April 15, 2010

"The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Genesis 2:15-18

I noticed something today in the story I have read hundreds of times. Maybe you have noticed it before but I hadn't.

God gave Adam the command concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before He created Eve. So obviously it was Adam's responsibility to share that important prohibition with his new helpmate.

Based on her answer to the serpent in 3:2-3 that she had found out about it, so we would assume Adam told her.

Therefore, it begs the question, why didn't Adam jump into the middle of the conversation with the serpent and take the lead? Why didn't he intervene when he saw her beginning to waiver? If it was his responsibility to tell her in the first place would it not have been his responsibility to help her obey God's command? I think so. It tells us in Genesis 3:6 that Adam was with Eve in front of the forbidden tree.

Why were they in front of the prohibited tree? Why did Adam not make sure they stayed away from the tree?

The fact that they were in front of the tree and the fact that Adam stood by silently while Eve was being enticed by the devil, and the fact that he never intervened and allowed her to act upon the temptation shows a major failure of leadership on Adam's part. If Adam had "manned up" in that moment, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Although Adam later blamed Eve for their failure (and indirectly blamed God) it was clearly his responsibility to keep her from being in the wrongs places and to protect her from danger and evil.

Husbands clearly have a role to play in protecting their wives spiritually and provide godly leadership. If Adam had done that how different our world would be today!

Guys, what are you doing to keep your wife safe from the attacks of the enemy? Are you providing good spiritual leadership for your wife? Are you teaching her and praying for her and standing guard over her soul?

I Wish to God Adam would have! What a different world this would be today if Adam had simply provided Eve with the moral and spiritual leadership. God expected it. Eve needed it. Adam didn't give it. That was his first failure that lead to the devasting act of disobedience.

You are responsible for the spiritual climate of your marriage and your family. To fail to do so can have serious ramifications.

Just ask Eve.

April 14, 2010

"Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." Romans 5:18-19

One of the age-old theological struggles has been the debate regarding the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. Where does one stop and the other begin? How do they interplay?

Good people line up on all sides of this debate and can offer Scriptural support for their views.

As Wesleyans, we are stronger on the free will side of the argument, although we fully believe in the sovereignty of God.

Another way of framing this argument is this, "How free is the free will?"

I can't conclusively resolve this debate and I won't even try, but I do want to assert that because of what the Second Adam did to atone for the sin of the First Adam, the free will is freer that it was!

When the first Adam exercised his free will against God he lost full control over the free will surrendering it to the devil. Now his judgment was impaired. Now his mind and emotions were contaminated. Now sin held sway over his moral decisions. He was separated from God and in bondage to sin. Human nature was now disconnected from its Creator.

What could be done to change this desperate situation? Was the human race condemned to spiritual slavery?

Only God could figure out how to solve this dilemma. He did! He sent His Son, the second member of the Trinity, to become the second Adam.

Just like the First Adam, He was born without a sin nature. Just like Adam He was a mysterious combination of divine and human, meaning that two natures existed within them.

Both were tempted by the devil. One failed the One didn't. One was conquered by sin, the other conquered it. One used his free will against God and the other surrendered his free will to God. One lost his free will while the other maintained it.

Because the Second Adam, Jesus, did not choose to sin. Because He used His free will to obey God and deny His human desires, He was able to undo what the first Adam did. His sinless relationship with God allowed Him to become the perfect sacrifice for the sins caused by the First Adam. He chose not to sin so He could BECOME sin! All the penalties and condemnation wrought by the sin of Adam were atoned by the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Second Adam.

Now the free will is free again - free to choose God and free to choose against sin and free to live in unbroken fellowship with the Living God!

"If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed!"

April 13, 2010

"But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:15-17

One of the most significant theological truths of the Bible is one of the most overlooked. What am I referring to? The central importance of the First Adam and the Second Adam. I want to spend a couple of posts examining that.

We are all familiar with Adam. He is our ancestor.

The Second Adam is Jesus. Of course, we are familiar with Him but not in this context. He came, of course, to undo what the First Adam had done.

Let's consider some of the things they held in common:

1) They began life without a sinful nature.

Adam, of course, was created by God Who breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. So, he had a human nature but not a sinful nature. He had a will, but it was perfectly aligned with the will of God.

Jesus, the Second Adam, was born with a sinless nature due to the fact that He was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

2) They each had walked with God.

Adam in Eden and Jesus in Heaven.

3) They each had a human nature

Adam was created humanly divine, while Jesus was born divinely human.

4) They both were tempted by the devil.

Adam went seeking the temptation while the temptation came seeking Jesus.

That is where the positive comparisons end. The failure of the First Adam made it necessary for the Second Adam to come. What the First Adam did, the Second Adam came to undo. All that makes life difficult came through the failure of the First Adam. Any hope of escaping those difficulties came through the life and death of the Second Adam.

To properly understand the significance of why Jesus came and what He did you must fully understand the significance of the failure of the First Adam. To comprehend the awful destructiveness of sin you must understand the terrible cost it demanded of the Second Adam.

Why does this matter to you? It matters because unless you have received the Second Adam, Jesus, by faith you are still help captive to the destruction and the damnation of the First Adam. It matters because if you have accepted Christ as your Savior you will be in possession of both natures, the nature of Adam and the nature of Jesus. Therein lies the dynamic of temptation, the battle between two natures. Due to the Second Adam we have a chance to win that battle!

Slavery or salvation? Adam One or Adam Two? Victory or defeat? It's your choice!

April 12, 2010

"When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." James 1:13-15

Yesterday I began a four-part series on temptation based on the temptation of Adam and Eve. The devil used a four-part strategy to break them down and those four steps are the basis of my series.

First, he got them to doubt the word of God, the ways of God and the wrath of God. Once he sowed those seeds of doubt and distrust they became easy prey. Then he got them to delay in front of the tree and give the temptation a second thought. Then he was able to decieve them because they allowed a sinful thought to enter their mind. And once they doubted God, were deceived in their thinking, a desire to sin sprung up within their spirit and they want to please their desires more than they wanted to please God.

Before I get much further in this series I want to define what I mean by temptation. When the Bible refers to temptation it uses two different concepts. One idea of temptation is the enticement to choose your will against God's will. The other idea is to test or try your commitment and your character for the purpose of developing you.

Temptation becomes an issue only after you are a believer. Here is why. Once you become a believer you are in possession of two wills - the human will and the Holy Spirit (God's will).

Temptation happens when you and placed in a situation where you have to choose between your will and and the will of God. Temptation is facing a choice of the wills, a decision of who you will please - your desires or what pleases God. The crux of temptation is this, "Who do I love the most? Do I love God because I have to or because I want to?"

Yesterday I raised the question, "Do we sin because we are tempted or are we tempted because we are sinners?"

According to our text we are vulnerable to temptation because of the sinful desires within us. But, Adam was tempted BEFORE he had a sin nature and Jesus was tempted and he didn't have a sin nature. How does that happen?

Adam was created without a sin nature but he did have a human nature with a will. Jesus, the Second Adam, was also born without a sinful nature - but with a human nature and a will.

Both were tempted not because they had sin but because they had a will. In order for the will to have significance or meaning, they had to be given a choice and the choice was this, will I love God and serve Him or will I serve my own desires? Adam chose to "be a god", Jesus chose to love God and serve Him above all else.

So, temptation is in essence a test of love! Temptation is a decision about who you will love!

For love to be meaningful it must be a choice. God wants to know if you love Him more than you love yourself or anything else. He wants you to know that, too!

God is so committed to being loved by people who love Him that He allowed Adam to be tempted and Jesus to be tempted - and YOU to be tempted!

You will be tempted today! You will have opportunities to prove who you love. How will you choose? Whom will you choose? Will you be drawn away from God by your desires, or will you aim your desires at God and prove your love?

April 11, 2010

“THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!”

Week One – “Doubt” Genesis 3:1-6


“Do we sin because we are tempted or are we tempted because we sin?”

DOUBT THAT HELPS – John 20:24-28

A little boy that said to his dad, “dad, why is the sky blue?” I don’t know son. "dad, why is the grass green?" I don’t know son. Dad...etc. Finally the boy said, "Dad, do you mind me asking these questions?" "Why no son, if you don’t ask questions you don’t learn anything.”

Thomas was looking for truth but needed to be convinced. He didn’t doubt Jesus but He doubted the good news about Him. His hope had been shaken by the recent events and he was suffering a crisis of faith. He needed some facts to strengthen his faith. Faith is not the absence of facts. Faith is believing in God based on the facts of His Word. Faith is knowing the heart of God even when you can’t see the hand of God. That was where Thomas was at this point. And when he literally saw the hands of Jesus his doubt was erased and his faith took a quantum leap. It is not really fair that he is labeled as “Doubting Thomas” because he became “completely convinced Thomas”.

Historical accounts indicate that Thomas became an evangelist and missionary in India and was killed as a martyr. Does that sound like something a doubter would do.

For Thomas, his doubt didn’t hurt him – it helped him.

Think about how you came to faith in Christ. You probably didn’t just accept everything at face value. You had to have evidence – through the life of other believers, through knowing the Word and seeing it work changes in your life and others – through seeing Him work in the life of a local church – and through the growing awareness of Him in your personal relationship.

Being a strong Christian is not about believing easily or automatically, but it is about aiming your doubts in the direction of God and His Word and allowing Him to prove Himself to you. Being a strong believer is about anchoring your heart in His heart while you search for His hand. Honest doubt – doubt that helps never doubts the heart of God. God invites honest doubt because He knows it leads to strong faith. When you do have doubts - aim them in the direction of God. He will reveal His hand when He knows you trust His heart!

“Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving”. Frederick Buechner

As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, "Are you trying to break this bridge?" "No," the builder replied, "I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t break."

THOMAS’ DOUBT HELPED HIM BECAUSE:

He had right motives and attitude – he wanted to believe.
He expressed his doubt to the right people and the right place.
He gave God the last word.

DOUBT THAT HURTS – Genesis 3:1-6

“If God puts you on hold, don’t hang up.” – Jerry Falwell

“Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.” - Karl Barth

They doubted God’s Word - His Character – “Did God really say……?”

James said, “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

The Devil is the author of confusion and if he can keep us from the Word or cause us to doubt the Word He will have an easier time getting us to distrust God. Someone has said, “The Bible will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

THE DEVIL WILL TRY TO GET YOU INVOLVED IN DEBATING WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY DECLARED! God deserves the benefit of the doubt until you are sure!


Learn from Adam and Eve and give God the benefit of the doubt. Believe Him and trust Him until He proves untrustworthy.

They doubted God’s Way - His Caring – “God knows that when you eat it…”

Just as it is foolish to doubt God’s Word, it is foolish to doubt His love. Let me ask you, who has ever loved you like God? God had given Adam and Eve no reason to doubt that He cared for them – look at what He had done! He created them! He placed them in paradise! He made them each other! He met their every need and treated them as the guests of honor in Eden!

A second attack the Devil will use is to DISTRACT you and then stir up DISCONTENT.

The Devil is not only the author of confusion, he is also the source of discontentment. He wants to keep you distracted from the Word and focused on your lack instead of God’s love. When that happens – you are prone to yield to temptation. He may use suffering – he may use materialism – he may use conflict – he may even use success

They doubted God’s Wrath - His Consequences – “You will not surely die…”

The Devil uses DEBATE – he uses DISTRACTION – and he will use DENIAL…..


ADAM AND EVE’S Doubt Hurt Them – And Us Because:

They were in the wrong place.
They listened to the wrong person
They allowed the wrong attitude and desire.

DON’T DOUBT THIS – James 1:13-15


We don’t sin because we are tempted we are tempted because we are sinners. We are sinners because we inherited their sinful nature.

A fly was buzzing along one morning when he saw a lawn mower someone had left out in their front yard. He flew over and sat on the handle, watching the children going down the sidewalk on their way to school.

One little boy tripped on a crack and fell, spilling his lunch on the sidewalk. He picked himself up, put his lunch back in the bag and went on. But he missed a piece of bologna. The fly had not eaten that morning and he sure was hungry. So he flew down and started eating the bologna. In fact he ate so much that he could not fly, so he waddled across the sidewalk, across the lawn, up the wheel of the lawn mower, up the handle, and sat there resting and watching the children.


There was still some bologna lying there on the sidewalk. He was really stuffed, but that baloney sure did look good.


Finally temptation got the best of him and he jumped off the handle of the lawn mower to fly over to the baloney. But alas he was too full to fly and he went splat!! killing him instantly.
The moral: Don’t fly off the handle when you are full of baloney.

There’s a dark side to us, that’s as reckless as the fly. It does not matter what the costs are, you just got to have it. Humanity is like that, so full of baloney, they can’t see it and they fly off the handle, thinking they can handle it all, and be satisfied only to end up splat.

Here's some of the baloney we struggle with.

In a recent survey in Discipleship Journal Magazine, readers reported that their greatest spiritual challenges came from:

1. Materialism 6. Pride
2. Gluttony 7. Self-Centeredness
3. Lying /Sexual Lust (Tie) 8. Laziness
4. Envy 9. Anger/Bitterness(Tie)
5.Gluttony

Survey respondents noted that temptations seemed more potent when they neglected their time with God and when tired physically. We are also vulnerable during these time. We can become self-confident, instead of God confident. We should be aware that we are also vulnerable to overconfidence when we experience a spiritual victory.



Temptation is being confronted with the choice between obeying God’s will or seeking my will.

Back to James 1:13-15

THE SEVEN STEPS OF TEMPTATION: (We Can Trace This With Adam)

Tempted – The thought of evil NOT A SIN YET!!! – The Serpent met them at the tree. They really shouldn’t have been there.
Drawn away – strong imagination – “Did God really say?”
Lust – self-gratification and desire – “You will be like God…”
Entice – weakening of the will - “When the woman saw that the fruit was good for food and pleasing to the eye….”
Lust conceived – yielding to that desire / carrying out the thought. – “She took some and ate it”
Sin – committing the act missing the mark God has for us to make. – “She also gave some to her husband and he ate it”
Death – the result of the sin (Spiritually separated from God). – (Vv. 7-8)

I think that pretty well answers the question – “Do we sin because we are tempted or are we tempted because we sin?”

So, if you know that you actually have a sin problem rather than a temptation problem will that affect how you approach the problem?



HOW?


WHAT WILL I DO WITH MY DOUBTS?


Search the Word
Take to the right place (like Thomas)
Share them with the right people (like Thomas)
Trust God’s heart until you discern His hand

WHAT WILL I DO ABOUT MY SIN?

April 10, 2010

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," Ephesians 3:20

The old saying goes, "It's not what you know but who you know."

We wish that wasn't true but in most cases it is. It does pay to have friends in high places.

However, in this instance it makes an incredible difference and the Apostle Paul is reminding his brothers and sisters of the Ephesus Church. They had become weary in their well doing and concerned over the suffering of their beloved Paul.

In this portion of his letter he encourages them by reminding them that they have a Friend Who is well-positioned to help them through their struggles. Verse 20 summarizes his message to them. It may strengthen you to be reminded as well why it matters when you pray:

"Now to Him......"

The reason prayer matters, the reason it comforts us, and the reason we can find strength from it is that we pray to HIM - God! And the Bible makes it clear that each time we pray the Holy Spirit interprets our prayers and Christ is at the right hand of the Father interceeding for us! Every prayer involves all three members of the Trinity! God gets fully engaged in our prayers!

"Now to Him Who is able....."

Not everyone who cares about me and who would like to help me is able to do it. There are people I care deeply about whom I would love to be able to help but can't. BUT GOD IS ABLE! Never lose sight of that important truth - GOD IS ABLE!

Are you discouraged today? GOD IS ABLE! Are you overwhelmed by suffering? GOD IS ABLE!Are you fearful and anxious? GOD IS ABLE! So, remember! You are never helpless when you call on Him because HE IS ABLE!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine....."

So, how able is He? He is more able than we are even able to imagine! His ablility transcends our imagination! Don't worry if you don't have an answer to a situation! He does! Don't try to aniticipate God or out think Him or understand Him - you are not able! Just understand that HE IS ABLE! He will solve situations for which you have no answers and do it in a way you would never have thought of!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

What is that power that is at work in us? Faith! A what does faith unleash in us? Love! And how does that help? Faith believes in a God Who is bigger than life and greater than circumstances and love connects us with Him!

April 9, 2010

"I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," Ephesians 3:13-20

It is hard to find a richer portion of Scripture in all the Bible than these verses we are examining today. The Great Apostle talks about the relationship between God's love and your life, God's strength and your suffering, and your prayers and His power.

My biggest struggle is knowing where to begin.

Let me approach it from these three perspectives: the reason for prayer, the resource of prayer, and the reassurance from prayer.

First, Paul touches on the reason for prayer - suffering. Paul was concerned that the Ephesian Christians would be worn down by their concern for him and the suffering he was experiencing. It is hard to watch people we care about suffer and not be able to do anything about it. In those days, Christians everywhere were either suffering or living under the threat of suffering. So, it was not that they didn't have their own problems. But he was their spiritual father and mentor and he was stuck in a filthy Roman prison shackled to Roman guards.

Suffering wears you out. Prayer strengthens you. So a primary reason for prayer is to find strength in suffering through prayer.

Second, Paul reminds us that prayer is a resource. It is a resource because it connects us with our Source and our source is God! It is a resource because it is a relationship with the God of the universe. The relationship is love! God's love IS our resource! It strengthens us. It sustains us because it is a wide, deep, high, and long love! His love enstablishes us on a firm foundation. When we receive the love of God we receive His strength to endure suffering.

Third, Paul boldly proclaims his belief that prayer reassures us God is always doing more than we know in ways that we can't imagine. We can believe in God's love and we can receive it, but even then we cannot conceive all that He is doing while you praying. So, here is the reassurance - if you are praying He is working! And if He is working He is doing "exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask or think!"

Life is hard. Suffering is overwhelming. Life and suffering get bigger than we are. But when they seem bigger than us - pray! Because prayer assures us that God is bigger than life and he is doing bigger things than we can know, prayer strengthens us!

Are you facing big struggles? Do you need a big God?

I have some big news for you! If suffering is your reason to prayer, prayer is a resource that connects you in relationship to a God Who makes "all things work together for good"!

If you are praying - He is working!