Month: October 2017

The God of the Gospel (Part 2)

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5-6)

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6-7)

In the last post, we looked at two elements of God’s character, as He described them to Moses in His self-introduction. We learned that He is first and foremost merciful and gracious, extending mercy and grace to those who need it most. We also learned that the love He manifests toward His creation is a “steadfast love,” one which endures. As we return to His self-revelation, we will see how those characteristics are seen in His dealing with people.

There is a tension and contrast here that sometimes confuses people. First, we are told  in Exodus 34:6-7 that the Lord “[keeps] steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” But then we are told the He “will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” The confusion can be minimized when we look at our other passage, which contains almost the same language. However, the statement by the Lord reads, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus. 20:5-6).

What do we learn from this? First, those who love the Lord and keep His commandments are those whose sins are forgiven and to whom the Lord shows His steadfast love. And what is the commandment? “To believe in the One that God has sent” (see John 6:28-29; John 8:39-42). On the other hand, “those that hate Me” are those who reject God’s way of salvation and choose to live their own way. (Jesus Himself said that those who are not against you are for you, implying that the reverse is true–those who have not consciously given themselves to Christ are rejecting Him.) It is those who fall under the curse that God pronounces here.

As a side note, there is a considerable amount of teaching in the Body of Christ on the subject of so-called generational curses (usually referencing those two verses above). It is clear that Scripture supports such an idea. However (and this is a big ‘however’), according to the Gospel, the believer in Christ has been released from those curses, since he is no longer under the law but is united with Christ.

So, we see that God is able, because of Christ’s sacrifice, to uphold His justice (not clearing the guilty) while at the same time forgiving iniquity and sin. Thus, all of His attributes come into play in His plan to save mankind.

One more thing we should look at briefly when discussing God’s character. The most widely used description of God in the Old Testament is “holy.” The word appears some 600 times in the Old Testament. it is important to have a right idea of what this word means. People equate it to being spotless, without fault, and morally perfect. That is certainly true. However, as applied to God, that is only a small part of its meaning. Holiness is the trait that flows through every other trait of God. Just as pure light is white and contains every other color, so God’s holiness contains all of His other characteristics. So, holiness is not so much a character “trait,” as it is the essence of who God is. As applied to mankind, then, we can only say we are holy as we embody the traits that make up holiness. And of course, our holiness is not ours–it comes from Christ.

God loves all people–and you individually–and He has provided an awesome plan for us to be able to not only be in right standing with Him but have a personal relationship with Him. Think of it: the God of the universe cares about you as a person and longs for you to know Him and walk with you in the Person of the Holy Spirit! What better thing could one want?

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The God of the Gospel (Part 1)

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

Have you ever described someone that you knew to a friend? Or perhaps you’ve tried to describe yourself? What words were used? “Oh, he’s really funny! She’s so smart! Look out for him, he’s a bit weird!” Since we are embarking on a journey involving the Gospel, it would be a good idea to be introduced to the One who came up with the idea of the Gospel in the first place, God.

Now, I know what you are thinking (really!) “I know what God is like!” Perhaps you’ve heard people talk about Him, maybe positively, maybe not-so-positively. But, instead of describing Him, we’ll let Him tell us about Himself. After all, He does know Himself much better than any of us could ever hope to. And, He really did give us an introduction to His character in the Bible. There are two specific places where the Lord describes Himself (of course the whole Bible gives us insight on what God is like, but these verses are two in which He specifically describes Himself). So, we will take them together to find out what God is like.

I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate Me but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:5-6)

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6-7)

What do we learn from these verses?

* God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger. These are the first words He used to describe Himself to Moses when He passed by in Exodus 34. Often the first is the most important. God wants His children to know that, first and foremost, He is merciful and gracious. He is not sitting in heaven waiting to strike you down for some perceived violation of the rules. He is, on the other hand, “full of mercy and grace.” That means 1) He shows mercy to us (not giving us what we deserve) and 2) He gives us grace (giving us His divine favor, which we do not deserve). Being slow to anger means He is patient with us. He understands that we are but vessels of clay, and fallen vessels at that.

* God is abounding is steadfast love and faithfulness. God loves with a love that will not let go. The Hebrew word used here has a meaning that ties three concepts together: strength, steadfastness, and love. It means that while God will always keep His covenants (in a legal sense), He does so freely and voluntarily because He loves us. So no matter what we do, His love will never diminish. He will always act for our good and His glory, for He can do no differently.

God loves you with a love that will not let go. Until next time, when we will finish this self-revelation of God, hold on to that.

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What is the Gospel? Bad News and Good News

Posted on by VoiceShepherd

Most of us in the West (at least here in America) have heard of “the Gospel.” We know it relates to Christianity. We know (or at least think) it’s supposed to be “good news.” But what is it really about? A look at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, along with that most-favorite of Bible verses, John 3:16, will give us some clues.

First, Mark tells us, “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15, ESV). So, Jesus came “preaching the gospel.” What was it He was telling His listeners to do? Here are a few thoughts on the verse:

First, the gospel is “good news.” The Greek word translated “gospel” in this and other verses means “good tidings” or “good news.” It was in use before Jesus’ time, but it took on a very special meaning during His time.

Second, Jesus’ listeners were told to “repent and believe.” While often defined as “to change one’s ways,” the word repent actually means “to change one’s mind on a matter [and thus act accordingly].” This is why John the Baptizer could tell the Pharisees, “Bear fruit in keeping with your repentance” (Matt. 3:8). He was saying, “You say you have changed your mind about your righteousness? Show the change by your deeds.” Thus, the phrase “repent and believe” means “Whereas you believed one way, now change your mind and believe the correct way–believe in the gospel [with the corresponding change of attitude and action].”

So, Jesus came preaching “the good news.” What is this “good news”? The answers are found in the second verse, John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” From this verse we find the following:

First, the world is in danger. We are told that the gospel was given “so that whoever believes in [Jesus] would not perish.” By “the world,” of course, we mean each and every human being. Why would people be in danger of perishing? Because “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Simply put, we live in a fallen world, a sinful world, and we, both individually and corporately, have sinned against God. And His standard is perfection–100%, utter, no compromise perfection. Even those of us who try to “live right and be good” fall short. Think of it this way. You are taking an exam where the pass mark is 100%. When your exam is graded, you find that you scored a 99%. You had the highest score in the class! But, you failed. And you failed for one simple reason: your best was not good enough. And the penalty for failing that exam is not just a bad grade: it is what the Bible calls “death”: eternal separation from God in a place called Hell (which, by the way is real). BUT…. there is hope. That hope is found in the good news of the Gospel.

But God . . . Those are great words, found many times in the Bible, usually with life-changing significance. When all else seems hopeless, we often read, “but God.” God’s creation of humankind is in danger of forever being separated from Him. And we read that He “loved the world so much” (an alternate translation). Regardless of what you may have heard, read, seen, or been taught about God, He is love. And He loves you. He loves you enough that “He gave His only Son . . . ” He gave His Son, Jesus, to do what? So that you might have “eternal life” instead of perishing (spending eternity in Hell). No matter what you have done or where you have been, you still have the hope of a future with Him.

And how does one gain this eternal life? By “believing in Him.” Another verse in John says,”[T]hat that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). To believe “in His name” is to believe all that He says He is. It is, as John the Baptizer put it, “to repent” (i.e., to change your thinking about Him from unbelief to belief). Believing in Jesus means that you give Him all that you are and trust in Him alone rather than your own efforts to live life.

This series on the Gospel will answer some of the basic questions of what the Gospel is and is not. We will look at questions such as, “What does it mean to believe in Jesus? How can I know I’m saved? Can someone lose their salvation? Do I have to obey the Ten Commandments?” I hope you will continue with me me on the journey.

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