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ATONEMENT

Published January 31, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Atonement, theology

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When Adam and Eve sinned, God promised atonement:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

This first promise is also the first prophecy and says that a descendant, referred to here as “her [Eve’s] offspring,” would do irreparable harm to the serpent, Satan. Just after God spoke these words, He gave Adam and Eve a practical illustration of the idea of “substitution”; that a sacrifice – a life for a life – would be needed to fulfill that promise:

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)

We have evidence that the first family understood God’s promise and illustration in the actions of Cain and Abel. The sons of Adam and Eve understood both the concept and the need for atonement. In Genesis 4 we see them offering their own sacrifices to the Lord. God rejected Cain’s offering, but He wasn’t condemning Cain, He was teaching a lesson. He spoke to Cain with all the patience of loving parent:

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:6-7)

There was no anger in what God said in response to Cain’s offering. There was no punishment inflicted on him. What did God explain to Cain? If Cain continued in his present state – angry and downcast – he would be sinning. But if he would present a sin-offering, his sin would be pardoned. Cain’s offering needed to be more like that of his brother’s. Abel the man wasn’t necessarily any better than his brother, but his offering was. What was wrong with Cain’s offering? It was the result of HIS work, and God did not find it acceptable.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. (Genesis 4:2-3)

This was the lesson: sin is atoned for, not by our works of righteousness, but by God’s mercy. Forgiveness of sin is wholly a work of God; we cannot earn God’s pardon through our efforts.

Abel’s offering was acceptable because it was offered in faith, something we learn from a verse in the New Testament:

By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. (Hebrews 11:4)

The death of Jesus is described in the same kind of language as the sacrifices of the Old Testament. For example, when John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” everybody that heard him understood exactly what he meant. However, we who are living 2,000 on have no relationship to those words. Unless we have even a modicum of knowledge about the Old Testament idea of a life-for-a-life, those words, “the Lamb of God” have little or no power.

1. Atonement in the Old Testament: Concepts and Reality

The sacrifices in the Old Testament and the whole sacrificial system were types – examples – pointing God’s people to the perfect or ultimate Sacrifice, Jesus Christ. They were to prepare the people of God for the time when Christ would come to completely fulfill the first promise and prophecy of the Bible.

The whole idea of “atonement” and “sacrifice” was in no way an afterthought of God brought on by the Fall of man. In fact, Jesus Christ is described this way in Revelation 13:8–

...the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (Revelation 13:8b)

In other words, God’s plan of sacrifice was ordained in Heaven even before the creation of the material universe. When Jesus is referred to as “the Lamb of God,” God’s people would have immediately been reminded of their Passover Lamb, that was chosen several days before it was killed:

Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. (Exodus 12:3)

Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. (Exodus 12:6)

Jesus Christ, like the Passover Lamb, was chosen before the creation of the world to be offered as the final Sacrifice for man’s sin.

He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. (1 Peter 1:20)

When we understand this, we understand that Christianity is in no way a “new religion” that began with the coming of Jesus into the world 2,000 years ago but it is in reality a manifestation of God’s eternal plan. All the clues that pointed to Jesus scattered throughout the Old Testament were there to be seen by God’s people for generations.

Beginning with the very first animal sacrifices in Genesis, we see an innocent animal dying so that man’s guilt may be covered. That is the primary purpose of sacrifice: a covering for a guilty conscience. In fact, the word “atonement” means “to cover.”

But did the ancient people get what God was trying to teach them? The answer is obvious: yes, they did. Even though man took a very good and righteous concept, sacrificial worship, and perverted it, the fact that there sprang up religions all over the world that involved the killing of innocent creatures to appease a deity, shows that buried deep in the subconsciousness of all men is an understanding of “atonement.” All men seem to instinctively know that the God who made him has every right to kill him unless an acceptable offering is made. In behind the idolatries of every human religion and cult, is an understanding that there is a great “spirit” or a great god above all other gods who made man, gives and takes life, and demands atonement.

Paul makes it clear that at one time, all people on the earth knew God:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21)

So just as fallen man still bears the image of God, marred as it may be, and the marks of his divine origin, so even religions, false and otherwise, with their sacrifices, bear some marks of an original Divine revelation from God to man.

2. Atonement in the Old Testament: Efficacy

Where the God-instituted sacrificial systems of the Old Testament (from Adam’s time to Noah’s time and finally to the Mosaic Covenant) effective? Where those who offered the prescribed sacrifices in the proper way pardoned?

The answers to these and other questions surrounding the Old Testament sacrificial system are found in the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament. This letter was written to Hebrew Christians who were depressed and discouraged and tempted to return to their former religion, Judaism. In doing so, they would go back to the Temple and it’s animal sacrifices. The author of that letter did his best to persuade them to remain faithful, for to return to the Temple and it’s priests and animal sacrifices would be to exchange the reality for the shadow. The overall argument of Hebrews is that the Old Covenant was good as far as it went, but the New Covenant is better in every way.

The Old Testament sacrifices were good because that whole system proceeded from the heart and mind of God. They were good because they fulfilled a plan that originated in Heaven as part of God’s plan of redemption: they were a means of grace.

He shall burn all the fat on the altar as he burned the fat of the fellowship offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man’s sin, and he will be forgiven. (Leviticus 4:26)

As faithful Israelites participated in the various sacrifices, they were conscious of two things. First, repentance was not enough; it had to be accompanied by an outward act that showed the community of faith that sins where covered.

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22)

If an Israelite claimed to have been forgiven, there had to be proof; one of his animals had to have been sacrificed.

Secondly, that outward act of sacrifice had to be accompanied by inward expressions of sacrifices; things like praise to God, and an attitude of humble thankfulness.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalms 51:16-17)

This was something that Solomon completely understood:

The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him. (Proverbs 15:8)

The Bible makes it plain that merely “going through the motions” in terms of offering the prescribed sacrifices were not at all acceptable to God.

However, Jesus Christ’s One sacrifice in the New Testament is better in every way. Faithful, thinking Israelites realized that their present means of sacrifice was not perfect. How could the blood of a mere animal compensate for the sins of a man, created in the image of God? Obviously, the offering had absolutely nothing in common in any way with the offerer and the shed blood of that animal had no power to do anything for anybody.

But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:3-4)

The writer to the Hebrews, a Hebrew himself, understood that at best those animal sacrifices demanded by the Lord were a very temporary means of atoning for sin only until the perfect Sacrifice would come. The sacrifice of animals only covered the outward acts of sin but were of no spiritual value.

…the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings–external regulations applying until the time of the new order. (Hebrews 9:9b, 10)

The very fact that these sacrifices had to be repeated over and over and over proved that they were far from perfect.

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming–not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. (Hebrews 10:1-2)

Thinking, faithful, and enlightened Israelites knew something better was coming their way. The prophet Jeremiah was one who knew the truth. He knew:

(a) The people could never keep the Law because their sins were so deeply etched into their inner-most being :

“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.” (Jeremiah 17:1)

(b) Their hearts were desperately wicked and deceitful:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil. (Jeremiah 13:23)

(d) His people had long passed the point where sacrifices did any good:

What do I care about incense from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable;your sacrifices do not please me.” (Jeremiah 6:20)

3. Atonement in the Old Testament: Some were justified

The Bible teaches that in spite of the limitations of the Old Testament sacrificial system, people were indeed saved before the atoning work of Christ. Abraham was said to have been justified by faith (Romans 4:23). Moses was glorified (Luke 9:30, 31) and Enoch and Elijah were translated. Many, many people who lived and died before the New Testament era were godly and true believers. How could they have been saved before Christ did His work on the Cross?

They were saved in anticipation of, and looking forward in faith to, the future perfect Sacrifice just as we, today, are saved in consideration of, and in looking back to, Christ’s past Sacrifice. Christ’s once-for-all Sacrifice was so powerful, it reached back in time and and reaches forward in time to save all those who, by faith, trust in His atoning work on their behalf.

Naturally, those true believers in the Old Testament did not enjoy the blessings of salvation afforded believers today. We enjoy the abiding presence of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they did not. They did not enjoy the fullness of the gifts of the Spirit and they certainly did not have the completed revelation of God at their fingertips! Believers are so blessed today, and yet we fall into the exact same sinful and destructive thought patterns and behaviors the Israelites of the past did.

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EZEKIEL AND THE GOD WHO EQUIPS

Published January 29, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: faithful servants, fresh vision, good and faithful servant, heavenly vision, servant of god

Everybody knows you need the right tool for the right job!

All Christians are called to serve God, and the secret to being a successful servant of the Lord is first discovering your role in His Kingdom. What does God want you to do? Where does He want you go? Serving the Lord has to do with what you are doing for Him in the world. It has to do with being His Ambassador among the lost.

Once you know what God wants you to do and and where He wants you to do it, the next thing a successful servant of God needs is a fresh vision of God. Ezekiel saw the Lord and His glory in Ezekiel 1. He saw a vision of God’s greatness, His holiness, and His justice. Isaiah, like Ezekiel, saw the Lord in Isaiah 6. And Saul, who would become Paul, saw the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and he was not “disobedient to the heavenly vision.”

A vision of God is essential if you want to be a top notch servant of God. When you know more of God’s holiness, righteousness, justice, and glory, that knowledge will propel you into the streets in whole-hearted service.

Do you want to be a successful servant of God? Is that important to you? It should be! When you stand before God, you’ll want to hear Him say these words:

Well done, good and faithful servant… (Matthew 25:21)

Here are some characteristics of all good and faithful servants as exemplified by Ezekiel:

1. They are full of the Holy Spirit

As he spoke, the Spirit came into me and raised me to my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. (Ezekiel 2:2)

In the first chapter of his book, Ezekiel saw a glorious vision of the Lord and of the Lord’s glory. How that vision must have blown the young prophet away! He must have been left utterly speechless. When chapter 2 opens up, the Lord is heard calling Ezekiel to be a prophet and addresses him as “son of man.” Over 80 times in Ezekiel, the Lord refers to his prophet as “son of man.” For Christians, this may seem a little strange, since Jesus Christ is traditionally known as the “Son of man.” So, why does God call this prophet “son of man?” Out of all the prophets, only Ezekiel is addressed this way. We don’t really have a definitive answer as to way God calls him this; the Bible just doesn’t say. As far as Ezekiel was concerned, it may well be that this one-time priest needed a continual reminder that even though God had called him to the prophetic ministry, he was still just a man – a creature – frail and finite. Ezekiel, like any prophet or any servant of God, was of no use to God except the Lord fill his mouth with the right words to speak to his people. What people are desperate to hear are not the words of yet another slick Gospel huckster, peddling his “let’s get spiritual together” drivel, it’s the Word of God, delivered by a servant of God who is humble enough to sit before God, acknowledging his own spiritual shortcomings and bankruptcy of clever ideas.

God told Ezekiel to stand up, and he needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit just to stand in God’s presence. It was the Holy Spirit that helped the prophet obey the Word of the Lord. Here is a great example of the adage: what God requires of us, He enables us to do. Ezekiel was weak – and who could blame him for being “weak in the knees” after seeing such an incredible vision of God? This “son of man” did not have it in himself to even stand up in God’s presence, so God enabled him to do so.

And God will help you to be obedient to His Word, too, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit and come before Him with no pretense, in complete honesty. God wants to use you; God wants to reward you and bless you and honor you and He will go so far as to give you His resources, so that as you use them, you will be moved into a position to receive all the good things He wants you to have.

Yes, God’s successful servants are those who are full of His Holy Spirit.

2. The are sent by God

He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have been in revolt against me to this very day. (Ezekiel 2:3)

Ezekiel, drafted for God’s service, was told point blank where to go. God was sending him to the Israelites. This was going to be a difficult task to say the least. He was to go to his own people in exile – people who were by in large engaging in apostasy and sin and definitely not predisposed to listening to the Word of the Lord! Even in exile, the Israelites (the Jews) were impudent and rebellious. Even in exile, most of them were not weeping over the sins that put them in this terrible place. They were a stubborn people, not at all interested in hearing anything God had to say them.

But a genuine servant of God will go wherever God sends them, regardless of how dreadful the destination may seem. It’s called “living by faith,” and it’s something a lot of Christians are fearful to do. Living by faith runs contrary to what is “the norm” in the world today. The reason why there are so many mediocre Christians is because they are not living by faith, they are living like people of the world but with a Christian worldview. But they’re only getting it half right! Here’s what the Bible says:

We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

It’s not enough to just be a “good person.” Anybody can be a “good person.” A Christian must be more than that; they must be one who is sent by God; on a mission for God, from God; living for God and living by faith. It may mean going some place not too desirable. It may mean doing something you’re unaccustomed to doing. It didn’t thrill Ezekiel to switch from being priest, ministering in the Temple to people who wanted to be ministered to. He was now in a bad place – exiled in a foreign land – and was being asked by God to prophesy to people who had no interest in hearing anything he had to say. Think about it. Ezekiel could have just stayed by the Kebar River in Babylon, making the best of his exile, spending his days fishing and keeping a low profile. He could have prayed for his fellow exiles; prayed for Daniel; prayed for the folks back in Jerusalem. But that’s not what God wanted him to do.

And Ezekiel had to do what God wanted him to do. No matter what, Ezekiel had to live by faith.

3. They have “received” God’s Word

And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. (Ezekiel 3:1-3)

God’s call to the prophet involved hearing, understanding, and making God’s Word part of his being. He had to sit and absorb it. It may seem strange that a priest needed to sit still long enough and be taught by the Lord, but a true servant of God never knows it all; and never stops learning from the Holy Spirit. It’s one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit, by the way:

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)

Unlike his stiff-necked and rebellious people, Ezekiel had to sit still, be obedient, and listen to God and not act like them. As a child eats from his mother’s hand, so a child of God – like Ezekiel – needs to receive the Word from God. A successful servant of God is a mature Christian, not like the Hebrews:

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

A successful servant of God will be like Moses, who though conscious of his shortcomings, received the Word of the Lord:

The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” (Exodus 4:11-12)

As we read on the book of Ezekiel, we see that the messages God gave the prophet to speak to the people were almost always heartbreaking, but nonetheless, Ezekiel had to make God’s Word part of his innermost being. Before Ezekiel could give the Word to others, it had to live in him. But notice, even though God gave Ezekiel the words to speak, gave him visions to inspire him, gave him clear directions to obey, in the end it would up to the “son of man” himself to put forth the effort, open his mouth, and speak. To do that, Ezekiel needed another characteristic.

4. The are courageous

But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house.” (Ezekiel 3:8, 9)

God’s commission to Ezekiel involved hearing, understanding, and assimilating God’s Word before venturing forth as a prophet from God. How the people received the Word, or treated God’s messenger was NOT to govern Ezekiel’s ministry. God warned Ezekiel of the tough row he had to hoe.

A successful servant of God will do the work of the Lord regardless of his how he or his message is received. There is no harder an audience to reach than those who are already familiar with what you are saying. They ignore you; they mock you; they may even argue with you. Often times it’s far easier to take the Word of the Lord to complete strangers. But we, like Ezekiel, must be strong. God will give His true servants the strength they need, and the determination to get the job done. As one Bible scholar succinctly wrote:

The fear of man is foreign to the man (or woman) of God.

5. They are faithful

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” (Ezekiel 3:16-21, verse 17 cited)

It goes without saying that a successful servant of God is completely faithful to Him. As far as Ezekiel was concerned, his role was to be that of a watchman over the house of Israel while it was in exile. In the Old Testament, the watchman had an important job: he was to stand on the wall of the city; keeping an ever vigilant eye open for threats from within or without. If he saw an army approaching the city, he had to sound the alarm, rousing the army of the city.

It was up to Ezekiel to listen to the Lord – since the people were not – and to warn them of the judgment to come. Of course, the exiles in Babylon were already experiencing discipline and judgment for their sins. But a far greater punishment was waiting for the unrepentant sinner who continually turned a deaf ear to the righteous demands of God as expressed in His Covenant.

The true servant of God is faithful to God and faithfully discharges God’s call upon his life because he understands what’s at stake:

“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered, and I will hold you accountable for his blood.” (Ezekiel 3:20)

What a chilling verse that is! God did not cause the righteous man to stumble; he had already turned from God’s ways and done evil. The stumbling block was put in his way after the fact to stop him from spreading his sin, and to see how he would respond. If he persisted in his sin, he would die. That stumbling block would be a kind of death sentence on a once-righteous man who decided to turn his back on God.

Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. (Romans 11:22)

What a solemn responsibility was Ezekiel’s. A true servant of God is faithful because he must be; he really has no choice. He will be held responsible if he shirks his duty to the Lord. There is no greater privilege than that of being a servant of the Lord. But with that great privilege comes a great responsibility. The good news is that God will equip you to get the job done. But first you have to trust Him.

MORE ABOUT SIN

Published January 23, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: original sin, partial depravity, sin, sin problem, total depravity

John Calvin, Mr. Happy, the man who found more doctrines in the Bible than anybody!

MAN AND HIS PROBLEM WITH SIN, CONTINUED

The study of sin is called “Hamartiololgy,” and is part of the study of man, called “Anthropology.” Sin is a serious topic because sin is serious. Sin is what drove mankind’s parents from their home in the Garden of Eden. Sin is what separates man from his God and from his fellow man. Sin is what causes all of man’s problems.

While it is simple to identify a sin, it’s not as easy to define. The simplest way to understand sin is to understand that sin is simply a dereliction of duty on man’s part. In the Garden, man was unwilling to live within the boundaries established by God. Adam and Eve exemplified what the prophet Isaiah wrote:

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

The key phrase in that verse is “turned his own way,” or as we might say today, “did his own thing.” When man chooses to “do his own thing,” he is choosing to NOT do what God wants him to do. Hence, sin is man’s failure to live in obedience to God. For the Christian, this poses a particular problem. When we confess Christ as Savior, our sins are gloriously forgiven, but temptation is still all around us. We may be “dead to sin,” as Paul wrote, but sin is still very much alive. Therefore, just as man chooses to sin, so the believer must choose not to sin by daily “dying to sin,” and cultivating living the will of God. In other words, the Christian must master the art of self-discipline.

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:27)

1. Defining Sin

There are actually several Greek words that get translated into our English word “sin” or refer to “sins.” By looking at each of these words, we can get a good idea of what sin is all about.

(A) Hamartia. This may be the most common word used for “sin,” and means “missing the mark.” Picture being at the shooting range, firing at a target. If you are a terrible shot, you “miss the mark.” The word hamartia is used frequently in the New Testament, but Romans 3:23 is a good example:

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… (Romans 3:23)

What is “the glory of God” referring to in this verse? It seems to have reference to God’s original high and holy purpose for man to be like His Creator. Man was created to be like His God; WE were originally created to be God’s glory on Earth.

(B) Parokoe. This Greek word is often translated “disobedience.” It means failing to pay attention to God’s will as He speaks through His Word and by His Spirit.

For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. (Hebrews 2:2-3)

(C) Parabasis. Often translated “transgression,” it means “passing beyond a boundary.” It means to “go too far,” but also means to “break a commandment.”

For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. (Romans 4:14-15)

Think about the “No Tresspassing” sign in relation to parabasis. If you ignore that sign and tresspass, you are breaking a law.

(D) Paraptoma. This Greek word means “falling down when you should be standing up.” It’s often translated “trespass” and often refers to our faults or shortcomings and our mistakes. When we don’t “stand upright” when we should be, our behavior doesn’t glorify God and we don’t treat others honestly or with the respect due them.

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. (Matthew 6:14)

(E) Agnoema refers to an error caused by ignorance. When this word is used in the New Testament, it is used in the context of a person or persons acting out of ignorance when they should have known better. Think: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. (1 Timothy 1:13)

(F) Hettema. This Greek word carries with it the idea of being defeated or overtaken by an adversary. How is this a sin? Christians are engaged in spiritual conflicts every day. The New Testament calls these conflicts “spiritual warfare,” and we are given the weapons to prevail. When we don’t prevail; when we are spiritually defeated, we have essentially failed in our duty.

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? (1 Corinthians 6:7)

(G) Asebeia means “ungodliness,” and apostasy. It refers to living life and leaving God out. This may well be the worst kind of sin, even though it doesn’t always have to do morality or ethics. It simply refers to ignoring God; failing to acknowledge Him and love Him, the One who gave you life and sustains your life.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness… (Romans 1:18)

2. The depravity of man

All those words for “sin” tell us something very telling about the human condition: mankind is in sad shape without Jesus Christ! Paul put it best:

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one…” (Romans 3:10)

Man is depraved without God. This does NOT necessarily mean there is no good at all in the unredeemed man. It means that man without Christ is definitely unsaved and depraved, though not necessarily as depraved as he could be. No human being is totally “bad,” even though they may be unsaved. This, of course, in no way suggests that “good works” or good behavior can earn one salvation.

“Depravity” is that inclination of every human being to sin. It is a direct result of the Fall of man. As originally created, man was given a free will and the capacity NOT to sin. But since the Fall, man cannot help himself: while he still has a free will, he WILL sin. He may not sin all the time, but his whole nature is drawn sinward, not Godward. Paul in Romans 7 paints a pathetic picture of man in his fallen state. Even in this state, a man may desire higher ideals, but when he seeks to live that way he is constantly frustrated in his efforts because of the presence of evil in his inner most being. This ever-present evil in fallen man is his depravity.

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:18)

James put it another way:

…but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. (James 1:14)

Another name for “depravity” could be “original sin.” We call it “original sin” because this inner evil came down to us through its original source, Adam. It was through Adam that the sinward tug was placed in all human beings.

Dr. Pope’s remarks are helpful:

From the first Adam we received original sin. In the last Adam, Christ, we are made partakers of original righteousness, His righteousness. The fall was the utter ruin of nothing in our humanity, only the perversion, contamination, and corruption of every faculty. The human mind retains the principles of truth; the heart, the capacity of holy affections; the will, its freedom. Depravity is the absence of original righteousness and the bias to all evil. Original sin a hard and absolute captivity. Romans 7 indicates that, while man is bound to sin, underneath there is a better nature crying for deliverance.

So, is man without Christ totally depraved or just partially depraved? That question is academic because man without Christ is completely lost; without any hope of salvation. The man of Romans 7; the man who desires to live right but cannot is still lost. Good intentions don’t count toward salvation.

EZEKIEL AND THE GOD WHO STRENGTHENS

Published January 21, 2013 Uncategorized Leave a Comment

wheels-within-wheels

Ezekiel didn’t start out as a prophet. Originally he had been a priest. He became a prophet when he and others were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. Just because something bad happens to you doesn’t mean God is finished with you. A lot of times, God will take advantage of your “bad situation” (and what could be worse than being taken captive?) to move you into a new area of service. Christians are called to serve God regardless of their “situations.” John is another good example one who was never a prophet until something bad happened to him. Here was John, the great “apostle of love” who never harmed a flea, suddenly banished to a rocky island. It was there that he became a prophet, writing The Revelation to a handful of churches.

Watch out, because it may well be that for you who are struggling and having to putting up with less than ideal circumstances, God will give great visions of His glory and power. It happened to Ezekiel, it happened to John, and it could happen to you.

1. Setting the scene

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was upon him.(Ezekiel 1:1—3)

Unlike the book that precedes it, Ezekiel’s book gives us a lot of details we wish Jeremiah had done. Jeremiah, you will recall, is a difficult book to study because it’s not written in chronological order. It’s all mixed up! But Ezekiel was written in order, chronologically and logically. He gives dates and locations, which helps us locate when and where these visions took place.

But how did Ezekiel end up by the Kebar River? Following King Solomon’s death in 931 BC, the nation of Israel split in half and became two smaller kingdoms, The Northern Kingdom (Israel) and The Southern Kingdom (Judah). The Northern Kingdom, Israel, was totally apostate from day one. A long line of prophets was sent by God to warn the people to repent and return to God or face ruin. But, Israel became even more stiff-necked and determined to continue in her apostasy. True to His Word, Israel would fall to the mighty Assyrians in 722 BC.

The Southern Kingdom faired a little better. She wasn’t completely apostate, although the kingdom did have its share of godless, heretical leaders. Generally Judah was Godly but, like Israel, because the people continued to flirt with idolatry and turned a deaf to the prophets that warned them, Judah fell to the Babylonians and Jerusalem destroyed in 586 BC.

Ezekiel, whose name means “God strengthens,” was a younger contemporary of Jeremiah. He had been carried off with King Jehoiachin during Nebuchadnezzar’s first siege of Jeremiah in 597 BC. His book begins in the fifth year of that captivity, 593 BC. When Ezekiel 1 was written, The Southern Kingdom still existed in a much weakened state. Jeremiah was still prophesying, still warming his people to repent and return. And he was sending letters to the captives in Babylon warning them not to listen to the false prophets among them. Ezekiel, was not such a false prophet. He was a true believer; a true prophet.

Ezekiel started out serving God in Jerusalem as a priest, bringing men to God. But now as a prophet, he would continue to serve God, living in Babylon, a stranger in a strange land. Ezekiel himself would need to be closer to God than ever.

2. The prophet’s call

Ezekiel 1 is a strange chapter, but it’s not unusual. The vision here is not dissimilar to Isaiah’s vision (Isaiah 6) and John’s (Revelation 4, 5). Ezekiel was about 30 years old when he had his vision. False prophets had risen to prominence, both in the remains of Judah and throughout the captives in Babylon, telling the people what they wanted to hear. Especially in Babylon, these false prophets kept on telling the expat Jews that their captivity would end soon. Jeremiah, from Judah through his letters to the captives, and Ezekiel in person living among the captives, were preaching the opposite; that the captivity would be long because it was a punishment for their rebellion.

It was in this environment that Ezekiel himself rose to prominence. He was ministering to what amounted to an apostate nation in captivity. Not all the captives were idol worshippers, but many of them were. Those where the ones who were needed to be warned and chastized. Those who were not needed to be encouraged and have their faith built up.

Ezekiel was a prophet of the people, living and ministering among his people. But he was far from alone. Daniel was in Babylon at the same time, holding a high political office, also giving remarkable prophecies of the future of God’s people. So here we have Ezekiel, representing God among the masses and Daniel doing exactly the same thing among the ruling class of Babylon. God cares for all people and He wants all people to hear His Word.

Ezekiel, the man, lived among the idol worshippers that were his people, and in order for him to understand the full extent of the reality of their moral and spiritual depravity, he needed to see and experience the full magnitude of God’s holiness. This is why Ezekiel’s inaugural vision was so stark and so amazing. It’s often difficult to “see the forest for the trees.” The best way to see how sinful the world is, is to compare it to how holy God is.

3. The purpose of his visions

We are told that “the heavens opened” and Ezekiel saw “visions of God.” As was stated, this first vision was given to show the prophet just how far above the people God was. God is a holy God. He and His ways are as different from sinful man as the ways of a worm are below man’s. If that was the initial purpose of this great vision, the overriding purpose of this vision of God was so that the prophet could tell it to the people. God gave the prophet the pictures and the words that he needed to give the people. Ezekiel was not to preach his ideas and his words to the people; the false prophets were doing that and their actions angered God. No, Ezekiel, like Jeremiah and Daniel, was not to give the people anything except God’s Word. The forlorn and forgetful exiles needed the Word of the Word of the Lord, not the feel-good words of the false prophets.

Modern preachers should take heed of this principle. What people, the redeemed and the unrepentant, need today is a strong dose of the Word of God, not another talk on the “seven steps to receiving the Holy Spirit,” or whatever the current “sermon of the week” may be. Among the clergy class today there is a glaring ignorance of God’s Word. A thorough knowledge of a church’s constitution or of Martin Luther’s writings and John Calvin’s doctrines will never save anybody, as worthy as that kind of knowledge may be. It’s the Word of God that changes lives; it changed the course of history in Ezekiel’s day and it changes lives today.

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Throughout the Old Testament, God revealed Himself in three ways: dreams and visions; theophanies; and the audible spoken word. But with the coming of Jesus, God has revealed Himself in a superior way: through His Son, as recorded in His Word, the Bible.

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1, 2)

Yes, the Bible is all you need.

4. The vision, Ezekiel 1:4-28

Interpretations of this vision are varied and often fanciful. At the outset, one thing needs to be made clear: Ezekiel did NOT see a UFO. His vision was that of the glory of God. A component of Biblical “dreams and visions” is an accompanying interpretation. At the very beginning we are told this:

I saw visions of God. (verse 1)

So, no matter how weird the vision is, it is of God by Ezekiel’s own testimony. Furthermore, we read this:

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (verse 28)

It’s pretty clear; there are no UFO’s or aliens in sight. What Ezekiel saw and what he tried to describe as best he could under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was a vision of God and God’s glory.

Ezekiel’s vision may be divided up this way:

The Four Living Creatures, 1:4-14

The vision begins with a storm – a display of environmental upheaval not unlike the what accompanied God’s presence on Mount Sinai and His revelation to Elijah. What we see in these verses is a manifestation of God’s glory (as stated in verse 28) designed to inspire a sense of awe, reverence, and even fear for His Name.

According to subsequent chapters in the book, these living creatures are angels, cherubim particularly. The fire and lightening coming from them represents the soon-coming judgment of God on Jerusalem in 586 BC.

The Four Wheels, 1:15-21

What’s with these four wheels? Remember, this is a vision put into writing; Ezekiel is simply recording, as best he could with the help of the Holy Spirit, what he saw. The swiftly moving wheels indicate that God can, does, and will move quickly to execute His will from all directions. The eyes tell us that God saw the sin of the people and of the apostasy of the nation and that He was even now moving into a position of judgment.

The Vault, 1:22-25

This “vault” or “expanse” was just above the cherubim and represented the platform on which God’s throne rested. It was amazing to look at; sparkling and glorious in appearance, representing the glory of God, of course.

The Throne, 1:26-28

Above, or on top of the vault or expanse rests the magnificent throne of God. On the throne sat someone that “looked like a man.” This was a theophany; a condescension of God where He “appeared” in such a way as to be recognized by man. Ezekiel, or any human being, could never look upon the essence of God and record in an intelligible way.

Application

The things Ezekiel saw in this vision and subsequent visions were by in large for the people of his day. His sermons and messages were not addressed to us. So why is it important for Christians today to read, study, and understand this book? The foundation of successful service to God is understanding the nature and character of God. If we can have a clear picture of the holiness of God, and if see man in the light of that holiness, than we should feel a sense of urgency about two things. First, we will want be holy because not only is God holy but He requires us to be holy even as He is. And second, we see will lost humanity as it really is: lost, in despair, and hopeless because they don’t know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Our service is to introduce them to the Savior.

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