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The Gospel Observer
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations...teaching them to observe all that I commanded you,
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age"
(Matt. 28:19,20).
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February 7, 2016
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Contents:
1) Evidences of Faith: Many Books, One God (Jim Robson)
2) News & Notes
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-1-
Evidences of Faith:
Many Books, One God
Jim Robson
Those who claim that the Bible is merely the work of human beings,
without God's guidance or inspiration, will also speak of the
evolution of the writers' concept of God. They claim that the
earlier writers had a primitive idea of who God is, whereas the
later writers had a more sophisticated notion. Indeed, this is what
we would expect from a collection of books written over a span of
some 1500 years. But, is it really the case? Did the picture of God
change from Genesis to Revelation, or is it truly the same God
described throughout? The way to answer this is to look at some
specific aspects of God's character, and see whether the early
writers had a different notion of God than the later ones did. For
reasons of space, we cannot look at all of the different
characteristics of God in this issue. However, we can take a good
look at two of them.
Let us start with God's judgment. This is one of the areas where
folks most often insist that the God of the New Testament is
different than the God of the Old Testament. The claim is that the
God of the New Testament is a God of love and mercy, whereas the God
of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and justice. (Keep in mind
that "justice" means "fairness"; a judge who is just, therefore,
must acquit the innocent and punish the guilty.) Let us now turn to
the Bible, and see whether there is indeed a difference between the
God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, in regard
to judgment.
If we start in the book of Genesis, we see that Adam and Eve were
expelled from the garden of Eden and condemned to death because of
their sin (Genesis 3:22-24). In the time of Noah, the entire earth
was destroyed by a flood, because mankind had become so completely
sinful (Genesis 6:5, 7:23-24). The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were
destroyed because of their utter sinfulness (Genesis 19:1-24). God
is consistently just throughout the Old Testament. Solomon sums it
up this way:
"A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of wicked
intentions He will condemn" (Proverbs 12:2).
There is no question but that the God of the Old Testament is a just
God, and therefore He punishes those who do evil.
But, what about the God of the New Testament? Is He different? Well,
Ananias and Sapphira probably don't think so: they were struck dead
instantly for lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:1-11). King Herod was
struck dead because he did not correct those who called him a god
(Acts 12:20-24). Elymas the sorcerer was struck with blindness for
opposing the teaching of the gospel (Acts 13:8-11). Throughout the
book of Revelation, there are promises of God's wrath upon those who
reject Him:
"But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually
immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part
in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second
death" (Revelation 21:8).
The New Testament tells us that our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews
12:29).
Furthermore, consider Jesus' words to those who heard His preaching
but did not repent:
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty
works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they
would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to
you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of
judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to
heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained
until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for
the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew
11:21-24).
"The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this
generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of
Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here" (Matthew 12:41).
Finally, consider the judgment scene which Jesus describes in
Matthew 25:31-46. In the last verse of this passage, Jesus says that
those who did not serve Him would go away into everlasting
punishment. Clearly, the God of the New Testament is One who
punishes evildoers, just as surely as the God of the Old Testament
is.
In this regard, then, there is no difference. The Bible is
consistent in its portrayal of a just God. If the Bible is a purely
human invention, then we would expect to see the identity of its God
develop over time. The God of the oldest books (Genesis through
Deuteronomy) should be the most primitive. The God of the later Old
Testament books should become more fully defined, more
sophisticated, and the God of the New Testament should be even more
refined. However, we have seen that, in terms of His justice in
judgment, God remains unchanged from Genesis through Revelation.
This leads to the conclusion that God revealed Himself to the
writers of the Bible, rather than the notion that the writers
described God according to their own understanding.
Now let us look at the other side of the coin: God's love and mercy.
Let us go back to the beginning. In the first chapter of Genesis, we
see the account of creation laid out for us in order. In this
account, we find only one creature made in the image of God: man.
Moreover, it becomes evident that everything else was created for
the man. Even the heavenly bodies were created for mankind:
"Then God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens
to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and
seasons and days and years'" (Genesis 1:14).
What other creature besides man uses the sun, moon, and stars to
gauge time? What other creature uses the heavenly bodies as signs
for navigation? If God created something as vast and magnificent as
the heavens for mankind, then surely this is evidence that He loves
us.
As we noted last month, Adam and Eve were punished for their sin. We
did not take time to consider, however, the fact that God allowed
them to live for some time. He did not obliterate them on the spot;
He gave them opportunity to learn from their error, and change their
ways. In fact, their punishments seem to be calculated to teach them
(Genesis 3:16-19). This shows mercy.
Several generations later, we find that mankind had become so
utterly wicked that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Again, God does not destroy
mankind instantly, but gives him 120 years to repent. Moreover,
there is a man named Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord
(Genesis 6:8). God tells Noah that He will be destroying the earth
by means of a flood, and instructs Noah to build the ark for his
family and a large group of animals. Noah's response shows that he
believed God:
"Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did"
(Genesis 6:22).
Noah, a man who believed in God, and demonstrated his faith through
obedience, was saved by God. It is not that Noah was himself
sinless; on the contrary, we find him in a drunken stupor after the
flood (Genesis 9:21). Therefore, God would have been justified in
destroying Noah along with the rest of mankind. However, God had
mercy upon him.
Again, in the case of Abraham, we see incidents where he exhibited
striking dishonesty and cowardice (Genesis 12:10-20, 20:1-13). On
the other hand, we also see that whenever God told Abraham to do
something, he obeyed: even to the point of sacrificing his son
(Genesis 22:1-13). For His part, God bestowed very special blessings
upon Abraham. God's criterion for doing so appears to be summed up
in this verse:
"And [Abraham] believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for
righteousness" (Genesis 15:6).
In spite of Abraham's failings, he was faithful -- believed in God
-- and for this very reason God considered Abraham righteous. In
other words, Abraham's sins were forgiven because of his
faithfulness.
We can see, then, that the God of Genesis is a God of love and
mercy. Truly, He only extends mercy on His own terms: but this is
what we would expect from a God who is just. In a court of law, we
might expect a judge to extend some leniency toward a criminal who
expresses deep regret for his actions, and who promises not to
repeat his offense; on the other hand, we see that the judge is
justified in "throwing the book at" the criminal who shows no signs
of remorse whatsoever. Mercy is tempered by justice.
Throughout the Old Testament, God's character does not vary on this
point: there are numerous examples of God's love and mercy, and yet
He never loses sight of justice. And when we get to the New
Testament, we find that God is still concerned with justice; He does
not ignore the problem of sin. In fact, it is because of the
seriousness of sin, that He pays such a high price to punish it. On
the other hand, in His loving mercy, God formulated a way to punish
the sin while simultaneously offering forgiveness to the sinner --
although forgiveness is still on God's terms:
"He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:16).
God's terms have not changed. He still offers forgiveness and
eternal salvation to any and all who will be faithful to Him.
Have you made that commitment to be faithful to God? Have you been
baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins? If not, why are
you waiting (Acts 22:16)?
-- Via The Watchman Magazine, March 1, 1999
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News & Notes
Gospel Meeting February 7-10 at the Hoboken church of Christ
(5101 Main Street, Hoboken, GA). Weeknights: 7:30.
Speaker: Ian Rice (from Lakeland Hills, Florida).
Rex Hadley Jr. was hospitalized recently, due to bronchitis
and congestive heart failure. His heart function had dropped to 18%,
but that could improve. He is now back home.
The test results for Carol Drain showed no cancer for the
lower region, including the kidneys and liver. She will be
having another test this Monday on the upper to determine what has
caused a slight number increase that has led to some concern.
Let us also continue to remember Shirley Jernigan (Gege
Gornto's mother), who is in her 90s and receiving hospice care.
WordPress version for this week's bulletin:
https://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com/2016/02/08/the-gospel-observer-february-7-2016/
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The Steps That Lead to Eternal Salvation
1) Hear the gospel, for that is how faith
comes (Rom. 10:17; John 20:30,31).
2) Believe in the deity of Christ (John
8:24; John 3:18).
3) Repent of sins (Luke 13:5; Acts 17:30).
4) Confess faith in Christ (Rom. 10:9,10;
Acts 8:36-38).
5) Be baptized in water for the
remission of sins (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Rom. 6:3,4;
Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Pet. 3:21).
6) Continue in the faith; for, if not,
salvation can be lost (Heb. 10:36-39; Rev. 2:10; 2 Pet.
2:20-22).
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Tebeau Street
CHURCH OF CHRIST
1402 Tebeau Street, Waycross, GA 31501
Sunday services: 9:00 AM (Bible class); 10 AM
& 5 PM (worship)
Wednesday: 7 PM (Bible class)
evangelist/editor: Tom Edwards (912) 614-8593
Tom@ThomasTEdwards.com
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/go
(Gospel Observer website)
https://thegospelobserver.wordpress.com/
http://ThomasTEdwards.com/audioser.html
(audio sermons)