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THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – THE INDESTRUCTIBLE WORD OF GOD

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THE INDESTRUCTIBLE WORD OF GOD

“‘The sky will disintegrate and the earth dissolve before a single letter of God’s Law wears out.

Using the legalities of divorce as a cover for lust is adultery; using the legalities of marriage as a cover for lust is adultery.'” Luke 16:17-18.

This seems like an odd combination of ideas, the eternal nature of God’s word and a warning against using legal ways as an excuse for adultery. But there is never anything random about Jesus’ thinking. He always came from the perspective of God and His ways rather than the natural, human way of thinking.

The concept of adultery has far wider implications than simply breaking a marriage relationship. It is a violation of the essence and nature of God Himself and the power that holds the universe together.

According to the Shema – the Hebrew confession of faith – “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4 (NIV), which an Israelite would recite more than once every day, God is one (echad – in Hebrew), not in uniformity but unity in diversity. Those who deny the Trinity or reject the deity of Jesus or the personality of the Holy Spirit have not grasped the significance of this unity. God is three persons, separate, but in essence and nature, perfectly one.

This oneness is reflected in the universe. Everything in the universe is interactive and interdependent. Everything on earth functions as one; man is a unit – every system in his body functions as one and when one system malfunctions, the whole body is affected.

God created a man and a woman and brought them together in marriage to function as one as a perfect reflection of His being. So, according the Genesis 2:24, marriage is primarily to be a visual aid of the unity of the Godhead. “For this reason (that the woman was fashioned from the body of the man), a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” The purpose of marriage is not primarily for companionship, procreation or legalised sex but to express the unity of God. 

Is it any wonder, then, that Satan targets marriage and the family as his most potent expression of hatred against God? Our so-called sexual ‘freedom’ has done more damage to the fabric of society than any other deviation from the ways of God because it has caused the whole of society to unravel.

Adultery is not just the disruption of a marriage partnership. It is a denial of the nature of God and attack on society as a whole and every human being in particular. The consequences of adultery are not only individual, they are universal.

Since God’s word is the manifestation of Himself in another form, it cannot be destroyed. It is as eternal as He is. His word is not broken – those who reject or disregard His word are broken by it and whatever is broken will land up in the trash.

Jesus warns that we must not think that we can get away with lust by disguising it under a legal divorce or even a legal marriage. Using divorce as a way of getting free to marry someone else does not fool God and neither does legal marriage as a cover-up for lust. These are the ways in which the selfishness that breaks ‘echad’ can be expressed. The only legitimate motivation for marriage is the sincere purpose of becoming one as a true, though imperfect, expression of God’s echad-ness.

Here is the Apostle Paul’s take on marriage. “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord…Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy…and to present her to Himself as a radiant church…In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies…’For this reason a man must leave his mother and father and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery – but I am talking about Christ and His church.” Ephesians 5:22-32 (NIV).

God’s word on marriage does not change because society has decided otherwise. Unity inside a monogamous union is the only way in which marriage can flourish because tha’t the way God planned it and that’s what He said.

Troubled And Transient

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TROUBLED AND TRANSIENT

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2: 15-17)

The word “world” is used in different ways in the Bible. It is sometimes used of the geographical planet on which we live, sometimes of the people of the world and in this case, of the corrupt world system with its ungodly ways, pleasures and allurements to sin.

“When we are told not to love the world, the Bible is referring to the world’s corrupt value system. Satan is the god of this world, and he has his own value system contrary to God’s (2 Corinthians 4:4). First John 2:16 details exactly what Satan’s system promotes: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. Every sin imaginable can be summed up in those three evils; envy, adultery, pride, lying, selfishness, and more spring from those three roots . . .  

“In general, the term world in the Bible refers to the evil system controlled by Satan that leads us away from worship of God. John Calvin said, “The human heart is an idol factory.” We can make idols out of anything. Any passionate desire of our hearts that is not put there by God for His glory can become an idol (1 Corinthians 10:31). Loving the world is idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:7, 14). So, while we are commanded to love the people of the world, we are to be wary of anything that competes with God for our highest affections.”

http://www.gotquestions.org/do-not-love-the-world.html (retrieved November, 2015)

There are several reasons why we should not “love the world”, that is follow the ways of the world rather than walk in the ways of God’s Word. The first is given to us in Hosea 9: 10.

When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert; when I saw your ancestors, it was like seeing the early fruit on the fig tree. But when they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.

God’s family held great promise until they showed their true colours when the opportunity came. They were lured into idolatry with the Midianites in the desert, disregarding God’s marriage covenant with them and worshipping false gods and doing the disgusting things associated with the worship of idols. They embraced the filthy ways of the idols they worshipped and became like them.

Secondly, we must not follow the ways of the world, because they are an insult to the God who bought us and made us His own. We are His sons and daughters, bought back from the slave market of sin at great cost. As His children, we are to reflect His nature to the world. God is holy love. He cannot have anything to do with what the world system represents. It is under the control of the god of this world. When we follow the ways of the world, we step back into the enemy’s camp and become enemies of God again.

Thirdly, the world and its ways are transient. God has reserved the devil and all who follow him for the Day of Judgment. He has appointed His Son, Jesus, as king on Zion, His holy mountain (Psa. 2:1-12). The nations were given to Him and He will sit in judgment over them and destroy everything that opposes God, including the devil and the world system he controls.

Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Cor. 15: 24-25)

It is foolishness to invest one’s whole life in that which opposes God, makes one filthy and will pass away when Jesus comes to set up His kingdom on earth. As much as Satan would dearly love to be God and take the Father’s place on the throne of heaven, he has already been exposed and defeated by Jesus through the cross.

Evil and the evil world system based on selfishness and greed, will collapse and pass away. God alone is eternal. Whatever He has created that bears the stamp of His nature and that functions in harmony with His ways, will be indestructible when the judgment falls and the fire destroys everything that is combustible.

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what had been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved – even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Cor. 3: 11-15)  

At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’ (Heb. 12: 26-29)

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my first book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (Copyright © 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

ISBN: Softcover – 978-1-4828-0512-3,                                                                              eBook 978-4828-0511-6

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The Lesson Of The Fig Tree

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THE LESSON OF THE FIG TREE

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree. As soon as the twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation certainly will not pass away until all these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away (Mark 13: 28-31).

What is the fig tree and what is the lesson of the fig tree? When did the fig tree first feature in Scripture? Last question first.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they lost their God-awareness and became self-aware. They became conscious of their nakedness and tried to hide it with fig leaves. It was an attempt to put right what they had done wrong by their own unsuccessful efforts. God had to kill an animal to provide skins to cover their shame.

God often used the fig tree as a symbol of Israel, especially in the Minor Prophets. It was both a symbol of fruitfulness as well as the devastation their enemies would bring on them because of their disobedience to God’s teaching.  Was the symbolism also for the same reason as Adam and Eve’s – Israel’s attempts to cover their unrighteousness and gain favour with God by their self-effort?

The disciples would have quickly grasped Jesus’ allusion to their own nation. What He had just told them, would happen to Israel. Just as they recognised the imminent return of summer by the changes in the fig tree, so these “beginning of sorrows” would herald the destruction of Israel.

Jesus was dealing with two catastrophic events on earth – the overthrow of Israel as a nation, resulting in the scattering of His people for thousands of years – and the destruction of the old earth and the renewal of all things, heralded by His return. Once again, there is no timeline to place the events into a convenient progression of events, but signs that everything He predicted was about to happen. Not “when” but “that” these things would happen.

When were they to flee Jerusalem? When the Romans entered the city and desecrated the temple. That was the signal that they would unleash a terrible slaughter on the city. That was the time to get out – and fast. No time to go home and gather up their belongings. The history books tell us that, because of Jesus’ warning, believers were alerted and were able to escape the city with their lives.

Why did Jesus give them signs and not a date? It was always His intention for them to live ready every day – to be watchful and alert so that their lives would give off the fragrance of Jesus all the time. Had He given them a date, the temptation would have been to live irresponsibly until the date arrived. That is the nature of the human being – to sail as close to the wind as possible.

If they understood that He was coming but did not know when, they would have made sure that they were ready to face Him without guilt no matter when He came. His allusion to “this generation must have referred to the destruction of Jerusalem. No need to create fanciful interpretations. It was almost as if He superimposed one even on top of the other – the devastation of Jerusalem and the devastation of the earth. One event would mirror the other.

 

When the Romans attacked Jerusalem and devastated Israel, it was the unbelieving Jews who were destroyed. When Jesus returns to destroy the old order of things and set up His kingdom on a renewed earth, it will be the unbelievers who will be destroyed. Prophecy teachers have led us to believe that God’s people will be taken to heaven and the ungodly left behind. But that contradicts Jesus’ reference to Noah and the flood. Noah and his family were “left behind” while the unrighteous perished in the deluge. God refashioned the earth for those who were protected in the ark.

It will be the same when Jesus returns. He will destroy the old order and all those who belong to it. His people will be safe “in Him” and will reign with Him on a restored and renewed earth forever. There is no such thing in Scripture as a “secret rapture” and a second chance. Jesus’ return will be noisy and visible to everyone – heralded by the blowing of the last trumpet – and accompanied by a myriad angels and all those who have gone before us.

I’m sure you would hate to miss out on this greatest event in history. Jesus’ message to us all is, “Be alert, be on guard, be ready.” The desecration of the temple signalled the coming of the Romans, and His people were ready. When will He return as He promised? “No man knows the day or the hour” but it does not matter, if we are ready.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Have you read my new book, Learning to be a Son – The Way to the Father’s Heart (copyright 2015, Partridge Publishing)? You’ll love it!

Available on www.amazon.com in paperback, e-book or kindle version or order directly from the publisher at www.partridgepublishing.com.

Check out my Blog site – www.learningtobeason.wordpress.com