Month: January 2014

Theology, Mystery and an Old Riddle

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puzzle and book

Theology—the way it could have been

If I am honest, I sometimes wish that the Bible had been written more like a textbook of systematic theology. I wish that the Apostle John would have included an inspired chart along with his letter to the seven churches. It would have been helpful if Ezekiel had spelled out exactly what he meant by his visions. And, like the disciples, I would have preferred if Jesus had not spoken in so many parables.

It’s a mystery and that’s okay

But God, in his great wisdom chose not to. Maybe if all we had was a theology textbook then we would all be very pious people … dead in our orthodoxy. Those things in the Bible that are not clearly laid out for us cause us to seek Him, and in doing so, to grow in His grace.

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How do I use visual aids to teach the Tabernacle to children?

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Tabernacle Sunday school class

The tabernacle of Moses can be a difficult subject to teach, especially to children. How do you explain the meaning of this seemingly obsolete structure, its strange furnishings, and all the complicated priestly rituals related to it?

Pam*, a children’s ministry director at a California church, found that with the help of the free Sunday school lessons and painting guide downloaded from GoodSeed, her first-to-fifth-grade Midweek Group was soon absorbed in the great visual aid God gave the Israelites that points to Christ.

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How can I know that things are right between me and God? How can I know that when I die I will live forever in a place that is secure and happy?

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clouds

Before we can answer that question, we need to recognize some things about God and ourselves.

1. First of all we need to understand that the Lord God is a holy God. He exists in all His majesty, being the Creator-Owner of the Universe. He is a loving, caring God, but equally He is also a holy lawgiver. His holiness demands that His law be kept perfectly. He can have nothing to do with any lawbreaker. It is right to say that only perfect people can live with a perfect God.

“. . . without holiness no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14)

On the other hand, we are helpless sinners. We were born into the world lawbreakers, alienated from God. We are far from perfect; we are sinners. God’s law says that all sin demands a “death” penalty.

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Divine North!

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compass Spiritual stories are a hot commodity. This was evident in the leaflet thrust into my hand by an eager panhandler in downtown Edinburgh. “Storyteller Angela Knowles is on a journey into the rich and diverse world of stories in faiths and spiritualities. Would you like to share that exploration?” The pamphlet was a reminder that postmodern values are alive and well, a way of thinking that assigns equal value to stories of all faiths. We label such “stories” as worldviews. Worldviews are innumerable—Atheism, Animism, Monotheism, Pantheism, Polytheism, Empiricism, to name only a few. A religion is a worldview. No doubt the Scottish storytelling emporium would have resembled the first-century philosophers in Athens who,

“…spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” (Acts 17:21)

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What is the point of the Bible?

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what is the point
“I’ve read and read… but what’s the point?!”

My friend Joel* was confused and his frustration boiled over as we talked. A college student with a girlfriend and a new baby at home, Joel sincerely wanted to make better decisions for his young family. In his desperation he told me that he had begun to read the Bible for the first time in his life. And read he did!

Using a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year approach, he bounced between much of the Old Testament and most of the gospels in only a few months’ time. But his motivation was fading–fast!

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New Year’s resolution: make the Gospel clear

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2014 New Year Resolution

(Editor’s note: With the start of the New Year, it’s a great time to prayerfully renew our resolution to “make the best use of the time” we have with those who do not yet understand or believe the Gospel. (Colossians 4:5). Here’s a story of a couple whose resolution spanned many years as they reached out to their young friend, Naomi.)

We first met Naomi,* then a troubled 13-year-old, in 1986 at a summer camp. It took a long time to win her trust, and in the coming years we maintained nearly constant contact with her. We poured into her life all we knew, and she constantly bombarded us with questions and unique insights.

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What problems come about from assuming too much when we share the message of the Bible?

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Horse bolting

“I gotta get going!”

Anthony* tossed the phrase into the discussion with a shrug and a backwards step. Then he bolted out of sight around the corner without so much as a wave.

He did not return.

A familiar sense of frustration crept in as I watched Anthony disappear… I recalled my teenage years when riding horses in some very rugged terrain. Once while cantering along a mountain trail, my horse suddenly froze, then bolted off course leaving me in a dazed, bruised heap on the ground. I lifted my head just in time to catch a glimpse of the steed galloping over a distant hill, its saddle empty and the stirrups flapping. I had assumed the trail was clear of obstacles, but apparently my mount thought otherwise.

A similar scenario happened with Anthony.

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Where in the Scriptures does it say that God told Cain and Abel to bring a blood sacrifice?

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Cain and Abel at the altar
Question:

Where in the Scriptures does it say that God told Cain and Abel to bring a blood sacrifice? My Bible footnotes say that the problem was with Cain’s attitude, not the sacrifice—that a bloodless offering was quite acceptable.

Brief Answer:

We know from Hebrews 11:4 that God considered Cain’s sacrifice the wrong sacrifice. The only thing we can assume strictly from the text is that the right sacrifice would have been the same as Abel’s.

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.  (Hebrews 11:4)

Notice it says “a better sacrifice,” not “a better attitude.” God spoke “well of his offering,” not “well of his attitude.” No doubt Cain’s attitude was wrong as well, but Scripture does not say so in this passage.

We know that Abel’s sacrifice had all the attributes of a burnt offering type of sacrifice, which would have been a blood sacrifice offered as a covering for sin. Bloodless sacrifices[1] are not recorded in the Bible until the time of Moses. A careful analysis of the passage yields no other solid interpretation except that God told them exactly what to do. Abel obeyed and God was pleased. Cain did his own thing and God was displeased.

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