The Main Point of Babel

I grew up around creation apologetics and that means I have spent much time in my life defending the historic credibility of the first eleven chapters of Genesis. I maintain the importance of that task. The bible is set in real history and in the power and providence of God who reveals himself to us through inspiration. In saying that, I've also come to see that apologetics is a servant to the message of the bible, and not actually the message of the bible. What I mean is that while defending biblical history is important, it serves to strengthen the church's confidence in the main message of the text. The Tower of Babel is a great example. The main point of the Tower of Babel is not to show how the world of "so-called" races can be explained or that there is a history that corroborates with common gene-pools separated throughout the world. While that is certainly helpful to know, the main point of Babel is clear within the text.

As you simply allow the text to speak, you are quickly confronted by the fact that the people at Babel were building a city and a tower to reach the heavens. They were doing so to make a name for themselves. Humanity at Babel wanted their own names to be prominent in the heavens. They wanted to be gods. The base of human religion is the pursuit of our own deity in rebellion against the only Deity.

The answer from God in the confusion of languages is to show that he alone is God, and his name will be glorified regardless of human opposition. God's grace in salvation and God's justice upon sin will not be derailed by the high hopes of any human attempting to give their own name a god-like status. God's name must never be rejected for ours.

In the book of Revelation, we find that the conquering church is rewarded by being given a new name. To have the name of Christ is not something that demoralizes humanity but exalts it. We who are in Christ want nothing more than his name to be ours. We love him. His glory is more beautiful than anything in this world and it is proven in his work on the cross. We are most happy to put our name aside for the name of Jesus. We do not claim the name of an earthly nation or heritage. We do not claim the name of a political party. We do not claim the name of a family or corporate legacy. We do not claim the name of anything in this world that we think brings us greater significance. We claim the name of Christ and we do not deny that name for anything. His name is above every name 

Revelation 3:7-13 "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 'The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. 8 "'I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie--behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12 The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

The main point of Babel?..... (drum roll) ..... Put aside your own name and claim the name of Christ.

Our Heavenly Identity

Over the years living in the face of American patriotism I have sometimes got myself into a little trouble. I suppose my words have not always been most helpfully selected, but I believe my intent has always had a strong biblical ground. My heart is for the church to grasp our identity with both hands. That identity can be explained by one name - Christ. Christ is our life, our goal, our hope, our mission, and our very identity. I suppose I have desired to have such a high view of the church's identity in Christ that it has disturbed me to see any evidence of a worldly, national identity competing with it. It's never my intent to be anti-American, but only ever my intent to be single-mindedly focused about the church grasping our identity in Christ as our towering priority.

If you were to read Genesis 10 and the 70 names that form the table of nations, you may instantly desire to find your identity somewhere in that list. We can become so obsessed with our earthly heritage and people spend lots of money to find the roots of their family tree. We have those roots in Genesis 10. Most people reading this blog are probably related to Japheth from whom comes the Indo-European nations. Ancestral lines can be matters of great importance to some, even producing quarrels. At one stage the Apostle Paul urged Timothy to deal with this in the church in Ephesus. 1Timothy 1:3-4 As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

Perhaps it was a matter of pride for some to locate their heritage through the line of Abraham and eventually Shem in the list in Genesis 10. Perhaps they were trying to physically prove their status in the world as a higher status than the pagan nations. In Ephesus, the majority were not likely to find their lineage among the Jews. Paul, however, was suggesting that focusing on their physical lineage in the world was missing the point. Your physical heritage has only temporary value, but your spiritual family determines your eternity.

When Jesus prayed to the Father for those he came to save, his major concern was not their physical heritage in the world, but the fact that they have been saved out of the world. Jesus came not to give us a worldly identity but a heavenly one.

John 17:6-10 "I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.

Look at those last words in John 17:10. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Jesus has saved his church to be His and what is His is the Father's. We have been saved out of the world into a heavenly identity and a heavenly family. In Christ we have one Father in heaven.

Jesus said he did not pray for the world but for those he has saved out of the world. Surely that must tell the church that our towering priority of identity must by our heavenly citizenship in Christ rather than our citizenship in any earthly country.

I'm not against a healthy patriotism and thankfulness for the country in which God has placed us. I'm against any real competition with our heavenly patriotism for the Kingdom of Christ. For the church, the nations of the world are not our identity, they're our mission ground.

Our Failure to Remember Christ

Maybe you've heard it said that Christians can sometimes live like atheists. If you ever hear a statement like that, it normally means that a Christian has failed to remember that they belong to Christ. It's too easy for Christians in our frail and feeble human state to forget Christ even though we know that there is nobody more important than our Savior. We do so because in the face of temptation we can easily take our sight away from Christ and lean into the urging of our own sinful hearts. If you are human, it can certainly happen to you, and it doesn't matter whether you are a high-profile mature Christian or a sagely elder in your church. Sin is ready for any of us as soon as complacency offers a crack in the door.

In the flood Narrative in the Scriptures, we read of the glowing reputation of Noah. He was described as a man who was blameless in the eyes of others and righteous before God. He was a man who was obedient to the command of God. Well, at least he was before he planted a vineyard, and then the fruit of his labor became more important than his Creator. In his gluttonous enjoyment of wine, he had found himself looking away from God. Like Adam and Even had sinned in taking the fruit that God had forbidden, Noah had sinned in using fruit for his own sinful pleasure. In both instances that sin was depicted in the shame of nakedness.

After meditating on 9 chapters of Genesis there are two main thoughts that come to mind. 1. God's grace in salvation is my every need for every breath I take. and 2. If Adam and Eve in their perfection can sin, and Noah in his upstanding righteousness can sin, what can I keep in mind to help me to remember who I am in Christ? What can remind me not to be complacent?

This week I just want to share one little verse that drilled its way into my head as I was contemplating my own fight against temptation in this world. 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. This verse comes in the middle of a section of Paul's letter to Corinth as he is dealing with their false perceptions about the problem of sexual immorality. Part of his argument to them is a very positive one. Rather than sinning against God and your own body through sexual immorality, how about remembering that if you are in Christ, there is more to you than mortal life. This body of flesh that you sin with is more important than flesh and blood. You are one spirit with the Lord. He dwells in you. He owns you. He is connected to you as your Savior. He has adopted you in his family. There is a oneness you have with Christ that is more beautiful than anything you have in this world. But more than that... how about remembering that you are one spirit with the eternal, all-powerful, holy God of the universe.

When I remember that being joined to Jesus is becoming one spirit with him, how can I approach any part of my life in the selfish pursuit of sin? How can I live without a constant and intentional reminder that every thought, word and action reflects upon who I am in Christ and who Christ is to me? Surely, we can all imagine how Noah might find great pleasure in a delectable cup of his own produce and revel in its enjoyment to the degree of forgetting God. But that's the problem - forgetting God. Every sin starts with forgetting God. And while Noah used wine to forget his Savior, Jesus has given us wine in the New Covenant to remember him. Every time we join as a church for communion we can remind ourselves that being joined to Christ is being one spirit with him.

Beyond that reminder we get when corporately celebrating the Lord’s Supper, we can remember this truth every day at every meal and in every moment. We who are joined to the Lord become one spirit with him. There is more to every moment of my life than me. There is always - always - Christ with me and in me.

God's Everlasting Love

One of the ways the God of the bible is differentiated from the false gods of this world is the fact that God is a truly relational God. God has great affection for his creation and is active in his sovereign providence over everything in the world. He continuously orders all things toward the culmination of his great plan for an everlasting creation that will eternally reflect his glory. Through his redemptive purpose in Jesus Christ, God has ordained the reconciliation of a sin cursed creation. This is God's everlasting plan. More than this, it is God's everlasting love.

The people of Israel were called to be God's people in a world of darkness. They were rescued from slavery to be a nation of light to the nations of the world. They were to be a beacon of holiness as a people who lived with and for their God. They were to be a continual reminder to the world that there is one true living God who blesses his people through his saving promise. Israel were brought into covenant relationship with God and given the law that they might show God's holiness as a peculiar people in a sinful world. Israel failed and broke covenant with God as his people.

The one consistent theme we see in Scripture is that while God's people fail and break covenant with him, God is unchanging in his eternal plan and everlasting love. That doesn't mean that God simply overlooks sin. God judges sin, and he judged Israel in their sin. God scattered Israel among the nations and took them into exile. If you were in exile because of your covenant-breaking disobedience, you might be tempted to think your plight was completely hopeless. But God's response to Israel is that they had a particular hope that they could still hold on to. It ends up being the same hope for the entire world.

Isaiah 54:4-10 "Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 5 For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. 6 For the LORD has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. 7 For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. 8 In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer. 9 "This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. 10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Look at what the Lord is saying. His love is everlasting and his compassion enduring. Israel has not lost the hope of salvation. God is a redeemer, and his promise of redemption is for the entire earth. God told Israel that their situation is no different to the commitment he had made to Noah. God told Noah that he would be patient and not again destroy the earth with a global flood. He told Israel that this was called a covenant of peace. When God told Noah that the earth would be preserved, he was saying that he was not going to bring the immediate judgment that we deserve every day. God would be patient and compassionate upon a sinful humanity. This is the same promise for a disobedient Israel.

God's promise to Noah is still in place for us today. While there is peace on the earth (while God is holding back his righteous wrath on human sin) salvation is available to all who will repent of their sin and trust in the Savior - Jesus Christ, who died in our place and rose to give us new life.

We have broken covenant with God, but God has preserved the world and kept his promise to Noah. God's promise to preserve the world was never separated from his promise to save his people. Isaiah 54 tells us that the motivation behind God keeping his promise to preserve the world is found in his everlasting love and compassion to save. If you have faith in Jesus, you now live in an everlasting, unbreakable covenant - BECAUSE - God is a God of everlasting love.

Blood is More than Blood

If we are cut, we all bleed. If we don't have enough blood, we will die. Blood is an essential physical component to the human body. It may seem like a strange topic to discuss on a pastor's blog, but the bible makes it one we should think through. Consider this mention of blood to Noah as he now lives in a new world after the flood. Genesis 9:4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Noah was given all things (including animals) to eat, but the restriction was that he was not to consume blood. The blood of a creature is discussed in a way that it is almost synonymous with its life.

The prohibition of consuming blood is also found in the law for Israel in Leviticus 7 and 17. Leviticus 17:14 For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. The reason blood is not to be consumed is because of its association with life. Even though humanity has been given everything including animals to eat, we are obviously meant to be respecters of life.

If that were all it is, one would say that might be enough, but there is a biblical reason that blood is so closely associated with life, and it is not just physical life. Before the law that prohibits consuming blood there is a law about the unnecessary spilling of animal blood. Leviticus 17:3-5 If any one of the house of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, 4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the LORD in front of the tabernacle of the LORD, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field, that they may bring them to the LORD, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD.

In the Old Covenant, the sacrificial system was a central and visible part of life. The people of Israel would constantly see the blood of animals flowing in sacrifice. It was to be a constant reminder of their need for salvation and their hope in the true atoning sacrifice that would cover their sin. They would fulfill their duties for sacrifice as given in the law, but the act was always to point them to something (Someone) greater. The sacrificial system was a constant reminder that the Seed of the woman would crush the serpent. It would happen through himself being crushed. In this way, the shedding of blood was not just an indication of the loss of life, but substitutionary atonement. It was sacred.

In Genesis 9, Noah was then instructed of the ultimate retribution for the shedding of human blood. Gen 9:5-6 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image. Again, the physical blood is not the main point. We know that the life man is in our soul. After a human dies, our soul continues, and we stand before the Lord. So, why the emphasis on blood being shed?

I'll let John Calvin answer the question. Because we are so unlearned that we cannot reach the heights of understanding today what the life of souls is, our Lord, to accommodate our weakness, says that the blood is the life of man. In other words, when we shed human blood, it is the same as wanting to destroy the image of God and the life which he placed in us. Now that is sacrilege. It is no longer a simple act of violence between men, who are not the only ones injured, but that act is directed against God, as if we clearly despised him and had wanted to wage war against them. (1)

Everything points to the fact that God has created our lives to reflect Him. The shedding of the blood of an animal was to remind us that we need a substitute. The blood that we rely on for the sustenance of life should remind us that life is valuable and precious as image bearers of God.

Jesus, THE image of God, the exact imprint of His nature, laid down his life, shed his blood, so that we might live. I know we might sing songs like "There is Power in the Blood," but we are not saying something about a physical substance, we are talking about the power of the Son of God dying for our sins and rising from the dead so that we might have life.

The biblical discussion of blood really does become essential reading.

(1) John Calvin, Genesis Sermons.

The Flood - A New Adam, A New Creation

The whole of the bible takes us from creation to new creation. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, the creation has been corrupted and humanity has been expelled from Eden. The promise that God gave Adam and Eve that the Seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent has always been the hope that there would be a new Adam to restore humanity and right the wrongs of human sin. Through a new Adam we hope for a new creation.

The flood narrative shows us that hope in vivid, historic reality. The New Testament authors use the history of the flood to also point us to the reality of the coming day of judgment in the future (2 Peter 3:1-8, Matthew 24:37-42). As we read the flood narrative, we should not be surprised to see Noah being portrayed like a new Adam with a new hope for a new creation.

Consider some of the similarities we can find between the creation and the flood narrative.

- In Genesis 8:1, the wind (same word in Hebrew for 'Spirit') was blowing over the earth as the waters subsided. This reminds us of the Spirit hovering over the waters on the first day of creation (Gen 1:2).

- In Genesis 8:2, the windows of heaven were closed (it stopped raining). This reminds us that on the second day of creation God formed the sky (the expanse).

- In Genesis 8:3-5 we are told how the waters receded from the earth for the land to become visible. On day three of creation God brought forth the land from the waters and covered it with vegetation.

- The birds and animals being sent forth from the ark remind us of day five and six of creation.

- In Genesis 9, Noah is given the same instructions that God gave to Adam. "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth."

- Also in Genesis 9, God makes much of the value of human life as he repeats from Genesis 1:26 that mankind is made in the image of God.

As Noah comes out of the judgment, he appears to be a new Adam in a new creation with a fresh start to fill the earth and multiply and spread the glory of God as an image bearer of God. As we consider the flood narrative, it shows us that God is committed to his creation. There will be a new Adam who will bring rest. Noah's name in the Hebrew language means rest. Rest will come through judgment and salvation.

While Noah will prove that he is not the new Adam that we are looking for, he does give us an amazing picture of God's plan in the world. God is one day going to judge sin comprehensively and finally. Those who are his by faith will be left through the judgment and live in the new creation. Those who remain in sin and unbelief will suffer the final and forever judgment of God. The last and final Adam will come, and he will be the hope for humanity and for a groaning creation. He will save his people and restore the creation.

Romans 5:12-15 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-- 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

Romans 8:19-23 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Evidence of a Global Flood

In our church we have been doing our best to simply preach the text through Genesis and bring out the truths that the biblical author (Moses under the inspiration of God) intended. As we approach Genesis 7 this Sunday, we will do that yet again. Genesis 7 teaches us about trusting God's word, believing in his promise and warnings, living out our faith in a corrupt world, and being reverent before God's holiness. Genesis 7 also gives us the hope of the gospel in God preserving an heir of righteousness (Noah) to keep our sights on the hope of a true, eternal Savior.

While we are preaching these important truths from the text of Scripture, we also can't lose sight of the fact that our hope in the gospel stands in the reality of God's active providence in real history. The redeeming plan of God happens through the pages of history as it progresses to Christ. Therefore, there is a place (an important place) for seeing corroborating evidence for historical narratives that give us eternal truths. In other words, the lessons from the flood have come to us in a history that has left its mark physically. More importantly, we have a true history in the scriptures that even explains the physical world we live in.

What are the expected physical results of a global catastrophic flood? For the purposes of answering this for our blog this week, I'm going to borrow from PhD Geologist, Dr Andrew Snelling. (I'll leave a link to his full article at the bottom).

1.  Marine Fossils on High Mountains.

The text of Genesis 7 explicitly talks of the waters of the flood exceeding the top of mountains by 15 cubits (22 feet) and that every mountain under heaven was covered. It also talks about the fountains of the deep bursting open to bring water from the reservoirs below the land. The expectation is that sea life at the time would have been distributed across the entire globe covering mountains. We would expect to see marine fossils present even on the highest peaks of mountains once covered by water. We do - even at the peaks around Mt Everest.

2. Massive Fossil Graveyards Across the Globe.

Across the world there are fossil graveyards containing both marine and land animals buried together in huge numbers. Some graveyards, like the one found in the Redwall Limestone of the Grand Canyon cover areas stretching for 180 miles. Many such graveyards are found across the world.

3. Exquisitely Preserved Fossils.

Due to the rapid nature of the burial of life forms in the catastrophe of the flood, many creatures were fossilized quicky, preserving exquisite detail. There have been fossils found of creatures in the process of eating other creatures or even in the process of giving birth. Often intricate details of even delicate creatures such as jellyfish have been preserved.

4. Wide Spread of Sedimentary Layers

The flood with global proportions of the flood of Noah incur a massive scope of sedimentation. There are sedimentary layers that cover large portions of whole continents and in some cases even between continents. There is also evidence of layers within and between continents with the same order of distinct layers above and below.

5. Layers with no Indication of Erosion

If the sedimentary layers we see in most geological formations were deposited one on top of the other slowly over millions of years, we would expect to see much evidence of erosion by long term weathering. Instead, layering mostly shows evidence of flat boundaries with no erosion or some evidence of rapid erosion more consistent with a flood catastrophe.

6. Folds in Sedimentary Layers.

Everyone knows that rocks are not pliable. They only crack and break. There are many examples in sedimentary layers of folds containing many layers without any cracking. The only viable explanation for this is that these folds happened while the layers were still wet prior to hardening.

 This overview doesn't really do it justice. If you have the time, read Dr Snelling's article linked below where you will also see some great diagrams and photos for further help.

 The big message of Scripture is given to us in the reality of history. It's a history that happened in this world and has left physical evidence in testimony of the accuracy of the biblical record. It's a history that God's providential hand is constantly ordaining and guiding. The bible is not a mythological or philosophical idea dreamed up by men. It's the real world.

 The gospel of Jesus Christ is the true hope for humanity, and it is a hope proclaimed in God's word for humans living in God's world.

 LINK TO DR. SNELLING’S ARTICLE

Don't Myth the Flood

This week we come to more of the flood narrative, and I am resisting the temptation to spend a lot of time on showing how the historical narrative of the flood is a credible and reliable account. That, however, does not mean that it is not important to maintain that we have a credible and reliable biblical history. If the narratives of Scripture are not historically accurate, then there is no reality to the message they convey and their relationship to God's big redemptive thread. Biblical historical reliability is crucially important.

The flood narrative starts with the account of the dimensions of the ark and the animals that were taken on board. Genesis 6:14-16 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks.

By normal seafaring standards, the dimensions of the ark are like the type of ship built to cross oceans today. The dimensions of the ark hold up to scientific scrutiny. Also holding up to scientific scrutiny is the biblical description of the animals that entered (vs. 19-21) - two of every kind of air breathing land animal. In modern taxonomy, the kind or family classification is likely the level of classification being mentioned in the bible. It is classified by the ability to interbreed within a kind (eg. the dog kind, the cat kind). The rich variability in the genome within each kind on the ark is then made visible as animals breed and spread and isolate to bring out command characteristics in animal populations of species that we see today. At the kind/family classification level, the ark had more than enough room for the breeding pairs that entered.

For such a worldwide historical event to occur, we would also expect to find accounts/legends/mythologies of the flood in people groups around the world. If we all came from Noah, we would expect to hear a historical memory of it, and we do. Flood legends are found all around the world and in ancient history. They have varying degrees of comparability and distinction to the biblical account. One distinction is that the biblical account alone has all the hallmarks of scientific credibility.

Some people have suggested that the bible is a derivation of ancient near-eastern mythology. Because they believe that the ancient mythologies were written before the time of Moses writing Genesis, Moses must have borrowed from those writings. One of the answers to this (apart from Scripture being inspired by God), is the fact that the bible stands alone in scientific and archeological scrutiny. On top of that, the bible is unique in the way it stands out among the ancient mythologies. If all the flood legends come from a shared, common human experience in one point of time, we would expect that the earliest found records would have the most accurate account.

H. V. Hilprecht from the University of Pennsylvania in 1909 (Hilprecht was part of the University’s Babylonian expeditions and excavations) uncovered the earliest fragment of the flood epic from an ancient source. After carefully uncovering and translating each cuneiform character, Hilprecht made the following statement: “In its preserved portion, it showed a much greater resemblance to the Biblical Deluge Story than any other fragment yet published.” (1)

In other words, the earlier the flood legend found in world history, the closer it is to the type of accuracy shown in the biblical account. This is also seen in the table of flood legends compared to the biblical account below.

As we go through the big message of Genesis 6 (God's salvation through judgment), we can be assured that it is no mythology. It is a real history and centered in that history is the gospel of our hope.

(1) H. V. Hilprecht, The Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania (1910), 35)

Controversial Passages in The Church

Dear Family,

This week we come to one of the most controversial passages in the bible - Genesis 6:1-4! Where will I go with it? What is the Nephilim? Who are the sons of God and the daughters of men? Well, I suppose you will just have to wait until Sunday. What I am more concerned about is how we all approach passages that are known to be filled with intrigue and potential controversy. How will we face this tough passage together?

As one of the elders and main teaching pastor of our church, I would at least like you to know a few things. I studied hard. I focused on good hermeneutical principles by being concerned about translation, language, and grammar. I was concerned about the context of the passage, the book and the entire bible. I was concerned for the significance of the original audience and also the New Testament usage of our text. I thought through the prominent historical positions of the church for the past 2000 years. One would think after doing all that work, we would certainly come out with an undeniable answer. Well, the truth is that I'm fairly confident and at least convicted, but not without an open hand of knowing that I could be wrong and that I have seen my own room for error.

What is more important to me is what I am asking this week of you, my dear church family. I hope we will all come to the Scriptures asking God to guide our hearts and minds. I hope we will not want to be convinced by a pastor but by God's inerrant and infallible word. I hope we will come with grace knowing that some aspects of Scripture are harder than others. I hope we will all realize that if there is any lack of clarity in the Scriptures, it is our problem, not God's. I hope we can come with a collective humble attitude to hearing the main point from the context of God's truth regardless of our own ideas about a difficult passage being matched. And I hope you know my door is always open for more conversation.

What I'm asking this week is for you to hear out an explanation of a difficult passage and then hone in on the big point of the whole text. If you can hear the most important aspect of Genesis 6, I promise you will love God more. 

2 Peter 1:19-21 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Look at the humility here from Peter. Peter was able to witness the transfiguration of Jesus. With his own eyes he saw the glory of Christ shining in all his brilliance standing next to Moses and Elijah. Even after acknowledging that he witnessed that most glorious event, Peter says that the Scriptures are more reliable than his own experience. This Apostle says that the Scriptures (not his own eyes and experience) bring greater clarity like a lamp shining in a dark place. That is how I want to approach preaching Genesis 6 this week, and that is what I am asking of my church family as you come to hear the preaching of God's word. Keep your eyes in the text, hear the explanation from your pastor, and ask the Lord to make his word shine for us all. Let us be prepared to give God's word priority over our own ideas and experiences and prejudices 

The great thing about the doctrine of perspicuity (the clarity of Scripture) is that it does not mean all of Scripture is equally clear. There are certainly some passages that are less clear than others. When that happens, we will concentrate on the more clear to attempt to understand the less clear. We will also celebrate the fact that the most clear truth through the entire message of the Bible is the gospel of Jesus Christ. On Sunday I promise to be clear about salvation!

Pray for me. Pray for you. See you Sunday.

The Priestly Garments of Christ

Whenever the priests of Israel would approach their duties for making sacrifice, they were careful to wear the right clothes. Exodus 28 describes the priestly garments to be warn as the priests took on a mediating role for Israel. The Israelite priests had their own need to make sacrifice for their own sins. They had to ensure that they were a picture of a pure Mediator who could take on this role between God and man in making sacrifice for sin. They had mediating roles for God's people and wore robes and breastplates with stones inset in them to signify the twelve tribes of Israel. They had a mediating role for God's people. Everything was to be beautiful and clean as they approached their work.

If you read through Exodus 28, you come to an unexpected importance for the clothes of the priesthood. Exodus 28:42-43 You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs; 43 and they shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister in the Holy Place, lest they bear guilt and die. This shall be a statute forever for him and for his offspring after him.

The law for the priesthood states that if they don't wear it, they will bear guilt and die. Why should it be so important that this undergarment be mentioned with such priority? The answer has us looking back to Genesis 2 and 3. In the last verse of Genesis 2, Adam and Eve in their pre-sin condition were naked and unashamed. It was not until sin came into the world (Genesis 3), that Adam and Eve realized their nakedness in the shameful reality of their sin. Nakedness is a depiction of the guilt and shame of sin. The priests were not to expose nakedness in their mediating role.

There is another place in the Scriptures where we are surprised to see detail and priority given to the consideration of undergarments. John 19:23-24 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." So the soldiers did these things.

Jesus came to the cross in the clothes he was wearing but they were taken and given to the soldiers. Specific mention is made of his tunic (his undergarment) which was woven in one piece from top to bottom. This is the same description given for the undergarments of the priesthood. The difference here is jaw-dropping. The priests must not expose their nakedness in their mediating role lest they bear their own guilt. Jesus, who was without guilt, was stripped of his undergarment and in the exposure of his body on the cross was openly bearing the guilt and shame of humanity placed on him.

This is yet another revelation of Jesus as our Great High Priest. He who had no sin of his own was stripped bare to expose the shame and guilt of humanity as he bore our sin on the cross. He is the one true Mediator between God and man.

Humanity has no way of covering our sin. Far from trying to expose nakedness, people attempt to clothe themselves in their own good works hoping that God will see them covered in goodness. The prophet Isaiah warned us of the futility of this exercise. Isaiah 64:6  We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Our good works can only cover us in putrid sin.

While our shame and guilt are exposed and crucified with Jesus, through faith in him we are covered with the one thing we need most and can never obtain - righteousness. Jesus has taken our shame and clothed us with his righteousness.

 And because of Jesus... one day we will live eternally without shame. When we put on the High Priestly Garment, we are putting on the righteousness of Christ.

You Can't Control The Curse

Guest blog by Zach Hamilton

If you grew up in New England in the 20th century, you may have believed in a scary curse - but not connected to the Salem witch trials! The Curse of the Great Bambino hung over Boston Red Sox baseball for almost 100 years. When their best player Babe Ruth (nicknamed “The Great Bambino” for some reason) asked for more money in 1919, the cash-strapped team sold him to the rival New York Yankees. Babe Ruth went on to become one of the greatest Major League Baseball players of all time, helping the Yankees to win four World Series championships.

Without Babe Ruth, the Red Sox saw their fortunes fade. The decades rolled by, and every Boston team fell short of a championship. Passionate fans came to believe that trading the Great Bambino had cursed their team, especially after the Red Sox narrowly lost the 1986 World Series. They went to crazy lengths to try and reverse the curse, even holding an exorcism in Fenway Park! Finally, in 2004, the Red Sox beat the Yankees and went on to win that season’s World Series. I still remember video clips of priests and nuns celebrating in Boston.

Why go down New England memory lane? Because it demonstrates the desire humans have to control everything, even curses! Saying “God bless you” after a sneeze was originally about warding off evil spirits. We sometimes reduce negative events to a folktale curse, in order to then come up with a superstitious way to overturn that evil. It’s all fun and games...but what if a true curse actually clung to us? You and I would drive ourselves crazy trying to fix it, right?

Here’s the thing: if you’re the one cursed, are you really able to reverse that yourself? In Deuteronomy 21, Moses prescribed a specific punishment that represents shame:

And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.  (vv. 22-23a)

The very point of hanging was to declare that this individual had transgressed the law. It served as a public deterrent to other potential criminals, but not to the one hanged! His fate was sealed.

In our next section of Genesis, we’re going to look at the comprehensive curse that the Lord Almighty pronounces on his fallen creatures. Their fate is sealed. Adam & Eve receive shameful, specific punishments for their rebellion. Our church may not be prone to minimizing the consequences of sin, but our society absolutely does! They don’t fear God or his commandments, so they have no fear of punishment, either. They think they can escape any divine curse because it’s just a fable.

With that background, is it any wonder that the world collectively yawns at the good news that Jesus came to take our curse on himself and offer restoration? A precious verse like Galatians 3:13 (“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us…”) means nothing to a heart that scoffs at the very notion of guilt.
That's why we must be sure to hold out the ugly fact of our cursedness alongside the beautiful blessing of forgiveness. Trying to control our curse is doomed to fail. Running to the Savior in faith and repentance is the only cure!

God's Order, Satan's Disorder

In the first two chapters of Genesis, we have a record of a perfectly ordered world. God's perfect order is described from the very first verse. It is evident in the text of Scripture that we could describe God's created order as binary. There are dual opposite distinctives that work in functional complementarity in the ordered operation of creation. God created heavens and earth. God is the Creator and not part of the creation. God separates land from sea, darkness from light, night from day, waters above from waters below, lights for the day and lights for the night. He also creates man and woman, male and female. By the end of the creation week, we see the difference between work and rest. In Genesis two Adam is created physically from the dust with a soul from the breath of God (physical and spiritual). The image of God and the breath of soulish life, makes distinction between mankind and animals. We also see God making covenant with Adam that will result in obedience or disobedience and ultimately life or death. The forbidden fruit in the garden depicted the difference between good and evil. We could continue, but I hope you get the picture that God's binary order in creation is comprehensive in the entire creation.

Unfortunately, our society has reduced the term, "binary," to gender discussions alone. The Christian has a comprehensive answer to those proposing non-binary gender classifications. It is not that Genesis teaches a binary worldview of gender alone, but that the bible teaches a binary worldview of everything. This is God's created order.

When it comes to gender roles, Genesis 1 and 2 are indeed specific. In Genesis 2 we are given a concentrated look at the creation of humanity, and it starts with Adam and then moves to Eve. Adam is to be a leader and Eve a helper (another binary order). Adam is made first (noted by Paul in 1 Timothy 2:13). Adam is given responsibility for God's direction not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He is given authority to name the kinds of animals. He is told to work and keep (serve and protect) the garden. And when Eve is finally made from Adam (again noted by Paul 1 Corinthians 11:8), Adam names her woman because she came from man. Naming is clear evidence of leadership/authority under the direction of God.

Genesis 2 also explicitly builds anticipation of a coming helper who will be fit for Adam. Eve is the perfect partner in complimentary union. She's given to her husband to carry out God's purpose for humanity to spread his glory across the earth through fruitful multiplication and dominion. In their binary order, Adam and Eve are complimentary in physicality, complimentary in roles, and complimentary in masculinity and femininity. They were to be a one-flesh, complimentary union for God's glory.

Once we see the glory of God's binary, complimentary order for the entire creation, we can see the truly wicked nature of Satan's tactic to deceive them. Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" After thinking through the comprehensive binary order of creation, I wonder if you can pick the immediate undermining of God from Satan. Look at these words carefully - He said to the woman... Satan spoke to Eve rather than Adam as representatives of humanity in the garden.

I wonder if we see that the first deception was to undermine God's order by essentially putting Eve in a position for Adam to follow her lead. This is not to say that Adam had no responsibility to speak up and stop what was happening. It appears from the text that Adam was right there. It simply shows that sinful temptations begin when God's created order is defied.

When God first approaches Adam and Eve in their sin, notice God's application of his own created order. Eve was the first to be deceived and sin, but God first speaks to Adam, the leader. Genesis 3:9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"

In 1 Timothy 2, Paul is instructing Timothy about the order for the church. In our relational difficulties we ought to realize that the church lives in a Genesis 3 world. Sin has caused men to harshly dominate those we are to love, protect and lead, and women to seek dominance in places God had never ordained for them. Paul says that men need to come to the church gathering with prayerful, gentle, and humble hearts before the Lord. (1 Tim 2:8). There is no room for harsh dominance in the church. Women are to come in quietness, modesty, self-control, not putting themselves in first place or as a spectacle, but for submission to the teaching of God's word. (1 Tim 2:9-12).

Paul goes on to say that the authoritative teaching/leading role in the church is for qualified men, not women. The reason he gives is because Eve was deceived (not Adam) and sinned (1 Tim 2:12-14). He is not saying that Adam was not deceived at all, and that Adam did not sin. He is saying that Genesis 3 shows that God's order was violated when Satan pursued Eve rather than Adam. The reason we have male only eldership and the reason that families in the church follow God's order of leader (husband) and helper (wife), is because the church reflects that we have been redeemed to live out God's created order as originally intended. We have complimentary unions that work in partnership for God's greater glory.

The church is a picture of God's beautiful order and should be places where we are self-sacrificing for each other in leading and helping whether in the church family or our own physical families. Our concern is not just for order for the working of gender relationships, but God's entire created order displayed in all that we think, say and do. Because of the cross, we have been able to deny our sinful selves, and follow Jesus in redemptive, transformative glory. It's a glory that shines light to a clueless and dark world.

The church is God's picture of God's order that shines his glory to a world full of satanic disorder.

Encouragement for My Sisters in Christ

Ok... Men can read this too.

Dear Ladies of GTCC,

I know you've done it many times, but just have a read through Genesis 2 again this week. There are a couple of significant features in the way Moses wrote this chapter that should be immensely encouraging to ladies.

One is to simply note that from verse 18 to 25 our attention is focused on Eve. Sure, Adam is right there and the whole context of marriage is in play. But look intently at the space attributed to the anticipation of the first woman. She's no afterthought. We see it in the incompleteness of Adam without Eve. It was not good that he was alone.  

From the moment we realize Adam's solitude in the presence of every creature in the creation, we are guided to excitement and wonder in how God will complete the picture. It is completed in the most intimate of ways. By the hand of God, from the side of man, from the one lump of clay, God fashions a woman, and Adam responds in wonder and thankful rejoicing.

If you read through this wonderful section of Scripture, you should also know the uniqueness of the text. For the original Israelite readers in the wilderness, it would not be lost on them that the creation accounts of the ancient near eastern world around them were absent of any discussion about women being created. Women were not even a thought, but for God's people it was different. Sure, the God of the universe made man as a complete human being, but initially there was a vacancy in his life that was not good. Eve doesn't just complete the picture, the thrust of the text shows that she is a much-anticipated gift from God.

So often critics of the bible point their fingers at Scriptures and accuse Christians of holding to a book that is somehow oppressive toward women. This is far from the truth. It is certainly true that the bible does describe real historical situations where women are unjustly treated. Even some of the heroes of the bible were not immune to mistreating women. The entire kingdom of Israel was split under God's judgment because Solomon was willing to have hundreds of concubines and wives and was led into idolatry with them. This is one tragedy honestly reported among many. None of that means that God undervalues the importance of women. In fact, in our text in Genesis 2, oppressing women seems far from the truth.

Eve is longingly anticipated and joyfully celebrated. She has an elevated role above all creatures. She's in union with Adam and as image bearers with him in dominion over all of creation. She is in an intimate partnership helping Adam to uphold and bear his responsibilities. Eve is essential, beautiful, and needed. She completes the picture of husband and wife. But most gloriously, later on we find that her union with Adam is only a taste compared to how it is most gloriously pictured in Christ and the church. Christ's role as a groom is most wonderfully completed in him suffering and dying and saving the bride he loves - the church.

Ladies, I am so thankful you are a part of our church. If you are in Christ, along with every other Christian, you have the ultimate groom. We all do.

We are so thankful you are our sisters in Christ.

In Adam or Christ

Today is just a simple thought but one everyone needs to consider with profound honesty. There are only two possible identities for humans in the world. In our world of identity politics, it's hard to consider that there are simply two identities. The bible gives us a simplicity that moves directly to the heart of the human problem. Christians should never primarily be asking ourselves whether someone is republican, democrat, or anything else. We are always focused foremost on whether someone is in Adam or Christ. We all live and breathe according to one of these two identities.

In Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives explanation about what it is to be in Adam or Christ.

Romans 5:

       In Adam                                                          In Christ

       Enemies of God                                              Reconciled and saved

       All sinners                                                       The free gift of grace

       All subject to death                                         Justified before God

       Under God's judgment                                   Given life

       Condemned in sin                                           Made righteous

       Law breakers                                                   Grace abounding

       Ruled by sin and death                                   Eternal life

1 Corinthians 15:

       In Adam                                                          In Christ

       Of physical life                                                 Of spiritual life

       Of the dust                                                      Of heaven

       In the image of Adam                                     In the image of Christ

And at the return of Jesus...

       Perishable                                                       Imperishable

       Mortal body                                                    Immortal body

So, when we look around us and hear our world talk about a million different identities, let's all think about the only two that ever matter.

Are you in Adam or Christ?

The Biblical Elevation of Body and Soul

The description of the creation of humanity in Genesis 1 and 2 is foundational to the assessment of human problems and solutions. Compared to the naturalistic view from the culture around us, the biblical description and value of humanity is profoundly elevated. Humans are not merely products of physical development over vast ages of time. Genesis 1 describes us as image bearers of the eternal Creator. Genesis 2 describes that the Creator breathed the breath of life into us. We are not simply a body with a brain acting based on chemical reactions. We are interconnected body and soul endowed with capacity to reflect the glory of our Creator as creatures in his world.

We are created with a soul.

There are several words used in the Scriptures to reflect the reality of the soul.

Soul: When Rachel was dying in giving birth, we find that death separates our body and soul. Gen 35:18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Spirit: When Jesus was drawing his final breath, he similarly knew his soul was to leave his body. Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.

Hidden Person: Wives are instructed not to define themselves by outward beauty but the inward beauty of their soul. 1 Peter 3:4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

Inner Person: We also learn that the body in this sin cursed world will wither and die but the soul longs for eternity. 2 Corinthians 4:16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

In a more comprehensive statement, the author of Hebrews tells us that the Scriptures impact our being to the very center of our soul. The divide and discern us to the core. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Here we see that the soul is described with both words, "soul and spirit," but we also see aspects of mind and heart and core of being. The bible is penetrating the human soul at the deepest level.

We are created with a body.

While the soul is the very being of humanity as life breathed by God, the body is in no way unimportant. The body makes us creaturely. The body is how we express the direction of the soul. While the body and soul will be separated by death, the Scriptures make it clear that we are longing for the new everlasting resurrection body to enjoy the new creation.

There is one passage in Scripture that elevates the importance of the body in explicit terms. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says that we should look after our bodies, keep our bodies pure, not sin against our bodies and that our bodies will be raised new just like Jesus' body. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be dominated by anything. 13 "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food"--and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Body and soul are interconnected.

The interconnection of body and soul for humanity means that we cannot fully operate as human beings without both. It means that our bodies mediate the direction of the soul. It means that our bodies also affect the state of the soul, and our soul can affect the state of the body.

Our souls dictate the actions of life mediated by the body:

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Our bodies have creaturely needs that the soul directs.

Matthew 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

The disciples had real physical hunger and a real decision was made to pluck some grain on the sabbath for the sustenance of the body. This was a spirit guided decision for the needs of the body.

In 2 Corinthians 4:16 (as quoted above), Paul tells us that the hardship of this world on our body can affect us in aging and death, but our soul can be encouraged that there is greater benefit yet to come when all Christians will be forever renewed both physically and spiritually.

Humans always need both physical and spiritual care.

What we can know from this is that the most important aspect of our physical and spiritual human existence is based on union with Christ. Jesus who came into this world in a physical human body, died on a cross and gave up his spirit to also rise physically on the third day. Jesus overcame every physical and spiritual consequence of sin for all humanity so that we too will one day have a physical and spiritual resurrection in everlasting life.

We also know that in this world, our problems are never simply physical or simply spiritual. In our physical sickness we need spiritual care. In our spiritual woes we can expect it will have physical impact. Christians will always look at humanity as a whole being, both physical and spiritual. We will come together with the Scriptures to help each other as doctors of the soul and send people to medical doctors for the needs of the body.

Most of all, we will know that the elevated value of humanity found in the bible means our greatest concern is eternal.

1 Corinthians 15:51-58 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." 55 "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

Is Sunday the New Sabbath?

No...and yes.

 Let's start at the beginning. Genesis 2:3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. There is something amazing about the seventh day of creation. Perhaps this is the foundation of why the number seven is so significant in the Scriptures. It is fitting that this number is seen as a number of fullness and completion because that is exactly what God is resting in at the end of the creation week. In various places throughout Scripture we find explicit reference to Genesis 2 as the foundational understanding for the whole concept of shabbat - REST.

The ten commandments given in the law to Israel would require everyone to rest on the seventh day every week (Exodus 20:8-11). The reason that this would happen every seventh day (every sabbath) was because God had created in six days and rested on the seventh. Every seventh day was a testimony to the fact that this people were a people called to rest in God as he dwelt with them.

As you read through the first five books of the bible, you will find Israel called to rest their land every seven years. After working the land for six years, it needs rest. This is a time to trust in the Lord's provision.  Leviticus 26:34 "Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. The land that they were to possess was to be a picture of rest. Once the enemies of God's holiness were removed, the people of God in the land of God were to be a picture of resting in their God and King.

When Solomon was building the temple, it was called a place of rest for God's dwelling presence with his people. David was not able to build the temple because he was depicted as a man of war. When victories had been won and peace was obtained, God gave this responsibility to his son Solomon. 1 Chronicles 28:2 Then King David rose to his feet and said: "Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building." It took Solomon seven years to build the temple (1 Kings 6:38), and when Solomon was dedicating the temple he made seven petitions to God (1 Kings 8).

As you read through the history of Israel we gain insight into the significance of the temple. The temple was the dwelling place of God. God rested in the temple. The temple was where the worship of the people would be directed as a kingdom under God's ultimate Kingship (they were a theocracy). The temple is the central importance of the kingdom, and Solomon's kingdom would be established forever IF he continued in strength by keeping God's commands and rules (1 Chronicles 28:4-7). Because Solomon fails in this, we are always looking for one who will truly obey God and be the ultimate fulfillment of all that the temple represents. We continue to look for a kingdom of rest that truly rests in God as he dwells with his people.

While Israel were to continue to keep the sabbath every seventh day, they would be a continual testimony of the fact that God has created us to rest in him. They would also be a continual testimony of the fact that every week this looked forward to One who would ultimately bring forever rest. The penalty for not keeping the sabbath was death (Exodus 31:14). Everyone who lived as an unbeliever, unwilling to reflect God's promise of rest, would die.

If you have been paying attention you might see how all of this finds fulfillment in Jesus. Jesus came and in his finished work fulfilled all that the temple represented. He IS the dwelling presence of God. He IS the mediating sacrifice for all humanity as the Great High Priest. He did finish this work on the cross and then was raised and seated in rule and reign at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20-23). Jesus has finished the work of bringing the fulfillment of God's rest in dying and rising to reconcile creation. And when was Jesus raised to this new life securing a new creation for all in him? Not the seventh day of the week, but the first. The fulfillment has been accomplished and now the new has come.

There is no doubt that rest conveys the finished work of God who takes his place to dwell with humanity in rule and reign over his creation. This is exactly what the law pointed to in Christ and exactly what Christ has completed in fulfilling that law.

Is Sunday the new sabbath rest? Well, from a perspective of law and keeping days, no. It has been fulfilled. From the perspective of Jesus having finished his work to rule and reign in his kingdom - yes. We gather on the first day of the week, resurrection day, because it is a day of fulfillment, not because it is a day of replacement of legal requirements. We testify as we meet as the church that we have rest in Christ who IS our rest, and we point to the consummated rest that we are yet to enjoy. I am not a Sabbatarian in the the normal use of the sense of the word and I think it is an unhelpful term. I am, however, a big believer that every Lord's day, on a Sunday, the church displays our rest in the fulfillment of rest in Jesus Christ; our risen and resting King. We display that we rest in our Creator who created all things in six days and rested on the seventh in completion of his work- a work fully and finally completed in Christ.

Paul Against a Christendom

Sometimes the term "Christendom" is unhelpful because many people refer to it in varied ways. Predominantly, a "Christendom" has been understood in terms of a type of rule of the church within a national identity in the world. The Roman church from the time of Constantine was a building "Christendom." Often Christendom would involve a blend of church and state rather than a separation of church and state. Today, some people use the term "Christendom" simply to suggest the countries where the prominent religion is Christianity. Either way, the notion of a Christendom has extended beyond the bounds of those who are regenerate believers to a cultural rule or predominate influence of "Christian" values. The problem is, often Christendom blends Christianity with culture and breeds compromise. A Christians' desire for prominence in the world often leads to worldliness.

When it comes to the idea of dominion, rule, or kingship, it seems to me that the Apostle Paul never had a "Christendom" in mind. Paul was very careful to identify the church as those who rule in the way they represent the saving power of Christ in eternal salvation. Any kingship in the church was not to be blended with the world but to be seen in contrast to it.

Take for instance Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthian church was obviously full of problems, but those problems seemed to stem from worldliness and pride. They had to be reminded in the very first chapter that the pride and arrogance of worldliness is not the way of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. The power of God over this world is seen through what this world despises. The cross is God's dominion over the power of sin and death. Through suffering, Christ brings the restoration of creation and the salvation of his church.

Later in his letter, Paul revisits the pride of Corinth who so easily sit in judgment of his own ministry. 1 Corinthians 4:1-4 This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Is Paul being effective? Is he ministering in a way that promotes Christianity in the world with real potency? These are the same questions asked about ministries today. So often criticism is leveled at ministers who will not take arguments to the streets (or social media) for the sake of standing up for Christian values. Why is the church not more politically motivated? Why is the church not more culturally charged? Why is the church not willing to fight in the public sphere on explicitly moral issues? Why is the church not in a better place of prominence? Paul's answer for the Corinthians is that his stewardship of ministry will be judged by God. His ministry is clearly the folly of the cross.

After rebuking the Corinthians for their worldly arrogance (vs. 6-7), Paul describes where their arrogance has taken them in a worldly sense. 1 Corinthians 4:8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! Paul is actually saying that the Corinthians have become worldly in seeking power, prestige or even prominence in the world. Their idea of being kings is that Christians should have prominent place in the world. Paul says, if they really were kings in the world, he might join them. The reality is that this is not the Christian calling.

Instead, Paul shows them the ministry and calling God has for his servants in the ministry of the gospel. It's far from the Corinthian idea of kingship. 1 Corinthians 4:9-14 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. 14 I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children.

If the church has a place of prominence in the world, it's more likely something to be concerned about. Paul is quite sarcastic about their strength and honor and wisdom in the world's measures. It is the gospel that offends. We are not called for cultural dominance; we are called into what is seen as foolishness to the world. We are called to minister the gospel and be willing to suffer because of it. It is the cross that will always be despised by those who are perishing. Rather than seeking to be kings, the Corinthians should seek a ministry that might end up in the very opposite circumstance. The response to the world's criticisms is not to fight for better position or ascendancy, but to bless, endure, entreat. All of this for the sake of Christ and his gospel.

 In contrast to a Christendom, we are called to a humble ministry of the gospel. Yes, it may put us at odds with our culture, but not to fight for moral reform and political rule but because we simply live and preach Christ crucified.

 Paul doesn't want you to be worldly kings, he wants you to be faithful servants of the gospel for the King of kings.

Overcoming the Election Rhetoric

In the 2024 election year, surely you have heard the reverberations of caustic speech. There has been a heavy load of name calling and uncharitable dialogue from both sides of the fence. More unfortunately, it is not just coming from the candidates and party faithful, it's coming from our neighbors, friends, families, and the church is sadly not immune. I am thankful to serve as a pastor/elder in a church family that seems to go against the trend. Our church is certainly not perfect, but I cannot recall one instance of concern about how anyone in our church family is facing the tense environment of this election in an unhelpful way for others. Thank you, Grace and Truth Cincy! My ongoing concern is how we continue in this way. I believe our text for this week is a big start in the right direction. God created man in his image!

When James was writing to the church, he had reason to talk about how we must be careful to treat each other with an equal sense of value.  James 2:1-4 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, "You sit here in a good place," while you say to the poor man, "You stand over there," or, "Sit down at my feet," 4 have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Why can James be so confident in saying that we can value and love the poor man as equally as the rich? He goes on to remind us that the poor in this world in Christ are rich in faith and equal heirs in God's promise and inheritance. Jesus has caused us to see that we are all level at the foot of the cross.

James doesn't stop there. Partiality is not just a problem that concerns seating arrangements in the church (and certainly James also meant his example for broader application). We seem to have problems in valuing our neighbors even by the way we use our speech. Because we have hearts that are so focused on self, we seem to be immediately outraged at any perceived evil that comes against us. Our speech is our first weapon in war. At these moments of opposition and disagreement, our evil hearts are identified through our tongues.

James 3:7-12 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Let's think carefully about what James is saying. He is firstly saying that we should beware of our speech. It seems to be harder to protect holiness in our speech than it is to train your dog to get the morning paper. The problem is that a Christian can be sitting in church on Sunday and singing praises and then walk out of the service spewing out sinful anger at the first thing that steps on our toes. How easy is that to do in an election year the moment we see the first YouTube video from a candidate threatening the world you want to live in?

I'm willing to agree that there is a lot at stake for this country. I'm willing to agree that I have also seen a lot of ideas that I have to be vehemently opposed to. What Christians all need to be better at is shining the light of Christ by the way we talk about it. James reminds us that the people we curse are created in the likeness of God. No matter how wrong another human being is, nobody can ever take away the fact that God made them in his image. It's absolutely true that our sin has corrupted the image of God, but it hasn't changed the fact that every human being is of equal value before the Lord because all of humanity is created in His image. 

Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Kamala Harris, and Tim Waltz are all created in the image of God whether they are conscious of that or not. They all have huge responsibility before God in that respect and will all answer to God one day. Like every other human, they all need Jesus who is the only ever uncorrupted image bearer.

Every Christian needs to take the lead in our speech. We agree that if God created all humanity in his image, it is not our prerogative to denigrate the value he has placed on a fellow human being. As hard as it is to tame our tongues, Christians should be known for how we talk - about everyone. If we disagree with another human, let's do it by honoring the value God has upon them by his very act of creating. Let's realize that they don't have a value problem, but we all have a sin problem.

So how do we overcome the ugly election rhetoric in 2024? Let your speech reflect that every single human being on the planet is created in the image of God. Remind yourself before you say a word - or type a word.

A Letter to Our Church on Life

Dear Family,

This week we come to the verses in Genesis 1 that describe God’s creation of living, breathing, life. We will look at the text and consider the importance of God’s blessing upon life and what it means for us to fill and multiply on the earth. It’s a precious subject and we will be considering the big foundational truths of the image of God and dominion and blessing over the next few weeks.

There is one consideration I am simply asking us to value this week - LIFE. Life is precious. Life is a blessing. And…life reflects the glory of God.

As we consider the value of physical life and particularly human life, I am going to ask us to consider that true life was lost in the Garden of Eden. I am going to uphold the dignity and value of life for the next three weeks. I am going to ask us to value marriage and family as God’s means of human fruitfulness in multiplication. I am going to ask us to acknowledge that physical life, every physical life, is precious. And …I am going to say, that in our Genesis 3 world, that simply is not enough.

As we look at life in Genesis 1, please don’t lose the important reality that we were never created in this world for a temporal existence. When sin entered the world, so did death, physical and spiritual. Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. Human beings need restoration of life, not just temporal physical life but eternal and abundant life. We need to live for that which is truly life.

As we consider the importance of life, please never lose the biggest truth in life we all must grasp. True life is only restored through repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. In every discussion we have about life, I pray that we never let it pass without saying that Jesus is our life. In so many ways, Christians have generally been consistently vocal in our world about the sanctity of life. I’m thankful for that. Let’s keep upholding the precious nature of life. What I am asking, however, is that we never lose importance of helping the world to understand that there is also a sense in which we all must die to know true life. Those who become dead to the world will find Christ as their life. Those who only seek life in this world, will only know eternal death.

Colossians 3:3-4 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The Glory of Stars

So much can be said by so little. In the inspiration of God, Moses wrote about the creation of the countless number of stars and galaxies and celestial bodies in the unmeasurably vast universe. "And the stars." Why such a little phrase about such an enormous universe? Perhaps it is to emphasize the bigness of God. The glory of the stars does not belong to the stars themselves but to the God who simply spoke to create them. The universe of celestial wonders is huge. God is bigger.

Moses also gave further explanation about all the lights that God created on day four. Genesis 1:17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth. If we believe what this verse is stating (and I do), it means that the stars are in their specific places because God placed them there. He set (placed) them in the heavens. If we carefully read the words of Genesis, we cannot go past the intentionality of every act of creation. There is simply no room for randomness. God creates, God sets in place, God gives purposes and God declares what is good. When we look in the sky on a dark clear night and see the wonder of the stars, we should be amazed at more than the innumerable lights. We must be amazed at God lest we worship what is lesser. Deuteronomy 4:19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.

The Psalmist took it a step further. Psalm 147:4-5 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. God not only created them, but he also numbered and named them. He knows every single one. The difference then is not as much measured by our smallness compared to the universe, but our smallness compared to God. Genesis 15:5 And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

Imagine being Abraham. He cannot possibly do what God can do. He cannot possibly name and number the stars. Imagine the wonder he then experiences when God tells him that his offspring will be an uncountable number like this. From one man chosen by God would come offspring measured by looking up to the heavens and considering the number of stars. How on earth (or in the heavens) could that be possible?

Paul gives us a key in Galatians when he describes Abraham's offspring. Galatians 3:7-9 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. We know Abraham's offspring are the children of Israel, but this tells us that what God was promising was a wider population than mere national identity. It was the true Israel. It was Abraham's children by faith that included believers from every nation. When you think about those sharing the faith of Abraham in the promise of the Messiah, the number you might think about starts to look like stars in the sky. An innumerable host of those saved by faith in the promise and fulfillment of Christ.

We are not only numbered like stars, but we share something common in purpose. They shine on the earth. Like the stars in number, we can be like the stars in shedding light, except our light is the direct witness of Christ in a world darkened by sin. Philippians 2:14-16 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

One last humbling factor is that the light we shine is not our own light. It comes from the great light that has been given to the whole world. This light is Christ. It is entirely fitting that Christ is finally called The Bright Morning Star. Revelation 22:16 "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."

The brightest star of all is Christ. The darker the world seems the brighter his light shines in his saints who live in contrast to an evil and wicked generation. Our light shines Christ who shines forever in glory and wonder through his work of redemption and reconciliation of all creation.

The glory of stars is not found in simply looking into the sky and seeing the wonder of lights and the vastness of the expanse of the universe. It is found in realizing that the God who created these stars shines brighter in the redemption of his saints. His light is the eternal wonder of his glory shared by all who believe.

The glory of stars is so much more glorious in Who they point to. They remind us of the glory of Jesus.