Created very good: The problem of suffering

Since the fall mankind, has wrestled with the problem of a good, all powerful God, and the fact of suffering (Genesis 3; 17:1; Luke 18:19).  In the end,  if you are to find an answers, you will need to wrestle with the question for yourself. That's what Job did! He was righteous, but his suffering, as his friends would have it, was not for wrongdoing (Job 42:7). Certainly bad choices have bad consequences (Galatians 6:7). But not all suffering is for our own sin! We can suffer from other people's sin, or because of seemingly random happenstances. When we suffer, we might think, with Job's accusers, that God is punishing us. They were wrong (Job 42:7)! We might feel that He is unjust. That was Job before he got his answer (Job 19:7; 42:3). You might feel He doesn't care, that's a lie too (1 Peter 5:7). Have you ever asked “Why?” Many people who say they don't believe in God, nevertheless seem to be angry with Him.

I hear people say “there's a reason for everything!” That seems to imply that God sends the bad, but that He has a reason for sending it. He gives a child cancer to teach him or her something?  That would be child abuse! And that's not the God of the Bible, nor the One I trust! And in the end, it is all about trust! We read “God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). It's not that evil is good, rather that God is at work for good in the evil that He allows. It's not so much then, that everything happens for a reason, but rather that for disciples, God uses what He allows for the disciple's good.

Life's not fair, nobody said it was! But the greatest injustice ever, was surly the perfect Son of God crucified (1 Peter 1:19). The fact is, we all suffer (John 16:33)! For the disciple however, the bigger question is how to deal with suffering?  On the day that I knew was going to be the most difficult in my life, the day I knew my wife was going to take the four children and leave, the Lord brought this verse to mind “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). I felt I was being told that suffering is a barrier the other side of which is joy, and if, like Jesus we endure it, there will be “joy in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

Our response to suffering is a crossroads. You either curse God (Job 2:9), or you wrestle, and keep wrestling until you get your answer (Genesis 32:26). If you persevere, you will, like Job, find yourself humbled, and acknowledging that you know nothing, move from knowing about God, to having a personal, loving, intimate relationship with Him (Job 42:3b, 5; Genesis 32:24-28).

Lord Jesus, You tell us that in this world we will have troubles. But we are to rejoice, because You have overcome the World (John 16:33). Thank You Lord that You provided a way to stand up under trials, and we can come boldly to Your throne of Grace to find help in time of need (1 Corinthians 10:13; Hebrews 4:16). Thank You Lord that You not only suffered for us, You suffer with us (1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 13:5). Thank You Lord in Your precious Name Amen

Regaining our identity as God's Image bearers

Paramount in what was lost at the fall, is the sense (but not the reality), of who we are as image bearers of God (Genesis 1:26).  In fact, the spirit of the age is the orphan spirit, the spirit of not belonging. When we don't know who we are as God's beloved, precious children (1 John 3:1), we are very likely to act out, seeking affirmation and approval wherever we can. We may try to find our identity in our achievements, in our careers, or in what we do. But it's never enough, and we end up feeling empty! We are human beings, not human doings. The first step in coming out of a destructive orphan spirit, is to receive His unconditional acceptance in salvation. When we are saved, the truth is that we are His precious, beloved and valued children (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1).

But for many reasons, the distance between the reality of this truth and our feelings, can be very great. We may still be trying to find our identity in stuff, but “life does not consist in the abundance of things” (Luke 12:15). For the longest time after salvation, I was a Christian workaholic, essentially trying to fill the emptiness through service. When we don't know who we are in Christ, we may try and medicate our feelings of inadequacy and insecurity by substance abuse, or in many other ways. We may become perfectionists, unconsciously trying to earn our salvation. Even as Christians we are  not immune to such substitutes for truth!

At one level or another we are all wounded by life. And too often a lie gets attached to the the wound. If we are rejected, we may believe we are unlovable, and not worthy of love. Many of us are wounded in childhood, and because of this we may have a twisted view of Father God. We can get God confused with our earthly father. It seems to be a widespread belief that Jesus is okay, Holy Spirit is okay, but you've got to watch out for Father God!  He's out to get you, just waiting for you to mess up, so He can condemn you! But nothing could be further from the truth! If we want to know what the Father God is like, we just need to look at Jesus. In fact He tells us “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

We cannot earn salvation, and God's love for us is unconditional, but as a loving Father He will discipline us. We don't have to like it, but actually His discipline is evidence of our being sons and daughters (Hebrews 12:5-8). His aim is to teach us to walk in the Spirit, and to put to death the deeds and the desires of our inherited fallen nature. When we do this is, it enables us to received (and feel) the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father' (Romans 8:12-15).

Father,  Abba, Daddy,  I am Your child. Your Word tells me I am, and I choose to believe it. When I doubt, I need to keep coming back to what You say, and You are not a man that You should lie (Numbers 29:13). And so many times Lord, I need keep telling myself the truth until I fully believe it, and then to tell myself because I believe it.  Help me Lord to live out of the reality of my identity as Your precious and valued child in Jesus Name Amen

Responding to our father's nakedness

It is clear, from Noah cursing Ham's line, that he had felt radically disrespected by his son's disdain (Genesis 9:20-24).  In street gangs in large Western cities, respect can be a matter of life and death. We all need love and respect, and I know that I have felt undermined at times by disrespect.  Mother Teresa's saying that nakedness is not just for a piece of cloth, comes to mind. Respect is easily lost, I mean if I do ten things right and one thing wrong, what stands out in the minds of others?  Noah, in obedience to God, had stood firm against ridicule and accusation, he had rescued his family from the flood that had wiped out the rest of humanity. But all that seems to have been lost in Ham's mind by his father's drunken nakedness.

We saw earlier that nakedness in the Bible is a symbol of guilt and shame and of being exposed (Genesis 3:8-10; Revelation 3:17). Jordon Peterson gives an interesting application of this passage.  He says “We are constantly pushed to see the nakedness of our Father, so to speak, because of the intense criticism that’s directed towards our culture—the patriarchal culture. We’re constantly exposing its weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and, let’s say, its nakedness.”  And surly what is happening here is blindness to the good, and the inevitable overreaction to its faults.  How many people going through divorce make statements like “All men are ...”, or “All women are ...”  And surly the widespread accusation that masculinity is toxic is, in and of itself, part of this overreaction!  In  M97 I outlined some of the many places where our  society has been positively influenced by Judeo-Christian values. These include tolerance and respect for others, the very values that have made criticism acceptable in our culture. But they are now being turned inward and are producing what some authors call the suicide of the West.  I invite you to consider whether any of what is happening in the West, would be tolerated in non-Western cultures.  But I also invite you to consider,  if we throw it all out, what would replace it. History has something to teach us here! In the end, revolution is not change, it simply replaces one oppressed group with different one.

The Scripture commands us to honour father and mother, and to give honour to whom honour is due (Exodus 20:12; Romans 13:7). The freedom we have to criticize, is both good and bad. Free speech gives us the freedom to engage in respectful debate (Galatians 6:1). It can lead us to identify what’s bad and what’s good, so as to keep what's good, and to figure out what, and how,  to change what needs to change (Proverbs 27:17; 18:17). But criticism inevitably goes too far when it flows out of bitterness and resentment. These things defile the culture  (Hebrews 15:12).  And I have to say, from God's perspective, many of the changes are happening in the West are not good. What we have in the West is far from perfect. And we may not be where we need to be, but thank God we are not where we used to be.  

Father, we don't always understand the reason behind your commandments. But we can be sure that as the good, good Father that You are, that You always have our best interest at heart, and that the commandments are there for out provision and protection. Please help us to find the balance between heathy criticism and disrespect (Galatians 6:1), in Jesus Name Amen

Noah, and the power of the tongue

“Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated” (Genesis 9:18) God had blessed Noah and his sons, and told them to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (9:1). This was the same commandment that God had told Adam and Eve before the fall, and it was essentially the renewal of that command to make the earth like Eden. God's intention was, and is, that the whole earth be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. It will happen, God has declared it (Habakkuk 2:14). But we have already seen that there was a lot of opposition to His plan in both the earthly, and the heavenly realms.  After the flood, God was starting over again with Noah and his family, but it would get messed up again, almost immediately.

“And Noah ... planted a vineyard.. he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. .... So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren” (Genesis 9:20-25).  The commentators agree that the sense of the Hebrew, is that Ham's telling was done in a scornful, deriding manner. And perhaps what happened here, is that Ham knew better than to let his father see his disdain. But Canaan was not so wise,  and that's why the curse came on him rather than his father.

We discussed in previous meditations that the father's sins tend to get repeated by the children (Exodus 20:5). And what comes to me here, is that “life and death are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). In the recovery circles in which I move, I have become very aware of the life long wounds inflicted on children by the words of significant care givers. “You'll never amount to anything.” 'You're no good, you're just like your blankety, blank father.'  When such words are taken to heart, as they so often are, they become both part of that person's identity, and a kind of self fulfilling prophecy. We need to see such words as curses on our children.

Unfortunately, these things tend to be passed down to multiple generations (Exodus 20:5).  And this was certainly true with Canaan. The descends of Noah's sons would eventually form the various nations (Genesis 10:32). And Canaan's descendants seem to have been the most prolific (Acts 13:19). In fact, a large part of the middle East became know as the land of Canaan. And the destruction of the nations in that land at the time of the  conquest, was so that Israel would not learn their  “abominable practices.” Such practices included cult prostitution and child sacrifice (Deuteronomy 20:18; 23:17; Leviticus 18:21). It all started with Noah's curse, and we must not underestimate the destructive power of our words.

Father, please help us to take our identity from what You think of us.  And to You, we are Your precious, beloved children (1 John 3:1).  Help us to be especially careful Lord, when speaking to the vulnerable. Forgive when we fail (1 John 1:9), and help us to guard our hearts and tongues,  in Jesus Name Amen

The olive branch and the Bible's influence on the West

“Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth” (Genesis 6:11). God had sent the flood as judgement on the wickedness of mankind. Warned by Him, Noah had built the ark, and only he and his family had escaped.  They were now waiting for the waters to subside (Genesis 6, 7).  The flood as judgement on mankind clearly demonstrates what Paul calls the severity of God.  But the goodness of God is glimpsed in the olive branch as a sign of new beginnings, sign of new life after the devastation (Romans 11:22). It points to a new beginning for humanity, and to peace and reconciliation with God. In fact the olive branch and the dove have become universal symbols of peace and reconciliation.

It's not always acknowledged that this symbol dates back to Noah, but in fact it must be, since the whole of humanity derives from him  and his family (Genesis 9:1). More significant, especially in the West, there is little acknowledgement of the positive influence of the Christianity and the Bible on Western culture and values. To be sure Western culture is far from perfect, but we have to ask why it is that so many want to emigrate here from non-Western countries. Winston Churchill's comment that democracy is the worst form of government apart from all of the rest, comes to mind. It is only seen to be the worst when compared with unattainable utopia. If we do not learn from history we are destined to repeat it. And we are in danger of throwing out the baby with the bath water, as many seek to throw out the foundations of what has been the most prosperous and just time in history.

There is much written if we are prepared to seek it out. Because of space considerations,  I have restricted myself to thoughts that come from Aquilina and Papandrea's book “How Christianity Saved Civilization ... And Must Do So Again.” The authors outline seven cultural revolutions that changed society for the better. Each are the direct result of the presence of Christianity in the world, and were corrections of certain flaws in society. These non-violent revolutions can only be fully appreciated when compared to the then existing situations. The disciple is encouraged to research these things out.

The first mentioned revolution affirmed that all people are created equal. The second, that of the home, affirmed it as a place of safety and love, and where women and children are not to be exploited. A revolution of the workplace affirmed that people are not property and must also not be exploited. The revolution of religion taught that God is love. The revolution of community, taught us to love our neighbour as ourselves.  The revolution of life affirmed life and hope, and encouraged people to stand up for human rights. Finally, the  revolution of government set up the ideal that rulers should serve those whom they rule (not the other way around). These revolutions are not fully complete, neither did they occur overnight.  As I outlined earlier the yeast of the Kingdom come changes things  only gradually, as hearts are transformed. The world's revolution is not really change, it merely interchanges the oppressed and the oppressor.

Father, please open our eyes to appreciate what the Kingdom has already accomplished. Help us to continue to work towards its fulness in Jesus Name Amen

As the days of Noah: So Noah, with his sons, his wife,

and his sons’ wives,  went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. .... So those that entered, male and female of all flesh ...  went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in ( Gen. 7:7,16).  In all, only eight people were saved from the flood (1 Peter 3:20). The rest had been warned, but now it was too late. Jesus similarly warns “as the days of Noah ... they ... did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37-39). Jesus, the Son of Man is coming again to judge the world. And His resurrection is proof He will do this (Acts 17:31).

However you interpret Genesis, what you must not do, is fail to grasp Jesus' clear teaching on sin, righteousness and a literal coming judgement (John 16:8). Concerning Noah, Paul wrote “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, we might have hope” (Romans 15:4). We'll come back to hope. But first in context, Jesus tells that in Noah's day everyone carried on regardless in spite of the warnings. But how is it with all that preaching they “did not know?” The short answer, is that we suppress the truth (rationalize it away) by our unrighteous acts (Romans 1:18). When we want to do what we want to do, either what we want to do goes, or our belief in God goes! Paul again “they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Romans 1:28). I mean God's existence is something of an inconvenient truth right? The context implies that we all start off knowing the things of God intuitively, and are therefore without excuse. In fact “what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them” (verse 19). 



The Bible prophesied about what would happen, and what indeed is happening, in these last days:- “Men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, .... headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5).  Isaiah warns “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). Surly this generation is,  “as it was in the days of Noah” (Genesis 6:5)!



Coming to hope, there is a sure hope for those who flee to Jesus for refuge from the coming judgement (Hebrews 6:18, 19).  Indeed God so loved the world that He gave His unique Son Jesus, so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). When we truly grasp and respond to this hope, it leads to holiness, for “all who have this hope purify themselves just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3)!



Father, You did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Those who believe are not condemned. But unbelievers are condemned already, because they have not believed in His Name (John 3: 17, 18; Romans 8:1). Thank You Lord for the sure hope of eternal life, that is an anchor to the soul (Hebrews 6:19) For these and many other things we give You thanks and praise, in Jesus Name Amen

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord

(Gen. 6:5).  This Follows the pronouncement that every intent of the thoughts of man's heart was evil.  God was grieved in His heart, and had determined to send the flood (verses 6,7).  But Noah found Grace “in the eyes of the Lord.”  Noah was righteous before God “perfect in this generation” (6:9). The book of Hebrews clarifies what is being said here. We read “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household .... and inherited the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

The heroes of the faith were not perfect. King David was a murder and an adulterer, Noah had a drinking problem(Genesis 9:21). But when we confess and forsake our sins, we are forgiven, and God chooses to remember them no more.  In this way we are perfect “in the eyes of the Lord” (Proverbs 28:13; Hebrews 8:12). Noah received the righteousness of faith (Philippians 3:9), and this is part of what it meas to be saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8).

We see here in Genesis all the ingredients of a balanced Biblical view of salvation by grace. Grace is God's undeserved, unearned favour. It's not however, as some have perverted it, permission to live ungodly lives, to do exactly what the sinful nature wants to do.  Let's look first at Ephesians 2:8-10. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Paul is saying on the one hand that we cannot earn salvation. It's a gift, and you don't earn a gift! On the other hand, God has prepared things for us to do, not to earn our salvation, but embrace the new life in Christ. 


Paul puts it this way “The righteous requirement of the law is  fulfilled in those who do not walk according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:4). Paul also talks about “the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:26).  All this Noah fulfilled, for we read “Noah walked with God” (6:9), and that he “did everything just as God commanded him” (6:2; Hebrews 11:7). Again, this is not about earning our salvation, it's about establishing faith (James 2:17).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the attitude that refuses to obey, that does not work out our sanctification with fear and trembling  “cheap grace” (see Philippians 2:12).  Such grace is not grace at all! It's presumption, and there are warnings in scripture about persistent, willful presumption (i.e. Hebrews 10:26).  It is not about never failing, for even walking in the light is about being cleansed from sin when we stumble (1 John 1:7, 9). But the only appropriate response to the tender mercies of God, is to take up our own cross daily, and following Him (Romans 12:1; Luke 9:23).

Lord Jesus, God forbid that I should cheapen Your incredibly costly sacrifice by refusing to obey, or to walk in the Spirit.  Help us Lord, for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mark 14:38).  Thank You that Your grace is sufficient for us, and that Your strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). For these and many other things, we give You thanks and praise, in Your precious Name Amen

God's regret: “The LORD saw how great the wickedness

of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.  The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the LORD said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created ... for I regret that I have made them.'”(Genesis 6:5-7).

If the general population knows anything about the Bible, and increasingly that is not the case, they likely have the impression that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath, while the God of the New Testament is the God of love. But both of these divine characteristics are there in both the Old, and the New Testaments. In the Old Testament for example, we read that the Lord is good, His steadfast love endures forever (Psalm 136:1). On the other hand in the New, we read that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).  Many of us are happy with a God of love, with a God of wrath not so much. But God is both a God of love, and a God of justice (1 John 4:16; Genesis 1:26; Isaiah 30:18). And being made in His image (Genesis 1:26), we have the very same sense of justice built into us. Why else, when we see atrocities or abuse, do we have this inner sense that somebody should do something about it?”   

God's diagnosis about the thoughts of the heart only being evil, come again and again in  Scripture.  That is why the disciple needs, with the help of the Spirit,  to put to death the passions and desires of the heart (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:24).  Left on its own the heart is deceitful beyond cure (Jeremiah 17:9). This is part of the offense of the cross, and it is why the only way to salvation is to be rescued by receiving the substitutional sacrificial death of Christ on the cross (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).

The context of the Genesis passage comes on the heals of the story of the mixed offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men (verse 4). It points to the horrendous evil in the world being inspired, and directed from the unseen realm (see Ephesians 6:12). That the wickedness of men was great, is totally believable when you consider the over two hundred million murdered through genocide in the last century. However no matter where the influence comes from, mankind will be held responsible for his deeds (Hebrews 4:13). And justice and judgement are coming (Romans 2:5).  It is deferred only because God does not want that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). That all will not come, is clear from the lips of Jesus (Matthew 7:13).

Father, many of us want our cake and eat it too. We want judgement for the sins of others, but mercy for ourselves. However, we will  be judged with the very same measure we judge others (Matthew 7:2). And Your mercy is freely offered only to the repentant, whose who admit they are lost without you, and who turn from their sin. How shall we escape if we neglect this great salvation (Hebrews 2:3)? We will not! Thank You Lord that You opened my eyes to see my need, in Jesus Name Amen

Exclusion from paradise: So the LORD God drove

out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Since their disobedience, Adam and Eve now had within them the nature of the serpent to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10a). And now, lest they eat from the tree of life and live forever in that state, they were driven from paradise (verse 22).

Many question why a single transgression was enough to expel them from the garden.  I hear people say “I am a good person. So why would God exclude me from heaven?” But Jesus tells us that only God is good (Matthew 19:17). If and when we come out of denial however, we will surly say with Paul that in me, that is in my sinful nature, dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18). It's true that because we are made in God's image, each and every one of us has the potential for great achievement, creativity, nobility, love, generosity and unselfish sacrifice. On the other hand, even if you don't fully know it, each and every one of us is also capable of unimaginable depths of depravity, corruption, destruction, hate and vindictiveness selfishness. That is the nature of the serpent, and it resides in us all.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a dissident in Soviet Russia spent many years in  the notorious soviet prison the Gulag. But instead of becoming bitter, hate filled, self righteous and judgemental, he came to following conclusion about human nature (including his own). He wrote  “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts.” Confirming this,  Jesus tells us “from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, lies and slander” (Matthew 15:19).

Not that long after conversion,  the Lord showed me that what was good in my behaviour, was conditioned. Conditioned because the consequences of the opposite were unacceptable. Paul could talk about the offense of the cross (Galatians 5:11), and part of this is that Christ's horrendous death was a necessary substitute to secure my salvation. It was necessary, because as Jeremiah tells us, the unregenerate hear is deceitful above all and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). I know this is true, not because I experience the reality of it on an ongoing basis, but because the Word of God tells me it is true. With the disciples I would not be able to bear it (John 16:12). But what I do, is that I accept the fact that in order to be fit for heaven, the unregenerate part of me needs to die.

Father, I thank You that though I am incomplete, yet I am fully accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). I have found this business of dying to sin and being alive to You is a process (Romans 6:11). And I suppose that is why Paul takes three full chapters to expound on it (Romans 6-8). I also want to thank You for the assurance that You who began a good work in me,  will keep right on doing it until the Day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). Thank You too, that on that Day that work will be completed in an instant.  I will be like Him, and so fit for heaven (1 John3:2). And I will be forever with You (1 Thessalonians 4:17) in Jesus Name Amen

The LORD God clothed Adam

and Eve with garments of skin (Genesis 3:21). After their disobedience, Adam and Eve had realized they were naked.  They sewed fig leaves together to make coverings for themselves (3:6, 7). Before the fall they had an open, vulnerable and transparent relationship. You will likely know from your own experience, that this side of the fall openness and transparency are, by and large,  unsafe! It will likely come back to you as judgement, accusation and blame (3:12)!  The fig leaves were an attempt to hide from each other and from themselves (see: Three alienations).

Like Adam and Eve, we try to hide our guilt and shame by covering them up.  Out of  fear of rejection, we are likely afraid to let others see who we really are, afraid they will see the “naked me.” Some of the 'fig leaves' we use to cover our guilt and shame, are to suppress them, to pretend they don't exist, or that it doesn't bother us. We also blame others for laying guilt trips on us. None of this works! In fact “He who covers his sins will not prosper” (Proverbs 28:13a). David cried out “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all the day long” (Psalm 32:3). Researchers increasingly are finding connections between guilt,  shame and mental, physical and emotional health. In recovery we often say that we are only as sick as our secrets.

This brings us to God's covering, God's provision for guilt to be forgiven. And ultimately God is the only one who can forgive, for in the end all sin is against Him (Psalm 51:4). David could cry out “ Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered (Psalm 32:1).  One of the pictures of salvation then, is that God cloths us with the robe of righteousness (Isaiah 60:10).  Since all our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), then it is with His righteousness that He covers us, not our own (Philippians 3:9).  Without His covering we are lost, without hope in the world, and subject to God's wrath (Ephesians 2:12; Romans 2:8).

That's not good news, but we likely cannot fully understand the good news, unless we have first absorbed the bad. And we need to come out of denial of the fact that without Christ we are indeed lost. For if we do not know, that in and of ourselves we are wretched, miserable, poor and blind, and naked, then we will not seek to buy gold from God refined in the fire, so that we may be rich, and clothed, and that the shame of our nakedness may not be revealed (Revelation 3:17, 18).

This being so clothed is not automatic. There is no such thing as universal salvation (Ephesians 5:6; Romans 2:5). So how does it work? We first need to know that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). When God clothed Adam and Eve with skins, animals had to die. This was one of many pictures, shadows of things to come, but the substance is Christ  (Colossians 2:17). In other words it is the blood of Jesus Christ that covers our sin (1 John 1:7).  This covering has to be received through faith and repentance (John 1:12; Mark 1:15).

Father, I greatly rejoice in You today, for You have clothed me with garments of salvation (Isaiah 61:10). Thank You Lord for salvation, amazing, great, rich and free in Jesus Name Amen

Your desire shall be for your husband

And he shall rule over you” (Genesis 3:16b). To say in another way what we said in the last mediation, the statement “he shall rule over you” would be the reality in a fallen world where the yeast of the Kingdom had yet to permeate (Matthew 13:33). Man dominating woman is not part of God's plan to bring the rule of God to earth as it was in paradise (Matthew 6:10). In paradise Adam and Eve ruled together over creation, not over each other. But what are we to make of “Your desire shall be for your husband?”

The commentators do not agree on what this means. Part of the confusion is that the Hebrew word translated here as “desire,” occurs only in two other places, and does so with different meanings. The first is Genesis 4:7 which reads “if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” God was warning Cain that his anger was wanting to control him. If this is the sense of the word here in Genesis 3:16, it means that Eve's desire would be to control Adam, but in stead he would rule over her.

The only other occurrence of the word is in Songs 7:10 where comes in the context of the honeymoon stage of King Solomon's love for the Shulamite. It reads “I belong to my lover, and his desire is for me.” This is not just sexual intimacy however, though it certainly includes it. In fact Songs is quite raunchy at times, even instructing us on foreplay (2:6)! It is significant however, that the very next verse admonishes “Do not stir up nor awaken love, until the time is right” (Berean Study Bible). The point is that sex engaged in too soon can sabotage a relationship. In particular, as we were saying in earlier if the time is not right (i.e. in marriage) then the friendship love (phileo), is stunted by sexual love (eros). And is is here that the two meanings of the Hebrew come together. True intimacy is nurtured over time, and within the pseudo hyper sexual love that so dominates the West true intimacy (body, soul and spirit), it is largely absent. In the Jewish context, the (at least) year long betrothal with abstinence, had the benefit of increasing longing resulting in true intimacy. And to do this, while at same time, taming the beast of lust without which, it inevitably eclipses the deeper intimacy.

Emotions, longing and desire, in and of themselves, are neutral. They become sinful however when, for example, we allow anger to turn to rage, and attraction to lust. As with Cain we must master them. Brain research has show that emotions and thoughts come together as a package, and that every thought has an emotion attached to it. When we obsess it amplifies the emotion. So then in order to take control of our emotions, we need to take our thoughts captive unto obedience to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Father, emotions out of control do not bring the Kingdom. Paul tells that those who are Christ’s have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24). When we do our part in, by the Spirit, putting to death the deeds and desires of the sinful nature (Romans 8:13), You do yours! You even change our desires (Philippians 2:12, 13). For these and many other things we give You thanks and praise in Jesus Name Amen

The yeast of Kingdom come on earth

The perceived teaching of the Bible on the woman's and other issues are red flags to our culture, but it's widely misunderstood. We are only now beginning to understand the ancient texts in context. One huge misunderstanding is that not every admonition is for all times, and all circumstances. Moral commands don't change, cultural ones might. If Paul's command concerning men's hair was for all time, how come the Nazarite vow required men to let their hair grow? There are many examples, do women need to wear hats in church (1 Corinthians 11:14, 6; Numbers 6:5)?

The primary mandate of the disciple is to cooperate with God in bringing in the Kingdom of God (Mathew 28:19, 20). Kingdom come is revolutionary,  and if we don't see this, we have misunderstood Scripture. Cunningham and Hamilton's “Why Not Women?” is helpful with respect to women's issues. Kingdom come is revolutionary, but it doesn't promote violent revolution. Jesus told that the one who lives by the sword shall die by the sword (Matthew 26:52). In other words violence promotes violence.

Kingdom principles and practices are very different from the World's. The picture is of yeast working its way through the lump (Matthew 13:33). Kingdom yeast does not address the problems head on, and change comes only gradually as hearts are changed. Consider slavery. It would be easy to make a (false) case that the Bible endorses it.  But if we love our neighbour as ourselves, we'll set slaves free wherever possible (Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:31). The yeast of the abolition of slavery is contained in this commandment.

William Wilberforce worked the yeast of the Kingdom for the abolition of slavery through his speeches in Britain's Parliament. It was a life long battle. Similarly it was the yeast of the Kingdom working though the suffragettes a hundred years ago, that lead peacefully to a women's right to vote.  “Kingdom come” reforms things, rather than tearing them down.  When things are not done in a Kingdom way however, things inevitably finish up going overboard.  Far too often in the World, the oppressed become the oppressor. Surely Wilberforce's way, was preferable to the carnage of America's abolitionist war. And it's still not settled today! Violence promotes violence, and hatred promotes hatred. And this is exactly what we have in the West in the tyranny of radical race ideology, and in the extremes of the women's movement. There is  much hatred of men in general, and masculinity in and of itself is said to be toxic. To be sure violence against women and gays is still very much a problem, and yes there are inequities in all these arenas, but if we don't follow Kingdom principles in reformation, things will always go too far.

The Kingdom is all about changing and winning hearts, and bringing peace. A key principle, if not the key principle, is forgiveness.  And if there is to be peace, the victim has to be the better person. It's a hard lesson to hear when you've been abused, but while we are not responsible for the wrong done against us, we are responsible for our response to the wrong done. Even harder to hear is that if we don't forgive, neither will we be forgiven (Matthew 6:14). But as King David came to realize, the one we have all offended and sinned against the most, is God (Psalm 51:4).

Father, we pray Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us grace to do our part Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Male female equality: Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

“The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam ... He took one of his ribs, and made it into a woman. And Adam said: 'This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh'” (Genesis 2:21-23)

The Bible gets short shrift when it comes to woman's issues, but too often we fail to see its positive radical nature that spoke to the cultures into which they were written. In particular we need to see this story as a polemic (a corrective) to cultures far and wide, ancient and modern. My main source here is Cunningham and Hamilton's “Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership.” While their work discusses the attitudes and practices of ancient Greece, I have no doubt they are similar to those of cultures into which Genesis was written.

Our growing knowledge of ancient Greece does not paint a pretty picture. It was one of the most woman-hating civilizations in all history! In particular, it would be hard to find a society that so elevated one sex, and subjugated the other. The poet Homer cast the die for beliefs and practices for thousands of years to come. In 'The Iliad' we learn that women were considered to be the cause of all conflict and suffering. They had no value however, they were mere possessions to be won, and pawns in men’s power plays. Things progressed negatively from there. Roman law gave the husband the right to kill his wife for either adultery or drunkenness. In the light of this, we need to see the positive radical nature of Biblical teaching. Cunningham and Hamilton's book is a must read in terms of understanding this!

A huge source of influence on beliefs and practice in ancient Greece were the gods, and their attitudes and practices filtered down into the culture. Zeus not only beat his goddess wife Hera, he had offspring with at least seven other goddesses. Hera of course was expected to be faithful. The Greek poets Semonides and Hesiod emphasized the separate origins of men and women, saying that women were a divine curse, originating from a sow, a donkey, or some other despised animal.

Over against this, Genesis paints a picture of shared origins. Created from Adam's rib, Eve is of the same exact flesh and bones. The Genesis 2 account, is an elaboration of the overview in Genesis 1:27, where we read that God created both male and female. Before Eve was created, it was not good for man to be alone (2:18). Only afterwards was creation declared to be very good (1:31). Her arrival transformed Eden into paradise! Matthew Henry comments “woman was made of a rib, out of the side of Adam; not out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.” Adam and Eve were created equal, and we need to see here in the very beginning of the inspired Scriptures, the seeds of the emancipation of women. There is much to say!

 

Father, thank You for scholars who can give us insight into things we have likely missed. Again Genesis before the fall is the goal. Help us Lord, we have a long way to go, and we need Your help in Jesus Name Amen

Confession: When I refused to confess my sin,

my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long (Psalm 32:3 NLT). David is telling us poetically, that guilt was eating away at him.  We've been looking at blame and excuses, and about being unwilling to take responsibility for our actions (Genesis 3:12, 13).  Still on its own taking responsibility and making amends does not deal with the guilt that we might try and suppress, medicate or otherwise seek to mitigate. Suppressed guilt is one of the reasons we often don't like ourselves very much. We can sin against God, against each other, and in fact we can also sin against ourselves (1 Corinthians 8:12; 6:18). However after committing adultery and then murder to cover it up (1 Samuel 11), David tells the Lord “Against You, You only have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). If then our sin is primarily against God, then ultimately He alone has the authority to forgive (or not).  This is helpful to know when others don't forgive us, or when we have trouble forgiving ourselves.

In the first verse of Psalm 32 we read “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.”  Part of what this means, is that the cure for guilt is to be forgiven. In order to be forgiven however, we need to confess our sins. And when we do, He is faithful and just, not only to forgive us, but to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). And He can be just because of the substitutionary death of Jesus for us, on the cross (1 John 2:2).  Of course, it's just one of the many reasons why our “higher Power” in twelve-step-programs needs to be the God of the Bible.

But actually twelve-step-programs lead us further in bringing the Kingdom into our relationships. It's another difficult step however. After making a fearless moral inventory of ourselves the next step (5) is “Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.”  This in fact is one small step for mankind in bringing in the Kingdom. And if you think step 5 is hard go figure James 5:16 which commands “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”  Many will protest “I don't need to confess to others to be forgiven!” And this is true, we confess to God to be forgiven, but we confess to others to be healed. It's promised right there in James!

Step 5 suggests we start our confessions with one safe person (our sponsor), this because frankly, this side of the fall,  confession is not generally safe. In varying degrees of safeness however, the fellowship in twelve-step programs promotes a non-judgmental atmosphere where there is total acceptance of others. And as, with the gospel, it is in this spiritual atmosphere that we are set free to change.

Father, the picture I have of putting James 5:16 into practice, is for us to come together at the foot of the cross where,  in it's shadow and in Your presence, we know deep within our hearts that although we are flawed, we are fully accepted and loved. And here, in that place, we are able to extend love and acceptance first to ourselves, and then to each other. Here blame, excuses and our unwillingness to take responsibility flee away.  Here, we start to experience the same intimacy Adam and Eve had with each other and with You before the fall. Help us return there Lord,  in Jesus Name Amen

Excuses: “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

After Adam had blamed Eve for giving him the forbidden fruit, God  asked Eve what she had done. The above was her response (Genesis 3:12, 13). It's difficult to make a hard and fast distinction between blame and excuse. But let's work with blame admitting just a little more than “I didn't do it,” and excuse admitting “Well yes I did it but .....”

There seems to be no lengths to which we will go to avoid taking responsibility for our actions. And there seems to be a progression involved starting, as with Adam, taking no responsibility at all;  Moving, as with Eve, to admitting we did, it but pleading extenuating circumstances; Next admitting we are wrong and actually making changes; Finally making amends where appropriate. We're talking about bearing fruit worthy of repentance (Luke 3:8), and about restitution (Numbers 5:7).  

Continuing to look at these things through the lens of twelve-step-programs, we see the first step is about coming out of denial, out of our propensity to rationalize. Eve was deceived, and it seems that few of us realize just how easily we too are deceived. We can see it in others, and might even judge them for it. But the fact of the matter is that for each and every one of us it is true that 典he heart is deceitful above all things, and desperatel

It gets tested, and/or revealed in step 4, which is to make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. This is a truly difficult step, and a place where many drop out of the program. The point is that in order to do this, we will likely have to live again the pain of past hurts. This will likely propel us first to blame and then to excuses. And to move fully into this step we will need to forgive. And we will need to do all this hard work before we can honestly and fearlessly look at our part. Of course we don't want to get stuck in the past, but we do need to visit it in order that, with Jesus as our higher power, it can be redeemed. And as part of this our forgiveness needs to be from the heart (Matthew 18:25). Much of this is a process, and a painful one at that. But it is a necessary one if we want to be free of the past (John 8:32)

Working the steps then helps us to figure out what is our part and what's not. We call this taking care of our side of the street. In addition to forgiving others, we need to take responsibility for our part, and to make amends when and where appropriate (Step 9). There is a lot of work to do before this step. Timing is important, for before we do our amends we likely need to show over the long haul, both to others, and to ourselves, that we really have changed. People we have hurt are likely to be skeptical, words are cheap, we need to bear fruit worthy of repentance, and producing fruit takes time (Matthew 3:8).

Father, in this bringing of the Kingdom of heaven to earth, we all have a long way to go. We need Your help Lord. Thank You, that when we fully surrender, You change even our desires, and then give us the grace to do what without You we cannot do (Philippians 2:12, 13). Thank You Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Fear: I was afraid

because I was naked (Genesis 3:9). Adam had eaten the forbidden fruit, and in fear had hidden from God. We are talking here about the fear of the Lord.  It seems to me that our culture, including the church, has lost this, but “the fear of the Lord it is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). The principle is surly found in Romans 13:3, 4 where Paul tells that rulers (supremely God) are not a terror to those who do good, but to those who do evil. He goes on to say “But if you do evil, be afraid.”  Fear is not the end of wisdom, but it needs to start there.

Many try to say that fear, in the New Testament, is reverence and awe, but I have to wonder if we even walk in reverence and awe. And Paul, following his Damascus road experience, could say “Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men” (Acts 9; 2 Corinthians 5:11 NKJV; Revelation 6:16).  And if we are to take the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), we must not ignore, or otherwise dismiss, Hebrews 10:26, 27 which reads “For if we continue to sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”

A healthy fear of the Lord then keeps us from sin, but now let’s look at the antidote.  “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love”  (1 John 4:17, 18). It's not reverence and awe that is cast out here by the way, it is fear of punishment.

Christianity is not primarily about rules and regulations, it's about relationship (John 17:3). Accordingly we need to see it in terms of a relationship between a loving, wise, but strict father, and an obedient son. There is wisdom in the fear of punishment, “for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Proverbs 3:12).  A loving father always wants the best for his child, and the correction is there to train the child in the nature and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:2). Then, as the relationship of love, respect and obedience matures, fear will be cast out and confidence increase.  It's not about being perfect, with God, it's about the fellowship we have with Him and with Jesus when we walk in the light as He is in the light. When we do this the blood of Jesus Christ keeps on cleanings us from all sin (1 John 1:3-7, 9).  

Lord, thank You that as mature sons and daughters You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). Even so it's not about being  perfect, rather its about continuing to walk with You and so be in the ongoing process, as we keep our eyes on Him, of being transformed to be “as He is in the World” (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Thank You Father that on that Day the transformation will be complete,  for “we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2) in His precious Name Amen


 

Three alienations: Three reconciliations

Then their eyes were opened they knew that they were naked,  and they sewed fig leaves together for coverings. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:7, 8). They had eaten the forbidden fruit, and were now experiencing the spiritual death God had warned them about (Genesis 2:17; Ephesians 2:1).  Part of that death was the loss of intimacy of their previously open, loving, mutually accepting relationship. Vulnerability is no longer safe in a world where you are likely to get the blame for what goes wrong (verse 12)! The fig leaves were about hiding from each other. This is the first alienation.

Of course, this side of the fall it only makes sense to be careful who,  and what, we let in. Many of us discovered even in childhood, that to be difference or show weakness invites others to bully and/or judge us. At all costs we must not appear weak. Image is everything! We use denial, and other defence mechanisms, to protect ourselves. We wear masks, Adam and Eve wore fig leaves! Conforming to the superficial values of the world, beauty, success, intelligence, strength etc., we project an image that we so often start to believe ourselves. In the process we develop a false self that we don't even like. Our personalities becomes fragmented, and there is war within. The second alienation then is from ourselves.  

Like Adam and Eve many of us fear God (verse 10). We think that He's out to get us, just waiting for us to mess up so He can condemn us. And so in a multitude of ways we hide from Him, even denying His existence. This is the third alienation. But God, and it's a huge 'but,' has provided a way to be gracious to us, so that He can be both just and merciful in reconciling us to Himself (Isaiah 30:18). God offers reconciliation with Himself as a free gift (Ephesians 2:8). We do however, need to turn from our sin (repent) and receive and believe this good news (Mark 1:15; John 1:12).  

The three alienations then are man from God, man from man, and man from himself. But God was not caught off guard by any of this. He had a plan even before the foundation of the world to affect reconciliation in all three areas of alienation (Revelation 3:18). Paul tells us that it is God's will, that in the fullness of time to unite together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him (Ephesians 1:9, 10). That last part “in Him” is not a throwaway, all things that are in Him will be united together in Christ, but only those things that are in Him!

Father, You were in Christ reconciling the world to Yourself (2 Corinthians 5:19). And when we are in Christ we are indeed reconciled to You. We have passed from death to life and will not come to the judgement (John 5:24). Then Lord because of what Jesus did, and because of Your grace, You made it  possible for us to forgive and be reconciled to each other. It's a process, but a necessary one (Matthew 6:14, 15; Hebrews 12:15). Finally Lord, and this was a process with me, we eventually get to like ourselves. It is about loving You and our neighbour as ourselves (Mark 12:30, 31). For these and many other things we give You thanks and praise in Jesus Name Amen

Love, free will and the consequences of no consequences

If you google “consequences of no consequences,” you get a lot of discussion about child discipline. I read “Giving children all love and support with no consequences and boundaries, leads to behaviour issues,” and  “Implementing consequences helps children gain a real understanding of how the world works.”  But is not just about  children.  It seems to be part of human nature that if we can get away with something we will. The Bible puts it this way “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong” (Ecclesiastes 8:11).  I'm thinking genocide in the extreme, but also about enabling, you know when the wife for example, lies to cover her husband's drunkenness, shielding him from the consequences. It's not good for anyone!  

Nobody likes to think of themselves as a villain! However, shortly after conversion, the Lord showed me that most of my “goodness” was trained into me as a way of avoiding consequences. I have also discovered that many believers have very little understanding of the evil of which, given the right circumstances, we are all capable of committing. As the Ecclesiastes reference indicates, it's a heart matter. The Bible again “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9)?  Consider this, if the Bible is true and you don't know this about your heart, could it be that you are deceived?  And could be that part of the offence of the cross is that your situation and mine is so dire, that the only way to rescue us is through the substantiation death of the perfect Son of God (Galatians 2:20)?

Enter the school of hard knocks, the positive lessons we learn from difficult circumstances, and from the consequences of bad choices (Galatians 6:7). I say positive lessons because the default it to blame (Genesis 3:12).  We are free to choose not to obey the commandments, but we are not free from the consequences. As a young man I knew my wild lifestyle was wrong, I didn't care, until I did. I came to my bottom, came out of denial, turned, repented and was saved. Today, because of persistent propaganda over the last fifty years, many do not know right from wrong (Jonah 4:11). It's amazing to me, as Jordon Peterson reports, that saying we need to take responsibility for our lives is something of a revelation to our culture!

But why did the Lord risk it all by giving us free will? It seems to be about love. And love cannot be love, if there's no choice. We would be robots! If there's no possibility of saying no, choice is meaningless. And the possibility of our “no,” makes our “yes” significant. In His love then, He allows the real possibility of “no,” and warns of the consequences. But in His love, after we have come to our senses because of the pain of our “no” (Luke 15:17), He makes it possible, at incredible cost so Himself,  for us to return to “yes” (1 Peter 3:18; John 3:16).

Father, I learned the hard way that if there were no consequences to my 'no,' I'd likely have ridden off into the sunset! I've also learned to value righteousness, for its fruit is a tree of life (Proverbs 11:30).  As You make clear in the great commandment (Mark 12:30), our 'yes' is a choice to love and be loved.  Please quiet and settle me again with Your love Lord (Zephaniah 3:17) in Jesus Name Amen

A helper comparable to him I: Understanding the times

“The sons of Issachar understood the times, and knew what Israel ought to do” (Genesis 2:17; 1 Chronicles 12:32). The perceived teaching of the Bible on the relationship between men and women is a huge red flag to our culture. But there is a lot of misunderstanding about how to understand the Bible. Not every admonition is for all times and all circumstances. Do we insist, for example, that women wear hats in church (1 Corinthians 11:10)? Do we in the West kiss the brethren in public (Romans 16:6)? It would be very misunderstood! Some will insist on it because, by the slippery slope argument, if you let one thing go, you will eventually let everything go! But we are to love the Lord with all our mind, and we surely need to distinguish between moral and cultural commands. Moral commands don't change, cultural ones might.

In Bible times women were not educated. And rather than taking Paul's rule that women not be allowed to teach (1 Timothy 2:12) as  applicable at all times in all cultures, we need to see the principle behind the command. And it is surly the same as that behind the command not to promote a novice (1 Timothy 3:6). With women not being educated,  Paul's rule was simply common sense!

A comparison with slavery can be informative. In fact a strong case can be made that the Bible does not condemn slavery. Slaves, for example, are commanded to submit to their masters, even when they are harsh (1 Peter 2:18). Does this mean God approves slavery or harsh treatment? It is a mistake to see something as God's perfect will just because it's in Scripture. I mean Judas went out and hung himself (Matthew 27:5)!  And Jesus was way ahead of the culture in His dealing with women (i.e. John 4:9).

Paul tells us that in Christ there is neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free (Galatians 2:28). And I think of this verse as containing the seeds of both the abolition of slavery, and the emancipation of women. In many ways “Kingdom come on earth” (Matthew 6:10) is revolutionary, and Jesus attitude to women was all of that. But heaven's means of “Kingdom come” is not violent. It reforms things, rather than tears them down. I like to think of William Wilberforce's life long battle for the abolition of slavery in Britain's Parliament, as his working from the Biblical command to love justice and do kindness (Micah 6:8). The same principle was surely needed to be at work a hundred years ago in the movement to give women the right to vote. When things are not done in a Kingdom way however, they inevitably finish up going too far. It's the old swing of the pendulum, and I see over and over, those who were formally oppressed finishing up as oppressors.

Father, if we are to bring the Kingdom to earth, we must operate out of Kingdom principles and attitudes. When we see that something needs to change there is a strong tendency to go too far, throwing the baby out with the bath water. It is not true, as some would have it, that masculinity is toxic in and of its self.  And when we tear things down, what replaces them can be as bad as, or worse than what needed to be changed.  Help us Lord to operate with wisdom, love, justice and courage,  in a world gone mad, in Jesus Name Amen

If you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but

.... if, by the Spirit, you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8:13). This New Testament principle is the equivalent of  “in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).   It seems to me that much of the church has lost the fear of the Lord (1 Peter 2:17).  It is true that God is love, God is kind, God is longsuffering and salvation is a free gift, it cannot be earned.  However God is not an enabler, and Paul can talk about both the goodness and the severity of God. In particular “on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22)

Jesus speaks into the title verse when He says to His disciples “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). But what is this denying ourselves, putting to death the misdeeds of the body, and crucifying the sinful nature with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24)?  Paul speaks about it as our being living sacrifices, and about no longer living for ourselves, but for Him who died for us and rose again. This is what it means to be a new creation  (Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 5:15, 17).  If it sounds intense or unreasonable look at what it cost and remember You are not your own  you were bought at a price with the precious blood of Christ, and look at the rewards “you will live” (1 Cor 6:19, 20; Romans 8:13; 1Pet. 1:19 ). You see there can be no resurrection without a death, and we cannot be truly free while we are still under the domination of the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Jesus essentially tells us that the one who sins is addicted to sin, on the other hand if the Son shall set you free, you will be free indeed (John 8:34, 36).

Notice that is is both by the Spirit,  and you who are to put death the deeds and the desires of the sinful nature. We cannot compel the sinful nature to die, but we can cooperate with the Spirit as He does it with us. Until we do this we are not truly free. Even so it is a process, and I still find myself praying “Lord help me to do my part in putting to death the deeds and the desires of the sinful nature!” Paul admonishes us “Take heed to yourselves and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1Timothy 4:16).

Father, thank You for free gift of salvation, and the assurance of it as I take heed and continue in the faith (1 Timothy 4:16 again). Somehow Lord we have failed to stress the importance of continuing in the faith. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). I cannot do it perfectly Lord,  for in many things we all fail (James 3:2). But thank You that If we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Thank You too Lord that You who began a good work in us will keep right on working until the day of Jesus Christ in whose Name we pray Amen

A good God and the problem of suffering

“God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” Since both God and what He made are good (Luke 18:19; Genesis 1:31), then why suffering? The book of Job wrestles with this. Job is righteous, but his suffering is not for wrongdoing, as his friends would have it (Job 42:7). Certainly we reap what we sow, bad choices have bad consequences (Galatians 6:7). But not all  suffering is for our sin! When we suffer, we might think God is punishing us, or that He's unjust. Have you ever cried out “Why?” Many people who say they don't believe in God, nevertheless seem to be mad at Him.

I'm not sure what people mean when they say “there's a reason for everything!” It seems to imply God sends the bad, and that He has a reason for sending it. He gives a child cancer to teach him or her something?  That would be child abuse, and that's not the God of the Bible, nor the One I trust! We can suffer from our own, or other people's sin, but also because of seemingly random happenstances. The Bibles says that “God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). It's not that evil is good,  rather that God is at work for good, in the evil that He allows. It's not so much then, that everything happens for a reason, but rather that for disciples,  He uses what He allows for good.

The Bible is silent concerning any reason for earthquakes, tsunamis and the like. And as with Job, we are left to wrestle with the 'why' of our suffering. Life is not fair, nobody said it was! But the greatest injustice ever,  was the perfect Son of God crucified. To me, the bigger question is about how we deal with suffering?  On the day that I knew was going to be the most difficult in my life, the day I knew my wife was going to take the four children and leave, the Lord brought this verse to mind “Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). I felt I was being told suffering is a barrier the other side of which is joy, and if, like Jesus we endure it, there will be “joy in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

In fact our response to suffering is something of a crossroads. You either go the way Job's wife suggested, and curse God (Job 2:9), or you wrestle through, and keep wrestling though until you get an answer that satisfies you (Genesis 32:26). And if you do it properly you will, like Job, find yourself being humbled, and acknowledging that you know nothing,  move from knowing about God, into having a personal, loving, intimate relationship with Him (Job 42:3b, 5). Nobody is saying it's easy!

Lord Jesus,  in the world we will have tribulation, but we are to rejoice, because You have overcome the World (John 16:33). Thank You Lord that with every trial or temptation, You provide a way to stand up under it (1 Corinthians 10:13). Thank You for Your invitation to come boldly to the throne of Grave to find mercy and grace to help in time of need  (Hebrews 4:16).  Thank You Lord that You not only suffered for us (1 Peter 3:18), You suffer with us,  in Your precious Name Amen

Answering life's big questions

The Bible does not set out to prove God, it simply states that He is (Genesis 1:1a). But in any case, we don't find God by reason. We only know persons, when they allow us into their lives. Please note, I'm not saying reason is not important. And if we are to love God with all our mind (Mark 12:30), then we need to be in the ongoing process of working through the many disconnect we find between our faith and reason. It can be helpful to read how other have done this.  Physicist John Polkinghorne (Quarks, chaos and Christianity) says “A big fundamental question like belief in God (or disbelief),  is not settled by a single argument. It's too complicated for that. What one has to do, is to consider lots of different issues and see whether or not the answer one gets adds up to a total picture that makes sense.”

Journalist Lee Strobel (The Case for a Creator) set out to disprove God. But instead, chronicling his journey from atheist to believer, he comments “when I opened my mind to the possibility of an explanation beyond naturalism, I found the design hypothesis most clearly accounted for the evidence of science. The ‘explanatory  power’ of the design hypothesis outstripped every other theory.”

There are many other fundamentals questions that knowing the mere existence of a designer, does not answer. Is He the God of the Bible; Can I know Him as a person;  Does He loves me;  Does life has meaning or purpose; Why is the world so messed up; Why is there such cruelty, cruelty that seems to be embedded in nature itself (i.e. nature red in tooth and claw); Is mankind is good,  or evil; How do relationships work; Why do they so easily go wrong; Why pursuing the things we want so badly, so often lead to disaster etc., etc.

Fifty years ago, when the culture could still,  at some level,  be described as Christian, the sitcoms had life lessons that reflected, Biblical values and Biblical wisdom. Today the basic lesson the sitcoms teach,  is that jumping in and out of bed at the drop of hat is normal,  and there are no real consequences to doing so. These are two huge lies (Galatians 6:7).  And one of the reasons for Jordon Peterson's  incredible popularity (12 Rules for Life), is that he is, at least partially, filling the vacuum left from the lack of teaching Biblical values and wisdom. He tells, for example, that the room goes quiet when he suggests we need to take responsibility for our lives. Who would have known, fifty years ago,  that that would be a life changing revelation today?

Perhaps the aspect of life that has suffered the most from the retreat from Biblical values and Biblical wisdom, is relationships. Paul summoning up his admonition to couples says “let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:31). Here is not the place to go into exposition, but consider how far we have come from the ideal where, in intimate relationships, we confess our faults one to another,  and pray for one another in order that we may be healed (James 5:16a).  

Fifty years ago, the need for the church to teach these things was not as dire as it is today. The cry today is not is it true, but is it relevant?  Well, what do you think, Jesus came to heal the broken hearted (Luke 4:18)?

Creation: The puzzle of a finely tuned, and ordered universe

Many do not know that Science was started by the church, which also ran the first Universities. Believing in God, it made sense to study creation systematically, looking for laws that described how the universe operated. But if everything that is, is the result of a chaotic, undirected explosion, there's absolutely no reason to expect order. And order, and the fine tuning of the universe, are a puzzle for atheistic science.

The term “fine-tuning” is used to characterize sensitive dependences on the values of certain constants that appear in physical laws in physics, biology etc. In terms of it being a puzzle,  Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time) noted, "The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many fundamental numbers, like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron. ... The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.” From Wikipedia “The occurrence of life in the universe is very sensitive to the values of certain fundamental physical constants and that the observed values are, for some reason, improbable.”

Improbable is something of an understatement.  In particular probabilities that reflect one chance in 10 to the power of 120 for a fine tuned universe to occur, are thrown around. That number is over 10 to the power of 39  times more than the estimated number of particles in the visible universe. By comparison, the complete works of Shakespeare coming out of an explosion at the print factory, is likely (please use this with gentleness and humility)!

An online quote from Richard Dawkins reads  “The more statistically improbable a thing is, the less we can believe that it happened by blind chance. Superficially the obvious alternative to blind chance is an Intelligent Designer.” In other words it looks designed, but it can't be, because it would contradict the presuppositions of naturalism.  It's a circular argument of course! Did I mention resistance to change? In what looks to me like desperate attempt to double down on naturalism, the theory of the multiverse has been proposed. It's a kind of survival of the fittest among a myriad of invisible, and scientifically unverifiable parallel universes.

What I am saying, is that to claim that order and fine tuning come out of an undirected and uncontrolled explosion (the Big Bang or whatever) makes no sense. And the fact that there is order and fine tuning is surely evidence for what is being called Intelligent Design (ID).  ID is an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins. Of course, the internet, calls it pseudoscience (not real Science). But order in the universe is far from the only evidence for ID. In particular the Discovery Institute, which advocates it,  has many convincing things to share. For example Stephen Myer's 'Signature in the cell' argues for ID from DNA. He and Michael Behe (Irreducible Complexity),  have many interesting related videos on YouTube.

Father, You tell us that to those who have, more will be given. But to those who have not, even what they have will be taken away. In fact You send strong delusion to those who do not love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10).  There are many I love who are deceived, and who don't seem to want to hear the truth. I pray for them Lord, and for myself for boldness and humility, and that my very life would speak truth,  in Jesus Name Amen

God created, God made (Genesis 1:1, 6)

The Hebrew word bârâ (created),  is used in the Bible only in connection with the activity of God. It indicates something completely new coming into existence.  As we now know, the heavens and the earth (every material thing) had a beginning, before that there was nothing.  Thus “God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1),  can only mean He created all that exists out of nothing. On the other hand He “made” the sun, moon and the stars (verse 16).  What then is the difference, between 'created' and 'made?' An illustration comes to mind. They say that Sir Christopher Wren built St. Paul's cathedral in London,  England. But he did not physically built it, rather that he designed, commissioned and facilitated the building of it. Likewise 'God made,' as distinct from 'God created' allows for an understanding that the particulars of the formation of the sun, moon and stars was not necessarily hands on, so to speak. Psalm 90:2 speaks of the earth being formed. In other words the text allows for an understanding that the formation of the sun, moon and stars, involved what we would call natural processes.

The phrase natural processes is descriptive, and Scientist have a fascinating description of the formation of the moon. But can natural processes explain everything? From the internet “Naturalism is the philosophical belief that everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted.” In other words in the eyes of much modern Science the answer to my question is “yes.” But does this reflect reality?

The current most widely accepted description of the beginning of the universe is the 'Big Bang.' From the internet “The Big Bang hypothesis states that all current and past matter in the Universe came into existence at the same time, roughly 13.8 billion years ago. At that time, all matter was compacted into a very small ball with infinite density and intense heat called a Singularity. The Singularity suddenly began expanding, and the universe as we know it began.” Two questions, where did the singularity come from, and in terms of the scientific principle of cause and effect, what caused the Big Bang?

A beginning to the universe requires a beginner, someone or something external to the universe, that starts the whole thing. The universe cannot cause itself. To deny this is to imply that nothing created everything that is out of nothing. When challenged about such things, those who dismiss the possibility or an external causal agent say something like “We don't know the natural cause yet, but we are sure we will eventually!” The word 'belief” in the statement that defines Naturalism, is both correct and interesting. It cannot be proved, and together with atheism, is every much a faith position, as belief in God.

Actually, Naturalism is one of an uncountable number of world views,  lenses through which we seek to interpret the world. There are mathematical theorems (Gödel's incompleteness theorems) that essentially imply that a world view can only be held by faith.  Since this is the case, we need to ask which world views most closely reflect reality.

Father,  there are many questions to ask. And my thesis, and the thesis of this book, is that Biblical World views corresponds most closely to reality.  Help us to examine this with an open mind Lord, and help us to live lives that prompt others to want to examine it too, in Jesus Name Amen

Doubtful disputes: “God called the light Day

and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day” (Genesis 1:5).  My heart is heavy this morning as I write, and I feel God's heart is also heavy too, at the way Christians have argued over how to interpret this chapter, and particularly over the interpretation of the word “yom” (day). Accusations have basically flown back and forth, with one faction essentially accusing another of compromising liberalism,  another of putting stumbling blocks in the way of the world coming to believe the Bible.   

Actually there at least three views. Firstly, that of the young earth creationists who hold that the days spoken of in the enumeration of days (first day, second day etc.) are literal twenty four hour periods. There is no doubt that the One who created everything out of nothing could have done it this way. Young earth creationists affirm that He did.  On the other hand old age creationists interpret 'day' allegorically as an age, quoting “A day with the Lord is as a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8). In a variation of this, Hugh Ross (The Genesis Question) tells that the Hebrew word 'yom' in addition to being a twenty four hour day is also daylight in 1:5, and it is the whole  creation “week” in Genesis 2:4 (see NKJV). It is also variously translated as time, always,  a life time etc.  Ross concludes that 'age' is therefore a literal translation of 'yom'. Theistic evolution is third view of Genesis 1. It contends that whatever parts of of evolution are true, are simply the way God created things.  One variation,  has the days representing the stages of Stephen Jay Gould's “Punctuated Equilibrium.”

The differences stem largely from different methods of interpretation of these difficult to understand ancient texts. And we still have much to learn about interpretation. One thing we need to realize, is that while these texts were written for us, they were not written to us (Romans 15:4). In particular, they needed to be understood by a pre-scientific culture with a totally different world views to ours. There is also the question of literary genre here (how we classify literature into history, poetry etc.). The genre here is surely unique!

I personally know sincere Bible believing lovers of God, in each of the above camps. Furthermore they all subscribe to the essentials outlined in the meditation 'In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity' given earlier. Surly in light of the substantial agreement in essentials,  this is not an issue over which to declare war. There are many difficulties, and we need to give each other grace to disagree and still be in fellowship. Indeed Paul admonishes us to receive one another (as fellow believers),  but not to doubtful disputes. And they are doubtful when they produce more heat than light!  I am not saying the issues are not important. Paul admonishes each one to be fully convinced, but we are not to judge, or to show contempt for our fellow believers.  Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies  (Romans 14:1-10; 1 Corinthians 8:1).

Father,  forgive us for those times we have been more interested in proving that we are right, than maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3). It's our unity that shows the world that You sent Jesus (John 17:23).  Help us here Lord, in His precious we pray Name Amen

In the beginning: Science, faith and the resistance to change

In the so called Science-Faith conflict, more often than not, it is the resistance of the church to Galileo's theory that the earth revolves around the sun, that is cited. But it was not, and is not,  just the church that resists new ideas.  It is people, even, or perhaps especially, Scientists! I mean very smart people often have an additional obstacle to overcome when it comes to admitting they are wrong (ego). But perhaps I should speak for myself! Nevertheless, from the internet Einstein “fiercely resisted the view that the universe was expanding, despite his contemporaries' suggestions that this was the case.” In both science and faith, we all tend to interpret things though the lens of our pre-determined world views (or theology).  We will look at these things more closely later.  But here I want to talk about the resistance to paradigm shifts that occur in Science.

Thomas Kuhn in his book 'The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,'  documents how favourite and widely accepted scientific theories, strongly resist change by the Scientific community. One scientific revolution centred around whether the universe had a beginning (Genesis 1:1a). About a hundred years ago the steady state theory was widely accepted, including by Einstein (Google it). It hypothesized that the universe had always existed. This eliminated the obvious logic, based on  the Scientific law of cause and effect, that the existence a beginning, requires a Beginner!

Again from the internet: “When Hubble determined that the vast majority of stars and galaxies had a red shift, he created a major shift in the world view that dominated science. The universe before Hubble was thought to have eternally existed. After Hubble the presently observed universe could no longer be consider to be eternal.”

The red shift in light is similar to the Doppler shift in sound. The Doppler shift is the change of pitch that's heard when an ambulance,  sounding a siren, approaches and then passes an observer. The actual pitch of the siren does not change, but the pitch that is heard is higher during the approach, and lower as the vehicle moves away. The red shift in light is conceptually similar. It can be understood as the observed wavelength of the light being stretched, or 'shifted' towards the red part of the spectrum as a source moves away from the observer.

Please do not think I am anti-science. I am not. Many of the discoveries of Science are awesome. Science ultimately seeks for truth, and I believe, as with the steady state theory, that Science will eventually correct its errors. It might just take a very long time, and  especially, from my point of view,  when it postulates theories that contradict clear and unambiguous Biblical statements! Defending this point of view is called apologetics, and there is much to say. But there is also much to say about “clear and unambiguous Biblical statements.” I am talking about hermeneutics, the theory and practice of interpretation.  And I want to say clearly, that we have arrived neither in Science, nor in our understanding of how to interpret the Bible!

Prayer. Father help us not to be afraid of different ideas. You tell us to hold firmly to the foundations (Hebrews 10:33). But please help us to be open to refinements to our thinking, and to be willing to admit it when we are wrong, or when we don't know. And there are more things we don't know, than things we do. Grant us boldness,  but humility Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Interpretation, unity and the whole council of God.

I have often been asked “Can't you make the Bible say anything you want?” It's called twisting scripture. I usually answer, tongue in cheek, “Oh yes, and using the same rules of interpretation, I can make the dictionary say the same thing! And since I discovered that, I stopped using the dictionary!” Thank the Lord for spellchecker! Twisting words is a fine art both in the church, and in the wider culture. But Peter warns that when we twist Scripture, we do it to our own destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

If you think you have a pretty good handle on interpretation let me ask you what you do with the obscure passages such as the one coming up concerning the Nephilim (Genesis 6:1-4). Or what do you make of “angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode” (Jude 6). But if all Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching (2 Timothy 3:16), then so are the above passages. And if we are to take the whole council of God (Acts 20:27), should we simply ignore them? I have the impression that most Christians don't think much about interpretation. They just do it, but not always well! However, if we are to test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21), then we need to test our interpretations! There are many pitfalls, and since we are coming to a particularly difficult passage, I want to use it as a spring board to talk (mostly afterwards) about some of the tools of interpretation (hermeneutics).

One basic approach to Bible study is called the inductive Bible study method. We ask the text three questions: What does it say: what does it mean: how does it apply? It's easy to confuse what it says with what it means. Of course there are times when the meaning is plain and literal. 'Do not commit adultery' means 'do not commit adultery.' And the application is 'do not commit adultery! But what do you do with “Unless you hate your mother and father, you cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). One 1970's cult I know of took it literally, capitalizing on family bitterness. But it's a literary device called hyperbole, an exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally. So what does it mean? One way to look at it, is to say that our love for Jesus needs, in comparison to our love for mother and father, to look like hate. We are to honour father and mother, and we are to love our enemies (Exodus 20:12; Luke 6:27), so there's no way that it's meant to be taken literally. In terms of application, sometimes in wanting to honour our parents we can put them, or their opinions, above God. It's not just parents of course. Anything or anyone, that comes ahead of God is an idol!

Concerning testing our interpretations, the Bible says “The first to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbour comes and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17). So when there are disagreements, we need to hear and weigh, apposing arguments. Paul tells us there needs be differences among us, to show who has God’s approval (1 Corinthians 11:19).

Father, it's not always easy to love those with whom we disagree. But this is where unity comes in. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (1 Corinthians 8:2). Give us grace and humility to hear each other out. Help us Lord to be willing to be shown where we are wrong, and to be correctable, in Jesus Name Amen.

Nephilim, ancient Near Eastern literature and inspiration

It is well known that ancient Near Eastern literature contains creation myths and stories about the flood etc., etc.  In fact parallels with the sons of God and the Nephilim in Genesis 6:1-4 have deep Mesopotamian roots parallels. Some have accused the Bible of copying this material.  There's no need for believers to be threatened by this, but we do need to understand the connections. It's part of loving the Lord with our mind (Mark 12:30). Let's examine the situation. We saw last day, that the sons of God were part of a council of supernatural created beings in the unseen realm. In the Mesopotamian counterpart they are the apkallus, and they are considered to be gods, not created beings.

In Biblical theology, daemons are fallen angels (Matthew 25:41).  In the Mesopotamian literature, “many apkallus were considered evil; those apkallus are integral to Mesopotamian demonology.  After the flood, offspring of the apkallus were said to be human in descent (i.e., having a human parent) and two-thirds apkallu. In other words, the apkallus mated with human women and produced quasi-divine offspring” (Michale Heiser  'The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible' p 102).  Gilgamesh, the hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh, is said to be a giant. The parallels with  Genesis 6 are unmistakable.

The Genesis account is doing what the Bible does frequently, namely speaking into the surrounding cultures sometimes affirming, sometimes correcting, but always bringing in deeper truths. So here in Genesis, the Bible affirms the existence of spiritual beings in the unseen realm, and of giants who were offspring from a mixed union between the sons of God and humans. But the Mesopotamian apkallus are not gods. In fact there is only on God, all else, in heaven and on earth, are created.

All this is consistent with part of the stated purpose of inspiration, namely that is it useful for teaching truth and for correction (2 Timothy 3:16).  And the application of this passage is not just for those who lived way back when! You have to ask where all the  interest in the occult, Ouija boards, reiki, New Age mysticism etc., etc. comes from?  We are commanded not to learn the destructive behaviours of unbelievers (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). The New Testament affirms the existence of wicked spiritual beings in the unseen realm, and of their influence on humanity (Ephesians 6:12; John 10:10a). We read that Satan is able to transform himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).  And are we not instructed concerning the possibility of you and I entertaining angels manifesting in human form (Hebrews 13:2)?

New Age doctrine for example, like that of the Mesopotamians, is surly a mixture of truth and error.  And it seems to me that the anti-supernatural stance of much of the church has driven those with supernatural giftings, into the arms of New Agers. But we should be very cautious about trusting the so called New Age spirit guides. In fact we are told very clearly not to believe every spirit, but to test them to see if they be of God  (1 John 4:1).

Father, the enemy comes to kill, steal and destroy,  but Jesus came that we might have life in all its fullness (John 10:10). But in order to have that life, we need to walk in the light and the truth of Your inspired Word. Please give us grace to do this Lord, and to be as wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves, in Jesus Name Amen

Some thoughts by C.S. Lewis on creeds and the Bible

I remember once when I had been giving a talk to the R.A.F., an old, hard-bitten officer got up and said, 'I've no use for all that stuff. But, mind you, I'm a religious man too. I know there's a God. I've felt Him: out alone in the desert at night: the tremendous mystery. And that's just why I don't believe all your neat little dogmas and formulas about Him. To anyone who's met the real thing they all seem so petty and pedantic and unreal!'

Now in a sense I quite agreed with that man. I think he had probably had a real experience of God in the desert. And when he turned from that experience to the Christian creeds, I think he really was turning from something real to something less real. In the same way, if a man has once looked at the Atlantic from the beach, and then goes and looks at a map of the Atlantic, he also will be turning from something real to something less real: turning from real waves to a bit of coloured paper. But here comes the point. The map is admittedly only coloured paper, but there are two things you have to remember about it. In the first place, it is based on what hundreds and thousands of people have found out by sailing the real Atlantic. In that way it has behind it masses of experience just as real as the one you could have from the beach; only, while yours would be a single glimpse, the map fits all those different experiences together. In the second place, if you want to go anywhere, the map is absolutely necessary. As long as you are content with walks on the beach, your own glimpses are far more fun than looking at a map. But the map is going to be more use than walks on the beach if you want to get to America.

From Mere Christianity
Compiled in A Year with C.S. Lewis