually do what is right?  Do you look at your breakfast, and foolishly think that the food came only from the grocery store and not look deeper to see the hand of the Creator?

 

            It’s so easy, isn’t it, to look at what is around you, be it weather, people, or technology, and assume that what you can see is all there is.  But Christians, we know better.  There is far more.  There is a God who made us.  There is a God who is working out his plan, his will, and no one will stop him.  There is a God who cares for us, who provides for us, and who fixes things we could never fix. 

 

            Christians, let’s not find ourselves saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”  The first half is fine, because God is surely in this place, whatever place you are in.  But the second half has to go.  Know that God is there.  Know that God is active.  Pray, and ask God to remind you that he is with you and in control.  Pray that God will help you to think as a person who is a creation of God, redeemed by God, kept by God, and destined for eternity with God.

Genesis 25:20-21, 24-26

 

20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

 

24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.

 

            One of the weaknesses that we have as we attempt to read through the Scripture is our lack of ability to imagine the passage of time.  As we watch the recorded events of the lives of men and women in the Bible, it can appear to us that they were always turning around and seeing God, hearing God’s voice, seeing miracles, or experiencing the supernatural.  This, of course, makes us wonder what is wrong with our world.  Has God stopped working?

 

            Take a look at the passages above.  Isaac had a problem.  Isaac’s wife was unable to have children.  This, as you undoubtedly know, was a terrible thing for the couple.  But, the Bible tells us, Isaac prayed to God, and God allowed Rebekah to conceive.  Well, that was easy, wasn’t’ it.

 

            But take just a second to look at the numbers.  Isaac and Rebekah were married when Isaac was 40 years old.  The twins were born when Isaac was 60.  It took a full 20 years of prayer before God answered Isaac’s cries.  That’s 20 years of watching everyone they knew have kids.  That’s 20 years of watching their neighbors go to kindergarten plays, softball games, high school graduations, and even weddings.  That’s 20 years of crying out to God and asking why and wondering what’s wrong with them that they could not have children.  That’s 20 years of not understanding how it is that God would keep his promises to Abraham and Isaac when Rebekah was unable to conceive.

 

            It’s too bad, in some ways, that we see a verse like verse 21 above and  we fail to understand that 20 years passed from the wedding to the nursery.  It’s too bad, because we think that the people of God don’t go through hard times if they are really God’s people.  But, in this case at least, we now see that sometimes it takes a very long time before God answers our prayers.  Sometimes it takes so long that we want to give up, to quit, to turn and go do something else.  But God was there.  For all 20 of Isaac and Rebekah’s hard, childless years, God was there.  God was doing exactly what needed to be done at exactly the time it needed to be done.

 

            I don’t know what you are begging God to do.  I do know, however, that God wants us to continue to trust in him, to come to him, and to seek his blessing.  Maybe God will answer your prayer in the way that you want him to today.  Maybe it will take 20 years.  Maybe you will never get exactly what you want because God has something better in view.  At least learn this from Isaac:  God is always there, even when it looks and feels like he is not.

 

            And, the next time you find yourself discouraged that the people in the Bible had all the fun, seeing miracle after miracle after miracle, remember that all we are getting are the highlights of their lives.  We do not get pictures of the intervening decades of silence.  Thank God that you live when you do, in a time when Christians have the Spirit of God and the word of God to keep us in daily fellowship with God.

Acts 4:11-12

 

11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

            With the rise of the media brouhaha over Brit Hume’s comments calling Tiger Woods to turn to the Christian faith, many have again begun thinking about whether or not it is appropriate for Christians to  present Christianity as a superior alternative to other religions.  The common media position in this issue is that it is arrogant for any religious group to assume that their religion of choice is in any way superior to the religious choices of others.  (Do not confuse the discussion between denominations and religions here.  Baptist and Presbyterian are denominations of Christianity, not separate religions as long as they point to salvation by God’s grace through faith in Christ.)

 

            The fact is, however, that the idea of an exclusivistic view of religion is both logical and biblical.  On the logical front, simply think this through:  If I thought that another religion was superior to my own, ought I not convert to that religion instead of continuing to hold to a religion that I believe to be inferior?  (Trevin Wax also makes this argument in a nice post).  Christians, stop being embarrassed by a person who says something like, “You think your religion is better than theirs.”  Of course you think your religion is better.  Anyone who believes his position to be the weaker position, but who for some reason continues to hold that admittedly weaker position is a fool. 

 

            Besides, the claim that we should believe all religions to be equal is itself an exclusivistic claim.  The faulty logic goes like this: 

 

P:  All claims to religious superiority are evil.

P:  My religious choice is to believe all religions equal.

C:  My religious choice is superior to those that claim theirs to be superior.

    

 

Um, when we look at the argument from this point of view, we see that those who claim to be the most open-minded are really only open to those whose minds are open in the same way that theirs are open.  Everyone believes that their particular point of view is superior, even those who claim that there is no superiority, as they are claiming that the view that there is no religious superiority is superior.

 

            But the fact is, Christians, we do not take our view of our faith from philosophy anyway.  Regardless of how logical is the point that there is an exclusivity to what is right, the question for the Christian is:  Does the Bible make an exclusive case for Christianity as opposed to other faiths?  The answer is a resounding affirmative.  Look simply at Peter’s words to the people in Acts 4.  His words simply cannot be misconstrued, can they?  There is no other name than the name of Jesus in which people can find salvation.  There is no other belief system, no other philosophical structure, no other faith strategy that someone can use through which they can find genuine peace with God.  The claim is as black and white as it can possibly be.  There is only one path to forgiveness, and that path is faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

 

            Christians, let’s stop allowing the world to call us arrogant for believing that we have the only right way to God.  Our position is logical and biblical.  And just in case you are afraid that the supposedly open-minded news media are somehow more progressive and better thinkers than we are, let’s remember that they are claiming the same superiority that they condemn us for claiming.  We all think we’re right, even those who say that nobody knows who is right or that nobody is right.  So, let’s be honest and biblical, and let’s keep pointing people to Jesus, the only way that anyone will ever find salvation.

Genesis 19:9

 

But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down.

 

            Anyone watching the news over the past few days is probably aware of the venom being spewed in the news media against former Fox News anchorman Brit Hume.  Hume, as you may recall, dared to suggest that Tiger Woods, a man whose family life and public persona is crumbling around him, could find forgiveness and restoration in the Christian faith.  Hume’s comments have been met with all sorts of nasty rebuttals, many of which accuse the former news man of idiocy, ignorance, cruelty, or—the worst sin of all in America—judgmentalism.

 

            Undoubtedly, Hume knew that his remarks were likely to earn him the harsh criticism of those who are now dragging his name through the mud.  Any faithful believer knows that Jesus has promised his followers that they too will be hated by the world that hated the Savior (cf. John 15:20-ff).  I, personally, applaud Hume for being honest enough to share his faith in a public forum all the while knowing that he would receive a verbal beating from the anti-Christian, politically correct media.

 

            You know, it ought not surprise any Christian that any remark that we make suggesting that someone do what is right is met with an accusation of us being judgmental.  As one of my former seminary professors was fond of saying, “Years ago, the most popular Bible verse in America was John 3:16.  Today, the most popular Bible verse is Matthew 7:1 ‘Judge not. . .‘”  Strange, isn’t it, that the world can call Christians all sorts of derisive names and falsely represent believers in all sorts of unfair ways while still calling Christians judgmental any time one of us dares to suggest that abortion is wrong, that marriage ought be between 1 man and 1 woman for life, or that those who do not know Jesus need his grace.

 

            Well, before you find this all sad and start feeling sorry for yourself as a persecuted believer in a dark generation, let me remind you that the cry, “Don’t judge me,” is older than you might think.  Scholars date the time of the patriarchs (Abraham and his family) to sometime around 2200 BC.  Thus, the events that the Bible records for us in Genesis 19 occur somewhere around four millennia ago. 

 

            Sometime around four thousand years ago, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, went to live in the city of Sodom.  When God sent angels in human appearance to Sodom, Lot offered them a place to stay for the night.  Then things get ugly, really ugly.  The evil men of that town surround Lot’s home and demand that he bring the newcomers out to them so that they can sexually violate them.  These men intended to commit homosexual rape.

 

            When Lot told them that such a deed ought not be done to men who have come to his home and placed themselves under his care, the men of Sodom reply by saying to one another, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge!  Now we will deal worse with you than with them.”  Don’t miss that reaction from the men of Sodom.  They say that Lot is judging them, and this makes them angry enough to want to mistreat Lot even more than what they had planned for the strangers that Lot had taken in.  And let’s not forget, these men knew very well what they were planning to do with those men in the house.  They simply believed that Lot had no right to say that their plans to brutalize and violate those men was wrong.

 

            All over the world, there is an outcry against any perceived judgmentalism.  To be thought of as judgmental is one of the most inexcusable sins of American culture.  But do not let this discourage you.  The outcry against judgmentalism is as old as the story of Sodom (or one might even argue as old as the story of Cane and Able).  For thousands of years, those who have sinned against God have also attacked anyone who would dare tell them that their sin is wrong, even if in the telling, the evangelists offered grace, mercy, and hope.

 

            So, Christians, here is the deal:  We can try to be thought of by the world as always nice and never judging, and in doing so, we will relinquish any claim to the word of God.  Or we can tell the truth, even though it sometimes earns us the kind of scorn that followers of God have felt for thousands of years.  While the temptation might be to be silent in this life and to choose comfort, Jesus would remind us that the blessing of God is there for his faithful and persecuted followers.

 

Matthew 5:10-12

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

Of course I’m not calling anyone to go out there and be a jerk to people.  If you are persecuted for just plain being mean to people, you will have no reward from God for your persecution.  But, if you can carry yourself with love, class, kindness, and dignity while being honest, you will still be looked down upon and ridiculed for your faith; but in that case, there will be a great reward for you that is worth far more than the discomfort of the world’s disapproval.

Revelation 22:8-9

 

8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, 9 but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

 

Matthew 4:8-10

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’ ”

 

John 20:28-29

28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

 

            Some people wonder why it is that a person’s faith or lack of faith in Jesus is such a big deal.  Isn’t it a rather arbitrary thing to assign a person eternally to damnation or to glory simply based on their belief in or trust in a homeless teacher from two millennia ago?  Indeed, it would seem a rather obscure standard for God to use too determine one’s eternity were it not for one crucial fact:  Jesus is not a mere teacher; he is God.

 

            To prove the point does not take as much as one might think.  In several verses, including those above, the Bible makes it plain that no man or angel is rightly worthy of the worship of another.  We see in case after case, when a person accidentally or confusedly bows to worship someone who is lesser than God, that person, if they are righteous, will correct the confused worshiper.  But look, Jesus offers no such correction.  When Thomas bows to Jesus and calls Jesus God, Jesus tells Thomas, “Good for you, the Father has revealed the truth to you.”

 

            While it may seem arbitrary to base a person’s eternity on whether or not they like a philosopher from centuries ago, it is not obscure at all for God to base your eternity on whether or not you receive him, God.  If God himself comes to earth and makes a way, one way, for you to be forgiven of your sins, it is perfectly sensible for God to require you to come to his grace by coming to him through that one way.  Because Jesus is God, to reject Jesus is to reject God.  To receive Jesus, on the other hand, is to receive God and to place yourself in his merciful hands.

 

            Whether or not Jesus is God is an issue of supreme importance.  All in eternity hangs on this truth.  If Jesus is not God, he cannot sufficiently pay the penalty for the sin of anyone.  If Jesus is not God, he does not have the right to forgive anyone.  If Jesus is not God, he is either a confused lunatic, insanely claiming to be God, or he is worse, a liar intentionally deceiving the world.  If Jesus is not God, Christianity is useless and there is no hope for humanity.

 

            However, Jesus is God.  HE claimed that title.  He proved his claim to it by rising from the dead and by doing myriad other things that only God could do.  Jesus therefore has the ability to forgive all who come to him.  Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross is of such worth to be able to grant forgiveness to all who will trust in him.  Because Jesus is God, to come to Jesus is to come to God.  To be forgiven by Jesus is to be forgiven by God.  To reject Jesus is to reject God.        

 

                Today, as in any other day, people all over the world will make a crucial decision about Jesus.  Either they will bow to him, acknowledging his identity and falling on his mercy, or they will reject him, and in doing so, will turn their backs on the God who created them and who is their only hope for grace.  What will you do with Jesus this day?

Revelation 20:11-15

 

11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

 

            The concept of being judged by God is one that causes many people to shutter or utterly revolt.  Many do not want to think of God as judging, and they certainly do not want to be judged themselves.  But the Bible does not offer non-judgment as an option.  All mankind, small and great, will be judged by God.

 

            Now, if you want options in your judgment, there is good news.  God offers an option.  The option is not whether or not you will be judged.  Instead, the option is by what you will be judged.  I think we can all agree, if we have to be judged, it is very good for us to be judged with options on our part as to what God uses to judge us.

 

            Peeking at Revelation 20’s judgment scene, we see that all people are judged, and their judgment occurs in one of two ways.  There are books and a book.  In the books (plural), we see a record of the deeds of all people (I wonder if this has been upgraded to USB memory).  In the book, singular, we see what appears to be a list of names.

 

            Here’s where it gets interesting.  Those who are judged by the books (plural) are judged by God based on their deeds in life.  When you ask almost anyone if they expect to go to heaven when they die, they almost always say that they expect to go to heaven because they haven’t been an utterly bad person.  However, Revelation 20 makes it plain that all who are judged by the content of the books, that is by the list of their deeds, will be sentenced to an eternity in hell.  This is because no one, not even the best person you know, is a good enough person to meet God’s perfect standard of righteousness (cf. Rom 3:10-17, 23).

 

            On the other hand, there are those who are judged by what is in the book (singular).  This book, called “the book of life,” is apparently a list of names.  These names are the names of all of those who ever have or will become God’s children.  This book is a list of those, not who were good people, but who have come to salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  These people, regardless of what is written in the books, will enter into heaven for eternity because their names are written in the list of those who are redeemed, rescued, saved by Jesus Christ.

 

            This judgment passage is a perfect place to take a friend to help them to see the truth of the gospel in a striking scene.  If we are judged according to our works, we go to hell; and that includes every last one of us.  If, however, we place our full trust in Jesus Christ, we go to heaven, regardless of our pasts.  Salvation is a gift of God, fully based on the perfection of Jesus and not on our goodness or lack thereof. 

 

            Every person will choose how they are judged.  Will you be judged by your works?  If so, you will end up in hell.  Will you be instead judged by the book?  If so, you must trust in Jesus.  All who come to Jesus in faith will be saved, and they will find that their name has been written in God’s book from before the dawn of time (cf. Rev 13:8).  As long as your name is on that list, you will spend forever in heaven with God, not because you are good, but because Jesus is very, very good.

Genesis 3:1

 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

 

            In the Garden of Eden, we glimpse some of the clever strategy of the devil.  When Satan wants to mislead the people of God, he begins with a tactic that is still present in nearly any human argument.  Satan distracts Eve by setting up false conditions and then attempting to persuade Eve based on those false conditions.

 

            The serpent asks the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”  What was he going for there?  He was trying to get the woman to think about whether or not such a god would be good who would forbid his children from eating of any of the trees in the garden.  Of course, God had not made such a restriction, and thus the devil was attacking, not the real God, but a god of his own creation (a straw-man or straw-god I suppose).  The devil knew that, could he get the woman discussing whether such a god would be good, he would have her.  If the woman had entered into this argument with the devil, he could have drawn her to the conclusion that her god was mean, selfish, unsharing, greedy, etc.  This, in fact, is the play he makes later, and it works, but from a different angle.

 

            Noticing that Satan tries this tactic in the garden should help us to think about the ways in which we think about many issues and moral dilemmas today.  For example, when a discussion of a persons’ need for Christ is derailed by objections like, “How can I believe in Jesus when Christians have done such awful things in the past,” the devils’ tactics are in evidence.  Why would this be an example of the devils’ tricks?  Whether or not Christians have been good people in the past has nothing to do with the reality of whether or not God exists, whether or not individuals are under his judgment, or whether or not Christ is the only way to be saved.  The truth is, the righteousness or unrighteousness of Christians in the past has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not a person needs Jesus.

 

            Let’s try another.  When the discussion of the protection of the lives of unborn children becomes a discussion about a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body instead of a discussion over the fact that a growing child is a living human being whether in or out of the womb, the devil’s first type of trickery is in view.  The tactic of the pro-choice proponent is to frame the debate with the woman and only the woman in view.  The moment such a debate is bounded by only a look at the feelings and desires of the woman, the pro-choice argument becomes apparently strong (though studies of women who have had abortions make this argument weaker than one might expect).  However, the debate should not be framed there.  The questions which require answers are, “Is the child in the womb in fact a living human being?  If the child is a living human being, under what circumstances should it be acceptable to end that human being’s life?”  When those questions become the framework of the debate, the pro-life position rightly stands much stronger. 

 

            On and on we could go with example after example of how framing questions can lead people to reach false conclusions because they fail to discuss the true issue at hand.  The point, however, that I want to make is that believers should recognize that this is one of the devils’ first and most common tools to mislead people.  We need to be careful not to fall prey to these devices.  This requires that we be wise logical thinkers who walk carefully in the world.

 

            Most of all, if we are to avoid the dangers of the devils’ schemes in argument, we are going to have to make sure that we have a center of authority to use in any discussion or debate.  The devil tried to introduce to the woman outside thoughts and outside voices that contradicted the word of God.  IN doing so, he tried to pry her away from the only solid source of truth.  In today’s world, the devil tries the same thing.  If we are going to think wisely and be faithful, we must recognize that the Bible, God’s written word, is the source of authority and truth that must frame all our thoughts and decisions.  Regardless of the issue, whether it be political, moral, or social, we must frame the question and make our response to the issue, not based on the false constructs of a godless world, but on the clear and solid foundation of the standards presented in the Bible.

Genesis 1:1

 

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

 

            As 2010 arrives, I find myself with a nice, hot cup of coffee, in my comfy chair, again opening up the Bible for a planned read through the word of God in this year.  The journey should be full of adventure some days.  On other days, I will forget to do what I should, will find it difficult to concentrate, or will simply read it, shrug my shoulders, and go on with the day. 

 

            Thanks to the Lord, this morning is not one of those days.  Today, as I sit here, I am immediately struck by the very first verse of the Bible.  God tells us that, in the beginning, he created the heavens and the earth.  Boy is it too bad that we have heard this so many times that our wonder is weak.

 

            In the beginning, before anything human, at the start, God created.  At the very beginning of time, God already existed.  God spoke, and things which were not became reality.  God, by his power, created the entire universe and the little planet upon which we live.  Such a God is amazing and worthy of praise.

 

            Now, here is what grabs my attention this morning.  Genesis 1:1 is a litmus test of sorts.  Try this one on for yourself.  Can you believe those words?  Can you believe that, in the beginning, God spoke and brought into being that which was not?  Can you believe that God, by his power, created a universe out of nothing?  Can you believe that the earth upon which your feet rest (or upon which your seat rests by resting on the floor which is somehow connected to the foundation of the house or building you are in. . . you get the point), can you believe that earth was spoken into existence by a being, a person, who still exists and who still sustains it?

 

            The simple fact is, if you can believe Genesis 1:1, all of the other claims of the Bible should be easy to believe.  If you cannot believe Genesis 1:1, nothing else in the Bible should strike your fancy.  If Genesis 1:1 is true, then everything about life changes.  If Genesis 1:1 is not true, then nothing in life matters.

 

            I recently tuned my ITunes to an Internet radio station that featured stand-up comedy.  After only a few minutes, it hit me that the speakers had absolutely no concept that they were created by God.  They thought of God as irrelevant if he should exist at all.  They thought that this life was about them.  Their lack of grasping the significance of Genesis 1:1 led them to be irreverent, crude, and ultimately meaningless in their talk. 

 

            Now, ponder for yourself what it means to be created by God.  What gives your life meaning?  If you are created, your life is endowed with meaning by the one who created you.  If you are not created, you must pretend that your life has meaning by coming up with that meaning yourself.  If you are created, your Creator can lead you to what is right, what is beautiful, what is true, and what is good.  If you are not created, there is no basis for any of those categories.

 

            So, the question should arise, in 2010, will you live as a created being?  Will you acknowledge that you have a Maker?  Will you shape your life in such a way as to honor and follow the One who fashioned you?  Will you make sure that, every day, you acknowledge that you live for a purpose that is defined by the One who made you and not by your own imagination? 

 

            And will you let the truth of Genesis 1:1 lead you to believe the rest of the Scripture?  If God can speak the universe into existence, it is no big thing for him to flood the earth, to scatter humanity, to give Sarah a child at age 90, to make a Hebrew slave become the prime minister of Egypt, to part the Red Sea, to shower food from heaven, to make a donkey talk, to defeat a giant with a boy’s sling shot, or to have a virgin conceive a child by the Holy Spirit.  If God created the universe with a word, the idea of him entering into that universe, paying for the sins of his people, dying, and rising from the dead is not unimaginable, though it is incredibly beautiful and stunning.  And if God created us, it is not hard to believe that Jesus could ascend into heaven, or that he will return to earth.

 

Acts 1:9-11

 

9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

 

            This year, let us begin with the understanding that this universe belongs to God; he made it after all.  That God made us gives us meaning.  That God made us helps us to know that we have a purpose to fulfill.  That God made us defines for us truth, beauty, and goodness.  That God made the universe shows us his power and makes the other miracles of the Bible believable.  That God made us changes everything, so let’s rightly begin in the beginning in 2010.