Bible

Scripture and You

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

66 Books

About 35-40 authors 

Covering everything from Creation to Final Redemption

About 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek)

Various professions from the writers: Shepherds, prophets, fishermen, and herdsmen.

A wide range of topics and genres. Prophecy, poetry, history, apocalyptic and more.

Depth that is almost beyond understanding. As St Augustine said, “the bible is shallow enough for a child to wade and deep enough for an elephant to swim.”

All with one central theme

He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

Luke 24:44

The Word of God has brought down rulers and raised up the impoverished. It has been banned and celebrated. It is the most important book in human history but what do we do with it? 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to rightly divide the word of truth. 

Colossians 3:16 says “Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

I would answer the question of “what do we do with it” is this. We get into the Word of God, so the Word of God gets into us. The Word of God teaches us all about Christ and Salvation. It instructs us on righteousness and sanctification. It reveals truth and error. It is alive and it is active. The Word of God gives us access into the stream of God’s presence which is always there but sometimes hidden to us because God desires us to seek Him. If we want to encounter Jesus, if we want to put Jesus first, Scripture reading is an amazing way to enter the stream of God’s presence.

Why do we read it? 

Four brief reasons. 

  1. It is the Word of God. The Bible is everything we need to know regarding God and salvation.
    1. John 6:68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
    1. If we want to know God, if we want to know how to live a life that pleases Him, we must know what He has said?
  2. It is accurate and reliable. The Word of God has been studied, tested, and verified more than any other book in history.
    1. There are over 5,800 complete or fragmented Greek manuscripts cataloged, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages[i]
    1. Some of the oldest pieces date to about 125 AD.
  3. Because sometimes God is quiet when we pray and worship. But His Word, His record always speaks.
    1. In times of war, soldiers would write letters to their sweethearts. When they could not hear the voice of the one, they love they could go back and read what their beloved wrote. 
  4. Because it tells us who we are. The Bible, in addition to telling us what we need to know about God, and what we need to know about Jesus, tells us who we are.
    1. Outside of Christ you are lost and dead in your sins.In Christ, you are part of His body and live.
    1. But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

We read the Word of God because it is everything we need to know about God, about us, and about the Messiah.

We must desire to read the Word of God. In marriage is it about devotion or service? Is it about love or provision? Is it about fulfilling needs or providing affection? The truth is it is about all of that. The same action can be done with different motivations and that produces different results. I can do the dishes or clean the house, so my bride does not have to because I love her, and I know she has a lot going on. Or I clean the house because I want to show her, I do things and I do it better than her anyway. The result is the house is clean, but the true result is my love either feels appreciated and loved or insecure because I made her feel that I don’t like the way she cleans. We can read the Word of God out of duty or out of reverence and love.

So how do we read it? 

Understand there are 2 basic ways of reading Scripture for the believer. You can read the Bible for information, and I have. But we are talking about interacting with the text not writing a report about it.

Devotionally & Instructionally – Generally people fall into one of two camps when it comes to Scripture. They either fall too heavily into devotion and look at the Bible as a source of inspiration or they fall too heavily into instruction where the Bible is wisdom. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

Devotionally

You can read the Bible devotionally which means you are devoting yourself to a time of prayer, transformation, receiving, correction, worship, healing, or communion with God. 

Instructionally 

Reading the Bible instructionally is to read the Bible with a different set of questions. It is to ask what I am supposed to know about this and what do I do with it? Devotion can and does often overlap. When we need help, when we are confused, when we are seeking wisdom from Jesus we turn to the Word of God and read. Sometimes to see what He has said and done in other situations. Either way the point is this; To make Jesus first by turning our attention and desires towards Him.

Romans 12:2 says

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

To read the Bible is to place yourself in the hands of God and say, “transform me, Lord.” To read the Bible devotionally or instructionally is to read with an attitude and heart of Shema! Shema is Hebrew for Listen, but it is more than listen it is Listen and Obey.

The idea comes from Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

It is to say I might not like what I read, I might not agree with what I read, I might not fully understand what I read, but I am willing to be molded by you Lord.

Practical Tools

Whether Devotionally or Instructionally I think these are two great tools you can use. These tools are just that tools. There is no magic formula. We must remember that the focus, the goal is Christ. Union, submission, and fellowship with Him. When we as followers of the Messiah read the Word of God we are reading because we want to place Jesus First and see Him first. We want to be with Him and more like Him.

We read it together

As we mentioned we are part of the body so one thing we can do is read it together. We read and study the Bible together in community. In Christ, you are part of His body and live.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 1 Peter 2:9

Understand Hyperbolic Discounting.

The larger or further away the goal the harder it is to achieve it. 

If you have never read the Bible or barely read it the challenge of reading the entire thing straight through can be such a great challenge you may fail, then feel defeated, then stop reading. 

Break It Up

Instead, break it up. Read a smaller book, and break that book up into chapters. Read sections. The Bible was not written with chapters and verses so while each book or section might be a cohesive thought it was generally not broken up the way we have it today. So, take chunks if you need to. If you are good at reading, then read whole books at a time.

Diver Deeper

  1. You can learn what different genres there are.
  2. You can read it with a notebook to write things down.
  3. You can highlight and write in it?

Information that Drives Devotion and Instruction 

When we read the Bible, we have to understand a few things.

  • Not everything written was written to you
    • It might be written for your information, for your understanding, for you to know history, or for God’s character but it does not mean it was written for you to do something.
  • Some things are prescriptive and some things are descriptive
  • Not everything in the Bible that is a promise is a promise to you
    • Not everything is a promise

We need to understand a few things as best as we can. I have heard people tell me “I don’t need to know all that stuff; the Holy Spirit will teach me.” True enough but God also gave you a brain and I think He expects you to use it.

I want to give you two tools that are amazing and can take your Scripture reading that capture the essence of what it means to read instructionally and devotionally. They are different but once you have been doing them for a little while they begin to bleed together and create something new and beautiful.  

You can learn The basic Interpretive Journey (Duvall and Hays) which involves five steps:

  1. Step 1: Grasping the Text in Their Town
    1. Question: What did the text mean to the biblical audience?
  2. Step 2: Measuring the Width of the River to Cross
    1. Question: What are the differences between the biblical audience and us?
  3. Step 3: Crossing the Principlizing Bridge
    1. Question: What is the theological principle in this text?
  4. Step 4: Consult the Biblical Map
    1. Question: How does our theological principle fit with the rest of the Bible?
  5. Step 5: Grasping the Text in Our Town
    1. Question: How should individual Christians today live out the theological principles?

Second is Lectio Divina:

This method of reading is quite different but very valuable. Christopher Jamison, former Abbot of Worth Abbey said of Scripture and reading this way ““the text is seen as a gift to be received, not a problem to be dissected….. let the text come to you” The goal is to interact with God through His Holy Word.

In school, I struggled with reading the Bible devotionally this way because all of my time was spent reading to write papers. Reading for instruction, learning the authors, dates, main points, and so on. I read because I was required to read and because I needed to be able to produce a result. This method throws that out the window and asks God to make the Bible come alive for you. To do this is to take it slow.

  • Select a Scripture passage upon which to reflect. …
  • Read the passage — preferably out loud — two or three times. …
  • Meditate on the word or phrase that stood out to you. …
  • Respond to God who has been speaking to you. …
  • Still yourself and rest in the loving embrace of your Maker.[1]


Again, the main point of this endeavor is to seek God and enter into His presence. To place Jesus first in all we do and seek Him above all else.

Just a thought,

Mike

[1] https://www.pbrenewalcenter.org/blog/contemplative-prayer-the-five-steps-of-lectio-divina/

[i] Wikipedia

Do We Go Straight to Heaven?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

In this first article in the series what does the Bible say about it we are asking the question; do we go straight to heaven when we die? Before we answer that question, we should know what the options are. Some say yes absolutely, when we die, our bodies are transported to heaven and we rest with the Savior. Some say that when we die our bodies go into the ground, but our souls go to heaven. Some argue that we just go to sleep and wake up when Jesus comes back. But the question is what does the Bible say?

I should point out that we will primarily be looking at what the New Testament says because while the idea and concept of the afterlife is present in the Old Testament it is not as developed as the New Testament. The New Testament has a great deal to say about the matter because we have Christ who has conquered death and ascended into heaven and the promise for believers is that we will join Him.

First, we should look at the term sleep because the Bible uses this term to talk about death. It is one thing to talk about death in an abstract way but if you have lost someone you love then death feels a little harsh so to soften it the Bible uses the word sleep a fair amount of the time. In 1 Corinthians 11:30 when Paul talks about taking Communion in an improper way, he says some have fallen asleep. In 1 Thessalonian 4:13-14, Paul talks about the brothers and sisters in the church who sleep in death. The church in Thessalonica was facing this very question about what happens when someone dies. Paul lets them know that we as believers in Christ have hope. Psalm 139:8 says that even if we make our bead in Sheol or the depths we are not out of God’s field of vision. Death is sleeping but what kind of sleeping is it?

We could look at each option and prove or disprove them, but this is not a scholarly paper. I think the best approach is to look at what the Bible says concerning our question and look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15 because there is a lot of information for us there. The thing we have to understand is the resurrection and as N.T. Wright often says we have to go back to the resurrection. The first thing is that Jesus was raised from the dead. He was dead and now He is not. He was put in the ground and now He lives. He was buried and now He sits at the right hand of the Father. This tells us something very important; there is a bodily resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 says that if Christ was not raised neither are we. If Jesus was only a spirited resurrection, then we are still in our sins. There is no hope, no freedom, no way out from sin in this life but He was raised. The resurrection of Christ was God’s stamp of approval on Christ’s sacrifice saying yes, the debt is paid in full! It is a marvelous and wonderful thing. Oh, how I could get sidetracked here but the important thing for this discussion is to remember that Jesus was raised from the dead and was raised in His body.

The next thing to take notice of is that we will be raised in a different type of body. This is a point when many get confused and have questions. Sadly, the Bible is silent on exactly what type of body, but it will be different in some way. What we do know is that what is sown in corruption will be raised in incorruption (1 Cor 15:42). What does this mean? Again, we do not exactly know but what we do know is that the new body will not die, decay, or ache. My body aches all the time (mostly at night) but the new body will be perfected and not have the same problems because it will be made new. Here is an example of how you can be in a body, but it is a different body. My wife has stomach issues. She felt her stomach all the time. She switched to a gluten-free diet and remarked the other day that she does not feel her stomach anymore. She knows she has one, but she does not feel it. Get the picture. In this life and in this body, you might have an ailment of some kind but in the new resurrected body it will be free.

Jesus looked the same but still had the crucifixion scars but at the same time, it was different. He could still eat but He could also walk-through walls. He walked but still disappeared and reappeared somewhere else. He was still in a body, but it was different. Will ours be the same? I have no idea, but I do know that Revelation talks about the new city, and Revelation 19 it uses banquet feast language so maybe there is food (although I lean towards a vegetarian meal). The important thing to note and remember is you will have a perfected body when Jesus raises you from the dead.

So where does this leave us? 2 Corinthians 5:8 says that to be present with the Lord is to be absent from the body. Death sends us straight to heaven. When we tie that into what we just looked at we get a picture of what it looks like when we die. Our bodies go into the ground sleeping until the resurrection and then when Christ returns, we are reunited with our bodies which are now perfected and no longer die, decay, or ache. We will be with Him forever. There are other aspects of this we could look at like what is it like in heaven or what do we do. The Sadducees tried to trip Jesus up with these questions (Matt 22:30) but Jesus moved on to the more important topic.

Death happens (for now) but for the believer, it is not the end, it is a switch in the mode of being. Those who confess with their mouth and believe in their hearts that Christ was raised from the dead temporarily lose their bodies when they die but they live in heaven with Christ. When Jesus comes back, and He is coming, they will be reunited with their bodies, and it will be amazing. If you are worried about cremation, or those lost at sea don’t be worried. God is going to do what He does best which is more than we can ask think or imagine.

Just a thought,

Mike

Disciple Life

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

We all have different types of lives. There is thought life, love life, work-life, and so on. We spend a good amount of time looking at and discussing these different lives and for good reason. How we think determines our actions. When we think of the right things, we typically, do the right things. Paul writes in Philippians 4:8 that we should think about good things. In all honesty, a case could be made that Paul talks about our thought life a lot. He says things like, be innocent of evil but wise about good, transform our minds, have the mind of Christ, and on and on. God cares a great deal about our thought life. Our love life is important because it should be healthy and biblical. When a couple has a bad love life, other areas of their life suffer as well. Our work life is important because we spend a great deal of time at work. On average we spend about 1/3 of our lives at work. A bad work-life will spill over to other areas. But what about our life as a disciple of Jesus?

I believe that our life as a disciple is made up of at least 4 other lives just like how our thought life, love life, and work-life create a bigger life. I will not get unto too much detail with them, but they are our Word life, our worship life, our prayer life, and our service life. When we look at what it means to be a disciple of Jesus these are 4 key areas of what we do and where we live (so to speak). Whenever I am counseling someone, discipling someone, or walking through a problem with someone these are the 4 areas that I want to know about first because as disciples as Jesus everything comes from that place.

Our Word life is how much time or devotion are we giving to God’s Word. If we believe that the Bible is the Word of God and that He communicates truth to us through it then it makes good sense to read it and know it. If we are to be transformed in the way, we think then we need to read the Bible and allow the truth found therein to transform us.

Our worship life is how much time or devotion do we give to giving God the praise He so rightly deserves. I will admit as a new Christian I struggled here because I thought of it only as singing. I found more growth from reading the Bible and gaining knowledge and wisdom then I did from praising God. My worship life was weak, but the more I learned about God the more it drove me to worship Him. It is about having an attitude of worship and praise that is directed towards God. He is the Lord of the universe, the maker and sustainer of all things, does He not deserve our praise?

Our prayer life is how much time or devotion do we give to praying to and listening to God. The best description I heard for prayer was to think of it as a currency exchange. In prayer, we take our thoughts, wants, desires, and pleas to God and exchange them for what He has for us. So many times, in prayer we stop short of receiving from God what He would want to give to us because we end the conversation after we list our side. Prayer connects us to the Lord Almighty so why would we not spend time in prayer. I love the song What a friend we have in Jesus. One of the verses says “Oh, what peace we often forfeit, Oh, what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” I have prayed with people and seen them delivered from all sorts of things because they took the time to bring it to God in prayer. We have to remember that talking about God is different than talking to God.

Our service life is about how much time or devotion do we give to walking as Jesus walked. Jesus came not to be served but to serve and we are called to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). We are called to emulate Christ and that means doing what He did. Isaiah wrote about this when talking about what an acceptable fast was. We are called to feed the homeless, clothe the poor, love the wounded, care for the sick, and so on. The amount we serve will be related to the amount we love God. James writes that if we send someone away with only a verbal blessing and not actually care for them, we have shown what our faith really is (empty).

When we get our Word life, worship life, prayer life, and service life right we move closer to the heart of God and that is what we are called to do as disciples. We are called to be transformed into the image of the Son and become more like Him. We are called to be mature believers of Jesus and to move forward. So, the question is if we find that we are not becoming more like Jesus then what do we need to do?

Just a thought,

Mike

 

Biblical Treatment of the Poor

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

In this article, I want to look at how the Bible tells us to treat the poor. There are many ways to examine the numerous passages in the Bible concerning the poor, needy, orphans, aliens, and so on. There are also various designations that can be given to the groups who are in need. Each of them carries a different meaning and highlights a different group of people. The poor for example can be a larger category of individuals that have needs they themselves are not able to meet. Foreigners, sojourners, or aliens in the land are a group who by their national identity cannot, biblically speaking, inherit the land and need care for. Widows are those who were more than likely once able to be self-sufficient and now rely on aid. Orphans who can in some senses be considered the lowest group have nothing and no one to provide for them.

The message throughout Scripture is clear that these categories of people and the larger group as a whole (the poor) are in need and those who have the ability to help are obligated and required to assist. Two passages from the Old Testament and one from the new help show why people should help the poor. There are many that can be used but these have been chosen to show there are reasons behind the commands.

Before that examination, it is also helpful to create categories for the Scripture that are found concerning the treatment of the poor and needy. There are perhaps better ways to categorize the verses but this one is helpful in creating lists. It is also important to note that there are some if not many verses will cross-categorical lines.

A first possible way is to list a verse as compassion. Compassion is to have concern for others. Christians are called to have a concern or care for those who are in need and helpless to help themselves. Those who are poor and needy require compassion partly because they have a lack of honor and esteem. To show compassion is to acknowledge their situation. Job says in 30:25 that he has wept for those in trouble and grieved the poor. Christians should have concern or care for those in need to the point that it drives them to action, but compassion is of high importance.

A second possible category is justice. This will be discussed further below but throughout the Scriptures, there is a constant call to give justice to the poor and needy. The Psalms especially are ripe with commands and verses to either notice the lack of justice or that God will execute justice on behalf of the poor. Psalm 12:5 is an example of God saying that He will rise up to rescue the poor because of their cries. While 82:3 is an example of people calling for God to rescue the needy. Proverbs continue the theme of justice for the poor in 29:7 where it says that the godly care about the rights of the poor. The poor and needy require justice and they are often not able to obtain it on their own.

A third, and final for this list category is provision. This is where the action the stems from concern and justice come out. It is the actual meeting of needs, the providing of goods or relief, the help to better a situation. This too will be discussed further below but suffice it to say there is a clear command from Scripture to meet the needs of the poor. This can be seen in verses that discuss how to clear a field, the year of rest, and so on. The book of Ruth is an example where one can see what it was like for the poor and a foreigner to need the left-over grains.

Now the attention will turn to three Scriptures to see how they show why people should have concern and care for the poor and needy. First, from the Old Testament, Proverbs 14:31 says, whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors Him.[1] The first and most simple reason to help the poor is that it honors God. God is the maker of all and to neglect the poor and needy is to neglect God’s creation. From the Christian perspective all people have the Imago Dei or image of God and to refuse to help or provide dignity to them is to insult the image of God. In the reverse, to care for or be generous to the needy is to honor God Himself. Christ uses the parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25:31-46 to highlight this and says clearly that as it has been done to the least of these it has been done to Christ. When the Lord appears to Saul in Acts 9:4 He asks why do you persecute me? The Lord takes the blessings and insults to the poor as actions directed towards Him. The conclusion is that the reason to care for the poor and needy is that it directs honor to God.

The second passage from the Old Testament that explains the reason why one is to care for the poor and needy comes from Isaiah 58:6-7. Here God explains to Israel what true fasting which could also be read as true worship is. This is an important passage as it shows in rapid succession what those who claim to be religious are to do. In this passage, God tells Israel that true worship is to free those wrongly imprisoned. False imprisonment has always been an issue and can come from various sources from unjust laws, mistaken identity, false testimony, and so on. This is a serious issue and needs to be addressed by the community. The goal of this paper is not to examine current laws or the penial system, but the Christian community should be at the forefront of the battle to advocate for those incarcerated unjustly.

The second item in the Isaiah passage is that the people of God are to let the oppressed go free and remove the chains that bind people. This can be seen as tied to the first point, but it can also have other implications. Drug addiction, for example, is a chain that binds people. Drug addiction is not exclusively an issue that affects the poor, but the poor are at a higher risk of substance abuse or becoming poor because of drug addiction. The people of God are to be concerned about this issue.

Another chain that binds people is that of financial ignorance. While poor people often do not have enough to save for large purchases there are issues and ignorances that affect their spending habits. This includes behaviors such as spending money on unneeded items to ensure they do not lose the money. Not understanding the concept of interest which causes them to seek immediate cash for checks or item pawning. This is more of a Western poor issue, but it is still an issue that should be addressed. People in poor neighborhoods are taken advantage of by those who run check-cashing businesses or title loan companies. These fees seem worth the tradeoff to those in the communities but there are often cheaper alternatives. Christians who have should be teaching and helping those in poor communities learn about more affordable options to receive their money. Some have created some wonderful systems to help educate but some of these are not only cost prohibitive due to the price of attending the sessions but aimed at those who have disposable income.

The next three from the Isaiah list are to share food, give shelter, and give clothes to those who need them. This is quite simply the most basic and easiest of people to accomplish. While prison reform or debt repayment for those who are in prison are issues that require some deeper knowledge and rehabilitation for those caught in addiction require skillsets giving material items to the poor are easily done by almost anyone.

From clothing and food drives to buying groceries for someone, it is not difficult to help meet a basic need. Yes, in different places the requirements may be different, but these are not problems that should still exist in society today. The point is that even if someone’s motivation for care is obligation the Bible directs them to what their obligation is. James writes on 1:27 that true and proper or pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. If some one desires to claim religious obedience than care for the poor and the needy is required.

Moving the third passage and the one from the New Testament. In 1 John 3:11-18 John addresses the topic of how to treat those around you. He writes that Christians are not to be like Cain who killed his brother but are to love. Love is the motivation for the Christian, love for God, and for people. In what could be considered a rhetorical question John asks how God’s love can abide in someone who closes their heart to their brother’s needs (v 17). The answer is implied that it cannot. If love for God is professed, then love for others is required. This is not only required by God but exemplified by Him.

In the incarnation, God in Christ so fully identifies with His creation that He seals the connection between concern and action which was motivated by love. John 3:16 expresses this connection and motivation. The incarnation is the most powerful statement on how the concern for the poor and needy because of what is being said. Jesus read from Isaiah 61 when he began His public ministry and in doing so He was showing that not only does God have a religious standard concerning the treatment of the poor, but He puts feet on the ground to show how it can be done.

Isaiah 61 discusses the year of the Lord’s favor and in that it discusses bringing good news to the poor, binding up or as the HCSB says to heal the brokenhearted, liberty to the captives, and opening doors to those in prison. These are similar to the items in Isaiah 58. Again, here what is seen is that there is a religious requirement to have concern for the poor and needy and that it can be done. Not only this but that the motivating factor was love. There could hardly be a better example of what to do than in Christ.

The New Testament church understood this well and went about preaching the message of Christ. They did not have to command people to sell their goods to give to those who needed but the people did this as a freewill offering because they were motivated by love. Love requires action because it seeks the welfare of the recipient more than the cost to the giver. The church is called to serve in love and act in love. There are always people who may not be motivated by love and only wish to do the bare minimum but as seen even if obligation is your motivation care for the poor and needy is still required. The Bible leaves no room to not take up the cause of the poor and needy. It leaves no excuse to not serve. It gives no out for anyone who claims to have devotion to God.

[1] All Scripture taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.

Good Calories

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

The Word of God is powerful calories. Jonathan Trotter points out that sometimes we just need calories so we should be ingesting the Word of God daily. It should be a constant source of nourishment. There are times when I start reading and find myself in awe of God’s miracles power. Times when I pick up my Bible and it feels like the Word of God was written just for me. That God looked through the ages and said, “Mike will need this.” It makes me feel so connected to God that I want to shout. There are other times when I read my Bible and feel convicted. I start to feel I am so unworthy of the love of God. I cannot understand how God could love me.

Then there are times when I read my Bible and think “yup, that’s true.” Nothing amazing, no trumpets, no revelation, just truth. These (and others) are valid. The power of Scripture does not rest in its ability to make me feel good, it is in the fact that it is the reliable Word of God. Sometimes you just need to eat.

Faulty Teaching or Bad Language Part 2

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

In the last post, we looked at the results of some ideas that were put forth by the author of an article. They were that Jesus is no longer human and that reconciliation to the Father removes humanity. This time I want to tackle the next three which deal with emotions as it pertains to Christ, God, the Holy Spirit, and us (humans). As a reminder the sentence in question is “after Jesus ascended into heaven, he was no longer human. He had been fully reconciled to the Father and wasn’t experiencing human emotions and doubts anymore.” So, what we are going to look at is:

  • Jesus does not have human emotions. Statement
  • God does not have human emotions. Implication
  • God’s emotions and human emotions are different. Implication

All throughout the Bible emotions are ascribed to God. So, the question we are really asking is, when the Bible speaks of God having emotions is it anthropomorphic like when the Bible speaks of God having physical human traits (eyes, ears, arms, etc.)? Put another way does the Bible give God human emotions like it does physical attributes so we can relate or understand Him, or does He truly have emotions? Additionally, are our emotions as humans different than God’s emotions, if in fact, He has them.

First, just to give a clear picture the Bible does use figurative language about God. There are multiple passages about the eyes of the Lord or the arm of the Lord. This language is sometimes used to convey a nearness about God or His seeking of people. This type of language is used to communicate something about God in a way that we as people can understand. We can grasp things like eyes being used or seeing or arms used for strength, but we cannot grasp how the spirit seeks or has strength. It is something that is beyond our understanding. That should lead us to ask if the language used about God having emotion is similar language. Is the language used about God having emotions figurative? I say no.

To start with we must go to the beginning. Genesis 1:26 God says let us create man in our image. This tells us a lot because if I tell you I am building something like a motorcycle then when you come by you already have a reasonable idea of what you expect to see. You know what a motorcycle is, and you would expect to see something similar. Here what we have is God saying “I am going to create something like myself” so we should expect that whatever we have is like God right? Now let’s work backward. If I tell you I am building something like a motorcycle and you don’t know what motorcycle is then when you come by you have no idea what to expect. But, and here is the kicker once you see the thing I have built and learn that it is like a motorcycle you will then have an idea of what a motorcycle is like based on the new information. So, for starters what we have is an understanding that we are like God because we are made in His image. We have emotions and He has emotions. But there is more that is not simple reasoning.

I could leave it at that and I think that is a fairly decent argument but because there is more I will provide more. Theology places the perfections or attributes of God in categories. Why? Because we need more categories in the world. Anyway, two such categories are the Incommunicable and Communicable attributes of God. Incommunicable are attributes He alone possess and Communicable are ones He shares (for lack of a better term) with us. An attribute like Omnipresence (all present) is His alone but truth, while He possesses it to the ultimate degree, He shares with us. Omnipower (all powerful) is His alone but unity, as in being united as the body of Christ, we can share in. We can see there are things about God that rubbed off on us in creation. These are just two examples.

Emotion is one of those things. But how do we know this? Well, the most two popular are probably God saying He is a jealous God and Jesus weeping. However, because we are arguing the point of emotions for a preincarnate and ascended Christ we will skip over the earthly life of Christ for now even though I think that foolishness.

Here is a brief list I stole from a website because I am feeling a little lazy:

The list above shows us that God not only has emotions, but He has multiple emotions. More than that He is in control of His emotions. God is able to have emotions and not let them control Him. This, by the way, is an attribute of God which I place in the unity section because there is no division within God. He does not wrestle with His emotions like you or I do. He does not have to be conflicted over being angry at sin or feel sorry He hated something. There is perfect unity in His emotions.

I think one of the reasons people might reject the emotions of God is because to acknowledge that God has emotions and is able to remain in control (for lack of a better term) of them highlights the lack of emotional control we feel. We know that sometimes our emotions get the better of us and that we should do a better job at keeping them in control. To acknowledge that God has emotions is to either run the risk of being afraid God will fly off the handle at you or is to suggest you are not as in control of your own emotions as you think.

Additionally, we cannot attribute our general basic understanding of emotions to God. For example, we overuse and misuse the word love so much that when we attempt to think of God as love we uncut the real meaning of what that means. In the western world, and especially the English-speaking western world, we can say we love everything and the meaning can be anything from a fleeting infatuation to romantic desire to lifelong service to a spouse. The biblical definition of love, however, is vastly different. I like the way Charles Ryrie puts is when talking about love “love seeks the good of the object loved.”[1] Love is an emotion, but it is so much more too.

Lastly, because we have laid the groundwork we can probably now talk about the emotions Jesus has while in heaven and I will only mention one. Jesus sympathizes. According to Hebrews 4:15 Jesus sympathizes with our weakness. The Greek word is sympatheō. We could not even come up with an English word for the emotion or action. He intimately understands and relates to our weakness. Sympathy is an emotion and Jesus feels that for us while in heaven. This is why He lives to make intercession for His people.

None of this even gets into the emotions of the Holy Spirit see for example Eph 4:30. But whereas He is a full member of the Godhead He too has emotions.

We could probably keep going but I think the point is clear. Yes, Jesus has emotions because He is God and yes God the Father has emotions. God is not some impersonal force that is void of emotion who creates beings with emotions and then leaves them to fend for themselves. Jesus experienced all the “human” emotions and when He returned to the Father He kept those emotions.

We must be clear with the words we use to describe and talk about God because words are the basis for understanding and thinking. If we use the wrong words we start to get the wrong idea. It is not easy, and I have failed many times, but we must push forward never settling for cheap theology. We can never adequality explain God, but we can try to better understand and use the right words.

Just a thought,

Mike

[1] Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology, (Moody: Chicago 1999), 44.

Kingdom of Heaven

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

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I have been thinking about the Gospel and the kingdom of heaven lately. I know it surprised me too. Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven some 33 times so I think it is kind of important. One commentary defines the kingdom of heaven as “the rule which God exercises through the person, work, and teachings of Jesus.”[1] I think that is a pretty good definition but to go a little further Edward Schillebeekx (no I did not make that up) says the kingdom of heaven is “a process, a course of events, whereby God begins to govern or to act as king or Lord, an action, therefore, by which God manifests his being-God in the world of men.”[2] I think that one is pretty good too. But I would simplify it a little and say the Kingdom of Heaven is God ruling now.

Have you ever heard the expression that some people are too heavenly minded for their own earthly good? I have and to be honest that is how we should live. The problem is that what is meant by that is some people are only looking forward to the after-death part of heaven and not the here and now part. I am not talking about heaven on earth as in everything is perfect but God ruling here and now in us. Jesus coming to earth, living, dying, and being raised again was an invasion. I mean think about it, Jesus came to earth to bring the kingdom of heaven here. He came to bring people out of sin and death and back into God’s kingdom.

We live in this weird now but not yet place of belonging to Heaven but still residing on earth. The kingdom of heaven lives in us and we carry around the kingdom of heaven everywhere we go. The Gospel message is that we can live in that reality of heaven now. Yes, one day when we die we will move there so to speak but we have it now. Right now, at work, at home, even in the car you have the kingdom of heaven because as a Christian you have submitted yourself to Gods rule.

As believers in the resurrected Christ, we live in the reality of this. This is why Peter writes to people and calls them sojourners or pilgrims. We should live heavenly minded but we should understand that it is a destination and position we currently hold.

 

Just a thought,

Mike

[1] HCSB Study Bible

[2]  Schillebeeckx, Edward, Jesus: An Experiment in Christology. London: Fount Paperbacks. pp. 140–141.

There are no extras in the church

/ Mike Farley / 2 Comments

As Christians, it is easy to get caught up in wanting to do more, wanting to accomplish more for the Kingdom, and sometimes even wanting more recognition. We can start to think that in God’s amazing plan we are just extras who get a little screen time when needed in order to highlight a main character. That somehow, we are less than others and when God was passing out gifts He decided we would be fillers for someone else’s story. We can read Paul’s letters and wonder why we cannot be more like him. We can read about Peter in the Gospels getting off the boat and wonder if we will have or even can have such experiences. The list goes on and on and if we are not careful we can think that somehow, we are not as good as other Christians. Now, there are things that can hinder your growth as a Christian but for now, we are going to assume that you are doing what you need to do. We are going to be on the working assumption you are a redeemed, Spirit-filled, Christ loving child of God.

I want to look at Romans 16 which is the last chapter of Romans. The book of Romans covers many great topics like predestination, the message of the Gospel, fulfilled prophecy, liberty in love, and much more. One thing that is covered that can be overlooked if we are not careful is Paul’s closing where he commends or to use modern vocabulary, he gives a shout out to some people. In the closing of this amazing book Paul names twenty-six people and says to either greet them or recognizes them for their work. We do not have the space to cover all of them and maybe that would be good to do sometime but for now, we will just briefly look at a few.

Before we do it is important to reiterate again that there are no extra’s in God’s story. There are heroes for sure that stand out and these people should inspire us and drive us to more but their abilities still come from the same God who made us all. Even at that the “hero” we see is usually flawed, broken, and has failed more often than they have succeeded. The list in chapter 16 of Romans should inspire us because these are “average” people. These were everyday grocery shopping, mall going, Starbucks drinking, trying to get by people of the first century.

First on the list is Prisca and Aquila who are actually mentioned quite a bit in the Bible. They do not have any deep stories but they are mentioned six times in the New Testament. The longest episode is in Acts 18 where this couple takes in a young man who has just come to Christ. They take him in and explain the way of God more accurately. They discipled this young man who some believe went on to write the book of Hebrews. This average ordinary couple saw a need and fulfilled that need and for that, among other things, Paul says “Everyone need to greet these people when you see them because I love them and they have always been there for me.”

Skipping down one, Paul says to greet Mary who has worked very hard for you. There are a lot of Mary’s in our churches. They are the ones who do Sunday school for the kids every week. They are the ones who come in and clean the church when nobody is around. They are the ones praying daily for our pastors and our suffering. There are people in our churches working harder than most and you would never know it because not once do they ask to be recognized for their labors but without them, we would all suffer. Think about your toes for a minute. When is the last time you thought about how valuable your toes are? I read once that your toes come in contact with the ground about seventy-five percent of the time (75%). We take that for granted and we take so many people in our churches who are much more valuable than toes for granted too. When we come across a Mary we should be saying thank you to them and letting others know that this person is vital to the growth, success, and love in our church family.

Lastly, we will look at Andronicus and Junia. There is a lot of controversy around this one because some will argue that Junia was an Apostle which would be a big deal because she was a woman. I am not going to go there right now. Rather, let us just look at what Paul says and put it into modern terms. Have you ever met someone and asked them if they so and so? They say no and you respond with “What, they are amazing how do you now know them?” We all know someone who does not get nearly enough air time in conversation but deserves it more than we do. I am talking about people that when someone says, “you are awesome” you think “I am not so and so.” That was Andronicus and Junia. Paul says that this couple us noteworthy and in the Greek that word also means “well known, respected, and admired for past achievements.” Paul says these two these two are what it is about, and all the Apostles know this. I do not know another way to explain the significance of this. The Apostles who are the big guns give credit to this couple.

I know this is a rather short version of the list Paul gives but the point is that you are someone in God’s story. Maybe you come in early or stay late to stack chairs but without chairs, new people would not know where to sit. Maybe you vacuum but without you, there would not be clean floors and that is not only a little gross but distracting to people who are looking for reasons to not pay attention. Maybe you run a little blog and feel like no one is being helped by your words but someone somewhere out there might be. Maybe you are a pastor and cannot figure out why you are not reaching people like others are but you have planted seeds that will grow into mighty trees. Maybe just maybe, the thing you do is service to and for Christ and He will make it into something more.

Just a thought,

Mike

 

What is hope?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Do you have hope? What is your hope? In Colossians chapter 1 Paul mentions hope four times and that might not sound like a lot because a lot of words are repeated throughout the chapter and throughout the Bible in general so what makes, or should make a word like hope stand out?

Not all words are created equal. Words like love, freedom, victory and hope carry more weight than other words. For example, if you are in sales then a word like “discount” carries more weight than other words. When you are talking to a customer and they hear the word “discount” it will make their ears perk up. Use it two or three times in the conversation and you have their attention. If you are talking to your kids (little kids) and you mention a snack they instantly pay a little more attention because a word like “snack” means something more to them. The same thing holds true here in Colossians 1 with the word “hope.”

Hope as is typically used means something along the lines of “want something to happen or be the case” but that is not what the word means in Greek. In Greek, hope, as used here, means “confident expectation” which is to say you know this is a thing is going to happen. The difference is huge because in the typical usage definition you would like something to be true but in the Bible (especially in Colossians) you know it to be true.

I think we get it. Let’s look at Colossians 1:27 which says, “God wanted to make known among the Gentile (non-Jews) the glorious wealth of this mystery which is Christ in you the hope of glory.” With the understanding of what hope is in biblical terms, we can read this and see that Christ in us is the confident expectation of glory. What a relief! I don’t have to be great or good enough but Christ in me is good enough. Jesus is the answer to the question of what does God want from me. All my work can be laid down and I can rest in Jesus’ finished work on the cross. I can rest from my labor and take His yoke. I can stop trying to figure out how to make myself good enough because it is Christ in me that is good enough.

Hope is such a powerful word. Hope is an amazing thing because the hope is Christ, not my better performance. If we back up and look at two of the other uses of hope in chapter 1 we read that we can love others because of our hope in Christ (Col 1:5a). We can love others the way we should and want to because of the hope of Christ. The pressure to perform or be self-sufficient is gone because of Jesus. The hope (confident expectation) we have in Jesus frees us to love others.

The hymn writer Edward Mote wrote “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness; I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” Our hope is built or founded in Christ and on His work. This brings us to the second point which is that our understanding of this hope is found in the Gospel (Col 1:5b). Because of the message of the Gospel and the confirmation from the Holy Spirit we can understand that there is hope. The Holy Spirit brings the truth of the Gospel to life in us and produces fruit. The hope of Christ is not pie in the sky but is a living hope that is useful and producing fruit in us now.

I will close with this thought from Paul in Romans 5:5 “Now hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Hope is not only an amazing and wonderful thing but if your hope is in Christ, and that is the key, then it will not disappoint because Jesus is faithful. He is always faithful and will always be faithful because He cannot be anything but faithful. That might now always show in the way you want but it will always be true. You can count on that.

Just a thought,

Mike

Paint by Numbers or Create a Masterpiece

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Given the choice between guiding and directing I would choose to direct but to paraphrase Blaise Pascal, “it is better for people to figure it out themselves.”[1] It occurs to me that people are not necessarily opposed to being directed but that directing does not mean as much and is not as transformational to them long term as if they were guided to the truth. This is the difference between paint but numbers and an open canvas. You could theoretically produce the same result but only one is truly art.

If we look at anything from cheating on a test to cheating on a spouse the reasons are usually based of should or shouldn’t. We do not cheat on our spouses because it is wrong, we do not steal money because we should think about the consequences, or whatever other situation you can think of. The reasons are measured by weight and whichever is heavier is the winner. This leads us to compromising situations because as the holder of the scales we can make adjustments to fit our desire.

We should think about right and wrong. The Bible is solid on this matter and we are told we have God’s law written on our hearts (Rom 2:15). There is a clear right and wrong in most situations so there is a matter of right and wrong to consider. However, if the desire to please God, living of a life of faith and obedience is not at the forefront of hearts and minds then weighing right and wrong will do little good because it is the same as directing. We can be led to a place that we do not necessarily want to be because the choice to go there was not ours.

The question that needs to be settled before we look at right and wrong is do I have a desire to please God and live a life of faith, love, and obedience? Do I at my very core want to live in fellowship with my God and those around me? When we first look to fulfill the royal law of love we do not have to weigh other choices most of the time. We could think that yes it would be easy to XXX but I don’t want to because I want to show love to my God. The answer to the one question removes the need to even worry about other questions. If you have decided in your heart that you want to show your spouse extravagant love then you do not need to answer the question of cheating because you have answered a higher question. If you decided that you want to learn and know the information from school then you do not need to answer the question of cheating on a test because that would violate the first answer.

Often times we get ourselves into trouble because we are asking and answering the wrong questions much like looking at symptoms instead of the cause. When we decide to get deep and go the core of a situation we avoid so much unnecessary heartache and unneeded battles. If we can get to the point where like Joshua we say “as for me and my house we will serve the LORD” then we do not have to wonder whom we serve or what we will do. The choice you make to start with determines whether you are painting your life as a masterpiece or just going through the process like a paint by numbers. My suggestion – Paint a masterpiece.

Just a thought,

Mike

 

[1] The proper quote from Blaise Pascal is “we are generally more effectually persuaded by reasons we have ourselves discovered than by those which have occurred to others.”