Lights, Bible, Action!

A lot of people have trouble understanding the Bible.  It's a big book -- 1200 pages or so.  It's easy to get bogged down in the lists of people and places we don't know.  So how do we understand it?  Here's an idea:  imagine the entire Bible as a single movie.  There is a long list in Wikipedia of movies based on the Bible, but most of them take just one story or sequence or idea. How would we create a movie on the whole Bible?

We'd have to decide the central theme first.  Most people read and understand the Bible chronologically, and that's okay, but it takes a long time to get to the point and you can miss the main ideas in trying to keep the chronology straight.  My favorite idea, courtesy of Dr. Gary Deddo, is to portray the Bible as a "whodunit," a mystery.  That's really a pretty good description of the Bible -- there are lots of characters, conflicts, twists and turns of plot, surprises, and many times when you wonder what this scene has to do with the story. But when the truth is revealed, you can say "Aha!  Now I get it!" as you see all the pieces fall into place.

The central theme of the Bible is God, through the Son, creating the universe and humanity for a never-ending relationship of love.  How did God create everything?  Through the Son (John 1:1-3, Heb. 1:2).  What happened to humanity?  We decided not to trust God and left that relationship of love (Gen. 3:1-8).  How did God win us back, proving his love for us without any doubt?  Through the Son, whom we know as Jesus, coming to live among us (John 1:14, Heb. 1:1-2), giving his life for us (John 3:16-17, Rom. 5:1-10) and moving us back into a relationship of love with God (2 Cor. 5:15-21).  How will it all end up?  When Jesus returns in glory and the entire creation is restored to fellowship with him (Phi. 2:10-11, Rev. 21:1-7).  So, the central character in our movie has to be the Son of God.  The entire story revolves around him. 

So, just for fun, how about outlining a script of the Bible's story?  The question is, how would you begin your version of this movie -- with Genesis 1?  John 1?  Hebrews 1?  Revelation 21? The story of Israel? The birth of the Messiah?  The end of the story in Revelation?  Really, you can begin the movie anywhere you want, just so you focus on the central character. That's what the Gospel is really about.

And how about you?  Do you understand it?  Have you realized how God has planned to love you, from before he made the earth (Eph. 1:3-5) and is right now pursuing you as the one who loves you more than anyone else?  Right now is the time for you to face that awesome truth -- that security and peace beyond all others -- and dive headlong into his love!

Joyce Powell, 1933-2011

  

My dear mother-in-law, Joyce Powell, recently passed from this life into eternity in God's arms, after a long and fruitful life and a long struggle with several different physical ailments.  We will all miss her terribly. 

Here are two photos of Joyce from several years ago, enjoying The Lovely Joanne's birthday party on the beach -- a favorite place for them both.  She took great joy in seeing her daughter's happiness.  Joyce and Stuart, her husband of 55 years, often traveled to America on business and to see their beloved Joanne (and to give their son-in-law a hard time).  After Stuart retired, and Joyce became unable to travel, Joanne did the traveling for the business.  The advantage in that was that the travel included visiting clients in England, then spending time with her parents in the north.  I got to go too, from time to time, as we tried to honor them by spending time with them.

Joyce was known by many for her practical wisdom.  Her daughter says she had more common sense in her pinky finger than most people possess altogether, and I think she's right.  Joyce could take just about any stain out of just about any fabric, and could pack a suitcase so when you took the clothes out, there were no wrinkles.  She had a system and a reason for just about everything. 

Many people found Joyce's wisdom about life -- not just laundry -- helpful and encouraging.  She always had a kind word for everyone.  And her humility, her clear understanding of her own strengths and weaknesses, helped create that wisdom and a gentleness with others who were struggling.  She often reminded people of the blessings they had from God which we so often overlook in our trials, as a way to help gain perspective and keep a balance. 

Joyce was always good for a laugh.  One of our funniest memories of her, was her inability to choose just one item in an unfamiliar restaurant menu, since they all sounded so good.  After finally ordering and being served, she always thought your plate looked better than what she had ordered!  One year, Joanne and I found an extension fork (for toasting marshmallows in a fireplace, I think) and gave it to her for Christmas as a "tithing fork" so it was more convenient for her to get a bit of what was on your plate too.  She laughed uproariously -- and never used it.  But she was always up for preparing food for us and anyone else who happened by.  One had to be persistent to get away from their home and still be hungry!  

For some reason, she took a shine to me the first time we met, and it wasn't long before she was suggesting, in her own quiet way, that her daughter pay more attention to me.  I never really felt worthy of her approval or affection, but it was one of my great joys that she had given it. 

It's a comfort for Joanne and me, as well as Stuart, to be absolutely sure we will see her again.  She is secure with her Savior, awaiting the resurrection of the body (1 Cor. 15) -- of which Jesus is the Pioneer, the first of "a great harvest" (verse 20).  But to be honest, we miss her something awful, and the days just aren't the same without her.  It will be wonderful to see her again, along with my own mother, who died in 1975, and a whole lot of others we all miss.  Until then, we wait, with our hope in Jesus, for his return in glory.  God speed that day!

Relationship First, Location Later

"If you die tonight, do you know for sure that you will go to heaven?"  That's a standard opening question for a lot of evangelicals when they want to talk with someone about God, Jesus and salvation.  For some people, that's an engaging question.  The problem is, that's really not the center of what salvation is.

It's true that Jesus said "There is more than enough room in my Father’s home...I am going to prepare a place for you...I will come and get you...you will always be with me where I am" (John 14:2-3).  But there is a lot more to salvation than mere location.  John's gospel uses a lot of space talking about how our own being -- how it is we exist -- is caught up in Christ, knowing who he is and relating to him, and through him, being caught up in the Father. See for example John chapters 5 (eternal life is to know the Father and the Son), 6 (feeding on Jesus, not just on physical bread, in order to remain 'in him'), 7 (come to Jesus and drink spiritually of him), 10 (entering life through the Messiah), 14-17 (beginning to open up the inner workings of the triune life of God) and so forth.  Being "in Christ" or "united with Christ" (Phil. 2:1) is about inner change and growth, not moving from one place to another.  (And if we only change locations, we always end up taking ourselves -- including all our old habits -- with us anyway!)

By way of analogy, would I have said to The Amazing Joanne, "let's get married, so that when we die, we can be buried side by side!"  No, marriage -- like salvation -- is moving from one state of relationship to another, and growing in intimacy.  Not that God does not know us, but that we didn't know God, and we come to know him better as we walk together for the rest of our lives.  So then, what will it be like to be "always be with him where he is?"  It will mean being able to know God perfectly rather than in the limited way we do now.  To love him perfectly -- and to love others perfectly -- not in the limited way we do as humans.

So why do we focus on the 'heaven' bit?  Probably because we can imagine it as better than this physical life.  We want to have that new body (see this post for more) and feel nothing but joy forever.  Well, what's true is that life everlasting, in the presence of the Father through the Son by the Spirit, enjoying that relationship perfectly, will be more fulfilling than we can know or imagine.  Let's not reduce it to merely walking on the beach or eating good food without gaining weight, forever and ever. 

Do you have that connection with God?  Knowing him and being sure that he loves and accepts you through his Son?  If not, let's get started so you can begin enjoying it now -- and then, forever!

Pictures from the Old Testament: Circumcision and the Messiah

Circumcision can be a delicate matter, but it's used in the Bible as a picture of our salvation in Christ.  So let's see if we can explore the idea, shall we?

Circumcision was common among many of the nations of the ancient near east, where Abraham was called by God.  The Lord ordered Abraham and his male descendents to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant God had instituted with him: (Gen. 17:1-14).  If foreigners wanted to join the covenant community, their males would also be circumcised, so that act became a sort of initiation ritual.  Any man who didn't carry the identifying sign of the covenant, or fulfill various other rituals of the Old Covenant, would himself be "cut off" (either thrown out of the community or killed). 

Figuratively, God began to use "circumcision of the heart" in the Hebrew scriptures to look forward to a day of changed hearts and obedience to God from an inward motivation.  See Deut. 10:16 and 30:6.  In Jeremiah 4:4 the prophet says the people should circumcise their hearts, but that is figurative in more ways than one, because they couldn't change their hearts; God was looking forward to a whole new covenant. 

But there's another level of understanding.  In a Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 53, verse 8 says that this suffering servant would be unjustly 'cut off':  "Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream.  But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people."  Daniel 9:26 also describes how this Anointed One (Hebrew "messiah") would be cut off.  Jesus, as we know, had no sin in himself, but he took on all our sin and died to take it all away (2 Cor 5:21).   He was "cut off," in our place, to bear the blame and the shame of all humanity being "uncircumcised in heart and ears" (Acts 7:51).  So this ancient practice, in a sense, pre-figured not only our own salvation and change of heart, but also the Messiah himself -- Jesus the Christ. 

God has designed a system of symbols and meanings, written into scripture, to show us who he is and how he loves us in many different ways.  This is just one more symbol or idea from the Hebrew Scriptures that looks forward to Jesus.  After all, it's all about him!

The Resurrection Body

I'm becoming very thankful that one day, this body will be changed to a more glorious form that will be suitable for eternity.  I think a lot of those I love and serve in the church, along with The Lovely Joanne, feel the same way.  The last six months or so, we've all been assaulted by a myriad of aches and pains, and medical treatments for various body parts that have quit working up to the original specification.  We've been poked and prodded, stabbed with needles and shot with various kinds of rays, given exercises to do and pills to take, in an attempt to get the engine going again.  And in June, of course, Joanne and her father and I said goodbye to her mother, Joyce, as this mortal life ended for her. 

This physical body is not designed to last forever.  David said famously in Psa. 90:10, "Seventy years are given to us!  Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away."   Paul follows up on that in the "resurrection chapter," 1 Cor. 15.  Let's look at v. 53:  "For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies."  The earthly body, not suited to eternity because it decays, "cannot inherit what will last forever" (v. 50).  So God will give us a body, "the new body he wants [us] to have" similar to the way a seed planted in the ground sprouts in a new form (v. 38). 

We received our human body because of Adam, and will receive our spiritual body because of Jesus Christ (v. 45-49).  We will not be disembodied spirits, but will have bodies made for us by God: "For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies" (2 Cor. 5:1-3).  Jesus, after his resurrection, still looked like himself, including the wounds he had suffered on the cross.  He ate and drank with his disciples -- but he could also appear and disappear at will, and travel somehow.  And we will be given bodies like his (Phil. 3:21) so it follows that we, like Jesus, will look much the same as we have before.  (Now, there's a big debate about whether we'll get our hair back, or how much we will weigh -- the Bible doesn't say, and I'm not going there either!  You'll just have to find out later.)

What a relief that will be!  No more doctor visits or hospital stays, blood tests or mammograms.  Proctologists and gynecologists alike will be out of work (not that they'll mind, I'm sure!).  Joints and muscles will work properly again, and we won't be bothered with psoriasis, cancer or Crohn's disease.

What do we do in the meantime, while we suffer from these things?  We deal with what we have patiently, and look out for one another.  "Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (James 5:16).  And with hope in our hearts, let's look forward to the end, when even death will be destroyed completely by Jesus (1 Cor. 15:26).  Amen to that!

Apprentices of Jesus

Mrs. Williamson just celebrated her 97th birthday, and that stirred up wonderful memories for me.  Her late husband hired me to work on their farm for the summer in Kansas when I was just a lad.  He taught me how to drive a tractor and a truck, how to listen carefully to instructions, to remember exactly where in the workshop he said to find the tool he sent me for, and how to work hard and not quit even when it was a long day.  I watched and learned from him how he planned his work to do the harder part first, how he could move a heavy load of hay or grain almost without trying, how to take time to go fishing whenever he could, and many, many other lessons in work and life.  He was a great example. 

Jesus told his disciples “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Mat. 4:19).  For three years or so, they followed him around, camping out under the stars or staying in someone's home, doing the chores as well as watching him perform miracles.  They learned by watching him and imitating what he did.  He even kicked them out of the nest and commanded them to do what he had done (Luke 10:1-10).  They learned what he taught as they went along, and the Holy Spirit was responsible to help them remember and to learn more, even after Jesus ascended bodily to heaven (John 14:26).

Paul told his followers "And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." (1 Cor. 11:1).  Paul's life was very intense, living among people from city to city and teaching them what Jesus had taught, being persecuted but persisting in teaching the Good News.  And some of Paul's followers did imitate him, even to the point of dying for their beliefs. 

Discipleship is, in some Christian circles, mostly studying the Bible, learning facts about God, and being told to be active in a local church.  A more accurate understanding of "disciple" is that of "apprentice" -- not learning facts so much as learning how.  Like Mr. Williamson taught me.  Like Jesus and Paul taught their apprentices, who would go on to teach others:  "You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others" (2 Tim. 2:2).

Being an apprentice of Jesus is not only studying his words, but action:  staying close to him in prayer and submission, loving as he loved, giving as he gave, even sacrificing ourselves as he did.  And taking on other apprentices, to show them the way as we've been shown.  Do you have an apprentice, learning from you how to walk with Christ?  If not, how about asking Jesus to show you who he has for you?  It could be a family member (the first place to look) or a co-worker or friend.  Even if they don't yet believe as you do, letting them see the peace and joy you have in Jesus can open them up to becoming a believer.  It's never too soon or too late to begin...how about today?

Jesus Cleans Us Up

The woman following Jesus that day (Luke 8:40-48) was bleeding, and in Jewish society that meant, according to the purity laws God had given the Israelites through Moses, she was unclean and under  restrictions (see Leviticus 15).  She may have given birth or it may have been something else, but for twelve long years, she had continued to bleed rather than heal naturally.  Anyone and everything she touched became ceremonially unclean -- so it would have become very inconvenient for her to live in a home with her family.  She might have had to live on the streets, suffering the rejection of the public as well. 

Surely, she thought, if she could ask this great teacher, Jesus, for healing, she would be well.  But she was ashamed.  She had received only condemnation from her own people, as they would have concluded her disease was due to sin.  Her shame was so great she couldn't face anyone, let alone this powerful teacher and healer.  She saw her chance as the crowd thronged around him, reached out and touched his garment -- just the little bit of the lower hem that was in her direction for an instant.  Instantly, Luke tells us, her flow was stopped.  She was healed!  (Jesus, as God in the flesh, was not made unclean by her touch; his power cured diseases and uncleanness, showing he was superior over them all!)

Jesus knew his power had healed her, and demanded that she come out in the open so the Father could be given praise for her healing.  So now, all who knew her as a hopeless woman, trapped in her uncleanness, could know God's power. 

Jairus asked openly (v. 41) for healing, and Jesus responded willingly.  The woman was ashamed to ask openly, but she was healed regardless, because she responded to the love and power of God in faith. 

Here's the question:  What is in you right now that needs Jesus' healing power?  Are you ashamed of it?  Are you ready to ask him for healing?  His power is more than enough for your needs.  Admit your need, come close to him, and let his power pour through you.  You will never be the same again!