Why did God choose the route of the cross instead of another way?

I remember what Jesus said regarding certain cities that did not repent. He said,

Then Jesus began to denounce the towns in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you" (Matt. 11:20-24).

Notice carefully what Jesus said. If the miracles that were formed in Chorazin and Bethsaida had been formed in Tyre and Sidon, “THEY WOULD HAVE REPENTED long ago in SACKCLOTH AND ASHES” (v. 21). Again, to the city of Capernaum, for if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, IT WOULD HAVE REMAINED TO THIS DAY” (v. 23).

Notice, Jesus knows about a reality that did not exist. But if it did exist, then this is what would have happened:

First, in regards to decision – “they would have repented”

Second, in regards to the means – “in sackcloth and ashes”

Third, in regards to existence – “it would have remained until this day”

Jesus is saying that if possible other options were to occur, then this would be the result. God knows all possible scenarios. He knows all the possible outcomes of all possible scenarios. The bible says that “God works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). His will and intentions are always the best possible choice out of all possible outcomes. Every conceivable outcome or avenue God knows about -- out of them all, God foreordained the best possible outcome that would be consistent with His righteous, good, holy and loving nature.

The bible also declares that “God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (Psalm 115:3). The cross of Christ was not one of many options. It was the BEST option (1 Peter 1:20; Acts 2:23).

A Word To Atheists

Atheists love to point out how there does not seem to be a lot of necessary and crucial evidence for the existence of God. They put the burden of proof on us as if we are the ones who need to prove God’s existence.

We can provide startling evidence that’s compelling, but none that’s conclusive. Why? Because God has made it so that we live the Christian life by faith – “for we walk by faith and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7).

God is not opposed to reason, science, or proof for His existence. In fact, we’re told that “the heavens are declaring the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hand” (Psalm 19:1). We’re also told “that which is known about God is evident within them (conscience – internal evidence), for God had made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through that which has been made (creation – external evidence), so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19-20).

What’s the problem then? Read on: 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. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles (vv. 21-23).

The problem is not a lack of physical evidence, but moral submission. The bottom line for the atheist is that he or she simply refuses to submit their lives to a higher authority that makes them accountable for their actions. They want to be the final authority when it comes to morality and their destiny.

This is why the Bible rightly concludes: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds, and there is no one who does good” (Psalm 14:1).

“I am not going to repent from my sins. I am not going to submit my life to God. I am not going to acknowledge that I am accountable morally and spiritually to a higher Being. I am going to live my life the way I want and use science as my excuse.”

So we are told by the atheists, “God does not exist. You don’t have sound arguments. It’s all a sham. Prove to me from science and sound reason for the existence of God.”

But my dear atheist friends, we do not need to convince ourselves for the existence of God, we already know He exists. We live by faith. But it’s not a blind faith, but a reasonable faith, given to us by God as a gift (Eph. 2:8; Matt. 16:17). The burden of proof is on your shoulders. It’s for your sake, not ours.

You see, if we are wrong, then “nothingness” awaits us. However, if you are wrong, then you will stand before God to give an account of your life and then eternal hell fire awaits you. We got nothing to lose by believing in God. However, you have everything to lose for your unbelief.

Why don’t you start by doing the unthinkable and pray, “God, if you really do exist, then show me. I want to know. As of now I am not sure. I have doubts. I want to be sure. I do not want to be wrong when I die.”

Pray to God and see what happens. What do you have to lose except your pride?

Central Teachings of Biblical Christianity

What are the core teachings of biblical Christianity?  Using the acronym “doctrines,” let me lay them out:

D – Deity of Christ.

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word with God, and the Word was God.”  Jesus is the Word in that He is the exact and perfect communication of the Father to us (cf. Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15). Jesus said that you will die in your sins if you do not believe that I am God (John 8:24).

O – Original Sin

Romans 5:12:  “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”

We are sinners not because we’ve sinned, but we sin because we’re sinners. “If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Every person born into this world with the exception of Jesus because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, has been and will be born a sinner.

C – Canon of Scripture

2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.”  The Bible is the means God uses to save people (James 1:18, 21). God’s Word is sufficient to save people and sufficient to enable them to “grow in respect to salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).

T – Trinity

There is one God who exists and manifest Himself in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All three members of the Godhead are co-equal in power, wisdom, eternality and glory (Matt. 28:19; Eph. 4:4-6). Be careful when you use physical analogies to try to illustrate the Trinity. Remember, God said, “To whom [or what] will you liken Me, that I should be his equal” (Isa. 40:25)?

R – Resurrection

Jesus, after He was put to death on the cross, three days later resurrected and is now alive in heaven (John 11:25-26).   Paul said, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Rom. 10:9).  Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection are core elements of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:3-4).  Add to this that Jesus’ resurrection was a bodily resurrection (Acts 1:9-11; 1 Tim. 2:5).

I – Incarnation

Jesus as God became a man.  He was incarnated.  He was born of a virgin, lived 33 plus years a sinless life, and then died, not for His sins, but for the sins of His people (John 1:14).  God the Father prepared a body for Jesus (Heb. 10:5) in the likeness of sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3).  The only way for Jesus to atone for the sins of His people was to die and He could not have died and shed His blood without having a body.  

N – New Creation

Everyone who is born of God will not remain the same, but from the inside out becomes a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).  As a result, necessary fruit that gives evidence of repentance will become obvious to others (Matt. 3:8).

E – Eschatology

God controls the future and has promised to come again the second time (Rev. 22:12; Philip. 3:20-21) and to make all things new (Rev. 21:5).

S - Salvation

In order to be saved, one must come to Jesus and trust Him alone. Salvation is by grace through faith and not of any kind of works on man's part (Eph. 2:8-9). There is nothing we can do to merit one second of eternal life (Titus 3:5).

Something Is Not Right

The use of all spiritual gifts must and should be tested if it is perceived that something is not right. Satan is the great counterfeiter. He will do his best to distort what is genuine giving the fake appearance of credibility. But testing spiritual gifts is not the same as rejecting them.

For example, we know that Satan can counterfeit miracles. So some within Christendom simply reject miracles altogether and say it is not for this present dispensation. Satan can counterfeit tongues (the gift of praising God in known languages). However, some, rather than testing this gift using the Bible as a foundational tool, simply put tongues in the age of the apostles and say that the gift of tongues is no longer needed today. This also applies to the gift of healing. We know that Satan can and does counterfeit healing, providing lots of fake examples with the appearance of genuineness. So again, there are those who simply shift the gift to the times of Jesus and the apostles and say that miraculous healings are not for today, at least not in the way it was done in the early days of the first century.

Let’s take this logic and continue our application. We know Satan can counterfeit preaching and teaching (2 Pet. 2:1). He does so all the time. So, rather than testing a message, let’s simply do away with teaching and preaching and push back to the first century as the only viable solution for its intended use.

“Pastor Rich, don’t be silly. How can you even suggest that?” That’s my point. How can it be suggested that some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which Satan can and does counterfeit, be pushed back to the first century and told that in our present dispensation, such gifts are no longer operative?

Hey, if we are going to be consistent, let’s go all the way!

Name It and Claim It - Wrong

Have you ever heard of the “name it and claim it” gospel? Those who preach and practice the “name it and claim it” gospel, believe that all you need to do is to name what you want and claim it to be so. Those who practice this style believe this is how Christians ought to live by faith.

Let me show you something. Go to Genesis 11. Remember the Tower of Babel? Verses 1-4 reads as follows:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

3 They said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Five times in verses 3-4, the words “let us,” “we,” and “ourselves” are used. They named it and then they claimed it. But God came down in verses 7-8 and confused their languages and scattered them abroad.

Now, go to the next chapter – Gen. 12. This is the call of Abraham. Verses 1-3, reads as follows:

The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation,

and I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

and you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,

and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

will be blessed through you.”

Six times in these verses, God says to Abraham, “I will.”

Folks, you want to know how to live by faith? You don’t do so by “naming it and claiming it,” instead, you wait until “God names it, and then you claim it.”

Do you see the difference? God first names it and then you by faith in God’s Word, claim it as His promise to you. The root of faith is rooted in the Word of God, that’s why it says in Gen. 12:1, “Now the Lord SAID to Abraham.” You see, “faith comes by hearing (from God) and hearing by the Word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Yes, there is a name it and claim it theology in the Bible. But it is not what we have been told -- you name it and then you claim it. That’s what the pagans did in Genesis 11 and God brought judgment upon them in the form of confusion and scattering. To live the faith of Abraham is to wait until to you hear from God first, and then, you claim it. And the way you hear from God is through the Word.

The father of faith for the Christians is Abraham. His method of living by faith is to allow God to first say it, and then you claim it.

The people at the Tower of Babel were also following their father – Satan. You know what he said that got him kicked out of heaven? Here it is – Isaiah 14:12-15:

How you have fallen from heaven,

morning star, son of the dawn!

You have been cast down to the earth,

you who once laid low the nations!

13 You said in your heart,

“I will ascend to the heavens;

I will raise my throne

above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,

on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.

14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High.”

15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,

to the depths of the pit.

Five times in verses 13-14, Lucifer said, “I will.” The same number of times the people of Babel named and claimed it. Satan named it and he claimed it. What became the result? Verse 15: “But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.”

Now who do you want to follow as your example, Abraham, the father of faith in Genesis 12, or Lucifer the father of lies in Genesis 11 and Isaiah 14?

By the way, in Genesis 11:4, the people said, “let us make for ourselves a name.”

Can you name me one person among these at the Tower of Babel? Just give me the name of one person mentioned here. Exactly!

But Abraham is well known throughout the Old and New Testament.

You name it and claim it

Or

God names it and you claim it.

The Bible says that “without faith, it is impossible to please the Lord” (Heb. 11:6).

Now which method are you going to practice?

The Biggest Lie

Lying is second nature to Satan.  More so here in the U.S. than overseas, Satan has implanted a lie that so many in the evangelical community have bought into.

What is Satan’s biggest lie?  He has convinced us that God is a cosmic vending machine.  The world is a playground and the goal in life is to be happy.

We’re taught that the way to be happy is to love Jesus. The way you love Jesus is to read your Bible, pray, attend church, stay in fellowship with other Christians, love your neighbor, be holy, and tithe ten percent of your income to the Lord through your local church.

We’re told that if you push all the right buttons, you will have a happy and healthy life, awesome marriage, be financially sound, have lots of good friends, and your kids will all turn out right.  Hard times, bad health, broken down marriages, well, all that is for other people.

We have been told in so many words that God is a cosmic vending machine.  All you have to do is to figure out His formula, and He’ll come through for you.  God wants you to experience your own personal fulfillment, love and happiness.

I was reading the other day about a lady who had called a Christian radio show with a comment and question. She was honest in what she believed. She said, “How can I get out of this marriage I’m in? You know, it's really hard, and I'm really unfulfilled,” and on and on and on.   And then she said, "I know one thing for sure.  God wants me to be happy, and I'm not happy with my husband.  And I know the Bible says God hates divorce, but I know He'll forgive me, because He wants me happy.  So, I’ll divorced him and seek God’s forgiveness later."  I believe close to fifty percent of the evangelical community is believing and doing the same thing – buying into this happiness cult.

And here’s the real kicker.  When God does not apparently come through to their liking and understanding, they become sour at God. "Hey, God, how could this happen to my son, if You really love me?  I've been serving You with all my life, and he was in a car wreck."  Or, "I got cancer!  I’ve been serving you faithfully and tithing to my church and this is the way you pay me back!”

Translation:  “I'm really mad at God, because I'm supposed to be in a playground that God created for me to experience happiness and fulfillment. God is suppose to be my self-help genie to cause my life to work out and make me prosperous, happy and in good health.  What did I do to God to deserve this?”

Here’s the dirty little secret – that is all a Satanic lie.  

Indeed, God does want to bless His people.  The Bible says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4).  Jesus spelled out how to be happy in Matthew 5.

But Jesus also said, and this is the part we are not told about as often as “God wants us to be happy,” – that “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33).  Jesus went on to say that if you want to be His disciple, then you will have to “take up your cross” (Luke 14:27). The cross was used as a symbol of suffering.  Peter wrote, “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed” (1 Peter 4:16).

In other words, God does not guarantee you a happy life if you follow Him. How many godless people you know who obviously do not follow God and who are better off than you are?

You see, Satan tells you such things or at least gets you to believe such things in order for you to see life as merely a playground with you in it standing with your hand out expecting more good things to be given to you.

That’s not how it is.  Life is a battlefield in which you will be shot at, possibly wounded and hurt, and become spiritually, emotionally and perhaps physically crippled.   Do you still want to follow Jesus?  Folks, we’re in a war and the problem is thinking that we’re living in a playground. But the problem with the playground mentalithy is that in a playground no one is fighting battles or holding weapons of warfare. But nevertheless, we’re all being shot at!

Can you imagine a young man over in Iraq, with an M16, a helmet on, a 60- or 70-pound backpack, walking through a battlefield, finally takes a break, sits down, opens some terrible C-Rations, takes a couple of bites and goes, "Oh, this just isn't good and tasty, at all"?  Do people complain about the food, when the issues are life and death?  When you're dragging your buddy, when there's fire coming down all around you, and you're dragging your buddy, and you go, "You know, I don't feel very fulfilled right now."

You know what?  We're here for a very short time, and there's an invisible war going on.  It is a battle, and the bullets are real, and the impact and the implications are eternal.  And we have bought the lie that God promises us to be healthy, wealthy and happy.

When it does not turn out this say, we become mad at God and take matters into our own hands and seek our own happiness our way. Our foe is formidable.  Don’t buy into Satan’s biggest lie. 

Yes, you can have the joy of the Lord despite any bad circumstances.  But don’t ever think for one moment, that everything in life must go your perceived way.

It is time to dust off your cross and once again identify with Jesus in His suffering and rejoice that you are called and chosen to follow Him in such a way. 

Remember, sufferings and trials in life are merely temporal in this life. There are eternal promises to come. Keep eternity fixated in your mind. 

The Sovereignty of God and the Non-Elect, Part 7

In part 6, we zeroed in on Romans 9, specifically dealing with Pharaoh.   God had hardened his heart.  We’re told in Romans 9:17, God says, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth (a quote taken from Exod. 9:16). 

Some interpreters by seeing this as being too strong favoring predestination of the non-elect, try their best to soften the interpretation. But we must avoid such attempts and let the Scriptures reveal plainly the mind of God.

The phrase, “I have raised you up,” in the Hebrew is, “I have appointed,” by which it appears, that God, designing to show that the contumacy of Pharaoh would not prevent Him from delivering His people, not only affirms that his fury had been foreseen by Him, and that He had prepared means for restraining it, but that He had also designedly ordained it for this end,—that He might exhibit a more illustrious evidence of His own power.

Therefore, it is clear that God raised up Pharaoh for this very end—to “destroy” him.  When God said, “I have raised you up,”

He means that He allowed Pharaoh to live for a specified purpose.

You see, God never does anything without a previous plan and design. In giving Pharaoh life, in preserving him through infancy and childhood, in raising him to the throne of Egypt, God had one end in view. That such was God’s purpose is clear from His words to Moses before he went down to Egypt, to demand of Pharaoh that Jehovah’s people should be allowed to go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to worship Him— “And the Lord said unto Moses, When you go to return into Egypt, see that you do all these wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let my people go” ( Exodus 4:21).

God’s design and purpose was declared long before this.

Four hundred years previously God had said to Abraham, “Know for certain that your seed shall be a stranger in a land (Egypt) that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they (Egyptians) shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge ” ( Genesis 15:13,14).

From these words it is evident that God’s purpose was formed long before He gave Pharaoh life.  Therefore, the non-elect are chosen to be non-elect by God in fulfillment of His great and awesome design.

End of Part 7

Does God Have Emotions? Part 4

Can man make God angry or make him joyful?  This matter becomes more complex when we take into consideration that God knows all thoughts and actions of His creatures in all history simultaneously.  How is it possible for Him to be angry, let’s say with four billion people in a sense like man’s anger and at the same time pleased with five million people, also in a human sense, at the same time?

You say, “Remember, Pastor Rich, God’s mind is totally immense, so that He is not subject to human limitations.”  You are so right.  There is no warrant to conclude that God is extremely similar to man in some ways, while bound by many of man’s limitations, but that He is completely similar to man in other ways, as if he has none of man’s limitations. 

Therefore, we have to say that some form of divine impassibility is necessary. If God is angered by our sins, it is only because He wills to be angered by them, and not because His mental state is subject to our will or beyond His control.   Yes, even if we do affirm that God has emotions, they are all under His control, and they will never compromise His divine attributes.   Since God’s emotions are fully under His control, He does not have them in a way that is similar to man.

Because of the modern influenced by psychology to defend believing in a God with emotions, they are eager to acknowledge the biblical passages that make references to God with a physical body as instances of anthropopathism.   But when they come to passages that suggest emotional feelings in God, they are not eager to suggest anthropopatheism.  They can get along with a God not having a physical body, but not a God that is void of emotions.  There appears to be a shady form of hypocrisy that is often overlooked.

End of Part 4

Does God Have Emotions? Part 3

Since God is eternal (timeless), everything that happens, past, present and future, occurs simultaneously in the now. So that insults and offenses that are directed toward Him are happening “now.” God does not necessarily have to wait 2000 years in the future for an event to occur while having the time to think about it, or reflect 2000 years in the past to get over an offense. To an eternal God, all events are happening to Him in the “now.”

But even here we need to be careful. We do not want to imply that God would be angry about one particular insult throughout eternity, and not just when it happens. The crucifixion of Jesus was an insult to God, but it occurred at a particular moment in time (Gal. 4:4).

The Bible says that God is angry with the wicked every day and displays His wrath (Psalm 7:11). Yet, while we were once enemies of God (Rom. 5:10), Jesus died for such people (v. 6). Therefore, those who have received God’s wonderful gift of His Son, God has turned His anger away from them (Rom. 8:1). So, while it may be nice to think of an eternal God who experiences all events in the here and now, it is confusing to suggest that God is both angry and pleased with Christians. It is either one or the other. You see, since God knows His Son’s sacrifice as well as the sins of people before coming to Jesus, we would not know whether God is angry or not at us if all events and things to God are happening in the eternal now. God is not like man. So we cannot attribute Him our characteristics of thinking and reasoning without some biblical guidelines.

Okay, let me put it this way. If an action of mine can cause anger in God in a similar way that I can cause anger in man, then this means that I can cause anger in God by my power. To the degree that God lacks power and self-discipline, He is helpless against my efforts to cause anger in Him.

Similarly, if an action of mine can produce joy in God in a similar way that I can produce joy in a man, then this means that I have the ability to produce joy in God at will. So then, I would exercise a significant measure of control over God. But such thoughts would surely contradict God’s sovereignty and immutability.

End of Part 3

Does God Have Emotions? Part 2

We must be careful when ascribing emotions to God in the same way we think of our own emotions. A man may become angry against his will in the sense that he does not to choose to become angry, and he does not choose to experience whatever causes the anger, but that the “trigger” incites this emotion in him against his preference.  This implies to other human emotional experiences such as joy, fear, grief, and so on.  Although we may develop a certain level of self-control in these emotional expressions by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures, it still remains that a person’s emotions can well up with us against our desire even if we do not express it through our volition.  The perfect harmony between emotion and volition is not something we possess. 

How many times have you “lost” your temper? Or, controlled your feelings for someone? Often our feelings well up within us and we might show a level of control in terms of not expressing it, but zero control in terms of experiencing it. 

This cannot be true of God.   Even if He were to experience emotions, because of such lack of self-control would contradict His sovereignty, omniscience, and immutability. 

For example, since God is omniscience (all knowing), He cannot be surprised, and this would at least eliminate certain ways of experiencing emotions in the similar way to do. 

For example, suppose I become angry because a person insults me at this very moment.  It would be unlikely that I would still be angry two thousand years into the future. And if I had known two thousand years in the past that I would be insulted by a particular person, it would be unlikely that I would be insulted by the time he does it. In fact, if I had two thousand years to consider his insult, by the time he actually does it, I might not react at all.

Therefore, does God have emotions? 

End of Part 2