The Two Ways
June 27, 2010
"For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish." (Psalm 1:6)
This verse outlines the inescapable truth that there are only two roads and two destinations to which they lead in eternity. The word "way" (Hebrew, derek) means "road." There is only one way leading to heaven--the way of the righteous; and one way leading to hell--the way of the ungodly.
This is a very common word in Scripture, but it is significant that its first occurrence is in Genesis 3:24, referring to "the way of the tree of life." Once expelled from the garden of Eden because of their rebellion, Adam and Eve no longer could travel that "way" of life, and began to die.
The equivalent Greek word in the New Testament is hodos, also meaning "road," and it, too, occurs quite frequently. Its literal meaning--that of an actual roadway--lends itself very easily to the figure of a style of life whose practice leads inevitably to a certain destiny. Since there are only two basic ways of looking at life--the God-centered viewpoint and the man-centered viewpoint--there are only two ways of life, the way of the godly and the way of the ungodly. The one leads to life; the other to death. There is no other way.
The Lord Jesus taught: "Enter ye in at the strait |i.e., 'narrow'| gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25). But what is the way of the righteous, that leads to life? "I am the way," said the Lord Jesus: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). "This is the way, walk ye in it" (Isaiah 30:21). HMM
h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday Sermonette-Happy Father's Day
Love of the Father for the Son
June 20, 2010
"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." (John 3:35)
The Gospel of John, in a special sense, emphasizes the love in the divine Trinity of the heavenly Father for the Son. The words "love" and "Father" and "Son" occur more in this book than in any other book of the Bible, and there are at least eight references to this love in John’s Gospel.
The first is in our text above, revealing that the Father has entrusted the care of the whole creation to the Son whom He loves. He has also shown Him everything in creation: "For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth" (John 5:20).
The Father also loved the Son because of His willingness to die for lost sinners. "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again" (John 10:17).
Then in the upper room, as Christ prayed to His Father, it was revealed that this divine love had existed in eternity, and therefore must be both the root and the measure of all forms of true love ever since. "Father . . . thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). Parental love, marital love, filial love, love of country--all types of genuine love--are derived ultimately from this eternal love of the Father for the Son.
And it is this love that can also be in us, if we will have it. "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. . . . If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love" (John 15:9-10).
It was thus He prayed (and still prays) for us: "That the world may know that thou . . . hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. . . . And . . . that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:23, 26). HMM
h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research
June 20, 2010
"The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." (John 3:35)
The Gospel of John, in a special sense, emphasizes the love in the divine Trinity of the heavenly Father for the Son. The words "love" and "Father" and "Son" occur more in this book than in any other book of the Bible, and there are at least eight references to this love in John’s Gospel.
The first is in our text above, revealing that the Father has entrusted the care of the whole creation to the Son whom He loves. He has also shown Him everything in creation: "For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth" (John 5:20).
The Father also loved the Son because of His willingness to die for lost sinners. "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again" (John 10:17).
Then in the upper room, as Christ prayed to His Father, it was revealed that this divine love had existed in eternity, and therefore must be both the root and the measure of all forms of true love ever since. "Father . . . thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). Parental love, marital love, filial love, love of country--all types of genuine love--are derived ultimately from this eternal love of the Father for the Son.
And it is this love that can also be in us, if we will have it. "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. . . . If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love" (John 15:9-10).
It was thus He prayed (and still prays) for us: "That the world may know that thou . . . hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. . . . And . . . that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:23, 26). HMM
h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Sunday Sermonette
Adam and Mrs. Adam
June 13, 2010
"Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." (Genesis 5:2)
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In these days of sensitivity concerning sexism, it is important to focus on God's own evaluation of the two sexes and their respective roles in the divine plan. As Creator of both, He alone can speak authoritatively about this matter.
Both man and woman were created in God's image (Genesis 1:27), and thus, in the categories of salvation, rewards, and eternal fellowship with their Creator, both are surely equal. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. . . . There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26-28).
At the same time, when God created them, He named them both "Adam," as our text notes. This is actually the same word as "man," as in Genesis 2:7 ("the LORD God formed man"), etc. Thus it is biblical to use the word "man" generically, when referring to the human race in general. When the woman was formed out of Adam's side, Adam said, "She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Genesis 2:23). Here a different Hebrew word is used for "man" (ish), and "woman" is isha.
Adam also gave his new bride a personal name. "Adam called his wife's name Eve |'life-giver'|; because she was the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20).
There is, therefore, nothing demeaning in using "man" as a generic term for both men and women, for this usage is sanctioned by God Himself. Nevertheless, each individual has his or her own distinctive personal name, and God deals with each of us individually on that basis. Our obedience and faithfulness to the divinely ordained role each of us is called by Him to fill, is God's criterion by which He measures us for eternity. HMM
h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research
June 13, 2010
"Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." (Genesis 5:2)
... See More
In these days of sensitivity concerning sexism, it is important to focus on God's own evaluation of the two sexes and their respective roles in the divine plan. As Creator of both, He alone can speak authoritatively about this matter.
Both man and woman were created in God's image (Genesis 1:27), and thus, in the categories of salvation, rewards, and eternal fellowship with their Creator, both are surely equal. "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. . . . There is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26-28).
At the same time, when God created them, He named them both "Adam," as our text notes. This is actually the same word as "man," as in Genesis 2:7 ("the LORD God formed man"), etc. Thus it is biblical to use the word "man" generically, when referring to the human race in general. When the woman was formed out of Adam's side, Adam said, "She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Genesis 2:23). Here a different Hebrew word is used for "man" (ish), and "woman" is isha.
Adam also gave his new bride a personal name. "Adam called his wife's name Eve |'life-giver'|; because she was the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20).
There is, therefore, nothing demeaning in using "man" as a generic term for both men and women, for this usage is sanctioned by God Himself. Nevertheless, each individual has his or her own distinctive personal name, and God deals with each of us individually on that basis. Our obedience and faithfulness to the divinely ordained role each of us is called by Him to fill, is God's criterion by which He measures us for eternity. HMM
h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sunday Sermonette
The Thoughts of God
June 6, 2010
"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:17)
The motivating inspiration for the greatest scientists of the past (Newton, Kepler, Maxwell, etc.) was often expressed by them as seeking to "think God's thoughts after Him." The great achievements of these God-fearing men of science have enabled us to understand just a little portion of God's infinitely great and complex creation, but never can any group of men ever manage to think all His thoughts after Him. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8). "How great is the sum of them," our text says. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it" (Psalm 139:6).
Yet it is surely right to try, for God has commanded man to "have dominion" over the earth (Genesis 1:26), and this implies understanding its processes and systems. We are to seek also to incorporate His thought patterns into ours, for He said to "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).
In fact, our whole mission, in one sense as summed up in 2 Corinthians 10:5, is to be "casting down imaginations |or 'reasonings'|, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." We should, indeed, strive to think God's thoughts after Him, not only in our scientific research, but in every area of our lives.
There is one thing certain, of course. God's thoughts will never contradict His revealed Word, so this is the place to start. God surely "understandest my thought afar off" (Psalm 139:2), and He desires our thoughts to conform to His. For if we are truly Christians, "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). HMM
h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research
June 6, 2010
"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!" (Psalm 139:17)
The motivating inspiration for the greatest scientists of the past (Newton, Kepler, Maxwell, etc.) was often expressed by them as seeking to "think God's thoughts after Him." The great achievements of these God-fearing men of science have enabled us to understand just a little portion of God's infinitely great and complex creation, but never can any group of men ever manage to think all His thoughts after Him. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 55:8). "How great is the sum of them," our text says. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it" (Psalm 139:6).
Yet it is surely right to try, for God has commanded man to "have dominion" over the earth (Genesis 1:26), and this implies understanding its processes and systems. We are to seek also to incorporate His thought patterns into ours, for He said to "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).
In fact, our whole mission, in one sense as summed up in 2 Corinthians 10:5, is to be "casting down imaginations |or 'reasonings'|, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." We should, indeed, strive to think God's thoughts after Him, not only in our scientific research, but in every area of our lives.
There is one thing certain, of course. God's thoughts will never contradict His revealed Word, so this is the place to start. God surely "understandest my thought afar off" (Psalm 139:2), and He desires our thoughts to conform to His. For if we are truly Christians, "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). HMM
h/t: Henry M Morris, Institute For Creation Research
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