June 15th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Last week, we started looking at the question, “Is God loving, or is He angry? Can He be both?”

We looked at many references in the Old Testament to the anger of the Lord – usually incited by rebellion and idolatry. So, is God still angry in the New Testament?

Romans 1:18-19 tells us,

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

God is still angry – His wrath is against ungodliness and unrighteousness, just like it was in the Old Testament! Paul states this Truth even more strongly in Romans 2:3-8, noting that

because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

Because of our sin, we have earned God’s wrath. As we commit idolatry, as we misuse His name, as we dishonor our parents, as we hate, as we lie, as we covet, as we steal… we have flagrantly violated His nature and broken His law and have earned His wrath.

So, why does the tone of the New Testament seem different than the Old? Friends, this is the extravagant grace of God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
Romans 5:8-9

Jesus’ death in our place satisfied the wrath of God against our sin! The Scripture is also very clear that without a personal belief in Jesus as our only hope of salvation, we still will face God’s wrath:

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 3:36

In preparation for this post, I was reading through Johnathan Edwards’ classic sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an angry God.” Talk about a sermon that would not be well received in most churches today!

He builds a compelling argument that without faith in Christ, the only thing keeping all of us from hell at this very moment is the the will of God – the fact that He does not want us to perish. As mankind rejects salvation through Christ, foolishly thinking that they can somehow withstand God’s wrath on their own, they have lost all hope.

“So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire bent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.”

Sobering!

There has been so much confusion caused over the “if God is so loving…” arguments. Entire cults have formed from the flawed premise that a loving God cannot possibly send people to hell.

Friends, God IS loving – make no mistake. The fact that He is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness is vividly displayed in the work of Christ. He owes us nothing – all we can possibly earn on our own is hell, for we constantly live in rebellion and flagrant violation of His nature. He has given us the free gift of salvation!

Many in our day and age will argue that saying that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father is too narrow and elitist. What they have failed to understand is that because of God’s holy nature, He cannot overlook sin. It must be paid for. And without accepting the work of Christ on our behalf, there is no one else who can take the full wrath of God against our sin – we will face it ourselves!

The Scripture makes it undeniably clear that we deserve God’s wrath because of our sin. But God has demonstrated His love toward us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us! Amazing grace, indeed!

June 12th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Image via Wikipedia

On Monday, we started looking at what the Proverbs have to say about anger… although we haven’t really gotten into the study yet! I ended the post with a homework assignment:

Go to Bible gateway.com and do a keyword search for the phrase “anger of the Lord” – skim through the references and notice how often God is described as being angry. And yet, contrast that with Exodus 34:6.

How can a good and loving God who is “slow to anger” be described as angry so often? What is He angry about, and how does that compare to what humans are usually angry about?

So, what did you come up with? There are many, many references to the fierce anger of the Lord in the Old Testament, and yet we are also told in Exodus 34:6 that God is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness and truth.” This statement is repeated in Numbers 14:18, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, and Psalm 145:8. How can a God with such fierce anger expressed time and time again be described as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness?

In our day and age, we have a very simplified view of God. We have very happily stuffed Him in a box, wrapped it up with pretty paper that has rainbows and flowers on it, stuck a bow on top, and given it to ourselves because we are so “deserving and lovable.” We have made Him less than He really is… and as we discussed in our Bible study on Wednesday, what that really boils down to is idolatry. We have made God into an image of our choosing, into a little shadow of who He is, because the reality of the whole story of what the Bible says about God makes us uncomfortable.

Fasten those seat belts, and let’s take a look at what the Bible says.

If you did your homework :), you found that a simple keyword search on the phrase “anger of the Lord” will pull up 120 references! What is God so angry about? [We have already discussed many, many of these instances in past posts. If you're new around here, I invite you to click on the linked posts and read through these as time permits. I LOVE the Old Testament, and it thrills me to see people get a bigger understanding of God by reading and studying His Word!!]

•Exodus 4:14 – God is angry with Moses for his lack of faith

•Exodus 32 – God’s anger against the Aaron and people’s idolatry (the golden calf) results in the death of 3,000 Israelites.

•Numbers 11-13 – there is a LOT of anger happening in these chapters. This was not Israel’s shining time period, that’s for sure! The people’s rebellious and complaining spirit incites God’s anger, resulting in fire consuming the outskirts of the camp, plagues on the people, Miriam covered with leprosy, and eventually wandering in the wilderness for 40 more years.

•Numbers 25:1-4 – the Israelites begin to worship Baal with the people of Moab. The Lord is angry and orders that the leaders of the Israelites to executed in order to turn His anger away from the people.

•Deuteronomy 6:14-15 Moses warns the people that practicing idolatry will incite the anger of the Lord.

•Joshua 7:1 - Achan disregards God’s order to stay away from the plunder of Jericho, resulting in the anger of the Lord.

•Joshua 23:16 – Joshua warns the people that idolatry will incite the anger of the Lord against them

•Judges 2-3 – Lo and behold, the people do fall into idolatry time and time again, and indeed – God is angry.

•2 Samuel 6:6-7 – Uzzah touches the ark of the covenant, incites the anger of the Lord, and dies because of his irreverence.

•Kings, Chronicles, and the prophetic books – throughout these books there are many references to the anger of the Lord, particularly against evil kings who lead the people further into idolatry and rebellion against God. The prophets repeatedly warn about God’s anger.

In the next post we’ll look more about what the New Testament has to say about God’s anger. For right now, did you notice the repeated themes of why God was angry? Idolatry and rebellion.

“Noodle” on that for a while, and we’ll discuss more soon.  In the meantime, here is your next assignment:

How is God’s “slow to anger” nature seen in the Old Testament? Is God still angry in the New Testament? Do His love and anger coexist?

May 22nd, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

A couple of days ago I was in Aldi, bagging up my groceries, and I witnessed a parenting tragedy right before my eyes.

NP and I will never claim to be perfect parents – who is? Every child on the planet has public melt downs and tantrums and issues… because we are fallen and depraved, and remember – our children are born little fools! But seriously, I don’t understand how people don’t step back and realize that their kid is unbelievably out of control.

A little boy, about four years old, was there with his apparent mother and grandmother. I watched as time and time again they would give him an instruction and he would defiantly yell, “No!” and give them a command in return. And they would cave. Every single time.

The phrase “we don’t negotiate with terrorists” actually went through my mind – it was going to be the title of this post, but I thought I might get weird hits from google! :)

Think back to the Folly of Fools post – these were points summarizing the description of a fool in Proverbs:

• A fool hates instruction and guidance. He thinks too highly of his own perspective to seek wisdom and understanding from others.

• The fool is in rebellion against authority, both divine and human, and refuses to receive instruction.

• His mouth quickly betrays his foolish heart – he is recognizable for lying, slandering, using perverse speech, babbling constantly and refusing to hear input from those who actually have something worthwhile to say, and stirring up conflict with his words.

• He is quick-tempered and does not hold back his anger.

• The fool delights in evil and mocks at sin.

Hmmm… sounds a lot like an out of control kid in Aldi, doesn’t it?

I really like watching Super Nanny. I don’t see it often, though, as it nearly sends NP over the edge.  There are so many families that are in utter chaos because they do not have wisdom when it comes to parenting. Somewhere along the way, our culture has lost the idea of children being little fools who need discipline and guidance to form them into wise adults.

Remember Proverbs 22:15 –

“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

Kids need discipline! They need boundaries, they need consistency. Want to show genuine love for your child? Discipline him! Proverbs 3:12 says,

“For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.”

If this is how God parents us, shouldn’t we sit up and take notice?

Much of the reason I feel so deeply about this is my own burden for how our culture has lost the fear of the Lord. My three year old has a decent grasp on theology for a preschooler, but there is much that she is simply unable to comprehend because of age and cognitive development. She can’t really understand the concept of fearing God, but she can understand the concept of fearing her parents! This is not fear of being harmed in any way… this is a proper reverence for authority. She knows we love her deeply and unconditionally and will never harm her – and she also knows that she must obey or she will face consequences.

Discipline is much more than finding a way to get your kid to go grocery shopping without making a scene. Discipline is a life and death issue. If parents fail to teach their children to submit, if the foolishness deeply embedded in their hearts is never removed from them, if they are only rewarded for rebellion… when will they learn to fear the Lord? And where will a life of folly lead them?

“For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
But he who listens to [wisdom] shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”
Proverbs 1:32-33

Photo from Parents magazine

April 16th, 2009 by Kristi Stephens

Image from Bible Picture Gallery

Yesterday as we continued our discussion of true praise and worship, I gave a quote from Talk Thru the Bible about the book of Psalms. Remember this part?

God is worthy of all praise because of who He is, what He has done, and what He will do.

Yesterday we defined “praise” and “worship” more fully. Now let’s see some true praise in action in Psalm 33:1-11.

First, this Psalm starts out with a call for praise in various expressions:

Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

We’ve got shouting, singing, playing instruments – this is quite a party! Now, I do want to pause here and point out that singing and playing instruments are what usually come to mind in praise, but the Psalms include all kinds of different forms of praise including (but not limited to):

• Telling of His wonders, praises, salvation
• Giving thanks to Him publicly
• Declaring His righteousness to the younger generations
• Shouting for joy
• Confession of sin and thanking Him for His forgiveness

Now, back to Psalm 33 – what are we praising Him for?

For the word of the LORD is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.

Why praise Him?

• He is holy
• He is faithful
• He is righteous
• He is just
• He shows His grace and lovingkindness to all creation
• He made everything with a word!
• He is sovereign over all the affairs of men
• His nature and Word remain forever, even as man comes and goes

You could make quite a lengthy list if you read through the Psalms and record all the things for which God is praised.

Remember, true praise is not centered on us and how we feel – true praise springs from knowing who God is and lifting Him up, shining a light on Him, exclaiming publicly, “How great is our God!”

I hope it jumped out to you in yesterday’s post that there is a close tie between fearing God and worshipping Him. True worship comes from seeing who our God really is and bowing before Him, submitting ourselves to Him, showing Him the reverence He is due. Does that seem out of sorts with shouting, dancing, and singing His praise? It’s not!

Psalm 2:11 is an interesting verse -

Worship the LORD with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.

Even in our rejoicing, we should be trembling before Him! True praise and worship must be rooted in Truth, and to behold God for Who He is must compel us to fear Him, even as we praise Him with all that we are.

Consider the scene of the worship in heaven in Revelation 15:3-4

And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!
“Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU,
FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED.”

This verse is so powerful. Who will not fear you, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy! If we caught just a glimpse of the fullness of who God is, the only response is to fear Him and simultaneously praise Him for His works, for His ways, for the glory of His name.

Tomorrow we’ll spend some time looking at Psalm 50, which is a sobering reminder that we can do all the right things in our quest to praise and worship God, and fall into a ritual rather than offering a true sacrifice of thanksgiving. On the flip side, we can become hardened and rebellious against God and glibly repeat truth with hearts full of evil, leading us to an assumption that God is just like us.

Oh, Lord, show us your glory! Cause us to fear you and give you the true praise and worship that you alone deserve!

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen ” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelations 5:12-14