Spinach Pie and Christmas Presents

What do spinach pie and Christmas presents have in common? Well, let’s start out by asking: Do you like Spinach pie?  I don’t; and the only person that I know who does is my son, Kyle.  We never ate it in our house.  He acquired the taste for it while working as a short order cook at a Coney Island restaurant.  It’s an acquired taste.  Now, how many of you like Christmas presents?  Everyone!  How many of you like “shopping” for Christmas presents?  How many of you like “wrapping Christmas presents?  The number is getting smaller. For those who do wrap presents, are you a Type A person, who is compulsive in the detail of the “wrap”.  Does every present need a bow?  What about a ribbon and bow?   Are all corners precise and tucked?  Any wrinkles?  What about wrapping the odd shape presents, like a football? I think wrapping presents must be an acquired taste that I never acquired, I cheat.  I use the big Christmas decorative bags from the Dollar Store.  Quick! Easy! and Beautiful!   Well let’s get to why I asked these questions.

We all like presents.  We all like things in nice neat packages.  We all organize our lives: work, play, eat, sleep, relax, etc.  Some more than others.  The same is true about our values and beliefs.  The last year and a half has brought this out for all to see in the political landscape.  It is easier to use labels than spend time debating and exploring our values and beliefs, especially when it concerns those with whom we disagree.  Labels carry baggage and are one way of saying that I think you stink without actually saying those words.  It is sort of like cursing, only is is more politically correct.

The same is true when it concerns our beliefs about God.  We have come up with titles and words that are found no place in the Bible.  They more often cause division rather than unity.  Many of the church doctrines have names that are not found in the Bible, such as the doctrine of the Trinity.  The concept is scriptural but the word is not in the Bible.  You and I will never understand the Trinity.  No preacher, teacher, will every explain it.  I do not mean to imply that these words or titles are evil.  They are what they are; but, don’t make a “god” of them. 

We have a built in desire to understand God.  We want to wrap Him up in a neat little package.  If you are Catholic, you have one image of God.  If you are Protestant, you have another.  If you are Baptist, you are a Protestant, with an accompanying image; different from that of a Methodist, a Nazarene, or Assembly of God.

How does this tie into Christmas?  Let’s look at scripture.  It is God’s special revelation to man.  From Genesis to The Revelations, God was revealing Himself and His Plan to man, in WORDS.  There are an estimated 774,746 words in the King James Bible.  These 774,746 words are an interpretation of 8674 different Hebrew root words and 5626 different Greek root words.  Can you grasp that. I can’t.  God chose those words carefully. He used 900+ names or titles to describe Himself and His attributes.  How many can you name?  Have you ever even tried to study the names of God.  No it is easier to use man-made names, labels or words.  WHY NOT LOOK AT WHAT GOD SAID ABOUT HIMSELF!

God said to the prophet Isaiah:

“my word that comes from my mouth; it does not return to me empty. Instead, it does what I want, and accomplishes what I intend.”

Jesus spoke these things concerning the words that He spoke:

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Matt. 24:35

the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

John  6:33

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

 John 14:10

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

 John 15:7

For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. John 17:8

Peter said to Jesus:

thou hast the words of eternal life.

John 6:68

The 774,746 words are special and we try to condense them into little packages to fit into our finite mind.  We use labels to separate the Body of Christ.  The same was going on in the Corinthian Church.  Paul rebuked them:

What I am saying is this: each of you says, "I'm with Paul," or "I'm with Apollos," or "I'm with Cephas," or "I'm with Christ."  Is Christ divided?

The Baby Jesus was the ultimate compact Christmas package, that God chose to reveal Himself through.  Paul told the Colossians:

For in Him (Christ) the entire fullness of God's nature dwells bodily. Colossians 2:29

Jesus told Philip:

The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?  Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does His works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.

At Christmas time, it is easy to fall in love with and accept the baby Jesus; but He did not stay a baby.  He did not come to be a nice cuddly baby.  He came because we needed Him.  He came to show us God’s ultimate love for fallen man.  It is not easy for fallen man to admit that he needs help, that all mankind is on a race to the grave and hell.  Jesus is not a nice present to think about at Christmas.   Christ came to die.  To die, that we might live!  Accepting and believing in the Babe at Bethlehem, without accepting Him as Savior and Lord, is a ticket to hell.  Millions of people leave the Babe in the manger and will suffer eternally for that. 

Babies are not threatening.  Babies don’t challenge our beliefs.  Babies need us.  They are dependent on us.  Jesus does not need us.  We need Him.  We give presents to demonstrate love to those dear to us.  Our heavenly Father did the same.

We like life to be orderly, predictable, simple.  That is why we like things and ideas wrapped in little boxes.  Well, if you want it simple, God made it simple.  Just look at Him, Jesus, His Life, His Words.  Forget the “Ya Buts”.  Forget what you don’t know!  Concentrate on what has been revealed.  So what if you can’t understand all the Words.  Just do them, even if they don’t seem to make sense.  If we could understand God in our puny minds, He would not be much of a God! Fallen man is lost, dumb, confounded, egotistical, proud, full of ourselves and on the fast track to hell. 

It does not matter if you think that God is the Baptist box, the Reformed box, the Catholic box or any other box made by men.  It matters whether you have Christ in you and you are in Him.  There is no box big enough for Him and least of all our minds are not big enough to comprehend Him.

God made it simple for us.   Just admit that we are lost, in need of forgiveness, in need of a Savior, accept the crucified, risen Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Then you will have true peace in Him and with Him!  There is no peace on earth or in heaven outside of Him.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 1 John 4:9

Merry Christmas

Soup To Nutz Theology

 Am I the only one that sees the theology in this cartoon? It ties into the latest theme of my last two blogs.  Still no idea?

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven."  Matt 16:19

Parking cones?  Keys? Authority?

Is it getting clear yet.  Probably not?  Why?  We take parking cones seriously.  We don’t take the “keys” in Matthew 16:19 seriously.  Not even in the church!  Except when keys relate to keys to doors and cabinets.  We drive around parking cones.  We don’t park in an area if there is a parking cone there.  (Maybe they should be called “No parking, parking cones” unless you park on top of those crazy cones.)  Enough about the cones.  Let’s get back to the theology surrounding the concept.

I have been talking about God’s “Big Plan” and the church is an integral part of the plan.  Matthew 16:19 is seen as the cornerstone of the establishment of the church.  The “keys” are seen as a symbol that represents the “authority” given to the church.  For what are these "keys' to be used?:  “whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven" .   Let’s look else where in the New Testament where “binding” is referenced.  One is in Matthew 12:24-29, (The same interaction is recorded in Mark 3:22-27)

“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them,  Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore* they shall be your judges.  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.  Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.”

It is clear that in this interaction, Jesus is talking about Satan and the “strong man” represents Satan.   Jesus is talking to the Pharisee’s who were saying that He was casting out demons by the power of Satan.  Jesus said no, it was by the Power of God. It is clear that Jesus has the power to cast out demons.

Luke, the physician, records another interaction that Jesus had with the religious leaders of His day.

And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen** years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.  And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her,  women thou art loosed from thine infirmity.  And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.  And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.  The Lord then answered him, and said ,Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?  And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen** years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? Luke 13:11-16

Jesus refers to her physical condition, that we today would call scoliosis of the spine or “hunchback”, as a “spirit of infirmity” and that she was “bound” by Satan.  Her miraculous healing was described by Jesus as being “loosed”.  When Jesus sent out the Twelve disciples and the “Seventy” (Luke 9 and 10), He gave them the task to proclaim the Power of God and gave them the power and authority over all demons and to heal the sick. Mark includes similar a statement (lay hands on the sick) in his recording of the great commission.

I want to note one final reference to binding.  John records in Revelation 20:2 that God will bind Satan for a thousand years after the second coming of Jesus.  This second coming follows the “catching up of the church” in I Thess. 4:17 and seven years of tribulation.

And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

Jesus sent His disciples out to make disciples of all nations.   We have been handed the “keys”.  We have been given authority to bind Satan in this world.  We have been given His armor (Ephesians 6) for this task.  Satan must be delighting in the fact that the majority of the church does not recognize the power and authority given to the body of Christ.  If we believed it, we would be using it.  The majority of the church do not act like Satan is the problem.  Jesus’s actions demonstrated that there was a spiritual war going on.  Yes, Jesus defeated Satan; but we, His church, are charged with keeping Satan in check; therefore, we have been given the armor of God.  Once the church is removed from the world, (“caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” any more”) Satan will be revealed.

It is time that the church recognized what it’s responsibility is and the authority it has been given, the Power of the Holy Spirit.

“you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against* flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Eph. 6:10-13