If that is true, which I do believe, then why do we continue to as Christians dwell on the "God is love, peace, mercy, flowers, waterfalls and bluebirds singing", when He is a God of great Judgement as well?
Are we missing half the story?
Our Sunday School class has been studying 1Samuel and specifically the "Ark Effect" in chapters 3-7. Read that sometime and then convince me that God isn't bringing judgement even now?
Someone in class pointed out that God could even be bring on some of the diseases and sicknesses we have now. That we might blame sin or the Devil when in fact it could be God. I don't know that I believe that for sure but, take a minute and a concordance and look up the term "hand of God" and see what it says. It was the same everywhere in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, therefore if God doesn't change, his Hand is the same today.
Quote scripture to back up your thoughts please. Lets have Biblical discourse.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
God, the same yesterday, today, forever
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I believe the Bible literally. So when it says God is the same yesterday, today and forever, I believe it. Let’s look at God’s personality 2000 years ago.
Matt 4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
Matt 9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Mark 1:33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.
Luke 4:40 When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. 41 And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.
Luke 9:1 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
Okay, so what do all these scriptures have to do with God’s judgement today? Well if Jesus was here to do God’s will ...
John 5:30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
... and Jesus went about healing all diseases and those oppressed by the Devil, then that was God’s will then, and must be His will for today.
Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Mark 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” 23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
So why would God want to give people sickness and disease as a judgement now, if He only wanted to heal people of their diseases and oppression of Satan then? It is clear that Satan is the author of sickness and disease. God doesn’t need to use any of Satan’s creations, or tools, to pass judgement. If God needed to build a house, He wouldn’t ask Satan if He could borrow His hammer? God has His own tools; He doesn’t need to borrow any of Satan’s.
God is a jealous God, and He does carry out judgement, but I don’t believe scripture supports that He gives people cancer, or heart attacks, etc. They are the nature of this fallen world, which is under Satan’s authority. We know that based on Matthew where Satan took Jesus and tried to tempt him with all the authority Satan had over the earth.
A whole other subject is regarding our sin exposing us to the side affects of this fallen world. Is that part of God's judgement, or just the price of our sin nature combined with living on a world under Satan's authority? Which is one reason why we are "aliens in this world" and are "not supposed to love it."
Bill, your blog today was full of fodder and this is just one tiny tidbit regarding it. Lots of rabbit trails here.
Bill,
You bring up an issue very precious to me. I have realized personally over the past few years that if I don't believe and trust that the LORD is Sovereign over ALL things-good and bad, than I make Him into a very little god, not to be fully trusted. This is not the case...He is a Glorious, Awesome, and Sovereign God that I can fully rest in and trust with my whole life. NOTHING happens without God's permission. Look at Job who was called a righteous man...God allowed all of those painful things to happen to him to prove that Job would continue to be faithful and show God's Sovereignty. The Book of Job so beautifully describes God's infinite Sovereignty. In the face of incredible suffering Job fell to the ground in worship and said :..."The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." It is God who is in control of our lives. When his wife told him to curse God he replied, "..."Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" We can fully trust him with the bad and the good because it's not about us...it's about Him and His glory!! Read Jeremiah 32:17-.. and Daniel... This is such an important issue because your theology really shapes your life, thinking, choices. Read the Bible as a Whole...not as a part. He is not just love and lah, lah, lah...or we couldn't count on Him the way that we can for instance to be the perfect Judge and we will be tossed about in depression, when something bad happens, which most Americans are because we are caught up in this mentality that it is all about us...or "Live Your Best Life Now!! God promises suffering to the Believer. In Romans 8 Paul talks about the shared suffering with Christ as His heirs but with the promise and hope that it will be nothing compared with the future glory that is before us. Read Philippians..the Joy in suffering for His names sake. There is so much more I would love to say about this. Thanks for bringing this up Bill. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow...thank goodness...it is why we can so fully count on Him and worship our Glorious God!!
Lvoe in Him-
Dawn
The question I raised in SS class was based on the passages mentioned in I Samuel 3-7.
The key phrase is "the Lord's Hand....". If you use a concordance and look up that phrase you will find approximately 18 times it is used. From Genesis to Hebrews.
In EACH case, "the Lord's hand..." brought on a great malady, calamity or horrendous suffering.
So, again, I ask, if the LORD is the same yesterday, today and forever, does HE actually bring about what WE would consider to be bad things to happen?
Jesus' hand is different in this case, as the translation and usage of the word "hand" is completely different.
"The Lord's Hand...." is God Himself actively DOING something.
God, as the Son, does the miracles listed in the Gospels, to show His mercy and love. God, the Father, DOES bring about swift judgement and punishment throughout history, both Biblical and historical.
Praise be to God that He sent His Son Jesus to be our redeemer or we would all be in bad shape.
Hi,
We just had the most incredible sermon called "The Immeasurable Greatness of God's Power." He talked about the very issue of God's infinite Sovereignty even..."Does God create calamity?" Read Is. 45:5-7 "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you though you have not known ME; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides ME. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The ONE forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these."
You can listen to this powerful sermon that will encourage you in God's Truths by going to our church web site www.livingwatercc.org. The sermon should be posted by Monday. The sermon was today Sunday Nov. 11.
I encourage every believer to read the Bible as a whole not just the New Testament.
In Christ-
Dawn
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