Answering Tough Questions

I read an editorial in the Washington Post recently in which a young lady, now an atheist, explained the process of her departure from the church. She went to church often while growing up, but then she started drifting away from her faith while she was a teenager as a result of people in her church not being able to fully answer some of her life questions. She said the only answers she got were obscure references to Bible verses and some trifle suggestions to just "have faith".

 After finishing the article, her questions stuck in my mind. At first the questions seemed like they’d be fairly simple to answer. "Why is it a sin to be gay?" "Where does the Bible say we can’t have premarital sex?" I started to formulate some responses in my head to see if I would have had the answers if she'd asked me those questions.  I thought of Bible verses, and passages from books I’ve read. But these answers were probably similar to the answers that drove her away from church in the first place. There had to be a better response. As I considered her questions again later that evening I started to realize what this young lady's questions revealed about something deeper within her. Her questions at their root were not Bible trivia, but instead her questions revealed her ultimate objection to God's lordship.

 Someone who objects to God's lordship will most likely view the rules and commands of the Bible and of God, as an encroachment on freedom. During her self-proclaimed loss of her beliefs, this young lady may have asked herself, “Why does the Bible or God or anyone else for that matter have the right to tell me what I should and shouldn’t do?" Or maybe she told herself she's her own person. That it’s her life and as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, then it must not be wrong.  She said she stopped believing, but I would argue, that someone who is in defense of sin in their life or in the lives of people they love, has never put their trust in the God of the Bible. An objection to God's lordship and defense of sin are clear marks of someone who doesn't have saving faith.  We who have put our trust in the God of the Bible, need to be keenly aware of these marks when someone approaches us with questions about faith. If we see those marks and we respond to questions with only our favorite verse, we're no better than the one mentioned in James 2:16 who says, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” to someone who needs clothes and food without doing anything to meet their physical needs. When someone needs salvation, we need to tell them about the saving grace found only in the gospel.

 You see the gospel tells of a God who isn’t in His essence a great rule giver, that’s not the story at all. The God of the Bible created man and woman to live with him in the Garden of Eden. He gave them a beautiful place to live where food was plentiful, where they had human companionship, and most of all where they had direct access to God Himself. He walked in the Garden and lived with his people. They were created to bring Him glory₁, and as long as they did that, they would enjoy His provision and fellowship for all eternity. But as you know, these first humans, just like the rest of us, chose instead to try and glorify themselves₂. By their actions they showed they didn’t think God’s provision was enough, and they really didn’t like to be told what to do. In their minds they probably asked questions in the same spirit, I suppose, that this young lady asked. "Why shouldn’t we get to eat whatever fruit we want? Who is God to tell us what to do? We should eat and become like Him." They raised themselves into the position of lord, and cast down their creator.

 Maybe when you think of the story of Adam and Eve you remember how the great rule giver came in and rained his wrath down upon them. But not so fast.  Did the full wrath of God really rain down on them? If it had, the human race would have been a rather short-lived race. He did bring a curse of judgement which included eventual physical death, separation from God, pain in child birth and hard labor in growing food.  But he also continued to show those two who disobeyed Him, undeserved grace. He gave them clothing₃ and continued to provide them with food. But even more amazing, he already had a plan to rescue sinners like Adam and Eve from His curse. And this is where amazing grace begins to be revealed. God's plan was to send His only Son to suffer and die in our place so we can have eternal life with Him₄. What a just and graceful God! He still delivered the curse on sinful creatures, fully knowing His Son would be the one to pay the full price that the curse demanded for all of our sins. God's son Jesus, not us, would be the one to suffer the agony of being nailed to and hung on the cross₅. Jesus, not us, would be the one to get mocked and ridiculed while he was dying₆. Jesus, not us, would get the spear in His side₇. Jesus, not us, would take the full wrath of the Father on Himself for every sin we ever committed, are committing and ever will commit. And why did He do that? To make a way for us to be forgiven₈!

You see, our sins can't go unpunished. God is perfectly just and therefore needs a perfect payment for our sins. God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus' perfect life as that payment, with His acceptance revealed in Christ's resurrection.  The curse of death and eternal separation from God was broken in the resurrection of Christ. Christ purchased our forgiveness by forfeiting his life. When we turn from our sins and trust in Jesus as our Savior from the just punishment of God, He places his perfect life over ours so that when God looks at us, He sees Jesus' perfection, not our sin₉. When we're covered by the death and life of Christ, a Holy God can adopt₁₀ unholy creatures into his family and His house in heaven₁₁. Does that sound like a great rule giver just waiting to tell you you’re doing it all wrong? Or does that sound like a loving, self-sacrificing God full of grace and mercy?

At the same time we have to consider that If God sent his only Son to die for our sins, doesn't that show how serious He is about sin? Would He have allowed His own Son to be tortured to death if sin was no big deal to Him? The one who truly grasps what God has done for them and how serious He is about sin, will have a repentant heart. Instead of asking God why He’s such a kill joy, they will exclaim, “You have bought me with your life and now my life is yours ₁₂. Show me anything in me that breaks your heart and break my heart for it as well. Make me into the image of Jesus ₁₃. Help me glorify you, my Lord ₁₄.” They will begin to see the divine inspiration in the fulfilled prophecies of scripture, the consistency of God's word, the other-worldliness of the Bible’s philosophies; how true it rings with the picture of the world they see around them as the Holy Spirit begins opening the word to their heart. They begin to see how God is changing their heart to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them ₁₅. And even more strikingly, they will begin seeing the depth of sin in their own heart like Paul did in Romans 7:24, and they’ll grieve over it. If the scripture says God created man and woman for holy union wherein the two become one flesh₁₆, they will grieve over anything that is less. What God calls abominations they will call abominations. What God loves, they will love. If there’s even a question that God may not be honored by something in their life, they will cease that activity, even if scripture is silent on the issue. Their default will be to serve their Lord and put His concerns over theirs.

 I believe the following question really gets to the heart of true belief. Is there anything in your life that you wouldn't be willing to give up to follow Jesus? Would you be willing to give up your house? Your cars? Your money? Your food? Your clothes? Your friends? Your family? Your lifestyle? Your life? Jesus always asked those who would follow him, to be willing to leave behind what was most important to them because he wanted them to answer the ultimate question of lordship. Rich young ruler, will you leave your fortune for me?₁₇ Fishermen, will you leave your families and livelihood and follow me?₁₈ In Matthew 8:20, Jesus asks a disciple to leave the comforts of home to follow him. In Matthew 8:22 Jesus asks another disciple to leave his inheritance and follow him.  Jesus knew exactly what and who people placed into the role of Lord of their lives, and in order to follow him, they had to leave their other lords behind. Jesus said, "Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it."₁₉

 In light of knowing the evidence of true faith and God’s lordship over someone’s life, looking back at the young lady’s questions, it’s clear she never trusted in the God of the Bible. She wasn’t willing to give up her sin or her life to Christ. Maybe she was into religion for a while, possibly because that’s what her family did. Church can be social, it can be comfortable, and it can provide a sense of belonging. But going to church doesn't mean someone has saving faith. So when we’re confronted with questions like these, instead of offering a simple verse here or there, let's tell the story of the gospel, because "it's the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes"₂₀. May our prayer be that the Lord lovingly speaks His true gospel through us and saves the lost from His true, never-ending wrath they will experience in Hell if they never turn away from their sins and accept the forgiveness and lordship of Jesus ₂₁.

Scripture References for Further Study

 

₁ Isaiah 43:7

₂ Genesis 3: 4-6
₃ Genesis 3:21
₄ John 3:16 and Ephesians 1:4-5
₅ Luke 23:32-34
₆ Matthew 15:29-32
₇ John 19:34
₈ John 14:6
₉ 2 Corinthians 5:21
₁₀ Galatians 4:5
₁₁ John 14:2-3
₁₂ 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
₁₃ Romans 8:29
₁₄ 1 Peter 4:11
₁₅ Matthew 5:44
₁₆ Mark 10: 6-9
₁₇ Luke 18:22
₁₈ Luke 5:11
₁₉ Matthew 10:37-39
₂₀ Romans 1:16
₂₁ 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10

    One of my favorite hobbies growing up in Southern California was body boarding. I started learning the sport in elementary school riding little shore breakers, but by the time I was in college I was riding waves over 10 feet tall. Most of the time the waves off the southern California coast are fairly tame, however you always have to watch for the occasional big sets that can catch you off guard. If you're in the right spot to catch the majority of the waves, you're usually in the wrong spot to catch the much larger ones since they form in deeper water. Where the smaller waves are getting just steep enough to catch, the bigger waves will already be breaking. If you don't dive deep when those waves come, they can envelope you in a vortex of water that can be hard to escape. Even worse they usually come in sets, and if the first wave gets you, there are probably 2-3 more with your name on them.

Me watching for waves off the coast of Malibu - Sept 2012

Whenever I saw one of those big sets on the horizon my heart would quicken, I'd immediately vault down to my board and start paddling and kicking, straining with all of my strength, frantically trying to reach the wave before it broke. If I got there in time, it could be the best ride of the day; if I got there a few seconds late, the battle to stay afloat began. On the other side of the spectrum, sometimes there'd be days when the waves just wouldn't come. I'd sit there waiting and becoming restless, wishing for one of those big sets. It became a test a patience rather than a test of strength.

 Looking back over the last two years of this adoption struggle, I see numerous sets of waves that we've traversed. There have been long waiting periods with few waves, where nothing much was happening and patience was hard to find. But there have also been plenty of times when the waves have gotten big and moments of panic took over. Would we make it past the huge struggle on the horizon? Was God going to come through for us? Why wasn't He acting faster? Doesn't He care? The pace of my prayers and striving for answers would accelerate every time a big swell appeared. Is this how life has to be? Seasons of impatience broken up by moments of frantic worry? Is there a way to remain grounded and constant no matter what kind of seas we're swimming through?

In Matthew 8 verse 23 Jesus sheds some light on the cause of frantic fear. In this passage we find Jesus and his disciples climbing into a boat. As they sail out away from shore, Jesus falls asleep. Suddenly a violent storm descends on the crew of disciples and they begin to panic. Remember some of these disciples are fishermen, they are not all inexperienced sailors. They'd no doubt ridden through many storms before, and knew what they could handle. They couldn't handle this. Some versions of the text say that this storm was so big, the waves were covering the boat! You can almost see the urgency in their faces when they wake Jesus up saying "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" They are terrified. Notice Jesus' response. He does not reprimand them for waking him up. He's not upset that they're coming to him to be saved. He doesn't even downplay the severity of the storm. He's upset at the fearful frenzy they've worked themselves into and ultimately what their reactions say about the magnitude of their faith. "He replied 'you of little faith, why are you so afraid?'" Then Jesus calms the storm with a word, and the wind and waves cease. The text says the disciples reaction was amazement, but I wonder if they also felt a little foolish at their panicked cries that were probably still ringing in their ears when suddenly the wind quieted and the waves turned to a glassy sea. They had God incarnate in the boat with them, yet their eyes were fixed on the world and their circumstances.

Lest we get prideful in thinking our reactions to the circumstances in our lives would change if Jesus were sitting next to us, don't forget Christian brothers and sisters, we have God's Spirit living inside us! He's not just with us, He's in us. Unfortunately, just like the disciples, even though God's Spirit is in us, we too fix our eyes on the world and our circumstances. When things go wrong our reaction is often fear instead of faith. And it's not that we don't go through terrifying storms with insurmountable waves, it's that we let those storms whip us into frantic worry instead of abiding in the shelter of the Almighty. Even though this abiding will not remove pain, emotion and incredible hardships from our lives, if we trust in God, our hearts will not be splintered against the rocks when the waves come.

"The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him." Psalm 37: 39-40.

Samuel after a long day of travel/visits

I wonder if the disciples were ever in a storm battered boat with Jesus again, and I wonder if their reaction would have changed because of what they witnessed. It certainly took me witnessing his faithfulness multiple times for Him to get through to me. I believe God has used this adoption struggle and especially the Court ordered visitations to teach me wave after wave how to take refuge in Him. On our first trip down my thoughts were crying out just like those disciples; God save us, they're going to tear our family apart! But as the trips continued, God gave me glimpse after glimpse of His glory and faithfulness. Sometimes that faithfulness manifested itself in simple hugs from Samuel as I waited in the background during the visits. Sometimes the mercies came in friendly neighbors on the plane who had 5 kids at home and actually wanted to sit by us. Grace came in answered prayers of a sleeping boy at the end of a long day.

As I watched God work, I slowly learned He can be trusted and it's begun changing my perspective in trials. I don't necessarily say that because Samuel's adoption is headed for finalization, though that is an incredible mercy and blessing. My perspective has changed mainly because I've experienced his faithfulness in his unwavering strengthening of my soul over every wave of this journey. He's been my closest ally when no one else could be there for me. He's given joy in the midst of tears. He's reassured as I've opened my hands. And one of the biggest things he's taught me, is that when he changes my focus from the circumstances to the Eternal, frantic worry gets swept away.

On one of our last weekend trips to Tulsa I remember coming home completely exhausted from the storm. Samuel had gotten sick while we were gone. Saturday night he was up all night coughing. Around 3 am he started calling "dada dada." I went over to his crib and scooped him up and carried him to bed with me. I got him propped up on some pillows with my arm around him and he slowly stopped coughing and went to sleep. Several hours later, we still had to crawl out of bed for the visit. Once the visit was done we had to get back to the airport for our flight home. On the way to the airport Samuel was coughing so much he ended up throwing up all over himself and the car seat that we were borrowing from our friends. There we were, in the 100 degree heat, in a side road parking lot cleaning up vomit, changing wet clothes, desperately in need of sleep. I was angry at the courts and frustrated with God for letting that weekend happen. Fair wasn't even in the universe of my thoughts that Sunday. When we got home, my wife came to pick us up at the airport. We exchanged hugs and got loaded into the car, and then I lost it. Uncontrolled sobbing took over as I finally let my guard down after a miserable weekend. Through the tears I started half venting and half praying. I told my wife as terrible as the weekend was, God helped me realize something. He helped me realize no one could take away what we had done for Samuel. No one could take away how we'd fought for a little boy who couldn't fight for himself. That God was honored by our love and no one could steal that treasure. That was a turning point for me as God strengthened my faith and washed away my fear.

As we near the end of this storm, my faith is far from perfect. I'm sure seasons of panic will still surface, but as I face the sure storms ahead, my prayer is that God will continue to strengthen me to turn my gaze heavenward, above the waves, beyond my fears through the stinging spray atop the swells, to Christ my Savior who ever lives and intercedes for me. I pray that I'll cast my worries aside and lift my treasures heavenward where they'll be safely kept until He calls me home. And on that glorious day, I pray I'll have the honor of placing those treasures at the feet of my King.

Fix Your Eyes

If you watched the Sochi Olympics last winter, you might recall the women's super-g downhill skiing event. The race isn't memorable because a favorite finished first, rather it's memorable because of who didn't finish. A record 18 women either crashed or skied off the course not finishing the race. When that many skiers failed to finish, spectators and athletes started pointing fingers.

The Austrian coach who set the course received the most scrutiny, especially after two of his racers finished 1st and 3rd. Had he set similarly hard courses before? Probably. Had his team practiced on those hard courses? Probably. Were his racers more prepared for the difficult maneuvers required to finish? Probably. But should we fault him for preparing his team for victory?

When you get tripped up and fail in your own life, who do you blame? Depending on who you are, the onus could fall on many different people. Maybe it falls on your spouse or your kids or your coworkers. If you're a Christian, maybe the blame falls on God; He is the one who set your course after all.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."(Hebrews 12:1, 2 NIV)

The course is marked out for us. If you belong to God, He is the one who drilled those gates into the snow. He set the hard turns, the fast and also agonizingly slow straightaways, and He even built some tricky jumps. But why would He set such a hard course? Could it be, that like the Austrian coach, He wants to prepare us for victory?

While ski coaches train their athletes to have balance, strength, endurance and technique, God trains us to be holy and righteous. He wants us to look more like Christ every day.

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son..." (Romans 8:29 NIV)

Olympic skiers spend hours in the gym lifting weights, running miles, and stretching muscles. Their bodies aren't naturally adept at turning at high speed while chattering over icy snow. It takes sweating, straining, pain and even occasional injuries to force their bodies into Olympic shape. Similarly God puts us through tremendous trials to take us from the image of sinful man toward the image of sinless Christ.

"God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."(Hebrews 12:10-11 NIV)

In the midst of the race it can be nearly impossible to see yourself becoming more like Christ. Sometimes we're just trying to make the turns without crashing and we doubt we'll ever reach the finish. But unlike ski racing, those of us who are truly in Christ need not worry about falling short of the finish line.

"And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. "(John 6:39 NIV)

In Christ we will reach the finish line. But what about now. How do we handle all the challenging turns God has set before us? How can we not only keep our balance but accelerate toward the finish line? God has given us specific instructions on the techniques needed to race well. To find those instructions we don't need to look any further than the passage at the start of this post.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."(Hebrews 12:1, 2 NIV)

The first thing we're instructed to do is to throw off the sin that holds us back. Would you want to ski on an Olympic course with bowling balls tied to your legs? Then why try to navigate God's course with your sins tugging you off track? The only way to throw off those sins is to ask God for His strength to do so. Like the psalmist, ask that He would create in you a clean heart (Ps 51) and that like Joseph He would help you flee from sin (Gen 39), regardless of the cost.

The second thing we're instructed to do is to fix our eyes on Jesus. He suffered through the worst of trials for us, his enemies, so that He could adopt us as His own. That truth is a huge comfort in our current adoption struggle. He knows exactly what we're going through and He's willing and able to help us.

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:15, 16 NIV)

That's easy to forget sometimes. When your son is forced to visit the man who could have killed him in the womb, it's easy to forget. How could God do this to us? But on one of those visits, God re-focused my eyes on His sovereignty. He made everything in that park we were standing in; none of this is too big for him to handle.

I pray God uses this difficult course to remove sin from my life. I pray He gives me the strength to fix my eyes on him and not the hard turns ahead. And instead of blaming God for setting this course for me, my desire is to praise Him for loving me enough to prepare me for victory.

Will Our Rescue Ever Come?

Riding into work this morning I was thinking about our adoption struggle and the road that has been much longer than we ever expected.  Sometimes it seems God hasn't acted when He obviously could have, and it leaves me wondering why.

As I was thinking about these things, God reminded me of the Israelites of Exodus and the plagues God brought through Moses. When they saw the first of the plagues, they might have thought to themselves, this struggle in slavery is finally over, God has come to our rescue! Certainly God could have rescued them at that point, but He hardened Pharaoh's heart so he would not let them go. Another plague came and another and another and still no rescue. Was God just teasing them only to leave them there? He was not. He had a plan to bring himself glory through these plagues and a dramatic rescue.

And what a rescue it was. After the tenth plague, God through Pharaoh finally let them go. But as they were heading home, God sent the entire Egyptian army after them. They felt completely betrayed. God released them from slavery just to have them captured or killed on their way home. What was God doing? He was getting ready to bring himself glory. That was His objective from the beginning when He said, "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:5 NKJV)
With an army on their heels, the Israelites couldn't see God was about to bring himself glory. All they could see was a mass of angry men storming toward their way.

And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever."(Exodus 14:13 NKJV)

Soon after Moses said this, God parted the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army. God could have saved them much earlier but He instead chose to maximize His glory by saving His people when it looked hopeless.

I don't know what God has planned for us, but I do know we've thought many times he was about to bring us out of this battle, only to find out about another delay or about the hardened heart of an attorney or a judge. I pray God is multiplying these plagues so that He can burst onto the scene and claim glory for Himself; parting the seas that stand in the way of this adoption!

Lord rescue us! We are watching for your salvation...

The Light Shines in the Darkness

Since I am a meteorologist, it probably doesn't surprise you that I spend a lot of time watching the sky. What might surprise you is that clear nights can be just as exciting for me as stormy ones. One of my favorite places to watch the sky is Minaret Vista near Mammoth Lakes California. Minaret Vista has an elevation over 9000 feet and a panoramic view of mountain forests below and open skies above.  It can be a great place to watch storms, but it's an even better place to watch the stars.  On clear nights you can see the bright band of the Milky Way, satellites tracking across the sky, and even the occasional streaks of meteors flaming through the atmosphere. One of my favorite times to watch the stars at Minaret Vista is during the Perseid meteor shower that happens every August.  Under the right conditions, the Perseids can produce over 100 brilliant meteors per hour.

If you've ever tried watching the Perseids near a city, you've most likely been disappointed. City lights create a bright haze that makes it nearly impossible to see any meteors. While city lights aren't a problem at Minaret Vista, the natural light of a bright moon can ruin a good show. That's why I get most excited when the Perseid's happen during a new moon. The darker the backdrop the brighter the meteors.

But what if those meteors were glimpses of God, and the dark backdrop the trials of my life? Do I get excited about those dark nights the way I might on Minaret Vista? Of course not. I pray for light. I pray for the times of refreshing promised in Acts 3:19 and the good gifts from God in Matthew 7:11. But when those refreshing moments and good gifts come, I don't always find myself yearning for God. When things are easy my faith can get lazy, and my view of God grows dim. While I believe there's nothing wrong with praying for times of refreshing, I also believe I see more of God's light on dark nights.  

This fight for Samuel's adoption has brought some very dark nights. But those dark nights have revealed His light more clearly than any sunny day.  His light shined outside the courtroom on Thursday as we gathered in prayer with family and friends. His light shined through my wife's words of encouragement to Samuel's birthmom. His light has shined through His provision to us in generous unexpected gifts. His light is showing up in many ways that we can only see because of the darkness of the situation. That's how God has always worked. He uses dark times as opportunities to show His glory.  A storm raged over Jesus and His disciples so He could be glorified in it's calming (Mark 4). A man was born blind so God could be glorified in his sight (John 9). The Israelites were enslaved by Pharaoh so God's glory could be revealed in their redemption (Exodus).  

I have never wanted anything more than I want to be Samuel's dad and I pray I will have the chance to glorify God in that victory soon. But I also pray that in the meantime, God continues to reveal His glory despite the darkness of the battle. 

God's Design

Riding the bus home from work last week I was reading through 1 Corinthians and came across a sobering passage of how serious God is about sexual immorality.  In light of Valentine’s Day I began thinking of the many people that would give up their most precious gift to someone they just met at a local bar, or someone they've known for years who’s not their spouse. It made me think about how far our culture has gotten away from God’s design for us.  Television is saturated with a celebration of sex outside of marriage, glamorization of teenage pregnancy, the “New Normal” family, and many other perversions of the beauty God intended for our sexuality.  My wife and I have even struggled in our marriage enjoying the beautiful gift God has given us due to the modern portrayal of sex.  I pray this post would challenge us (myself included) to get back to God’s design for our sexuality.

The motivation behind this post is love and I pray I approach it with a humble heart because no one (including myself) is without sin. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…” Rom 3:23. “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us” 1 John 1:8.  I don’t desire to alienate anyone from my life through this post, rather I pray it would show my desperate heartfelt desire to spend eternity worshiping God with everyone who reads.

Sexual Immorality – Who defines it?

In short, the one who defines sexual immorality is God.  The One who created us revealed His will for our lives through His word, the Bible.  I agree with those who say that the Bible was physically penned by the hand of sinful/flawed/finite men, but I also believe that a sinless/flawless/all powerful God produced the exact results he wanted in Scripture regardless of man’s intentions.  I believe the Bible when it says in 2 Tim 3:16 that all scripture is God breathed. And 2 Peter 1:21 when it says, “prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” And Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

So with the Bible as the source, let’s look at what sexual immorality is.  If you read His word from cover to cover, God reveals that sexual immorality is sexuality that violates His original design. “But for Adam no suitable helper was found.  So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.’ That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Jesus reiterates in Matthew 19 that a man will be united to his wife. That is God’s design for our sexuality. Examples of things that violate His design include David committing adultery with Bathsheba who was not his wife, those in the Old Testament with multiple wives, those in Romans 1 who exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones, and if I’m being completely honest, it also includes me when Jesus says in Matthew 5:28 “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jesus is saying that sexual immorality is deeper than our outward acts; the root of it is in the condition of our hearts. The acts that fall under sexual immorality in the Bible are much more numerous than I've mentioned, but the bottom line is we are all guilty outside of Christ.

What we've discussed so far are the various manifestations of sexual immorality. In its most basic form, the Bible says sexual immorality is simply sin against God. Like all other sins, the consequences of sexual immorality are death and eternal separation from God.  “The wages of sin is death” Romans 6:23. “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2. We were created to bring Him glory (Isaiah 43:6-7), the only true joy is in bringing Him glory, and I desire that each of us would be able to experience that joy for eternity.  But we can’t have that joy or bring Him glory if our sins make it so He can’t hear us.  When I look at the world around me, I can relate to what Paul felt when he said, “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel”.  Like Paul, I don’t hate those who are living in sexual immorality; I desperately pray that all would be saved. And I don’t wish on even my worst enemies the words Christ speaks in Matthew 7:22-23: “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ ”

So where does that leave us? I pray that it leaves us crying out to God to save us. I pray it produces repentance in us that leads to faith and salvation in Christ.  We were born into sin and death, but Christ through his death and resurrection can raise us back to life. And once alive, I pray that we would die to ourselves daily, pick up our crosses and live for Him.  “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Romans 6:12-14)

It's about a Lamb

Happy Easter everyone! I wanted to share a great message with you today; the message of Easter. If you get your information about Easter from television or by walking through the grocery store, you may think it's about bunnies and baskets and eggs and candies, but the good news of Easter is that it's about a lamb.

In the beginning, God created us to bring Him glory by worshipping Him, honoring Him and giving thanks to Him. But our sins against God's perfect law (Exodus 20 & elsewhere) bring us physical and spiritual death, as well as eternal seperation from God. Therefore we can't in our own power be who we were created to be.

In the Old Testament God provided animal sacrifices for sin. The life of an animal was substituted as payment for people's sins. However these sacrifices were not perfectly acceptable to God and could not excuse sin once and for all. So these sacrifices were offered over and over again. This substitutionary death for human sin, is best seen in the story of the passover lamb in Exodus 12. God commanded the Israelites to slaughter a male lamb without defect, and to place the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their house. If they followed God's directions, when He passed over their houses, He would see the blood and accept it as payment for their sins. The houses that did not follow these instructions would wake up and find their firstborn children dead. In other words, the firstborn would receive the judgement for sin. It happened just as God said. Those who had the blood of the lamb were passed over, and judgement was witheld.

In Isaiah 53 and elsewhere in the Old Testament we read about a savior who would come who would be like a lamb. He would be pierced, crushed, punished and ultimately killed for our sins. Then this savior would be raised to life showing his defeat of sin and death. His blood would cover our sins just like the passover lamb of the Old Testament.

There are many prophecies througout the Old Testament about this savior, whose blood would cover the sins of the world. Only one man has fulfilled these prophecies, and His name is Jesus.

John the Baptist first recognizes Jesus as the Lamb of God in John 1:29. All the prophecies point to Jesus being the Lamb of God. And as if that wasn't enough, Jesus was crucified during Passover, as if screaming to the world, "I am the Passover Lamb of God." And today, Easter 2012, we celebrate not because of bunnies or baskets or eggs or candies, we celebrate the Lamb of God who was killed for our sins and then raised to life!

As I've stated previously we have two responses. The first is to believe in Christ's death for our sins and his resurrection from the dead. As our passover lamb, Jesus pays the penalty and God passes over our sins giving us eternal life with Him in Heaven. The second response is to deny Him, and pay the penalty ourself. The penalty is spiritual death and eternal separation from God in Hell. I choose to accept Jesus as my passover lamb. My prayer is that you will do the same. That is the only way Easter will be to you all it was meant to be.