Loving God, loving others

Reading the Bible and considering the pride of man and the humble service of Jesus Christ is layering new significance to familiar verses.

For instance, God created man in His image and because this is so, human beings are precious to Him. We are not like the sparrow (which He also cares for), nor are we like apes, or any other created thing. We are like God, reflecting who He is imperfectly because the reflection is so often marred and muddied by our sin, yet still reflecting Him. This is our identity.

For this reason, God says, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:6) This is the opposite of “love thy neighbor” even though both are based on the same thing. That is, because God made people in His image, I am to love them and not harm them. They are not God, only His reflection, yet my attitude and actions toward them is also a reflection of my love for God.

This makes more sense when I look in the mirror and am pleased with what I see. It isn’t the image in the mirror that makes me smile, but the person that is looking in the mirror. When I look at anyone else, I am looking at the reflected image of God. Their sin may block most of it, and I do not need to love the sin, but I can look deeper and care for them because of God’s image forming their identity.

I’m also reminded today of the equality of human beings. We talked with someone today who seemed to be impressed by those who have a great deal of money and can afford many expensive trinkets. I smiled and reminded him that the people who die with the most toys are still dead. But I cannot feel superior with that attitude for I have placed education and wisdom near the top of my value scale. Solomon has something to say about that . . .

“What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise? And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool!” (Ecclesiastes 2:15–16)

Those who die with the most degrees, even the greatest wisdom, are still dead. Instead, God says this: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight.” (Jeremiah 9:23–24)

God is not impressed with anyone’s IQ, and with that He instructs me concerning favoritism concerning those who have brains and wisdom. He also rebukes me for often having a lesser regard for those farther down the scale. He reminds me to consider what has become the Golden Rule: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

Again, Jesus reminds me that following Him and loving others like He loves them could mean the loss of everything. When a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go,” Jesus responded, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:19–20) Following Jesus can mean having nothing, even being considered a fool.

Being like Jesus and loving God by loving others is not a romantic notion that would “look good on my resume” nor is it a light decision. Instead, it could be very costly.

Love Me as I have loved you . . .

The sermon today told me that to show my love for God, I need to love others. This is His commandment and it fits with the focus He gave me. I am to humble myself to do His will, loving others and not being concerned for myself. He will take care of me.

As I read the above passages, I can see the contrasts. In Genesis, the entire population had given itself to evil – except Noah . . .  “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Genesis 6:5–8)

Then God told this man that He was going to make an end of all flesh, so Noah was to make an ark. God gave him the exact directions including dimensions, told him what to put in the ark for food, and to take two of every living creature as well.

I cannot imagine the mirth of Noah’s neighbors. The earth up to this time was watered by a mist. They didn’t know about rain or floods, but Noah persisted in building it anyway. Then God told him to go into the ark with his wife and family, and “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22) After the ark was full, God shut them in and the rain began to fall.

Noah was righteousness in that he believed God and did what he was told. He could have worried “what will people think?” but he did not. He could have laughed at the threat of rain and a flood, but he did not. He could have worried about the fate of his home and possessions, but he did not.

Noah stands in contrast to Solomon who was called the wisest man. He said, “I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees . . . And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6, 10–11)

This man was filled with “I” and thought only of what would give him pleasure. He didn’t listen to God for much of his life and wound up feeling empty because of it.

Last are the words of Jesus. He says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven . . .”  (Matthew 6:1) This touches on another kind of selfishness, the performance of a Christian that seems to be serving God but is only in it for themselves. Such service wants to look good rather than turning from self to obey God.

After several examples, Jesus seems to cover the folly of Solomon and the righteousness of Noah with a simple statement: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19–21)

Noah lost much in the flood, but by obeying God, he and his family escaped the judgment that destroyed everyone else and all they had. Solomon gain gold and silver, countless wives, horses and other treasures, but he lost all joy and learned the hard way the value of humility and obedience.

All day, God has been warning me about loving Him in order to impress others. Instead, I’m to love Him by serving others, even if it costs me everything. Jesus loved me so much that He died for me -- and His love is my example.

Good news: what we have lost can be restored . . .

This year’s devotional guide (see left) presses me to fuller study, making it more difficult to use devotionally. I want to write a book instead of a devotional post. However, I will try to share the main point of what God is saying to me so that others might be edified. My hope is to see the connections between the OT and the NT, and to better understand how human ego and vanity ruin my life while humility is not thinking less of me, but thinking of me less, and more of others.

The readings are from the OT, the books of wisdom, and the NT. I’ve no problem seeing connections between the readings. First the OT tells how God created man . . .

“This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them . . . . When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image . . . .” (Genesis 5:1–3)

In the beginning, the first human beings were made in the image of God, but after sin entered the world, that changed. The next generation was made in the image of the first two people, which was a marred reflection. Pondering that, it seems to me that with each successive generation looking like the one before it, humanity slid into increasing deterioration. Even in my life time, I can see the changes. Fifty years ago, people knew much more about God than they do now. Today, the average person has lost that sense of spirituality that my parents had, and the average five-year-old blasphemes God as if that were a normal way to talk.

By the 10^th Century BC, Solomon observed this also. He noted, “I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said in my heart, ‘I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me, and my heart has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.’ And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14–18)

He writes more about the vanity of life and how he feels as if nothing really matters very much. The world is a sinful place, but even the good that anyone does has no lasting value. Unless Ecclesiastes is read to the end and this wise man’s conclusions are accepted, it is a utterly depressing book.

Yet the NT brings hope. Jesus comes. He calls for a return to righteousness, a change of heart. But before that can happen, people need to realize that this change is vital. He tells them (and me) that “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)

I’m in a somber mood. Millions of people have never heard this bad news that precedes the good news, and even if they know it and have heard the Gospel, both bad and good news have been maligned so much that it no longer sounds profitable to their ears.

But both are good news. The first Adam did disobey God and the entire human race became separated from Him, but the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, fully obeyed God so that the entire human race could be redeemed. The Gospel declares that sinners can be united to Him and restored to His image through a new birth and a fresh start.   “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled me to himself and gave me the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting our trespasses against us, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

“Therefore, I am an ambassador for Christ, God making his appeal through me. I implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  

Hobbits and the war with evil

Today we saw in 3D the latest Hobbit movie. It began with a battle that went non-stop throughout. Several times I shuddered and even cried because it vividly displayed spiritual warfare – battles that I’ve fought and that affect so many Christians. These battles are with our own sin (in the movie it was specifically greed), and with evil forces that want to destroy us.

This war began in Eden. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’” (Genesis 3:1) With his suggestions, both the man and the woman disobeyed God. After that, God confronted them, but their responses were also sinful. The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12–13) Both of them refused to own up to their disobedience and shifted the blame.

Not long after that, one of their sons was jealous and angry at his brother so he killed him. God was merciful to a degree, but warned Cain, “. . . If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6–7) The power of sin had been unleashed and with it came the power of sin to destroy sinners. In the Hobbit movie, this was plain to see as hoards of evil beings attacked those who stood for good.

The biblical story reveals the power of sin and Satan. After sending many prophets to warn and chasten His people for their sin, God sent John the Baptist who preached in the wilderness of Judea saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:1–2)

Repentance is turning from sin to God and to do right, but human beings have a tough time with that. Sin is too powerful. I know that by the Word of God and by experience, but I also know the only One who never lost this battle. As John preached repentance, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’” (Matthew 4:1–3)

Jesus refused to give in to His own needs. He rejected Satan’s ploys and stood firm. From that time He began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) He continued the same message John began without any need to repent Himself. However, even as I follow Him, I’m continually tempted to still do my own thing. Serving the Lord will always involve turning from the temptations of Satan and the appeal of sinful desires.

As the movie depicted, sin is never fulfilling. Temptation makes it appear to be rewarding, but the last section of this reading includes: “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8) Giving in to evil desires, whether greed or ego-feeding or any other sin, will never satisfy me.

My devotional guide says a sinful person might use anything, even Scripture as Satan did, for personal gain. If I do that, I am acting like Satan — not Christ. I might think that I am being godly, but if I’m not exalting Christ (His virgin birth, suffering, death, resurrection, or continued presence in my life), my words are not about godliness and truth at all.

If I stick with what I want, God also warns me that it was an “I want” that plunged the world into a war with evil that no one can win -– and that is why we need Jesus Christ.

Pride is destructive, humility is world-changing

Part One. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” (Genesis 1:31)

In the creation account, many of the details do not fit logically and most people do not believe it. The theory of evolution has many illogical aspects too, yet it has become the preferred alternative with focus on the last part of this verse. As I read it again, I wondered what would happen if the first part became the focus. I so easily think of the trees, mountains, flowers, and every other created thing as amazing, but God said of them that they were “good.” It was after He created human beings that He called it “very good.” But we consider ourselves ‘advanced apes’ and in our pride, turn our backs on God’s evaluation.

Soon after creation, the Lord God commanded man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17)  And in pride, man turned his back on God’s warning – with eternal consequences for him and all who came after him.

That included women. God decided, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” (Genesis 2:18) He made the woman and presented her to the man as a suitable partner to help him (this word ‘helper’ is also used for God as our helper) and we all know what men and women have done with that arrangement and how deeply pride in “doing our own thing” affects society.

Part Two. Then came the One who would show us what it means to be humble. His example began by His choice of heritage. “Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron . . .  Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse . . .” are people in the lineage of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 1:3–5) The two women I have italicized prostituted themselves, yet God was not concerned about the reputation of Jesus’ ancestors. He was more concerned about the eternal destination of us all. Do we dare turn our backs on that?

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.” (Matthew 1:18–19)

Not only did Jesus have skeletons in the family tree, His mother had the appearance of an immoral woman. Only an angel could step in and change the mind of the man in her life: “When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24–25)

Soon after Jesus was born, the magi, also known as king-makers, came and worshipped this baby and gave Him gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11), but Herod the king had a fit. Instead of bowing to God’s king, he “he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men.” (Matthew 2:16)

Part Three. Stroking my ego, thinking I know better than God, worrying about reputation, taking matters into my own hands, wanting to be best and in charge – these things are rooted in pride and are what the wisest man declared, “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2)

That kingdom of self is vanity (the word means a mist or a vapor) and eventually vanishes, but Jesus clearly demonstrates the value of having no concern for self and considering others more important. Humility has eternal consequences.