God's Love for the Church in Human Form

I wrote a poem, and versified some Scripture that could be put to music eventually. The Scriptures were Psalms 8 and 19, Romans 1, and Ephesians 5.

Also, my Sunday School lesson this Sunday is from Song of Solomon. We have two Sunday School quarterlies per quarter, one for the teacher (me), and one for the student. Each is written by different authors. Normally the authors complement each other. This time, however, they took different paths.

The author of the student book took the approach of comparing the love of the two people in Song of Solomon to the love of Christ for His Church. The authors of the teacher book took a literal approach, and wrote about sex. Which is correct? Probably both.

At first, the idea of human romantic love being a picture of Christ and the Church, especially based on Song of Solomon, seemed forced to me, but the more I read, the more this idea "resonated" with me. In the versified Scriptures mentioned above, and in my last post about the Lord's Supper, this idea shows signs of promise. It's "growing on me."

I plan to do more study and writing on the subject of comparing the subject of God's love for the Church with that of the relationship between husband and wife. I recall reading somewhere that the reason a man and woman should get married is for their marriage to be a testimony of Jesus' love for the Church. Interesting idea. Stay tuned for more on this general subject. (But I'm not saying when).

Biblical Word Study

I like words. I'm a literary person and a writer. Yesterday I did a Biblical word study. Check out 2 Timothy 3:3. A word is translated "trucebreakers" in the KJV, and "irreconcilable" in the NASB. The root of this word is "spendo" in the Greek. Of course, the verse above contained its negative form.

The gist of this word is that a person is unwilling to sacrifice by spending himself or spilling his blood for someone with whom he had made a life-and-death covenant. Given this meaning, "trucebreaker" is appropriate. He didn't keep his covenant.

Sometimes I chastise myself for not being willing to sacrifice more for others, which is why I was doing the word study in the first place. I thought through my current relationships to see if I have just cause for chatising myself. I don't have any "covenants," other than contracts with employers (I'm an independent contractor) and church membership.

Then I thought of Communion. The word sacrament comes from "sacramentum" in the Latin. Apparently this word was originally used for an induction of soldiers into an army or cause (I've lost track of my source for this information).

Then I looked up the word "communion" in 1 Corinthians 10:16: sharing the body and blood of Jesus also carries the connotation of fellowship, participation, and partaking. I suspect this word has nuances of which English knows nothing. I'm recalling a preacher who once said that sexual intercourse was communion on the physical level. And he said it wasn't blasphemy to say that. It does point to an intimacy with Christ that we don't normally associate with Communion.

So I suspect Communion could be some kind of covenant commitment to Jesus that we are binding ourselves to die with Him.

Black and White

Yesterday I read a newsletter by Gary Kah's ministry, Hope for the World. He probably could be called a modern day prophet. He specializes in end-time event, especially from the economic, social, and political perspective. He's not a theologian, but is solidly Biblical. You can find him and his ministry online.

What struck me the most yesterday was how "black and white" Gary is. No shades of gray in what he says and lives. This is unusual and commendable in the grayness of today's theological perspectives. Not only is it commendable, it is probably also essential for survival spiritually.

Considering what writers said in his newsletter, especially about the emergent church, it is going to be increasingly difficult in days to come to stay on "the straight and narrow." Religious leaders are becoming masters of deceit. Now is the time to "be diligent to make your calling and election sure," to learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and follow His leading, to depend on the Lord completely, to exalt Jesus, and to think Biblically.

Stick with the traditional interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. Live it out with all "black and white" courage, no matter what the sacrifice. Be immersed in the Word. Fellowship with others who think like this.

These are perilous times, as the Scriptures predicted (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Note that the exhortation to avoid people such as are outlined in this passage refers to all that are mentioned in verses 1-5, not just the one in verse 5. Note also that "lovers of self" tops the list of why the times will be dangerous.

Don't assume anything. Know Whose you are. Be black and white, even if it means death. You'll never regret it.

1 John 3:9

9 "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.(NKJV)"

Have you ever puzzled over this verse (and its context)? Scholars really debate this one. Now, I am not the ultimate scholar, but I did some research, and this is what I found. The Greek word for sin in this passage is hamartia (there are many different words for sin in the Bible). Hamartia means to miss the mark.

So read that verse with this in mind. "Whoever has been born of God does not miss the mark, for His (God's) seed remains in him (us), and he (we) cannot miss the mark, because he is (we are)born of God." Well, what does that mean?

I offer this poor morsel: Can God miss the mark? Of course not! He's the standard. Do we have the Holy Spirit? Yes, if we are His children. Don't we sin alot? Yes. But if we're justified (born again) we belong to Him. We have His (spiritual) seed in us, just as flesh and blood children have the "seed" of their father in them.

That was to illustrate the concept of the seed. If we are in Christ, we don't miss the mark (even though we sin), because we belong to the Father. We are saved because of His seed. What?

I probably shared this story before, but it illustrates what I'm trying to say. A small child sees his father working outside in the hot sun. The child wants to help his father, so he grabs a dirty glass, and smudges it in the process. He pushes a chair up to the sink, climbs up, and fills the glass with lukewarm tapwater. He climbs down and spills part of it in the process. He spills even more of it carrying it outside. He gives the glass to his thirsty father, and looks up to him with adoring eyes.

Does this child's gift miss the mark of what the father likes as a refreshing drink? Absolutely! Does the child himself miss the mark in the eyes of the father. Absolutely not! Why not? Because the father's seed is in the child (to use the Biblical analogy). Also because the child gave the best he could at his stage of development. But maybe that's getting into other territory.

What Did Jesus Mean?

Jesus had just been sentenced to death. As He is led out of the city to be crucified, women are weeping as they watch Him. He turns to them and tells them to weep not for Him, but for themselves, and warned of worse times to come. Then He said something very strange: "For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?"(Luke 23:31 KJV).

What did He mean. In the lesson I've been studying in my Sunday School quarterly, the author of the student book said perhaps it had to do with how we apply the Truth in our lives. Given the context of Luke 23, I doubt this interpretation. Normally that writer is pretty good, so perhaps he didn't look at the context before making that comment.

Jesus is saying that if people do the things they were doing, i.e. sentencing Him to death in a kangaroo court, and putting Him to death without just cause, what would people do to His followers when He is not around bodily? The argument is from the lesser to the greater. So if they treated our Lord this way, we will be treated much worse.

Are we ready? Are we prepared to suffer? Some say that Christians won't have to suffer. This is not true from Scripture, or from history (including current history).

18 "Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed" (1 Peter 2:18-24). This is the Truth. Let's expect it and live it.