How the New Testament Begins....and Why

I love beginnings and endings.  To me, it is always important that any book begin with something significant, something that really matters, something that catches your attention.  And of course, the ending needs to be powerful as well.  We see that the Bible is the prime example of this principle.

The New Testament begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ.  Now one might think this is a rather boring way to start a new book.  We don't usually think of genealogical records as being attention getting.  But in this particular case, it is quite meaningful that the book begins with this record.  We have just finished the Old Testament with all of its stories, people and nations, looking at the history of the Jewish people down through the centuries.  A close examination of the OT shows that one of the key things it is doing is to give the history of the family of Jesus leading up to the time that He will be born.  As we arrive at the NT, we see that it opens with a quick summary of what has been taught in great detail throughout the OT. 

Note the opening words, "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob...."  This quick summary of the family of Jesus only takes 16 verses.  But in these verses we have a strong tie to the OT, and we have a message being given to us that this is important.  The family of Jesus, the history, the occurrences that got us to this point in the story are all quite significant. 

The book of Matthew then continues right into the birth of Jesus Christ.  We have the beautiful story of the parents of Jesus being told of the importance of the child to be born.  This story is told also in the book of Luke.  And in fact, the book of Luke gives an account in chapter 3 of the genealogy also.  The genealogical record is a little different in Luke, thought by most scholars to be due to following some of the family of Mary rather than the family of Joseph as recorded in Matthew. 

While most genealogies are not so interesting to most of us, this one is the greatest of them all.  And it is a powerful and meaningful beginning to the last part of the Bible. 

Thank you for reading..and for being a faithful follower.

God is in Control

I was reading the end of Psalm 9 where it says, "Arise, O Lord, do not let man prevail.  Let the nations be judged in your sight.  Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men."

Sometimes we become concerned about the state of our world, the state of our nation, the direction that our society is taking.  But when we read what God tells us in His Word, we see that He is in control.  We may feel out of control....like, we can't control the condition of our environment.  We may know that we are usually too small to change the direction of our nation.  But God is still in control.

Psalms is full of instruction about the power of God and the fact that He has dominion.  Psalm 22:28 says, "For the kingdom is the Lord's, and He rules over the nations."

And Proverbs 21:1, "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes."

So if God is in control, what are we to do?  Romans 13:1 gives us clear instruction: "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.  Do you want to be  unafraid of the authority?  Do what is good , and you will have praise from the same."

Of course God knows that authorities and nations can be evil.  But God is still in control...and He expects us to be obedient as long as we are not violating what God wants from us.

And we can always remember that "All things work together for good to those who love God..."  (Romans 8:28).

Thanks for reading.  Feel the love......

Psalms

The very first Psalm begins in a powerful and clear way.  It draws a distinction between the person who is a true follower and he who isn't. 

"Blessed (or happy) is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord.  And in his law he meditates day and night.  He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

This is a very positive start, showing how things go well for the person who follows God in his life.  He reads his Bible....and he knows God's will for him.  He is like a well watered tree that prospers because it is being well fed with what it needs for life.  And, of course, we know that God provides real life to those who are committed to Him.

Reading on:  "The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.  Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.  For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

We see the reference here of ungodly people being like "chaff."  Chaff is growth that is useless, like the shuck from an ear of corn.  And the teaching here is that there will be a judgment by the Lord.

We see here and throughout the Bible that God doesn't accept middle ground.  There are only two positions.  We are either for Him or against Him; following Him and serving Him....or not.  We like to deal in shades or variations of position.  But God doesn't teach it that way.  We must be truly committed to Him

"For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish."

This is strong teaching, but teaching that is critical to our salvation.  Let us all heed it.  Have a great week....and keep the faith.

Christ the Creator

Many people would be surprised to know that Christ was present at the creation of the universe; in fact, He was the creator.  Check me out here to see that I am right.  We know that He is part of the Godhead, the Son part of the threesome, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Let's further examine His role.

Genesis 1:26 God says:  "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness....."  Note that this is plural, "Let Us make..."  The plural refers to the 3 parts of God.  We know this by the following verses:

Hebrews 1:  "God.....has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds."  God made the world through His Son.

Colossians 1:16, speaking of Jesus, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.  All things were created through Him and for Him."

John 8:57, "Then the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet 50 years old, and have You seen Abraham?'  Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM'."  Jesus existed before Abraham, a very early character in the Bible....and in fact, before the worlds were created.

And finally, John chapter 1 talks a lot about Jesus, calling Him the Word.  Notice how the book of John begins:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

It is very plain from these verses that Jesus Christ, while a man on this earth for only a finite number of years, 33 or so, always existed.  It is difficult for us to understand this, to understand a lot about a God that is so great and so complex...and so far above us.  It is only for us to accept it and to look forward to seeing Him in person.  Our Lord.....Our Savior.

Thanks for reading.  Have a great week!  Keep the faith!

Christmas

It is Christmas time....and a glorious time it is.  Oh, I know, sometimes it is a hard season for various emotional reasons.  Perhaps we have lost loved ones, or maybe feeling alone.  But there are lots of reasons to feel excitement, as well. 

In this blog we want to consider the religious, the Christian, significance of it all.  Many would say that we need to put the "Christ" back into Christmas.  First, let's consider a few negative facts.  Already you are wondering how that could be.  But let's try:

1.  Christmas as such is not found in the Bible.  That is, there is no teaching that we are to celebrate the birth of Jesus at all.

2. There is no likelihood or proof that December 25 is the right day that Jesus was born.

3. The beginnings of the celebration came by the Catholics, hundreds of years after Christ.

But there are positives:

Jesus was born, and His birth is a wonderful event.  He was born in a manger, an inauspicious setting, but we know that with the involvement of the angel, the shepherds, the wise men, the star, inauspicious is not the word.  The event was major, earthshaking, life changing.

The angel to Mary:  "...behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.  And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Such a significant baby, an amazing event that only God could accomplish.  And we are the beneficiaries.  Praise God....and Jesus, the Son, the Lord.

Have a great week!     And Merry Christmas!

The Proverbs

The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament brings us lots of wisdom, and for sure, we should spend much time being familiar with it.  But probably most of us don't spend the time that we could or should.  So we'll take a look at a bit of wisdom in this blog.

The first nine chapters of the book give some instruction into how to avoid some of life's problems and challenges, how to stay out of trouble.  Note the first few verses of chapter one. 

"The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion."  Solomon was given great wisdom from God, so it only makes sense for us to listen carefully to his teaching. 

After the first nine chapters we start a new flow of wisdom given in short quips.  Here are a few examples of proverbs dealing with the subject of conflict:

18:6  "A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating."

20:3  "It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling."

22:10  "Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease."

26:17  "Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears."

Certainly none of us would argue that these are not good rules to live by.  On the other hand, we likely could all use a heavier dose of this teaching.  Here are a few thoughts on contention:

17:1  "Better is a dry morsel with quietness, than a house full of feasting with strife."

15:17  "Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred."

22:24  "Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man thou shalt not go; lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul."

This is just a small sampling of the teaching of Proverbs.  It would do us all good to read and dwell on the wisdom therein.  We want to be wise people, people whom others seek out for guidance.  This is the place to start.

Thanks for reading....and may God bless you this week and through the holiday season.

Slavery

I was reading the book of Philemon in the New Testament and found it quite interesting in the discussion of slavery.  In this blog entry we will look a little closer at the Bible dealing with the subject of slavery. 

We note that in all of the writings of the NT there is no specific demand for the absolving of the practice of slavery.   It was quite common in that day.  People owned slaves as property.  The owner was free by law to treat that person however desired.  The slave could be bought and sold, treated well or not, could even be killed if that was the owner's desire.  The slave was simply the property of the owner.

There are several places in the NT where slavery is mentioned and dealt with.  In the book of Philemon, Paul is writing to his friend Philemon to give him specific instructions about how to deal with Onesimus, a run away slave of Philemon's.  This slave ran away from his master, Philemon, somehow found his way to Rome where Paul is imprisoned, learns the Gospel from Paul, and is now facing having to go back to his master.  Onesimus has been a help to Paul and is quite close to Paul at the writing of this letter.  Paul is explaining to Philemon that Onesimus should be received back warmly, still a slave, but now also a Christian.  Paul is not saying that Philemon should release Onesimus, giving him his freedom.  But he is saying that he needs to treat his slave as a brother in Christ. 

We can see that in a world where slaves are often mistreated, this new direction is quite a contrast.  And while it doesn't do away with slavery directly, it opens new doors to social change, to changing how people deal with one another. With this change, this new way of thinking, will come the eventual end of slavery in most societies.

In Galatians 3:27 and following, it reads, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

From all of the teaching of the Bible, from the words of Jesus to the teaching of the apostles, it is clear that there is no place for slavery in the world of the Christian.  All are the same in the eyes of God....and all should be same in our eyes as well. 

Thanks for reading.  Feel the love!  Spread the love!