Thanksgiving 2020

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19. whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. " James 1:2-4

This verse is one of my favorites. Along with Romans 8:28-29, it gives us a revelation about the trials we go through, a revelation of the "glory to be revealed in us". If we are spiritually minded, the suffering we go through in the flesh is nothing for we know that it is preparing us for an "eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison". In God's economy, everything He does in us is with eternity in mind. His goal is nothing short of conforming us to the image of Jesus. 

When we first come to know Jesus, we are saved from the penalty of sin. This is justification. We are swapping his righteousness for our former sin nature, the flesh. While we are walking with Him on earth, God is using the testing of our faith to produce the character of Christ in us, sanctifying us. When we leave this earth, we leave the presence of sin and are glorified with Him. 

This year has certainly tested the faith of many. I believe it may be the beginning of the fulfillment of Haggai's prophecy, And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. Haggai 2:7. If so, I do not anticipate a "return to normal", no matter who is President, or governor of your state or mayor of your city, for this will be the beginning of the end of national sovereignty, ushering in the rule of someone who will use the crisis to unite the world. Once in power, he will persecute those who know he is not the true Messiah. It will be a dark time. But it will not be the end. The seventh angel sounds his trumpet, the sign of the Son of Man appears in the heavens and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself descends upon the Mount of Olives. Those having followed antichrist will mourn, and try to hide themselves. The "kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever". Amen. May we all keep our eyes on Him when all seems lost. 

1:2 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verses 16 and 19; and in 2:1, 5, 14; 3:10, 12; 4:11; 5:7, 9, 10, 12, 19whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

Battle of the genders

What does God have in mind for the relationship between his sons and his daughters? What was the original design, and how was it corrupted after the Fall? Now that Christ has come, and put an end to the curse of the law, what should our relationships look like? 

Man (Hebrew Adam 0120) is created on the sixth day per Genesis 1:26 in the image (Hebrew Tselem 06754) and likeness (Heb. Dmuth 01823) of God. Specifically, like all other living creatures, man is both male and female (v 27). Thus, both man and woman were created on the sixth day. In chapter two, we find that originally man was alone, on a mission to dress and keep the Garden of Eden (2:15). God warns man to not eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil lest he die. Even though Adam is male and female, he is alone. I don't know how this could be, yet that is what the text says. In some way, Adam needed a helpmate (Ezer, 05828). The animals can't help, for they are not created in the image and likeness of God. Thus, God performs surgery on Adam, takes one of his ribs, and forms the woman. 

What did their relationship look like before sin? Well, we don't really know. But here are some observations:

1. The male is larger and stronger, perhaps for protection and provision. The female is smaller and weaker, and the chosen vessel from God to bear and nurture the children, though none are recorded before sin entered the world. 

2. Physically, the male gives and the female receives, then produces the child, and gives back. The two have become one flesh (Eph 5:31)

3. The woman is the Ezer for the man. Every other time this word is used in the Bible, it refers to God. She is sent by God to be his helper, for man can't make it on his own. She helps him the way God does. 

This paints a picture of interdependence. Woman receives her life from man, then gives it back again. The man provides and protects and the woman cares and nurtures. There is no power struggle, but a well oiled machine that is in perfect relationship to God. 

But unknown to Adam and Eve there has been a war in Heaven. Lucifer has rebelled against God and has taken a third of the angels with him. He has lost his place in heaven, and now finds himself cast down to Earth. He asks the woman about the commandment. In her response, she adds to what God had told Adam. Perhaps Adam has not done a great job of dividing the Word for Eve. Nevertheless, she got the point: Don't eat from the Tree of Knowledge. If you do, you die. Satan challenges her, claims it's not true, tells her a bunch of lies appealing to her sensual nature. He's not saying anything to the man. He knows the manual. He would not be deceived. So Satan lays the trap. Adam leaves his place of leadership and allows Eve to be deceived. 

Messiah has come as promised in chapter 3 of Genesis. As in Adam we are dead in our sins, in Christ we have been made alive. But has the original design of male and female changed, so that she is just as able to lead as he is? No. Paul tells Timothy that because Eve was deceived she is not to rule over man. Adam was made first. Eve is designed as his helper. If men continue to bail out, and let her lead, disaster awaits. Not because Eve is in any way inferior, but because God designed her for the nurture of her family just as He gave Adam the task of provision and leadership. Both man and woman have natural roles, and the family, and the church, work best when we lay egos aside and function interdependently. 

                          

What our Lord is doing these days

 
Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet. Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. John 13:6-7

I suppose that as one looks back on 2020, words like "Crisis" or "Chaos" or "Strife" might come to mind. In seemingly no time, we have gone from a time of prosperity unrivaled in modern times to the edge of an abyss. For many, this has been the most trying year of their lives. 2001, with it's fabled 9/11, was terrifying and many were wondering how we would overcome. As bad as 9/11 was, we only lost a few thousand lives and were able to rebuild most of what fell that day. Not so with 2020. Even if there is a successful vaccine to slow the progress of COVID, we've allegedly lost 250K lives, and it's not over yet. Unlike 9/11, we will not be bouncing back from this crisis to go merry on our way. To anyone looking back to the past for comfort, thinking we will ever go back, my counsel is to think again. We are going to be tested in ways that will make us long for the days when 9/11 was front page news for many months. 

God is not dead, my friends. If all hell seems unleashed on the world, and we face a crisis that will cause many to despair of life itself, He is still sovereign. God does not read the newspaper headlines and say to Himself, "Whoa, I sure didn't see that one coming". He tells the prophet Haggai, "I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of Hosts". 

Now, I am not at all sure whom God is referring to as "the desire of all nations". This could well be the coming of antichrist, who will step in and stop the bleeding, but then proceed to persecute the saints on an unimagined scale. If so, God is still sovereign, still in control, even if it might seem to us that He has lost it. In Revelation 7 we find a crowd that cannot be numbered, of every tribe, tongue and nation on earth. They have come out of the great tribulation as martyrs. So severe will the Beast's rule be, it will appear that the enemy has won. BUT IT WILL NOT BE. The sign of the Son of Man shall appear in the clouds, those of us still alive will be raptured away, and God will pour out His wrath on the inhabitants of the earth. 

Like Peter, we will long to ask Jesus what He is doing. As the tribulation breaks upon us, many, perhaps most, will fall away, according to Jesus. So severe will the deception be, He warns us that even the elect, were it possible, would be deceived.These are times that call for great preparation. In Matthew 25, all the virgins were asleep when the bridegroom came for them, but only half were ready. Let us therefore "press on to know the LORD, whose going forth is as certain as the dawn". For when we know Him, and He knows us, we shall be ready.  

Self Denial

 I have been perusing William Law's book, edited by Dave Hunt, "The power of the Spirit". His constant theme is that the natural man is not the spiritual man and that all the devisions in the church, and inconsistent behavior with the life of Christ can be found in one simple fact: Men are trying their best to live the "Christian life" under their own steam instead of relying on the Spirit of Christ within. Law does not oppose the use of reason in laying the foundations of faith, but he would limit its function. All of one's natural faculties, including the reasoning mind, must be placed under the authority of the Spirit of the Lord in us. This is self-denial, an active placing of trust in the One who is greater than ourselves, and apart from whom we can do nothing of any eternal value. 

So no, self-denial is not setting one's will toward what one supposes to be the will of God, but actively putting trust in the one who "Works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure". Attack such a believer all you will: He will but offer the other cheek, for he is absolutely secure in Jesus Christ. He has been crucified together with Christ, has been buried together with Christ, and has been raised up together with Him to a new life. The believer who has picked up his cross, denied himself and is now following Jesus has no agenda of his own. He cannot claim any glory for himself. He is hardly even aware of himself. The fruit of his life is the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5. His life is abiding in his Lord, trusting Him fully in all things.