Bookends of the Bible

One thing that is startling about the Bible is how it reveals truth in unexpected ways.  For example:  Notice that Genesis 1:1 tells that the Heavens and Earth were established while Revelation 20:11 describes the last moment of the Earth and Heaven.  In between these two bookends, we find the struggle of God and man against evil (evil/Satan is dispatched to Hell in Rev. 20:10).  Perhaps it would be wise to dispense with Catholic and Reformation catechisms that say God created man to enjoy Him forever in favor of saying that God created man to serve with Him in His war against evil.  You can take sides with the Devil if you please but God made provision for the destruction of evil at the cross of Jesus . . . nowhere else.

We really are in His hands.

John 20:25-28

How could anyone ever come to think that it is wrong to talk of God as having human characteristics - what the theologians call anthropomorphism.  Without having hands and feet, how would God know how to design the ones that we are supposed to use as we serve Him?  If He has no hands or feet, what did the Roman soldiers hammer the nails into that spilled the blood which washes away our sin?  The anti-anthropomorphic folks are trying to protect God…protecting Him from being too much like His creation. In so doing, they make it impossible for the man Jesus to be fully God.  Jesus is God!

God knows what time it is...no matter where He is.

The idea that God lives in some condition like an “eternal NOW” is nonsense from Eastern Mysticism and bad notions from Greek philosophy.  The Bible never talks about God’s life as having all moments present to Him at all times.  Such a notion would make Genesis chapter one incorrect since God measures His activities by the days in the eternal realm.  It is obvious that those days are not “earth days” since he doesn’t create the sun and moon to rule the day and the night until day four (Genesis 1:13-14).

Created means limited.

The idea that created human beings are chosen from eternity is impossible.  That which is created cannot have self-existence or a life that extends beyond the point of making.  Neither you nor I may describe ourselves in a way that makes us exist along with God – regardless of His thoughts or plans and when they occurred to him in the eternal time sequence.  The flip side to this condition of having a beginning is that apart from the eternal life provided by Jesus, who is our salvation (John 5:39), humans will find their end result in the horror of second death (Revelation 20:14-15).

Elect = Servant

Matthew 24:24, Romans 8:23, I Peter 1:2

There is no possibility that Jesus or Peter or Paul would have been using the word “elect” to reflect some Greek concept of democratic choice.  The Holy Spirit uses this term to describe those who have been tried (I Peter 2:6, Isaiah 28:16) and established as God’s servants (Isaiah 42:1 and 45:4).   Jesus is the first servant and those who abide in him (John 15:4) find their place in the house.  Jesus alone is elect from the eternal realm; all others must enter in through the cross.

It's not built in...the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9 and 17, 3:1-7

Any idea of “total depravity” is destroyed by the very first moment of sin in human life.  God made a tree that had a fruit that, when eaten, gave two (yes, count ‘em, 2) painful gifts.  First, death entered into human experience as promised.  Second, the fruit juice entered human tissues and its effective capacity – that for which it was named – became a permanent part of humanity:  the knowledge of good and evil.

Salvation is the gift.

Ephesians 2:8 cannot be interpreted as though God gives the gift of faith to man in a special way.  Man exercises faith at all times whether for good or ill.  The gift mentioned in this verse is the same as the gift we find in John 3:16.  Because of His love for the world, God gave His only begotten son, Jesus.  Jesus is salvation. Jesus is eternal life.  Believe it and live it.  If you don’t know Jesus, try Him.