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God created Adam and Eve in a state that at least one of my former professors called, “unconfirmed creature holiness.” God placed them in a nearly perfect environment (remember that Lucifer was there) and gave them one simple command to obey:

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.  ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷ 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.” ¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” ¹⁹ So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²² And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³ Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” ²⁴ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.²⁵ And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” Genesis 2:15-25 (ESV)

As I said in the original post, dispensations are a specific period of time in which God deals with humans in a specific way. And, HE does so to teach us a specific lesson. What then is the lesson of this first of the seven dispensations?

Even in a perfect environment and with no history of sinful behavior, humans will rebel against God! Tens of thousands of people have argued over the years about that which we CANNOT KNOW… i.e., “why” God allowed Adam and Eve to sin. But, we DO KNOW that while HE DID ALLOW them to sin, HE did not compel – or even tempt – them to sin!

¹³ “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James 1:13-15

 One of the great, and inescapable, mysteries of sin is that while God is not the Author of sin, HE did create at least two kinds of creatures that are capable of sinning against Him: angels and human beings. The existence of evil is the source of much anti-God sentiment in the world and much confusion and debate among believers.

God did create angels with the capacity to sin, and some of them did sin! Cf. Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28. He also created humans with the capacity to sin, and all of us sin!                      Cf. Romans 3:10

 Adam surely represented us perfectly when he sinned against the commandment of God! And, as RC Sproul says in one of his sermons, the fact that we do not like God judging us to be guilty because of Adam’s sin proves how well Adam did, in fact, represent us! If any other human had been in Adam’s place, they would have done exactly what Adam did! All humans are sinners by nature, by desire, and by continual practice! So much so that even if we lived in a perfect environment with no previous history of rebellion against God, when God gave us a command, we would rebel against the commandment and the One who gave it!

So here is the first lesson: we are sinners! Thankfully, God is a Savior! Cf. Isaiah 45:22; Luke 19:10

Once Adam and Eve had sinned, God took the life of an innocent animal and made a covering for their sin. In the same way, 4,000 years later God allowed sinful men to take the life of His Only Begotten Son Jesus to make an “atonement” or “covering” for the sins of sinful humans who would repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord! Cf. John 1:11-12; 3:16, 36; Romans 10:9-13; 2^nd Corinthians 5:21

Next time (as the Lord allows): Dispensation #2 – Conscience!

I have been thinking of doing this series for some time, but I realize that my current preaching schedule is not going to allow me to do this from the pulpit of FBC Atwood for quite a while. So, I am going to do it as a series of posts on this blog. As a side benefit, this will allow for questions and answers between me and the readers!

While this was also the subject of my doctrinal dissertation for Louisiana Baptist University in 1991-1993, (and some of my thoughts will be taken from that document) I am not – let me say this again – I am not interested in debate with other pastors or theologians. I am not going to try to debate back and forth with anyone who is not an active member or a currently attending prospective member of FBC Atwood.

Many great and godly intellectuals have defended this theological position far, far better than I ever could. So, for the benefit of those who want to debate or argue these points, I recommend you read the works of, (and make contact with) Dr. John MacArthur or Dr. Charles Ryrie!

I am working to present this biblical teaching to the members of the Church who God has called me to serve. Let me begin with what I consider to be a very important statement:

I do not believe that any specific structure of biblical prophecy is of such importance that one’s salvation depends on a proper understanding of it! Nor, in my opinion, does it rise to the level of those doctrines agreement upon which would be necessary for believers to worship and work together in a local church. Therefore, I consider them to be tertiary in nature, which is something that we ought to be interested in, and for which we should strive for a correct understanding; but, not something over which we should break fellowship.

With this understanding, let me begin!

I believe in dispensational premillennialism for two specific reasons: first, I believe that the Christian Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and divinely preserved Word of God; and, second, I believe that the Christian Bible clearly reveals a divinely-decreed and revealed plan and purpose for the ages that forms a basic structure for understanding the message of Scripture. I believe that basic structure is dispensational premillennialism!

Dispensational premillennialism is not a “doctrine” it is a “school of interpretation!”

Let me define the words. By “dispensation” I mean a specific period of time in which God deals with people in a specific way in order to teach a specific lesson. While I certainly do not agree with everything that has been said or written by those who claim to hold this view, I do find that I am in basic agreement with the seven dispensation view espoused by John Nelson Darby and C. I. Scofield.

By “premillennialism” I mean that school of thought that holds that the second coming of Jesus Christ will be marked by a return of Jesus Christ in the clouds called the rapture; a seven-year period of tribulation on earth; the second advent of Jesus Christ to earth followed by a literal one-thousand year kingdom rule on this present earth; followed by a final rebellion, the Great White Throne Judgment, and the onset of the eternal state.

NEXT TIME: Genesis 1 to 5: The first dispensation – Innocence!

Read ahead and Remember: Questions are always welcome!

Jesus is the God Who listens to His people!

“Pray without ceasing.” (1^st Thessalonians 5:17 ESV)

Contrary to popular belief, 1^st Thessalonians 5:17 is the shortest verse in the Bible! Most of us have been taught that John 11:35 “Jesus wept” holds that distinction, and it is true – in the English language! But, since the New Testament is written in Koine Greek, the shortest verse in the Bible – in Greek – is 1^st Thessalonians 5:17. It is one Greek word that means, “Unceasingly pray.”

We are thinking in these devotionals about Who Jesus is. We have already written much about this question, but I want to focus today on the reality that Jesus is a living Being Who listens to His people!

I would love to know that if I send a letter to the President of the United States he would read it; or, if I called him he would take the call and listen to what I have to say. Fat chance! I can, however – as can you – speak directly with the Creator God of the Universe any time and any place I so choose. WOW!

When Christians describe speaking to God, we call that prayer. I have often said that I do everything else I do better than I pray. And, it is sadly true that I do almost everything else I do more often than I pray. Whether it is a time of formal prayer, or just casually speaking to Him, praying is nothing more than speaking to Jesus.

So, how should a Christian speak to Jesus?

1) Continually! Our theme verse today tells us that we should pray without ceasing. That does not require that we never do anything else, but it admonishes us to continually be in an attitude of prayer, continually aware of His nearness to us, and be focused on Him all of the time.

2) Reverently! Remembering Who He is ought to give us a sense of awe and respect. Yes, He is our Brother, but He is the One True and Living God. We do not need to fear to speak with Him, but I believe a proper attitude of prayer considers Who He is at all times.

3) Assuredly! He tells us that He hears us. He knows our every thought and hears our every word.

4) Expectantly! Jesus hears every prayer from His people and Jesus answers every prayer of His people! Many times I think that He has not heard my prayers, but scripture is clear that He does hear them.

My problem is that if He does not respond how and when I want Him to respond, I assume that He did not hear my prayer. My problem – and I am sure others feel the same way – is that Jesus does not answer every prayer the same way. Sometimes He answers directly; sometimes differently; sometimes He answers by denying our request; and, sometimes He delays His answer to accomplish His will in our life.

Jesus Christ is alive! He hears us when we speak to Him. He answers us according to His will and for our ultimate good. Jesus is the God Who hears his people when we speak to him.

Sola Deo Gloria!

21 “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21-26 ESV)

At high noon on October 31, 1517, (494 Years Ago Tomorrow) at Wittenberg University in Eastern Germany, an Augustinian monk and Professor of Theology named Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 complaints or “Thesis” to the door of the Catholic Church. Intended as a protest against the selling of indulgences, God used Luther and his list of protestations to shake the foundations of the Church of Rome and to usher in the greatest event in the Church since the ascension of Jesus to heaven!

Thus the Protestant Reformation was born! Luther had discovered the one key thing missing in the Roman Church: justification by faith alone! This is the Christian gospel, and any other so-called “gospel” is no gospel at all. Paul is clear that the only true gospel is his gospel:

6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7  not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-9 ESV)

And, just exactly what is Paul’s gospel?

1 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1st Corinthians 15:1-4 ESV)

Paul’s gospel, the biblical gospel, is simply that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for the sins of sinners and rose from the dead three days later! I still remember the day that I first heard Dr. Lee Roberson preach his now-famous sermon, “One Saving Gospel!” I remember how I felt when his words fell upon my mind… “There is one saving gospel, only one.” One Savior and one saving gospel! Amen, Dr. Roberson.

Since the Council of Trent, (1554-1563) the official position of the Roman Church is that whoever believes in “sola fide” (justification by faith alone) is anathema (cursed from God). Of course, the sad truth is when the Roman Church anathematized sola fide, they anathematized the gospel, and thereby anathematized themselves.

God chose to use a struggling, very much imperfect Doctor of Theology in a small German University to challenge the darkness of his day and bring back the light of God’s Word. That gospel light moved across Europe, North America, and then around the world!

“Pax Tenebrae Lux” is Latin for “Out of Darkness Light!” and it is the theme of the Protestant Reformation! Nothing describes a recovery of the biblical gospel better than these words. If we are to see the light of Christ enlightening the darkness of our world, we must get the “one saving gospel” out to a lost, dying, and darkened world.

Happy Reformation Day!

Who is Jesus? He is a Savior Who seeks Sinners!

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10 ESV)

We are thinking about knowing Jesus intimately, so we must know the fullness of Who He is. And, Who is He? Jesus is the Holy One Who comes to earth to seek unholy sinners to make them holy.

I am sure that almost every Christian would say that the thing we want the most is to be like Jesus!  I say that often, and I hear others say that often. At some very deep level, we sincerely want to be like Him. The problem comes when we don’t think through what that means. If we are going to be like Jesus, we are going to have to seek sinners!

It is truly amazing to me that Jesus would seek sinners. Anyone who considers what a holy God would do comes to the conclusion that He would seek holy people to be with Him. God does, in fact, demand holiness from those who would come near to him. “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14 ESV)

The problem is that there are no holy people! “As it is written, none righteous, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10 ESV)

So, what is God’s solution? He seeks for unholy sinners to make them holy!

Like most people, I have several “favorite verses” and they change from day to day; but, most days I will tell you that my very favorite verse is 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” We will never have a righteousness of our own! The only righteous we can every have is the righteousness of Jesus Christ that God accounts to those who repent of their sin and accept Jesus as Savior and Lord.

If we are to know Jesus, we must know that He is a Savior Who seeks unholy sinners for the purpose of making them holy. So should we.

Sola Deo Gloria!

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (ESV)

As I said previously, knowing Jesus intimately demands that we know Who He is! In the first part of this series of devotions, I focused on the fact that He is the eternal Creator God of the universe. Today, I want to help you to think about the fact that Jesus is the God Who shows up!

First, Jesus showed up in the Old Testament!

  He appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18.                                                                                           He appeared to Moses at the Burning Bush in Exodus 3.                                                         He appeared to Joshua as the Captain of the Lord’s Host in Joshua 5.                                 He appeared to Manoah and his wife (parents of Samson) in Judges 13.                             He appeared with Joshua the High Priest in Zechariah 3.

Second, Jesus showed up in the New Testament!

The four Gospels and Acts record the coming and the life, death, resurrection, and post-resurrection ministry of Jesus the Son of God! On the road to Damascus, He appeared to Paul and ministered to him personally for years prior to the beginning of Paul’s ministry.

He showed up on Patmos! There He, along with His ministering angels, gave John His plan and purpose for the ages. But, most of all, Jesus – through the Holy Spirit – indwells every believer in this age and has thereby “shown up” to be with His people! We are His creatures, but, thank God we are much more than that! And the reason that we are much more than a mere creature is that He has shown up to be with us and in us.

Jesus Christ, the One True Living God and Creator of the universe is a God Who shows up! He has, and always will, show up “just in time” for the blessing of we who are His people. We can know Him! Not because of anything that we have done or could ever do; but, we can know Him because of what He has already done… He showed up. Amen!

Of the many post-resurrection accounts of the ministry of Jesus, the one that captivates my thinking is His conversation with the two believers on the road to Emmaus as recorded in Luke 24:13-35. How their hearts burned from being with Him! Pat Pajak calls that feeling, “a holy heartburn” and it is clear evidence of a close walk with Jesus.

As I have thought about having a deep, personal, and intimate relationship with Jesus, I have come to believe that there are three keys to such a realtionship.

First, a deep, personal, and intimate relationship with Jesus requires “Presence!” While Jesus is at all times everywhere present, this kind of presence is what you sense when He is so near that you can almost feel His touch and hear His words. The good news is that He is always near to His people, and we do not have to seek to find Him. He dwells in our spirit through the Holy Spirit. Think of it beloved… He is near, He is near!

Second, a deep, personal, and intimate relationship with Jesus requires “Time!” It has been well and often said that time is the one thing that once we lose it is gone forever. Time is going, going, and going by. One of our most important decisions is how we will invest this fleeting and irreplaceable resource. Obviously, there is no better way to spend our time than to be with Jesus. Setting aside time for anything is a real challenge in my life – and I am sure in your life as well – but, He must have the priority in our life that a King deserves!

Third, a deep, personal, and intimate relationship with Jesus requires “Communication!” Communication: speaking to and listening to another. We speak to Jesus in prayer, but I wonder if we realize that He knows our thoughts? He does. It is cathartic to actually verbalize what we say to Him, but He knows our thoughts and hears when we think of and think on Him. Communication also requires listening. Mostly, we listen to Him when we spend time in His word. Prayer and Bible reading… not very novel, and certainly not new; but, that is how we communicate with Jesus!

Presence, Time, and Communication… that’s it.

I really want a deeper and more intimate relationship with Jesus. I am commiting myself to setting aside the time necessary; and, to discipline myself to walk and talk with Him more and more! How about you? God bless you.

In our first class from the series I call, “The Disciple Making Machine” I spent a lot of time dwelling on the idea of knowing Jesus intimately. This idea has certainly captivated my thinking over these last few weeks. I am convinced that the depth and breadth of our personal relationship with the living, resurrected Lord is the most important single thing in our life.

Also, I have for some time wanted to put together a set of daily devotionals for you. I have started and stopped a time or two. I think that I am so captivated by this idea of knowing Jesus much more deeply and intimately that, (as I work through my own journey with Him) I will share some of my thinking with you in the form of these devotionals. I hope I am able to stay with it… and I hope these studies are a blessing to you.

Let’s begin at the beginning! In John’s Gospel, Chapter 17, we have an inspired account of Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” on the night before His arrest and crucifixion. In that prayer, Jesus gives us key insight into His nature and Who He is!

He is the eternal One! He is the Second Person of the Godhead Who has eternally existed. He says to God the Father in verses four and five, ⁴ “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (English Standard Version)

In verse five, we have this simple truth that Jesus was with God the Father before the world existed! In the Creation account, plural pronouns are used for God. “Let Us make man in Our image…” (Genesis 1:26) All Three divine Persons of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, had a role in the Creation of the Universe. Jesus, being the Second Person of the Godhead, was actively involved in Creation. (John 1:1-3)

Any application of logic and reason to the evident physical facts about the Universe demands the existence of a divine, eternal, self-sufficient, all-powerful, and moral Creator! Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God Who created all things!

Who is Jesus? He is God Who existed before the creation of the Universe and spoke the Universe into existence by the Word from His mouth! He came to this earth to live and die for His people, (Matthew 1:21) and He calls us to a personal and intimate relationship with Him! (Matthew 11:28-30)

Amen. Think about that!

Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV)                                                                                                      ⁸ “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰  that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Every now and then, and not very often, I say something off the cuff that stays in my mind and helps to clarify my thinking on a subject. This happened to me three Sunday nights ago. While commenting on the nature of discipleship, I said, “The true nature of our discipleship is best defined by the intimacy of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ!”

I think this says in one sentence what I have been trying to formulate in my mind for years. While I am comforted by my belief that I do indeed have a personal and saving relationship with Jesus Christ, I am not at all satisfied with the level of personal intimacy in that relationship. Over and over again, this realization causes me to despair.

And then I think on these verses in Philippians three! No one and I mean no one had a closer relationship with Jesus Christ than did the Twelve Apostles.  In this passage, the Apostle Paul who had met Jesus face to face on the Damascus road, spent years in intimate conversation with Him, and who had actually been taken to heaven says that, “I may know Him…” Paul wants to know Jesus? Wow, If Paul was not satisfied with his personal relationship with Jesus, I am in trouble!

What Paul is saying is that he wants a more intimate personal relationship with Jesus. It appears in the text that the specific area Paul has in mind is to know Jesus in respect to, “His sufferings.” Let me confess that thinking on these verses makes me feel that my relationship with Jesus is very shallow indeed.

While I really do want to know Jesus more intimately, I am not at all sure that I want to “know” the fellowship of His sufferings. I am convinced that until I am ready to sacrifice my comfort I will not get closer to Him. Intellectually I am sure that I want to know Him more and more and more; but, evidently I am not willing to pay the price for that intimacy.  My prayer for myself and for you is that we will be willing to pay the price to know Jesus and to know Him intimately!

God blessed us with a wonderful day of worship, praise, study, and fellowship today “At the Woods!” I want to thank Him and everyone He used to make today such a blessing. Remember our many prayer requests and thanks for being part of this happy day.