God of Hell

Jesus is Lord over ALL. That means He is Lord over both Heaven and Hell. I have never really thought about this until now. I have always pictured God in Heaven and Hell as the absence of God, where Satan rules. Perhaps this is the great lie that Satan wants people to believe, that he has dominion, even if it is in Hell.


The truth, however, is that according to Revelation 14:10 we are told that Satan too will "drink the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulphur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb." Satan is not simply cast away from God to be some sort of prince of Hell, Satan will be tormented for rejecting Him. He will not enjoy some form of rule in Hell, he will be tormented there. He will be punished in the presence of Jesus (the Lamb). Jesus is Lord over ALL, including Satan and Hell.

Philippians 2:10-11 tells us that EVERY tongue in heaven, earth and under the earth will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and bow before Him, this includes Satan. For God to be God He cannot have limited reign, God MUST be present in Hell and in Heaven (otherwise He would not be omnipresent). It is confusing to think that God is in Hell while in Heaven, but it must be the case. He must be there to work out His perfect justice on those who have rejected His salvation (Daniel 12:2; Romans 2:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Jesus is King of all - The Universe, Heaven, Hell, Us.. EVERYTHING

I have to live in peace with the annoying person?!!

So often I get annoyed with someone around me. It is as if they go out of their way to attempt to exert some form of authority over me which they do not possess. The result of this is a feeling of not being valued for the work I have completed and the contribution I have made. I get angry at them, at the world around me, and am unlikely to be a great witness to those around me.
I get annoyed at people trying to make themselves look better or more important than me. How much more must Jesus have gone through - He is God, yet people called him a liar and killed him!

Hebrews made me think about my reactions to people who work me up.
In times like this it is hard, but I should try to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of my faith who endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. I should try to remember that Jesus also endured opposition from sinful men, all so that I may see His example and therefore not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:1-3).
I need to think of these harder times as times of growth. Hebrews 12:7-12 tells us that we are to endure hardship as times for growth, as discipline. Could it be that in these situations I am being disciplined to focus more on God and less on my own pride?
Peace
I find it quite telling that directly after talking about Disciple, Hebrews (Chapter 12) goes on to talk about how we should "14Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." So rather than getting angry and bitter towards the person who has wronged me, I need to make EVERY effort to live in peace with them and be holy. I need to demonstrate the Grace that God has given to me through my interactions. After all, I should be fixing my eyes on Jesus, not on the petty annoyances of life.
As a side note. Hebrews 12:14b says that "without holiness no one will see the Lord." No one is holy without the Grace of God; we cannot ever reach a state of holiness and thus salvation without Jesus' sacrifice cleansing us before the Father. I need to remember this and not view myself as better than those who annoy me and put me down.

You really need to see everything as a whole

The studies we have been doing at home group for the last wee while have made me realise how important it is to view the bible, and God in general, as a whole rather than focusing on specific parts. When you read the New Testament without an understanding of what has gone on, been promised, and been prophesied in the Old testament, it looses so much significance, and you strip away how amazing God is by weaving it all together over thousands of years. In doing this you loose out on seeing God for who He is and His character is limited by focusing on a tiny part of what He has revealed of Himself.

An interesting point was made in our study last night: "Why do we focus so much on the 33 years that Jesus walked this earth, and so little on the whole of eternity before and after those years, which He has spent/spends in Heaven?" Obviously it is great to focus on the direct incarnate Word of God on earth, but I think at times this can become too much of our focus.
God the Son is more than the God-Man who lived, died, rose, and ascended into heaven. Revelation 19:11-16 explains Jesus as He was and is now. He is crowned, sitting on a throne ready to judge and make war. He has eyes like flames and a sword comes from His mouth which strikes down entire nations. He is surrounded by an army of heaven ready to fight. He wears a white robe which is dipped in blood at the bottom (How hard core is that? Jesus's white robe is stained at the bottom from blood as he walks around!). He even has a tattoo on his thigh saying "King of Kings, Lord of Lords." Jesus is currently in Heaven. Not as a slender hippy looking effeminate new-age guy, but as a massively powerful and all conquering King - He is tough!

We need to keep in mind both pictures of who God the Son is, as shown in the Bible. He is the loving Jesus who died for us, and He is the all powerful God of all, the Lord of Lords. Best thing, Jesus meets ALL our needs in who He is. He is all powerful, sitting on the throne in Heaven (Matt 26), yet he promises to be with us till the end of the age (Matt 28:16-20). He is our advocate (Heb 7:25) and mediator (1 Tim 2:5) before God the Father. He is even preparing a place for us in Heaven (John 14:2-3). Who better to have on our side?!

With a complete understanding of who Jesus is (All Power, Majesty, Might, Mercy, and Love) we can grasp how amazing Grace is and how blessed we are to know the truth. No matter what we go through, Who better to have on our side?!

View from Space

Recently I’ve been thinking about what the whole bible really is telling us - the basic message it shows us about God (looking at the Bible as a whole, from a distance). The story of humanity is primarily of man in a state of sin and rebellion against God and His redemptive plan to bring us back to Himself. As Christians we focus on our salvation through Christ's sacrifice for us (as we should). However I think that sometimes we sort of gloss over the issue of sin because we know that Jesus has removed much of that burden from us. However, I think it is essential we understand the significance of sin, so we can grasp how perfect God is, our need for forgiveness, and the significance of Christ's sacrifice for us.

Part 1 - Sin
Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to have an attitude of love for God (Mark 12:30). A life pleasing to God is one that has moral purity not only in its actions, but also in its desires of heart. Aside from what is included in the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:17), the Bible shows us that less 'obvious'/ attitudinal things such as Anger (Matthew 5:22), Lust (Matthew 5:28) Jealousy and selfishness (Galatians 5:20) are considered sins. Wayne Grudem (Systematic Theology) defines sin as "any failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.” Sin covers a lot really.

This is probably why a huge chuck of the Bible is concerned with showing us that EVERYONE is sinful as we are unable to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature (Few example: No one is righteous (Romans 3:9-30; 5:12-14); We are sinners by our very nature (Romans 5:8) and children or Wrath (Ephesians 2:3)). What the Bible shows us is that we are unable to live a life which is completely righteous and thus completely lacking of sin.

Significance
Matthew 25:46 tells us that God's justice is that the righteous will gain eternal life while the unrighteous will go to eternal punishment. As was just explained, noone is righteous - which causes a bit of an issue for us all really. We NEED saving. Without a way to be forgiven by God (which we do not deserve, it is purely from His mercy), things are looking a tad grim.

Part 2 - Grace (the good news)
God knows that we can't live a fully righteous life, thus we require forgiveness. It would be unjust for sin's not to be punished, therefore He took it upon Himself for justice to be achieved (John 3:16) - this is the idea of Propitiation: Christ has removed us from the wrath of God which we deserve (1 John 4:10). He has redeemed us back to God (Romans 3:23-24). He has made it so we are cleansed from all unrighteousness (thus can have eternal life) when we confess our sins (1 John 1:9). Not only does he forgive us, Micah 7:19 says, "He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." This is pretty cool - God has given us a way to have our unrighteousness paid for thus enabling us to have eternal life rather than punishment.

Glory of God
The beauty of our salvation through Gods actions, not our own, is that we cannot boast that we have somehow earned it, as Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not of works, so that no one can boast." God has saved us through His works, not our own. All glory for our salvation can only be given to God, as He has done everything. The system of sin therefore essentially shows us that God is amazing, so much better than us, so magnificent, that even our most valiant efforts to live a righteous life is unable to compare to Him. Yet he is so rich in compassion, mercy, and love for us that he has taken the initiative and saved us through His actions. The majesty of God is so hard to even comprehend and it is only increased when you think about the significance of sin and His actions to save us from what we deserve.

The Church is about helping each other, not Consuming

A sermon I listened to yesterday struck a cord with me. Nick Field (the preacher) was saying that often those people who start to say things like 'I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian' are often the ones whose faith is either dying or at least slipping in some way. It basically comes down to arrogance. As well as trying to remove any feeling of accountability, they are no longer thinking about what they can give to the Church, but more about what they feel they are no longer getting from the Church. They are thinking only about themselves, it is selfish. Biblically (very briefly) though, how does this sit?

Jesus Himself said in Mark 9:35 that "whoever wants to be first must take last place and be servant of everyone else." Paul adds in Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." These pretty strongly suggest that you should always be looking to others, to try and help build them up in their faith, to serve their needs rather than try to service your own. Paul gives Christ as our example Philippians 2:5-11

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As God, Jesus deserves all praise and honour. But instead, He came to serve us, to show us how to live, to teach us, and to die for us. His rights (for He has no 'needs') were put to the side so that He could serve us. We must do the same. Rather than try to get something, we should be looking to give, to build up, and to serve. This means that even though we may feel we are not getting something from church, we should instead be looking at what we contribute to the body of Christ.

The irony is that those who try to put others first rather than let their selfish ambition takes over are in fact put first. Jesus is exalted even more because He humbled himself (Phil 2:9-11) and Jesus said that those who put others first will themselves be put first (Mark 9:35). By letting selfish ambition take hold you are in fact doing the opposite to what you desire.

God obviously knew that His church would work best when all its members focused on each other. A church's and member's faith always seem to struggle when they become self-focused rather than looking to help progress another's walk. The bible really does seem to show us that God wants us to be outward focused - It seems to work so much better when we do what He wants us to do!

So from these verses we can see that we are not called to consume as members of the Church, we are called to serve. How can you serve the Church and put other member's needs first, when you no longer meet with them and are unaware of their needs? You become somewhat arrogant and self-focused right? This is not good. As Romans 11:11-24 states, you should not boast [be arrogant] in your faith. It is not you that supports the church, the church supports you.

Instruction to the Church

Ephesians 4 17-31 gives some pretty strong instructions on how we should live as Christians. In essence Paul is stating we should no longer live as non-Christians do. Because we are no longer separated from God (v17) (due to Christ's sacrifice on the cross) we are no longer ignorant and, therefore, should be sensitive to what God desires of us (v19-24). As always this means we need to always strive to overcome sin. Paul talks specifically about this in relation to other Christians, "for we are all members of one body." The sermon at 'The Street' mentioned the global Church too, so this really stuck out to me today.

Interactions
I found it very interesting that in v25 he says we are to speak truthfully to one another, but then in v29 adds we should not let unwholesome talk come from our mouths, but only what is helpful for building up others. No doubt you can recall countless times in churches you have been involved with when people are happy to criticise and speak truthfully about what they see as wrong. In some senses correction is needed, however in most situations when this occurs the "but only what is helpful for building up others according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen" bit is completely ignored!

We need to think before we speak to a brother or sister about an issue. Why are you saying it? Will it help build them up? At times love is saying the hard things in order to help someone's walk, but there is a difference between loving correction in order to build someone up and malicious gossip, slander, or criticism. Emotions are normal and emotive responses are often desired. Paul was only too aware of this (after all, he was writing this from jail!) however, he reminds us in v29 not to sin in our anger. Self-control is a recurring theme in the bible. It should be as much a part of our Church life as any other. Loving correction is is about someone's progressive sanctification rather than trying to get your own way. The focus is not on what you want, but about concern for a family member's walk.

Self-Control and Forgiveness
Christ is our ultimate example in all things (except maybe in how do hit a perfect Drive?) It is difficult, but we are called to be a different. Rather than allowing emotions to overcome us we need to focus on Christ and act accordingly. Jesus was on the receiving end of bitterness, rage, anger, malace, slander etc, but instead of responding in the same way, He responded with such compassion that He sacrificaed His life in order for the Father to forgive them/us. He even asks for his executioners to be forgiven as He is killed! How can we say we love Jesus and then not even try to do as He did and forgive those exhibiting these negative traits toward us (let our acts be light that glorifies the Father (Matt 5:16)). Therefore, we are told in V.31 to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, slander, and malice. Rather, we should be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave us (v.32).

Don't Grieve the Holy Spirit
Another thing which caught my eye in this passage was v.30. Here we are told that God/the Holy Spirit is grieved by our sin. Charles Spurgeon noted that "grief is a sweet combination of anger and love" that it is like God grieves to think that we 'injure' ourselves in the fact that we have sinned. It is like seeing a loved one do something wrong which ultimately harms themselves. You are both angry of their action, yet your concern is really that they are hurting themselves. Its not a good feeling. Taking this on board, Paul is saying we should not grieve the one we love. To try and avoid this we need to try to be compassionate and forgiving which really should lead to us speaking truthfully but with the intent to build up those who hear it.

Its tough, but I shall always try to keep my focus on Christ. It is for His glory, He is the goal, He is the prize, and He is my motivation. Therefore I hope to be self controlled, think about the motivation and benefit of reactions before acting, and forgive where needed. Only through the Holy Spirit can this be done and I pray He will keep this on my mind.

Work hard and dont be dependent

I was reading in 1 Thessalonians 4 and this verse really stuck out to me "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."


I get two things from this. The first is that we should mind our own business. To put this in some context, apparently the church in Thessalonica was getting bogged down by unscriptural arguments and interferences between its members. Therefore, Paul instructs them not to stir up unrest for the sake of it and to first concentrate on their own affairs.

The point is that you should worry about your own affairs rather than interfering in another person's life to make yourself look better. This parallels with Jesus' statement (Matt 7:5) "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye". It seems obvious from this that God wants us concentrate on our own affairs first, and that through that you will in-fact win the respect of others. It is through your deeds that you should gain respect, not by pointing out the deficiencies in others (It is interesting that the earliest Christians were know as "The Way" as they were known for their actions as a result of their beliefs, not simply for their faith alone). It is important to keep in mind though, that as it is Christ we serve, therefore this respect should bring Glory to the Father. This is why we are told in 1 Peter (4:11) to be act with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised.

Secondly this passage instructs us that we should work and not be dependent on anybody. God instructs us to work and to work hard as it is Jesus we are serving in our work (Colossians 3:23-24: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving"). This is a message for all Christians, Paul, who wrote these words, made tents to finance his activities to spread the Gospel around Eastern Europe/Asia Minor. He was not wholly dependent on others to fund his activities for God. I think it is crucial that we do not rely on the financial generosity of others to an extent we become dependent. It annoys me when people who call themselves Christians ignore this, become lazy and are dependent on others. I agree 100% that we should be generous and help others who need it, but that is not the same as providing for those who simply do not strive to lose their dependence on others. Perhaps controversially, I also think some people undertaking missions need to keep this verse in mind and along with financial support from the church, they should aim to reduce their dependence on this aid as much as possible (which many missionaries do).

As Christians we should work hard at our jobs to gain the respect of others, rather than pointing out their flaws. In doing this we should also reduce the possibility of our dependence on others.

What Should Be My Motivation

Coming back to work after an awesome three week holiday with the family, I'm hit with the feeling that much of our employment really never changes much, and its a tad depressing. I am so glad that I know that this really is not all there is. My motivation is not to pass the day so that I can return to do the same activity tomorrow but as Paul says in Philippians 3 v14 "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus".

My motivation is Christ and the goal He has promised us. Many do not understand or grasp what this means, but I take comfort in the fact that this is not some new phenomenon and Paul has told us about this. Philippians 3 v 18 "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body". Therefore I strive to keep my trajectory and mind on heavenly things. In attempting to do this, all the stress and things which depress really lose significance.