Recently there have been several editorials in my local newspaper (which we only get on Sunday) and the editors are promoting “same-sex marriage” in New Jersey.  Here is my most recent response to their views that this is actually a “civil right”.  I submitted this to the editor of the newspaper which has its circulation in Middlesex County, NJ.

The First Promise from God after the Fall of mankind is given in Genesis 3:15.

 “And the LORD God said unto the serpent,  . . . . ‘And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.’ “.

The serpent is clearly shown to be Satan in Revelation 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years”.

The seed of the woman is clearly defined in Galatians 4:4-5.  “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

 The promise in Genesis 3:15 is called the Protoevangelium by theologians.

 The Protoevangelium comes from “proto” meaning “first” and “evangel” meaning “good news” or “Gospel”.

 The creation of Mankind by God was not something that God took lightly.   It was God’s purpose to have a people for Himself.  We see this part of God’s heart coming through in statements that He made in the Scriptures.  There are many examples of this throughout the history of Israel as recorded in the Bible.  This is because it has been a driving purpose in the heart of God to keep this promise. 

We see that Jesus came and was born of a virgin in Bethlehem as the fulfillment of the Protoevangelium more than 4000 years after the promise was given.   He came “in the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4) but He did not come without planning and procedure.  The entire Old Testament contains a history of God working through a people (Israel) to bring about the protoevangelium. 

We see in the Bible how God (YHWH) made covenants and dispensations with mankind starting from Adam through to John the Baptist, and then of course the New Covenant through Our Lord Jesus Christ.  He called prophets, shepherds, men and women in the process.  He made a faithful man (Abraham) become a nation (Israel) through which He would bring about this great promise.   He caused them to grow in Egypt and then led them out after they cried out to Him due to the oppression . . . but it was God’s time for them to leave Egypt and head to the land of promise.  He promised the Land to Abraham and gave it to Moses who only was able to see it with his eyes until the day he appeared with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.

Joshua entered the land and it became the land of Israel (Jacob).  Later, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, would become the city of David.  God promised King David that his descendent would be the fulfillment of the Protoevangelium.

In spite of demonic attempts to thwart this promise, God continued to trace the line of David right to the place where the angels of God would say to shepherds (David was a shepherd when God called him):  “Behold, I bring you glad tidings (good news; evangel) of great joy which shall be to all peoples, for unto you is born this day in the CITY OF DAVID, a Saviour, who is Christ (Messiah) the Lord”.

Thus a promise was made and a promise was kept.

But there is another point to the Protoevangelium, and that is that God Himself has something in it for Himself.  God’s purpose in creation and redemption is not solely for us.  It is also to fulfill His desire (see Eph. 1:5; Rom. 8:29; 9:26; 1 John 3:1).

You see, God has only One begotten Son (John 3:16), but His desire is to have many sons and daughters.  When you come to Jesus, you are adopted into the family of God (Rom. 8:15; Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:5). 

This is God’s purpose.  It is that you and I be His sons and daughters.  So you see it is not all about what we need and what we long for, it is also for what He wants and what He longs for. 

We are therefore not to live for ourselves any longer, but for Him (2 Cor. 5:15).  We are not saved just to live our lives our own way and have the hope of heaven, but God longs for our fellowship with Him.  He came through the Son and purchased us for Himself.  May we live in communion (fellowship) with Him now!

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, let us remember that His coming was the fulfillment of God’s promise.  May we take comfort in knowing that there is yet another promise of His coming, and that one too shall be fulfilled; even as it was on that day when the shepherds heard the angels sing.

We indeed live in dark times.  Perversion is all around us.  We live in the midst of darkness, but let us remember the prophecy that was once fulfilled 2000 + years ago.  “The people who sat in darkness saw great light” . . . . (Matthew 4:16a).

To every Christian, remember:  “Ye are the lights of the world” . . .  may my life and yours reflect Him “That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9).

In  Psalm 11:3, David asks this question.  “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”  This question follows his statements in verses 1 and 2 that first speak about his trust being in YHWH in verse 1 and about how the wicked seek to tear down the upright (verse 2).

 It is clear that the destruction of the foundations was coming from those whom David calls “the wicked”.  When such a thing occurs, “what can the righteous do?”

Who are “the righteous”?  The Bible tells us that God considers His people, who love him and are the called according to His purpose to be “the righteous”  (see 2 Cor. 5:21; Matt. 25:46).  If you are a Christian as the Bible defines that word, then you are the righteous because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ and your reception of the gift of God that He purchased.  “The blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7b; 3:1-3).

So the question again remains.  “IF THE FOUNDATIONS BE DESTROYED, WHAT CAN THE RIGHTEOUS DO?”

There is no doubt that we are living in difficult times.  The economy, terrorism, wars, draughts, tsunamis, earthquakes, nuclear reactor meltdown in Japan, Iran’s nuclear program, the rise of Islam and MORAL DECAY.  Yet in the midst of all these problems we don’t see the masses running to churches for answers.  Instead of seeing that the moral decline is the root problem, our leaders are blaming “global warming” for the root of these problems.  It seems that our culture has forgotten God.  The moral foundations of our nation are crumbling as we accept same-sex “marriage”, abortion, promiscuity, pornography, occult entertainment, graphic violence on TV.  It is not hard to see that the moral foundations of our nation have been in the process of being destroyed.  As Christians, what can we do?

The first thing we notice as David asked the question in Psalm 11:3, that he responds to his own question first with verse 4 – The LORD (YHWH) is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven . .”.  Our God is still on the throne.  David is telling us that nothing escapes the sight of the God of Israel.  He tells us that there is some testing going on (verses 4b,5) and that judgment is pending for the wicked.  It is interesting to note what the Lord God’s reaction to unrepentant sinners and “those who love violence” is (see verse 5b-6).  We must understand that God does not change.  The Bible makes this clear in Malachi 3:6; Matt. 24:35; Hebrews 13:8 and other places.  But what can the righteous do as this is going on?  Does the LORD want the righteous to just “hang in there” and wait for Jesus to return?

We are living in a culture that has so promoted the concept of tolerance and plurality that it has the Christians buying into their lie.  We hear from the politically correct teachers that everyone’s truth is valid and that any absolute moral stand is intolerant.  Is this what God tells us in His Word?

The current “wisdom” is that we must not “push our values on others” and many of us have accepted this and have become silent in the arena of society.  We quote the Bible in the church and at home, but where is the witness in our culture?  Jesus called us to be the “salt of the earth” and “the lights of the world” (Matt. 5:13-14).  We dare not say “because God says so” in the public debate, but who is willing to stand in the Areopagus? (Acts 17:19-34)

I teach Christian Apologetics at the Abundant Life Bible Institute (ALBI) and tell the students that some people won’t care what the Bible says because they really don’t believe in God.  But “because God says so” will reveal whether people believe in God or not.  Society has tried to make discussion of God irrelevant; this is an example of the foundations being destroyed.  What shall the righteous do?  Talk about God!  Mention the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  If people are willing to admit they don’t believe in God, then we need to take the discussion to the next level.  This is what we teach at ALBI.  “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer (defense) to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” (1 Peter 3:15 KJV).

When people speak about views that are contrary to our Lord and His Word, be bold but not obnoxious.  Speak the truth but do it in love for the concern of the person who is lost without Christ.  Don’t be intimidated.  The Lord has called us to “preach the gospel”.  Give a righteous answer to unrighteous opinions that are bringing down the foundations.

“What shall the righteous do?”  In a culture that rejects absolute truth, let us bring forth the Absolute Truth; the Logos, the Living Word and lift up Our Lord Jesus Christ.

I received a newsletter yesterday from RZIM and was inspired by several statements by Dr. Ravi Zacharias:   

 “The Lord is opening doors for us that are unprecedented in range and focus” – Ravi Zacharias
 
As I read a section called “a letter from Dr. Zacharias” that spoke about the doors that are opening to him and the places he is speaking, I realized that Postmodernism is its own worst enemy.
 
This is seen by another statement from the newsletter:  “In many ways, the need for apologetics has never been more urgent.”
 
I have to agree with Dr. Zacharias, not just because I love apologetics, but because this newsletter opened my eyes to something I missed earlier. 

I saw Postmodernism as a worldview that would keep people from the Lord and the Truth of the Gospel, however it hit me that Postmodernism has no alternative but to leave people ultimately empty and without meaning in their lives.  When it runs its full course, people will be empty and searching

                                   . . . now is the time to be trained for the harvest. 

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?  TOO BUSY FOR ALBI??  THINK AGAIN . .

You can be involved in the harvest or you can be sitting on the sidelines wishing you took this time to train for the work that is up ahead.
 
We are at the beginning of a new year and I am frankly appalled by the number of students that are just too busy.  Some have expressed financial hardship . . . I tell everyone, I will work with you, DON’T LET MONEY KEEP YOU AWAY . . . the tuition is NOT out of reach and to audit a class is about $11.00 per week.  Think of it, 3 hours of quality teaching for $11.00.
 
I was just saying recently that I am not going to try to force people to do what they don’t want to do from their hearts, but if you have a heart for being used by God and to give answers of Life to those in death and Light to those in darkness, than, don’t let anything keep you from the training that is offered and available by Abundant Life Bible Institute. 

ALBI is a great resource that I wish I had in my early years in the Lord.  Seasoned ministers teaching from their hearts the Word of God.  High standards of excellence that continue to be enhanced . . . .  all for such low tuition.   Wow . . what a blessing awaits you all to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we live for the Lord, we ought to find rest unto our souls.  We ought to find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  But what do we find? Heaviness, and difficulty.  Could this be because our priorities are not right?

We spoke about the Atheist in previous BLOGS (see the earlier entries) and discovered that the position of the Atheist (who dogmatically believes that There Is No God), leads us to questions such as how do we explain the existence of the Universe?

We showed that the Atheist cannot account for the existence of the Universe.

What about the Agnostic?  This is the person who DOES NOT KNOW if there is a God.  This person may even believe that IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW if there is a God.

In my mind, the first thing I want to know about the agnostic is what kind is he (or she)?

Is he the kind of agnostic that does not know if there is a God but would like to know?  Or is he the kind of agnostic that does not know but believes he cannot know?  Is he the kind of agnostic that does not know if there is a God but does not want to know?  I would need to know the kind of agnostic the individual is.

The easiest one of these to answer is the most absolute position.  “I don’t know if there is a God, and you cannot know anything for sure”.  This person states that we never can know anything for sure.  This may sound like a valid belief but it is self-contradictory.  If such a person believes and states his belief that he can know nothing for sure, (a 100% agnostic), the question next is “do you know that for sure?”  You can see that the statement becomes self-contradictory.  If he cannot know anything for sure, then he cannot know the statement he just made “for sure” and if you cannot know that statement for sure, then why would anyone accept such a statement as fact?  Thus, the 100% agnostic makes no sense.  It is like making the statement:  I am sure that you can’t know anything for sure!  This is obviously self-contradicting.

The other agnostic needs to answer a question.  If he is an agnostic (does not know if there is a God), then the question arises:  What kind of agnostic are you?  One who does not know about God’s existence but would want to know.  And secondly, are you an agnostic but don’t want to know if there is a God.  I would call this second person “a practical atheist” because though he claims that he is merely an agnostic, he REFUSES to accept any evidence to the contrary.  This is because he has already decided that he does not WANT TO KNOW.  He is one who is running FROM God (how can a person run from a God while claiming that he doesn’t know if He exists?).  So is this person really an agnostic?  No, because what should an agnostic do if confronted with the evidence that shows he can know that God exists?

This leaves us with the sincere agnostic.  This person does not know if God exists but if given the proof, he would receive the proof.  The good news for this person is that the evidence is all around us and this is why the Bible teaches that those who reject knowledge of God are fools (which we covered in the previous BLOGS about atheists).

Can we show the agnostic that it is reasonable to believe in the existence of God?  Can we show him that it makes more sense to believe in God than to reject Him?

We will continue with this discussion in our next BLOG entry.

In my last BLOG (it has been way too long since my last, in my opinion, but the reader may feel that it has not been long enough . . LOL), I dealt with “the fool hath said” that there is no God.  I ended that message stating that if God did not create the Universe, then how do we explain the existence of the Universe?  It was stated that either “no one produced everything out of nothing” or that the Universe has always existed.  Are there any other possibilites?  To review them:  1. A Creator created the Universe from nothing or 2.  No one created the Universe (everything) out of nothing or 3. The Universe always existed and had no point of creation.

I will take the second option first because it is an absurdity (yet there are those who claim to hold to just “science” accept this).  If we are to be scientific, we must recognize that everything within this Universe that we can observe has a cause.  Think of anything that exists within space, time and matter and you can tell that it had a cause.  So to say that the Universe, which consists of all things,  had no cause but yet began to exist at some point when it did not exist previously, is an absurdity.

The third option that the Universe always existed was mentioned in my previous BLOG.  It was stated there that this option is an impossibility as well.  Why?  The reason that this is an impossibility is that if it were true, then the Universe would already have been in existence for an eternity.  If it always existed, then that would make it infinitely old already.  That would mean that a Universe, which is made of space, TIME and matter, would have existed for eternity prior to today.  But if we have eternity prior to today, then we could not be here today; we would have never arrived to today because logically an infinite number of events cannot be traversed.  To put it simply, one cannot reach infinity.  This is a known FACT of Integral Calculus.  One can approach infinity mathematically but one can never reach infinity.  This can be demonstrated on a calculator.  If you divide a number by another number you get a result.  If you divide a positive number by a positive number that is “very close” to zero, you get a very very large result.  If you divide by zero, your result is infinity . . but it does not work . . . try it.  Divide any number on your calculator by zero.  Do you see the result is an error?  The reason is that one cannot reach infinity and this is exactly what the belief that the “Universe always existed” would require.  Thus, the option that the Universe always existed cannot be true.

Well that leaves us with the conclusion that a creator caused the Universe.  But what about the child’s question that if God made everything, who made God?

Well that is not difficult to answer either.  The Universe consists of SPACE, TIME  and MATTER.  The Universe and everything in it is made of space, time and matter, however, the Creator would be OUTSIDE OF THE UNIVERSE.  This is the explanation.  God is NOT made of SPACE, TIME nor Matter.  God is of a different nature than the Universe.  God, is not restricted by these three criteria and thus has no cause.  No one made God because God was not made.  He did not have to be made because only those things within the Universe have this attribute.  Thus, God always existed and always will.  God is an infinite Being. 

Next time we will discuss some of the basic implications to the belief that God Created the Universe.

The Bible calls those who say in their heart:  “There is no God” or also can be translated “NO GOD!” or “God is not!”  a fool.   We know that, by definition, a person who believes there is no God is what is called an ATHEIST.  The word A-THEIST actually means NO – THEIST (or no theistic God).   The Bible calls such a person “the fool”.  Why?  Why is such a person considered a fool?  Well the Bible does not mean this in a light way.  The word “fool” in the Bible has a connotation of being a “wicked person”; a concept expressed in a biblical phrase:  “son of belial”.   Again, why does the Bible teach this?  There is good reason why . . . and I use the word “reason” purposefully.

Someone who rejects “logic” or “reason” would be foolish, though not necessarily “wicked”.  In this case, wickedness is associated with it because when anyone rejects the existance of God, he (or she) makes himself a god unto himself.  If there is no God, then there can be no moral absolute.  This is exactly what our modern-day society has been trying to sell us;  a philosophy of no moral absolutes, i.e. Postmodernism.

Let us consider the implications of Atheism. 

If a man (or woman) is an atheist, then he is saying, dogmatically, THERE IS NO GOD.  This is to be contrasted to the agnostic who says “I DON’T KNOW” if there is a God.  (Ironically, the word “agnostic” was coined by a man named Huxley who took the word from the Bible – Acts 17:23 – “the unknown God”.)  So to the agnostic, God is not knowable, but to the atheist, there is definitely no God.  Well then, this leads to a question that is difficult for atheists to answer (and thus one reason for the title:  FOOL).  The question is this, if there is no God, than where did the Universe come from?  When a child says “who made the world?”, the theist (Christian, Jew, Muslim) will say “God”.  The next question then comes:  “Who made God?”  The point is that there is a distinction between the Universe (world) and God.  We understand that the Universe is made of:  SPACE, TIME AND MATTER.   The reason the child asked the question, “who made the world” is because he (or she) intuitively knows that everything he sees has a cause.  The difference between the world and God is that God is OUTSIDE of the Universe and thus outside of SPACE, TIME AND MATTER.   Instead of SPACE, TIME AND MATTER, we see that God is INFINITE, ETERNAL AND SPIRIT.    Now back to the “why” the Bible would call the ATHEIST a fool.  The atheist cannot answer the question of the child:  “Who made the world?”.  The answer of the atheist is ” NOBODY made the World!”  Thus we must conclude, if we are to believe the atheist, that NOBODY PRODUCED EVERYTHING FROM NOTHING.  The only other possibility is that the Universe always existed, which we shall see in the next blog, is a logical impossibility.  More next time . . . .

There seems to be a lot of mindless people going around today.  I am not sure if they are truly “mindless” or they just appear that way.  I tend to think that people just don’t think about life.  Spend a few moments on Facebook and you will see some very affectionate and cute things, but you can also see some mindless folks.  Check out articles on Yahoo and see comments about news items concerning Israel or God or Christianity.  There is such a hatred for Israel and Christianity these days.  I don’t recall it being like this when I was in my teens (in the mid 1960′s – 1973).  Many people, especially our young people, seem to have been “brain washed” by the spirit of the Antichrist.

Just today, I watched a Youtube I came across by accident.  I was listening to Yahweh by Hillsongs and saw another piece by the same name by BONO.  I clicked on it to hear what the song was about.  The song was not my problem at all.  The comments found under the song by young people was the problem.  One young person claimed he likes BONO but hates God.  Imagine.  Hating God.  Why?  His reasons were that God is homophobic and committed genocide.

Now what would a thinking person think about this?  Would our initial reaction be emotional or cognitive?? 

The temptation by those of us who love the Lord would be defensive or angry etc.  but has this person thought about what he is saying?  I think not because his statements lead to an absurdity.

How?  Well he states that he hates God because God has done bad things.  But think about it . . . how does this person know the definition of good or bad without God Himself?  Who told him what is “good” or what is “bad”?  And if he could know good and bad, by making this judgment that God is “bad”, he is actually judging God.  What does that make the person?  It therefore makes him God, since he knows better than God.  (This person also knows better than Jesus and the Apostles etc.)

Now has this person considered the contradiction in his view?  Here is one contradiction.  If God is so bad, and He is omnipotent (all-powerful), then why does not the “bad God” strike down the person who is speaking against Him?  The person instead continues to live and is not hit with lightning or the ground did not swallow him up.  Certainly an all-powerful God who is “bad” would be one who would not hesitate to kill this person on the spot.  Not only did he say he hates God and accused Him of being homophobic and a murderer, but he posted it on the internet where thousands can be influenced by this bad report about God.  The Apostle Paul says this:

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed

it, Why hast thou made me thus?   (Rom 9:20)

The point is that who do we think we are when we judge God.  The creator of all things.  Do you believe God is the creator of all things?  If not, who or what is?  or Do you “think” the universe has no creator, no cause, no intelligent design?  This is a basic question.  If the universe has a design and thus has a Designer, then LIFE HAS PURPOSE since DESIGN implies a purpose. . . . MORE ON THIS NEXT TIME.  . . . .

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