DEATH OF INNOCENCE

      It was Thursday, 14 January 2016. A woman in Pinson, Tennessee, gave lunch to a four year old girl and a two year old boy, her grandchildren. The boy was named Noah. After the meal, she took them outdoors to run and play. For a short time the woman focused on the girl, and in those few moments Noah wandered into the woods that adjoined the open yard. Soon he was out of sight of his grandmother and became lost. Knowing nothing else to do, the small boy kept walking. The woman tried to locate him and failed; then she phoned the police for help. The time was 1:38 pm. Little Noah walked a mile and a half through the rough and wooded terrain. Realizing something was wrong, he began to cry and frantically call out for his Mommy and Daddy. Searchers were soon combing the area near his grandmother's house, but Noah was already too far away for them to hear his pitiful cries. At last he could go no further. He either sat down, or stumbled, and could not get back up. He was alone, scared, tired, thirsty, and by now getting very cold. No one knows how long he crouched on the ground, trembling with terror and shaking with fear. Finally, the blessing of unconsciousness relieved him of his distress, and little Noah died. After an intensive search by about a thousand people, his precious little body was found a week later on January 21.

      I followed these events in the news during that week and prayed fervently that Noah would be found alive and returned to his parents. When he was found dead, my spirit was devastated. I found it difficult to sleep at night, and during the day could hardly think about anything else.  I was truly empathizing with this toddler, who weighed only 25 pounds. He was an innocent, sweet child who had never hurt anyone. He had only brought joy and smiles to everyone who knew him, and filled their hearts with love. And yet, he suffered unto death an experience that was about as terrible and cruel as it could be. To have died in the presence of his parents would have been bad enough. To have died in a lighted room would have been bad enough. To have died in a clean, warm bed would have been bad enough. But to die alone, in the dark of night in the woods, lying on the cold ground and utterly scared ... afflicts my spirit beyond description.

      In the social media, people (knowing Noah's family were Christians) have asked, "Where was God?" I must confess I myself had thought the same thing, though I did not orally reveal it. Readers of this blog know that I am a Christian. I believe God is the essence of love, goodness, and kindness. But He watched as the worst happened to this helpless, innocent child. We are told in Matt. 10:29 that even a sparrow does not fall to the ground without God knowing it. Why then did He not intervene to rescue Noah and return him to the security, comfort and love of his family? After all, they love and worship God steadfastly. I struggled to reconcile God's loving kindness and Noah's terrible, fatal ordeal. Finally, I came to a conclusion that satisfies me. I share it with my readers in the hope it will be meaningful and helpful to you as you are challenged by similar dilemmas.

      There are basically only two powers that operate in the world, the power of God and the power of Satan. God's power is expressed through love, goodness and kindness. Satan's power is expressed through hate, cruelty and destruction of human welfare. Every power we experience about us is the visible operation of these two invisible powers. This applies to the powers of government, human will and the action it produces, and the events that make up our common daily experience. When we observe something good, it is due to God's presiding power. When we observe something bad, it is due to Satan's presiding power.

      Why does God not overwhelm Satan so that all we experience is good and life remains pleasant? The answer to this question is absolutely fundamental to the meaning of life, and I cannot address it here in a few words. I will only hint at the answer by bidding you consider what, in military terms, is called Rules of Engagement. In modern warfare there is some agreement among nations as to how war should be conducted. They are by no means always followed, but in the most critical way they are. Take, for example, the war in the Middle East. The United States could have used atomic weapons and defeated the enemy very quickly. But by our Rules of Engagement we did not do that for reasons well enough known to all civilized people.

      God evidently also has Rules of Engagement in His war with Satan. With His infinite power He could overwhelm Satan in every instance. But for reasons He has not revealed to us, He chooses not to do that. He has told us (Isa. 55:8-9) that "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."

      Dear readers, I attribute Noah's terrible, fatal ordeal to the work of Satan. When Noah became alone and lost, Satan saw an opportunity and seized it! It is his delight to inflict as much pain, suffering and hardship on people as he can. He has not an iota of mercy for a two year old child, helpless, innocent and sweet. In fact, the more he can destroy such goodness, the more satisfied he is. For you see, the goodness, innocence and sweetness in little Noah were the gift of God. And Satan's every act is aimed at God, his great enemy.

      No one can say why God did not extend His loving hand to save the life of Noah, but we must remember what Christ said to adults in Matt. 19:14, "Let the little children alone and do not hinder them coming to Me, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these." God was watching with greatest interest and concern as Noah struggled on until exhaustion and then death overtook him. Satan had then completed his malicious work.  Then God took possession of little Noah's pure and innocent soul and placed him forever beyond Satan's cruel hand. Noah is now with God in a state of eternally undisturbed bliss. His companions are angels. He enjoys light, comfort and surrounding beauty we cannot imagine. He is missed, mourned and lamented by the loving family (and others) left behind on earth. But Noah will for unending ages be filled with joy and peace.

      Dear reader, in your personal philosophy you may not accept my interpretation placed upon Noah's ordeal and others like it throughout the world. But it makes sense to me; I believe it is true; and I find peace and comfort in it. My inner tension for the past several days is now relieved. I thank you for reading my exposition to the end. May God bless you! 

THE IDENTITY OF CHRIST

Jno. 7:43 ... "There arose a division in the multitude because of Him."

      The phrase "identity crisis" is well known and often used. The ordinary meaning is that someone is confused about his relation to life and is anxious about just where he should fit into the scheme of things. In the seventh chapter of John the focal point of interest is upon an identity crisis, although it is one of a different kind. No one is presented as being unsure of who he is or what his role in the community should be. Rather than being subjective, it was objective. There was a certain Man who knew absolutely who He was and what His mission was. But the people among whom He lived and conducted His work were not so sure. Many doubted His identity and sought to deny Him the liberty to accomplish His mission. That Man, a teacher from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, was speaking and working in a way most unorthodox in Jewish society. His name was Jesus, recognized as the son of the village carpenter and his wife Mary.

      His own brothers challenged Him to go to Jerusalem and reveal Himself to the multitudes which would be on pilgrimage there. Then the writer observes that "not even His brothers were believing in Him," (v.5). Like the people of Nazareth, these young men would not admit Jesus as the Messiah because of their life-long acquaintance with Him. In response to this denial Jesus had once said, "A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household," (Mrk. 6:4). It is strange but true that among people overall "familiarity breeds contempt." It is to the credit of Jesus' brothers, however, that after His resurrection they changed their minds, accepted Him as the Messiah, and served Him most faithfully. Two of them, James and Jude, later wrote inspired books of the Testament.

      When Jesus went to Jerusalem, His presence caused a great stir among the vast crowds of people. It is reported in v.12 that "there was much grumbling among the multitudes concerning Him. Some were saying, 'He is a good man'; others were saying, 'No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray." The spectrum of public opinion concerning Jesus ranged from the status of Him being a "good man" to that of one who "leads the people astray." As they listened to His teaching, they were impressed with His knowledge and ability to reason quickly with profound wisdom. Verse 15 states that "the Jews were marveling, saying, 'How has this Man become learned, having never been educated?" That is, they were unable to identify Him with respect to some school that had trained Him, for He had, in fact, attended none.

      The rulers were convinced Jesus was a dangerous revolutionary who ought to be removed. First, they sought to prejudice the people against Him with slanderous statements, such as, "You have a demon!" (v.20). Then "they sought to seize Him (v.30) by sending some of the Temple police to arrest Him (v.32). Later, they were more than chagrined when these officers returned empty-handed. When asked why they had not taken Jesus into custody, the officers replied, "Never did a man speak the way this Man speaks," (v.45). When Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish High Council, dared propose they give Jesus a hearing to explain His teaching and actions, they silenced him with barbed ridicule: "You are not also from Galilee, are you?" (v.52).

      There was indeed "a division in the multitude because of Him"! And this division remains among people to the present time. The diversity of opinion is not due to any multi-faceted nature of Jesus, but rather to the vainglory and perversity of human nature. To the Jews, Jesus was (and still is) a "stumbling-block," and to the Greeks He is "foolishness," (I Cor. 1:23). This does not adversely reflect upon Jesus; to the contrary, it exposes the prejudice of the Jews and the vaunted egotism of the Greeks. "But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ [is] the power of God and the wisdom of God," (I Cor. 1:24). This is His true identity!

TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?

Jno. 6:68 ... "Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.'"

      After Jesus had miraculously fed the 5,000 with a young boy's lunch, He returned to Capernaum to resume preaching to the multitudes there. But many of those who had eaten of that unusual meal followed Jesus and searched until they found Him engaged in the synagogue. When He saw them, Jesus said, "You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled," (v.25). They had not diligently sought out Jesus for the "bread of life" He could give them to nourish their souls (v.35), but rather for the literal bread that would fill their bellies. Jesus refused to comply with their wish. To the contrary! In a exposition that makes John 6 one of the longest chapters in the New Testament, Jesus dealt out to them a generous measure of the "bread of life" in the event any of them cared to feed their souls upon it. Almost none of them, however, had that inclination. Instead, we read in v.60, "Many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, 'This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it.'" Then v.66 reports: "As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him any more."

      As they departed to contend with life without God, Jesus turned from them to His apostles with a question that was also a challenge: "You do not want to go away also, do you?" It is noteworthy that Jesus refused to soften His doctrine or make any compromise with the departing multitude in order to retain their membership in His movement. How different with many of those who profess to preach for Him today! It is no secret that Christian participation is presently decreasing because it is more popular, more entertaining, and more sensually gratifying to indulge one's life in the activities that occupy human attention. Many preachers and church leaders are saying that we must reinterpret the Scriptures so that we can incorporate some of what is so appealing from the worldly scene into Christian activity. They insist this is necessary lest the exodus from the church continue. Jesus faced the same crisis in John 6, but He responded quite differently from these people today. Jesus explained to them the truth without compromise or appeasement, and when they rejected it, He allowed them to go away to their fate. In fact, He even turned to His most devoted followers, the apostles, and gave them the opportunity also to depart. "You do not want to go away also, do you?," was His sober question to them.

      Peter answered for all of them by saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life." This Galilean fisherman, uneducated and unsophisticated as he was, gave a brilliant answer that no one can improve. As we make our way through life and are confronted by its difficult issues, we all seek help and advice from those whom we trust to be wise. Thus people read the philosophers, seek out the experts, and follow after those who seem to know where they are going and why. Yet, when you turn from the essyas of the philosophers to the stories of their lives, you find they suffered the same vicissitudes of life as the rest of us. In fact, the more imminent philosophers experienced wretchedness and torment to the extent that death was the best part of their lives. Likewise, we are often amazed when some "expert" suffers shipwreck with his life and is discredited after years of dispensing his profound "wisdom." The fact is that no one has been through the world before, and no one from within himself knows the best path. On the other hand, Jesus is God who descended from heaven into human life to reveal reality to us and invite us to follow His sure leadership to eternal security and joy. Anyone who is wise will recognize Christ as "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," (Jno. 14:6), and will then answer with Peter of long ago, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life."

THE IDENTITY OF JESUS

      During the past century a multitude of books has been published which attempt to tell us who Jesus was (is!) and what His role has been in human history. Each book has presented someone's own understanding, according to how he has interpreted available information. Preconceived ideas and philosophical bias usually factor into the process.  Often the view of Jesus is little more than speculation, which in many cases becomes rather bizarre.  In this article I would like to let Jesus Himself identify His nature, His position, and His role with respect to people. He does this with economy of words in Rev. 1:17-18, when He revealed Himself to John.

      "I am the first and the last, and the living One. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. And I have the keys of death and of Hades."

      In this statement Jesus identifies Himself to us in terms of four aspects of His divine nature and transcendental powers. First, He says, I am the first and the last.  This declares that He is an eternal Being. He was first because there was no one before Him. This is the same assertion with which the Fourth Gospel opens: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God," (Jno. 1:1-2). As the past of Jesus is eternal, His future is also eternal. When this earth and universe have been annihilated, never more to be, Jesus will still be fully existent in heaven, a glorious dimension beyond time, space, and matter.

      Second, Jesus identifies Himself as the living One. As the eternal One Jesus is also the essence of life. He possesses to the fullest all the functions of life: consciousness, energy, personality, power. We are told in Jno. 5:26 that "just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself." Before there were angels and people on earth, Jesus lived in heaven with the Father. In fact, we humans are alive and have being only because Jesus, the Source of life, gave that gift to us. In Jno. 1:3 we are assured that "all things came into being by Him; and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

      Third, Jesus identifies Himself as the One who was dead, and behold, I am alive forever more. This refers to Jesus' time on earth in human form, in which He was crucified, buried in a tomb, and then raised to live again. This historical FACT! is the centerpoint of the Gospel, emphasized over and over throughout the New Testament. It is the foundation of Christian faith that Jesus of Nazareth was in reality the Son of God from heaven, to which He returned after His resurrection. This was Peter's proclamation in his sermon before Jews assembled for Pentecost in Acts 2:23-24, "[This Jesus], delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power."

      Fourth, Jesus identifies Himself as the One who has the keys of death and Hades. Hades refers to the state of confinement of the souls of the dead between death and the resurrection. When Jesus died, His soul also went to Hades and spent three days until He was resurrected. In that great triumph He was granted absolute power over death and Hades. At the time of God's choosing, Jesus will use the keys given Him to unlock the gate of Hades and release all souls held there. This is the subject of a major scene in Rev. 20:11-15. There in v.13 it says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every one of them according to their deeds."

      My friends, this is the presentation of who Jesus is and what He does in which I put my faith. Any which does not accord with it I dismiss as the product of fallible human construction unworthy of serious consideration.

   

THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-DENIAL

Jno. 5:30 ... "I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."

      When God created man and set him on earth to inhabit it, he did not make man to be a robot programmed to do what God intended. Rather, God endowed man with a mind capable of making moral decisions. He even allowed man the capacity to choose whether he would acknowledge his Creator and pay any attention to the advice and instructions He gave him. His first directions to Adam and Eve were: "From any tree of the Garden you may freely eat; but from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat from it you shall surely die," (Gen. 2:16-17). God gave them license to enjoy the fruit from every tree in Eden except one, which He explicitly commanded them to leave alone. Nevertheless, He allowed them to exercise their own will when Satan tempted them to partake of that very tree. When they chose to take fruit from it and eat, God did not intervene. He could easily have come between that couple and the beguiling serpent to prevent what was about to occur, but He refrained. Knowing what the catastrophic consequences of their bad decision would be, God nevertheless withheld His power and watched as they exercised their freedom of choice.

      If a person had not the liberty to choose evil, his worship of God and service to Him would be devoid of meaning and honor. Religion can begin only when a person chooses to deny his own will and submit the direction of his life to God. As long as one vacillates between pleasing himself and trying to please God, he is not yet ready to profess religion. And whatever religion he does profess in that state of vacillation is offensive to God and laced with hypocrisy. Jesus made this very plain in Mt. 16:24, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." The most prevalent and also the most serious fault of Christians is the reluctance to submit EVERY part of their lives to the will of God.  Nearly everyone reserves some area of his life to himself, and will not let Christ enter into it. Our most fervent prayer should be that the Lord would show us these restricted areas before He takes full possession of our existence in death and condemns us for our failure to submit totally.

      Jesus lived on earth as the Representative Man unto God. His life is now our model, both in attitude and behavior. Thus we are instructed to "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus," (Php. 2:5). Jesus' attitude is that which we are to develop within us. In I Pet. 2:21 we are told that Jesus "suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps." Therefore, His manner of conduct is the one we must follow in our daily behavior. The lead text (above), Jno. 5:30, reveals the essence of Jesus' attitude and behavior; He denied His own will in order to obey the will of His Father. Many might think, "Well, Jesus could not have done anything else but subject His will in the path predetermined for Him." But this is far from the truth! Jesus could have denied God and sought His own glory anytime He wished. The devil knew this and therefore exerted every effort he could to persuade Jesus to sin, (Mt. 4:1-11). Had Satan succeeded, even for a second, to influence Jesus to think and act on His own and without reference to God, he would have destroyed Jesus.

      The challenge of every person is to learn to deny his own will and submit his life in every respect to God through Christ. The extent to which we exercise our freedom to choose to yield decisions to God's direction is the same extent to which we gain God's approval and favor. The extent to which we claim the right to go on thinking and acting as we wish is the same extent to which we risk the eternal ruin of our souls. Faith is the key to success in this great struggle, for it convinces us that God's choices are best for us. Those who demand their selfish right to make their own decisions without reference to God are saying that their wisdom is greater than His.

FULFILLING OUR REASON FOR EXISTENCE

Jno. 4:23 ... "An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers."

      These words of Jesus, spoken to a woman at a well in Samaria, are well known to Christians, having been quoted in numberless lessons in which great emphasis was placed upon the requirement that our worship be "in spirit and in truth."  This emphasis was well placed, for we know not how to worship acceptably unless God tells us.  Worship performed without the full engagement of one's mind, or spirit, is vain and will be rejected by the Father.  And worship conducted without divine instruction, being designed rather to satisfy human desire, is likewise vain and unacceptable to God. In Mt. 15:9 in this regard Jesus declared, "But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men."  In our efforts, however, to maintain the correct manner and motivation to worship, it may be we have neglected what our Lord said in the latter part of this verse. Therefore, in this brief exposition it is my object to draw attention to the essential message in the text above.

      Notice Jesus' declaration that "the Father seeks (us) to be His worshipers."  It is a thing of major importance to God that all people worship Him.  In Psa. 100:3 we are told to "know that the Lord Himself is God, it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture."  This Scripture reveals many points of truth that are disregarded, and even denied, by perhaps the majority of people of the present generation.  It first proclaims that God's existence is a reality, not a question for debate or speculation.  "Know that the Lord Himself is God."  Second, it declares that human existence is the result of God's creative act, and not of some mindless force in nature, and especially not of human ingenuity.  Third, it states that man is God's possession, since we are His handiwork.  And fourth, this verse affirms that the earth is "His pasture," that is, it belongs to God who made it.  So we see that there is, above all, a self-existent God who created man by His own will, who therefore owns man, and who also owns the very world upon which man lives.  

      No one knows why God created us, for in His revelation to us He never gives a fully developed explanation.  But there are statements which seem to show something of God's purpose, and Jno. 4:23 is one of them.  God made man to worship Him.  He created us as intelligent beings with souls reflecting His image, so that we would be able to offer Him meaningful worship "in spirit and truth." When we make that response, we are fulfilling our reason for existence.  A person is therefore at his best when he/she engages in worship to his Creator and Master.

      How pathetic it is when people decide not to take God's existence seriously, or worse, to deny that He who made us is real.  How blind is the creature who does not believe in the One who created him, thus rejecting his Master's ownership of him!  And how presumptuous is man-the-tenant who claims ownership of the land that, in fact, is the property of its Creator, God!  And how unresponsive and ungrateful is the person who disregards the desire of his Maker that he worship Him!  How can a person enjoy life and health that are given him by God, and daily use the earth and its fruits to enrich his life, and yet feel no inward compulsion to worship God?  In effect, this callous mentality amounts to tempting God, and Jesus said in Mt. 4:7, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God."  In conclusion, I implore everyone who reads this presentation and does not worship to awaken from complacency and begin to fulfill the express wish of God to worship Him.  Please make that response while He still shows you mercy in continuing to grant you the blessings of life, health, and opportunity.

BORN OF WATER AND THE SPIRIT

Jno. 3:5 ... "Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'"

      The "kingdom of God," as the name indicates, is the kingdom that belongs to God.  He is the King, or monarch, over it.  His word is its law.  Those who are privileged to enter into this kingdom to be citizens of it do not own it, do not share in its government, and are absolutely subject to its law. Furthermore, it is not their prerogative to determine by what means they may enter into it.  God, as the Designer and Builder, alone decides how people may enter to enjoy citizenship.  It is the ultimate of the sin of presumption for people to act as though they own some part of God's kingdom and try to dominate its affairs by their own power, and to redesign its constitution to suit themselves. Nevertheless, the history of Christianity is a long, complicated affair of men who have intruded into God's domain to do these things.

      And so today, within the broad sphere of churches nominally Christian, there is a babel of confusion about the means of entry into the kingdom of God.  But in the test above Jesus simply tells us what God has determined.  It is important to note, moreover, that in spite of all human conceptions and zealous debates to defend them, no one enters the kingdom of God in a way different from what Jesus here specifies.  The word "cannot" is specific and absolute when He declares, "Except a man ... he cannot enter the kingdom of God."  One might indeed enter some church of human origin by subscribing to a human methodology, but he will not also enter into the kingdom of God.

      Jesus sets two requirements that one must meet in order to enter.  First, he must be born of water.  Second, he must be born of the Spirit.  These seem like simple provisions, and indeed they are.  Nevertheless, many have tried to complicate them in order to establish something other of human origin.  For example, it is argued that being "born of water" refers to one's physical birth and being "born of the Spirit" refers to one's spiritual birth.  This view, however, interprets Jesus to say that one must experience natural childbirth in order to move toward entry into the kingdom.  Since no one would be alive to consider entering His kingdom had he not been physically born, obviously this view is illogical.  One suspects that it is rather an attempt to dodge the true meaning of the phrase, "born of water."  

      In Acts 2 we are told that on Pentecost the apostles "were all filled with the Holy Spirit ," (v.4). This had been promised by Jesus, who said that the Spirit would "guide you (the apostles) into all truth," (Jno. 16:13).  So when Peter spoke on that day, his message was the truth from the Spirit.  By that message he convicted his audience of sin and generated within them faith in the Lord whom they had crucified.  When they cried, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?," Peter, still guided by the Holy Spirit, answered, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit," (Acts 2:37-38).  Then we read in v.41, "They that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them about 3000 souls."  The events of Acts 2 explain the words in Jno. 3:5.  Through the gospel, which the Spirit communicated to man, the Spirit produces faith within the individual, and induces him to undertake a new course of life with a new allegiance.  This is the birth of the Spirit.  Then, still through the gospel, the individual subjects himself to baptism "for the remission of sins."  This is the birth of water.  Having accomplished these two essential things, the Lord opens the door of His kingdom for that person to enter.