Archive for November, 2007
Are We Living in the Last Days?
Posted by thetenthleper in Eschatology on November 26, 2007
“in these last days…”
Hebrews 1:2
I’ve become very alert in the past couple of months to any mention of the “last days” in Scripture. So many people are ranting about how we’re living in the last days, the end times, and so forth. It’s my conviction from Scripture however that the people talk about current events in the Middle East and how they show that we are living in the “last days” don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Hebrews 1:2, talking of how in “these last days” God has spoken through his son Jesus Christ, along with Acts 2:17 and 1 John 2:18 makes it clear that the apostles were living in the last days. That’s sort of a problem for the “Left Behind” crowd.
What EXACTLY the last days are is debated, and honestly I’m not sure exactly where I stand. Some believe that the “last days” refers to the entire period between Christ’s first and second coming, which would mean that we ARE in the last days today but have been so for 2,000 years. Others believe that the last days refer to the 40-year period between the Ascension of Christ and the close of the Jewish Age with the catastrophic desolation of Jerusalem (see Matthew 24:15).
Either way, one thing is for sure: the apostles were living in the “last days,” so any talk of the last days as a far-future-only event is not in line with the New Testament. Jesus’ words were spoken to a first-century audience, as were the epistles. We can’t assume that the New Testament authors suspended all relevance to their audiences to speak to humans who wouldn’t be born for another 2,000 years.
The Inevitability and Necessity of Good in the Life of a Christian
Posted by thetenthleper in Devotions & Meditations on November 26, 2007
“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.”
-2 Corinthians 4:15
I made a very elaborate chart describing this verse which I’d like to go ahead and share now:
God’s grace —> Thanksgiving among the blessed —> God glorified
This verse led me on a very fruitful rabbit trail a few weeks ago. It shows us that God glorifies himself in being good to his creatures, who in turn will give him praise. Praise glorifies God, therefore he will be certain to give us much to be thankful for. It’s very important to realize the priority God’s own glory is to himself. It is the gravitational pull of all creation, the end for which every created thing is created. The universe, with its vast array of beauty, is seemingly infinite stars, is created in such a way as to declare his glory (Psalm 19:1). And what of man, who though so very small compared to the vastness of the universe is the object of God’s greatest attention (Psalm 8:3-5, 144:3)? Man was created for God’s glory, formed to declare his praise (Isaiah 43:7, 21). That is the purpose of man.
I remember talking to a guy at work a long time ago who said something very understandable. He said he had a hard time believing that our lives are all about God, for his pleasure. Such living doesn’t seem to take into account any kind of personal fulfillment or reward. But it’s important to know HOW man is expected to accomplish his life’s purpose. And for that I go refer back to 2 Corinthians 4:15. God glorifies himself in the thanksgiving and praises of men, which carries with it the assumption that God has given man something to be thankful for. Thus if God’s highest priority is his glory, and thanksgiving from his bride the Church is how he has chosen to glorify himself, then we begin to see the depth of priority God places on being good to those who belong to him.
It should be noted however that this doesn’t apply to all humans. God is glorified in the fact that not all people are saved. But his elect, those he has chosen for salvation, are created to glorify him by praising his mercy as a result of being greatly blessed by him who called them. Paul echoes this very truth:
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
-Romans 8:28
This verse is often paraphrased “All things work together for good,” but that’s incomplete. Such a beautiful promise is only applicable for “those who love God” and “for those who are called according to his purpose.” Why does God work all things together for our good? So that we are continually in thanksgiving to him. God is glorified in being good to us! This is a complementary relationship. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11). Those who seek the LORD lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10).
If all things thus work together for our good, then it only follows that in all things we are to give thanks. Paul also affirms this:
“give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
-1 Thessalonians 5:18
This isn’t a call to deny the reality of grief when it is on our hearts, but to acknowledge the culmination of our lives in the greatest good imaginable. If your salvation through Christ is all you have, you are vastly rich and have much to be thankful for. If you have trusted in Christ as your savior, you have the assurance of good. It is a necessity upon your life! But we must be careful to be free from the world’s definition of good, for many trials await Christians, trials which the world would not call “good.” But Jesus does not give us as the world gives to us (John 14:27). What is promised is summed up well by David:
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
-Psalm 16:11
There is no disparity between the glory of God and the joy of man. He has chosen to glorify himself in our joy and for us to take joy in his glory.
Eating More
Posted by thetenthleper in Devotions & Meditations on November 18, 2007
“‘Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly. One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.’”
-Exodus 29:38-39
I came across these two verses yesterday and was immediately reminded of why it deserved to be underlined. I love these verses. What strikes me is the daily plurality of offerings to God. One lamb would be offered in the morning, with the other offering in the evening.
Our alone times with God should mirror this pattern. Our stomachs are not meant to live on one meal a day. We consume nourishment in the morning, again in the evening, and once in between. We Christians need to get into the habit observing the order of the natural world and applying it to our spiritual lives. Its not a cheesy comparison to make, but rather the proper one. The natural order was created by God to reflect the greater truths of the spiritual order. We are not meant to live on one spiritual meal a day. We must eat several times.
When do you have your quiet time? If our answer to that question is anything but plural, we are malnourished. Christ must have the totality of our lives, which begins with the totality of our days. We need his grace in the morning for the day’s events. We need to dedicate our day to him and begin it with our perception properly adjusted. We need him during the day as we walk amongst the spiritual battlefields. We need him in the evening, to praise him for all he did during the day and to dedicate our sleep to him.
I speak this to myself as much as to anyone else. This is not a guilt-trip but a motivational cry to action. Eat more. Never fast from spiritual food. Never be content with one meal a day. Give God the best of your time. Sufficiently drown out the world to hear his heartbeat.
OMG! LOL!
Posted by thetenthleper in Politics/Culture on November 15, 2007
I found this interesting/freaky article online about instant message use amongst teenagers. The full article can be read here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311785,00.html.
Here are some highlights from it:
- 43% of teens who instant message do so to say things they don’t want to say in person.
- 22% use IMs to ask people on dates or to accept a date. Break-ups constitute 13%.
- Of those who use IMs for things they wouldn’t say in person, half are girls and a third are boys.
- 10% of teens spend three hours DAILY instant messaging, while adults are about half that.
- 17% of teens send over 100 IMs per day.
I’m not so surprised at this. I was definitely THAT high schooler. It’s kind of creepy to think of where our level of communication will be several years from now if our youth (and even some adults) continue to reduce confrontational and personal conversations to instant messaging.
Watching Meteors Shower
Posted by thetenthleper in Devotions & Meditations on November 1, 2007
Two Saturdays ago I was up on my roof late at night enjoying God through a beautiful starry night. I had completely forgotten about the mini-meteor shower that was going on that night until I saw them myself. It took a while to realize it was going on. Several times I’d be looking up in the sky and something would flash in my peripheral vision. I thought I was just seeing things until I began to get some clear shots of them. Needless to say it only added the spirit of devotion that characterized the night.
As I sat on my roof beholding the glory of God (see Psalm 19:1), I kept thinking of the natural explanations behind the things I was seeing. Every star and every shooting star had a scientific and perfectly reasonable explanation for their existence. Some Christians feel threatened by this. I feel amazed by it. I see all the work that God put into all those stars, creating a universe in which meteor fragments grazed across our atmosphere, and I think of the ultimate purpose behind it all: beauty. Those millions of stars fulfill their greatest purpose when enjoyed by God’s greatest creation: us.
I compared it to a home-cooked meal. Imagine a couple inviting some friends over and cooking for them. As the meal is complete and the dishes are laid down upon the table, ask this: Why is the food here? There’s a million reasons why its there. The person cooking went out and bought it, brought it home and began combing different things together, put some in the oven for a time while they cut up vegetables, after which they allowed a bowl of food to marinate for ten minutes, which eventually led to a complete meal which in turn was physically carried from the kitchen to the table. But WHY is the food there? Its there for the enjoyment and nourishment of the guests.
A car manual tells us how to maintain and work a car. But it doesn’t tell us why we need the car in the first place. It can’t. It only serves the purpose of having one to begin with. There is an astronomical process behind everything I saw that night, and every last one of them comes together to display such painful beauty, that I might glorify God my creator in reverent silence.
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
-Psalm 8:3-4
