Christian Life

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Adam and his wife Eve, as he was later to name her, shared in the bliss of the beautiful Garden of Eden God had made for them.  They played with the animals, climbed the majestic trees, and ate the fruit the trees produced.  At night they chose a comfortable place on the ground and slept the sleep of the content.  Fear did not exist.  They lived in perfect harmony with all of God’s creation.  As husband and wife, they never disagreed or argued for they had no awareness of self.  In fact they didn’t realize that they were naked.  There was no shame in their world.

One day Adam and Eve were walking near the middle of the garden.  Adam went a short distance away to look at one of the plants he’d not seen before.  Eve went near the forbidden tree to view it more fully.  The serpent seeing his chance was quick to join her.

Genesis 3:1-6

“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

 

Adam and Eve lived in a state of perfect peace.  They wanted for nothing.  Death did not exist, there was no fear, and even the weather was nice.  They had world peace!  And, for those who have experience the presence of God in times of worship, you know there is nothing sweeter then the presence of God.  Adam and Eve had that all the time!  The choice to disobey God and open themselves to the knowledge of good and evil came at a high price.  They had everything we desire.  What were they thinking?

Adam and Eve were created good, but they had no knowledge of good.  They just were.  Just like hot and cold define each other, so good and evil must define each other.  You can’t understand “good” without the contrast of “evil”.  Imagine being inherently good without having to make the choice to be good.  For us we know that having the knowledge of good and evil isn’t that great.  Now we have to make a choice.  How often we choose evil.

I can’t blame Adam and Eve for wanting something more.  I know the wonders of God, yet everyday I’m looking for something more.  God knows what I need, and He provides it daily.  The “more” I want will most likely harm me, but I want it.  Every day I have to remind myself that God is sufficient. He is all I need.

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The Companion

Adam spent his days exploring the wonders of the garden where God had placed him.  As he walked, the birds and animals that God had created came to him, and he named each one.  In the evenings, he would share with his Father (the name God preferred) all the adventures of his day.

“Today I named those creatures that climb in the trees, monkey.  I climbed with them all through the trees.  What a wonderful experience.  I then visited the Lions.  I always enjoy the lions.  We wrestled and romped together for hours.  The cheetah and I ran together for a short time.”

God could see that Adam was enjoying the garden and the animals, but he wanted to provide Adam with a being that could walk beside him and share the joys of the garden.

God said to Adam, “I am going to put you into a deep sleep, and while you sleep, I am going to take a rib from your side.  I will use your rib to create a companion that will walk with you and share your days.”

God put Adam into a deep sleep then took the rib from his side.  From the rib, God formed another being.  He breathed the breath of life into her, and she became a living being.  God welcomed her to his creation then took her to Adam.

As Adam awoke he beheld the being God had created.  She smiled at him, and Adam experienced a feeling he’d never felt before.  “She is truly the most delightful being of all you have created Father.  We will call her woman, for she was taken from man.”

The first man and woman walked together without the disharmony of sin and with the continual presence of their creator.

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First Encounter

The being opened eyes that took in light, then color, and objects.  He rose as if he had done this many times, yet it was his first.  Everything he did was his first, for he was the first of his kind.

A voice spoke to him, “Welcome to the world I have created for us to enjoy.”  He turned to see another being standing there beside him.  “I have brought you forth that you might know me, and that we might walk together.  Come let’s walk and experience that which is good.”

They walked through trees and shrubs with bright blossoms and sweet smells.  The being spoke his first words, “This which you have created brings a feeling of joy and delight.”

“Yes that was my desire.  Enjoy all that I have created,” the creator shared.

Just then a creature scurried past them.  “What was that?” asked the being.

The creator smiled, “I have created many creatures for you to know and oversee.  See this one returns to you.  What would you name him?”

The being bent down and picked up the little creature.  “I will call this one mouse.”

The scriptures record that Adam, as we know this being, went on to name all of the animals that God had created.  Mankind started with purity and goodness and walked with the continual presence of God.   His promise to us is that we will again experience that which Adam knew.  We don’t know how the first encounter between God and man actually occurred, but I hope this scenario helps you to imagine what that encounter might have been like.

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God Made It All

Romans 1:18-20  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

It has long amazed me that men can observe the vastness, beauty and complexity of the universe and believe that it came about by a series of random events.  This belief however has value in that it allows man to deny the existence of God.  With God out of the picture men get to make their own rules, and do what they want.  How’s that working for us?

Scientists receive great glory for what they discover, but there is no glory given for the one who created what they have discovered.  Atoms, molecules, photons and the DNA code, to mention a few items of scientific discovery, did not randomly come about.  God created them.  How much more amazing is the one who created than the one who discovered?  The scientist himself was created and given his ability to discover.  Does God get acknowledged for that?  I am very appreciative of the great discoveries made by scientists, but the glory goes to the one who made it all, God!

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Jesus the Man

I spent the evening watching a movie called the Gospel of John on Netflix.  The movie is narrated while actors act out the scenes of the entire Gospel of John.  As I watched, I was taken by the humanness of Jesus.  He spoke out explosively at times.  He was very animated.  This could have been just the actor’s interpretation, but as I followed along in my Bible, I found the words in the scriptures indicated strong action.  I have always had the idea of Jesus speaking the soft words of wisdom without emotion, yet as I followed this movie, I was reminded that Jesus was fully human.  He was a man with passion and zeal.

With this in mind I looked back through the Gospel of John.  Jesus’ encounters with the Jewish leaders offered many opportunities for emotional response, but this familiar story stood out.  In chapter 2, Jesus clears the temple using a whip.  Verse 16 reads: To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here!”  “How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”  Notice that the last sentence ends with an exclamation mark not a question mark.  This was a strong exclamation.  He wasn’t gently asking a question.

Jesus came as a human so we could relate to him.  He was a human just like us who could express his emotions but without sin.  My strong expressions can often be traced back to the sin of “I want it my way!” or some other control issue.  I believe that, if I had the deep selfless love of Jesus, I could express my strong emotions without sin.  But alas, that’s not the case.  Even though Jesus spoke out with emotion, it doesn’t give me license to go around yelling at people. Shucks, I was hoping for justification.  So, self-control is still necessary.  Praise be to God for his grace.

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Prejudice

The first time I ever saw a dark skinned person was when I was seven.  I was walking with my Mom down a street in the small town of Easton, Pennsylvania when we happened upon some black men unloading a delivery truck.  Having never seen a man with black skin, I asked her, “Who are they?”  I don’t exactly remember her reply, but she told me that some people think they are different than us.  The first inkling of racial prejudice came to my childhood mind.  Then we moved to north-east Washington D.C.

In Washington I went to an elementary school as one of the three “white kids” in the school.  My sister was one of the other white kids.  We didn’t think there was anything out of place.  However, the white people in our apartment building were always warning my Mother not to let her kids hang out with “the blacks”.  To me this seemed stupid.    They were my class mates.  I later came to hate racial prejudice.  Besides, black people were usually a lot more fun than white people.

In those early years, I prided myself as being above prejudice.  However, now that I have a better understanding of the word prejudice, I realize that feeling superior to those who embraced prejudice was in itself a form of prejudice.  I was separated out from those “prejudice people”, and I could therefore look down on them.  I find that it is in my nature to be prejudice.  I am always looking for ways to show myself better than others.  I may not have been prejudice against black people, but I have many prejudices.

Paul says in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”  This is the anti-prejudice scripture.  Notice that the term others is not qualified.  It doesn’t say other Christians, or other white people, or other Jewish people.  Therefore, others must be all inclusive.  I can’t justify any prejudice when compared to this word from Paul.  Since it is an inherent tendency, I will fight prejudice in myself for the rest of my life.  With God’s help, I will fight to love others not belittle them.

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The Right Choice

Looking over the topics that I post weekly, I see a common theme.  I write mainly to encourage my brothers and sisters to trust that God exists, and he is who he says he is.  This week I want to approach from a different direction.

We begin by being born into this world.  The world we are born into exists with no input from us.  We didn’t choose where we would live, what race we would be, or what economic level our existence would embrace.  We are given an unknown number of years to live in this world.  We seem to have arrived with certain elements of personality and ability, but from the very start they are molded by the influences of our placement.  None of the beginning circumstances of our life have been our choice.   We will, throughout our lives, make numerous choices, but they will all be influenced by the placement we did not choose.

With this perspective in mind, the question that presents itself is what choices do we get to make?  We get to choose our response to each event in our lives, but not without outside pressures.  As I said, our responses are affected by surrounding influences.  We seem to have an inherent awareness of what is right and what is wrong.  A basic morality if you will.  Yet, if our culture says for instance an eye for an eye, we’ll be compelled to comply with that concept.  It’s our choice whether to comply, but we are under the pressure of what we are expected to choose.

So, why am I here?  Is this all there is?  Can I break away from this temporal existence upon which I have arrived?  Certainly these are reasonable questions that mankind has asked throughout the ages, and there are a lot of answers to these questions floating around.  When presented with these answers, we get to choose which one we believe is the right one.  Of all the things that are not our choice, choosing the right answer to these questions is our choice.  Trusting that God exists, and that he is who he says he is, seems the right choice to me.  I’m not trying to influence your choice, — oh yes I am.  Please forgive me, and please make the right choice.

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The End of Separation

In the beginning there was no separation between man and God.  When man sinned God withdrew his presence.  This separation lasted until Jesus’ death on the cross. The restoration was signified by the tearing from top to bottom of the temple curtain.  (See Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, and Luke 23:45)

One of the churches in our city does the Stations of the Cross each year on Good Friday.  My wife and I find this experience a great way to begin Easter Weekend.  The stations take you from the time they arrested Jesus to the crucifixion. I am always deeply moved as I walk from station to station remembering what Jesus went through.  This year the tearing of the temple curtain stood out to me.

At the moment when Jesus said it is finished and gave up his spirit, the temple curtain was torn in such a way that it could only have been done supernaturally.  The curtain was 16 feet tall and 4 inches thick, and it was torn from top to bottom.  As it was torn it exposed the Holy of Holies, the place of God’s presence in the temple.  No one could enter the Holy of Holies except the high priest, and he could only enter once a year after going through an extensive ritual of preparation.

Jesus gave up his life so we could be restored to the presence of God.  We who are redeemed by Jesus’ blood can now enter into God’s presence. I was overwhelmed by the significance of the tearing of the curtain.  God’s redemption of fallen man was complete, and he opened for us access to his presence.  This tragic day had underlying glory.  God’s created ones could now return to the closeness that Adam and Eve had with him before the fall.  Jesus restored our relationship with his amazing act of sacrificial love.  Can I do anything but spend eternity expressing gratitude to my blessed savior?  Thank you Jesus!

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The Pivot Point of Eternity

Kneeling at the cross

Such a wondrous place to be,DSCN1330

I find my greatest freedom there

At this place called Calvary.

 

For here is where it all begins,

If you are willing to receive.

At this pivot point we each decide

Our eternal destiny.

 

Yes, God took our greatest evil,

The murder of his son,

And with his loving power

Salvation for all He won.

 

Now kneel with me if you will,

And receive this very hour,

The salvation offered freely

Enlivened with resurrection power.

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My Neighbor

I work part time as a driving instructor.  I am well versed on the rules of the road.  I know exactly how other drivers are supposed to drive.  In light of the general way people drive; this is a dilemma for someone trying to not be judgmental.  Driving has become the proving grounds of my sinful nature.  In-other-words while driving, I prove myself a sinner.  I frequently blurt out expletives like jerk and idiot.

Monday I was driving to my house after a driving lesson.  As all Americans seem to be, I was in a hurry.  I came to an intersection where I was turning right.  I stopped correctly behind the crosswalk before moving forward to make my right turn on red.  However, the gentleman in the left turn lane stopped all the way across the crosswalk, blocking my view of the cross traffic.  I was grateful that he slowed me down and made me wait for the light; not really.  After my usual pronouncement of his lack of intelligence and moral character, I was struck by the thought, he’s my neighbor.  I found myself changing from annoyance to compassion.  I thank the Holy Spirit for the thought.

The rest of the journey home was occupied by thinking about “my neighbor”.  Jesus made some clear statements about our neighbors such as: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 19:19).  Yep, I was falling painfully short of loving my neighbor.  That afternoon, I started reading through the scriptures about my neighbor.  In Luke 10: 29-37 Jesus responds to the question, “And who is my neighbor?” with the parable of the Good Samaritan.  The Samaritans were hated by the Jewish people of Jesus’ time.  By using the Samaritan as the good guy of the story, Jesus nailed the prejudice of the time.  Today, perhaps the story would be of the Good Muslim or in the Middle East, the Good Christian.

My conclusion, after my study, is that everybody I come into contact with is my neighbor.  All the man in the left turn lane needed from me was patience and compassion.  Everyone I meet needs at least that.  A smile and an encouraging word would be nice, but they certainly don’t need my judgement.  Every day I obviously fall short of perfection, but I have the Holy Spirit to reminding me of the words Jesus spoke.  With his help I plan to be a better neighbor.  If we should run into each other someday, just know I’d be delighted to be treated like your neighbor.  I’ll try to respond with the same recognition.  God bless you neighbors.

Author’s note:

This has been a challenging week of trying to love my neighbor.  I have been reminded of how desperately I need the salvation Jesus bought for me on the cross.  Lord thank you for your mercy and grace, Amen.