The Greek word used of Jesus and translated "only-begotten" in the King James Version of John 3:16 is monogenes. This means that as son of God, Jesus is unique or one of a kind. He is also unique as a man. And how? Not in his physical appearance, we will see in this gracEmail, nor because he died, or even because he died by crucifixion. On a few subsequent Sundays we will explore some ways that Jesus is entirely unique, truly one of a kind, indeed a man like no other. Jesus did not stand out from others based on physical appearance (Isaiah 53:2). If we had visited first-century Nazareth on … [Read more...]
JESUS: NEW MAN FOR A NEW WORLD
Mama Cass Elliott sang the song and her words echoed the good news Jesus himself had preached. "There's a New World Coming / And it's just around the bend / There's a new world coming / This one's coming to an end" (Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing). Jesus called it "the kingdom of heaven," the new dimension of reality in which God will restore everything, redeem our bodies and liberate creation itself. These things are absolutely certain and, equally as certain, not yet. Even martyrs seeking justice cry "How long, O Lord, how long?" and must wait a little longer. To follow after Jesus is to … [Read more...]
Christianity On Trial (Book Notice)
Imagine for a moment that someone was able to locate, juggle schedules, arrange transportation, and bring together into one room all the following: * a high school prodigy whose minister sometimes invited him to preach in the largest congregation of their association; * a biblical languages major and avid Bible student; * a national debate champion in university competition; * a Sunday-school teacher with a class approaching 1,000, whose videotaped lessons are viewed around the world; * a Christian apologist with encyclopedic interests and a memory to match; * a … [Read more...]
Hopeless Mike
You would never suspect it from his appearance--tall, pleasant smile, brushed back white hair--someone's "Grandpa Mike," you imagine (not his real name). Nothing he does betrays his secret either, as we work side by side in occupational therapy this morning, here at Rehab Hospital in Houston's western suburb of Katy. Suddenly Mike grimaces and a look of pain crosses his face. "It's so frustrating," he says. "Completely hopeless." He cannot hear, Mike tells me, but he reads lips some. He speaks but without context. He is too blind to read--but not too blind to see things not there. Tormenting … [Read more...]
THE LINCH-PIN OF OUR FAITH
.The Age of Reason was dawning, and an anti-Christian intellectual named Lepeau was desperate for advice. He had created a rational new religion, Lepeau told French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, but, despite its superiority to Christianity, it had failed to catch on. Might Talleyrand have any suggestions? “M. Lepeau," the diplomat dryly replied, "to ensure success for your new religion, you need only two things. Arrange to have yourself crucified, and three days later rise from the dead.” New religions recoil with horror at the suggestion and respond with derision … [Read more...]
THE COMEBACK OF HELL (1)
A Bible teacher in the Northwest asks for comment regarding the statement of Jerry Walls of Asbury Seminary, who wrote: 'We cannot be moral without God, and we cannot have God without hell. Hell needs to make a comeback' (Christianity Today 6/16/97, "Can We Be Good Without Hell?"). * * * I say "Bravo!" to Professor Walls for reminding us that we are creatures accountable to our Creator, that earthly actions have consequences beyond this Age of time and space, and that there is a dark side to divine justice as well as eternal reward. The New Testament certainly warns against hell, and Jesus … [Read more...]
INVITATION TO PENTECOST
Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2010. Today much of the Christian Church remembers and celebrates Pentecost, the day when Jesus began to baptize in the Holy Spirit as predicted by his prophetic forerunner John the Baptist. A cross-section of the population were listening when John made that promise, and he addressed it to them all (Luke 3:10-16). This baptism in the Holy Spirit was not limited to Jesus' apostles. It is for people in every country throughout all generations (Acts 2:39). The events of that first Christian Pentecost signalled the beginning of the Last Days -- a time of salvation and … [Read more...]
CAN THE SOUL TRULY DIE?
A North Carolina brother observes, "I've often heard speakers refer to hell as a place where the soul lives forever, enduring punishment of fire. Could you comment on this?" * * * The notion that every human being has a soul which, unlike the body, is immortal and cannot die, is a remnant of ancient pagan Greek philosophy. The idea crept into Christian thinking in the second and third centuries, where it shaped the popular doctrine of everlasting torture in hell. The great theologian Augustine gave the notion his stamp of approval and it became Catholic and Protestant orthodoxy. If souls … [Read more...]
gnashing of teeth
I earlier stated a conviction that God will finally destroy the unrepentant both body and soul in hell (Matt. 10:28) in the "second death" (Rev. 21:8). Jesus warns of this "eternal punishment" (Matt. 25:46), which Paul explains to be "eternal destruction" (2 Thes. 1:9). A kind gracEmail reader asks how this explanation fits those passages which refer to "gnashing of teeth." * * * For about 18 centuries, a majority of Christians have understood the phrase "gnashing (or grinding) of teeth" to refer to the unending pain which they presume the lost will endure throughout all eternity. An old … [Read more...]
ETERNAL PUNISHMENT
A gracEmail reader notes that Jesus speaks of "eternal fire" and "eternal punishment" (Matt. 18:8; 25:30) and asks how that squares with my suggestion that the wicked will be totally destroyed in hell, never to be seen again. * * * "Eternal" fire is fire which belongs to the Age to Come. It is also eternal in the sense that its effects will be everlasting. Sodom and Gomorrah, which were "reduced to ashes," illustrate the punishment awaiting evildoers (2 Pet. 2:6; Jude 7). Those cities -- which were wiped out thoroughly and forever by fire from heaven (Gen. 19:27-28) -- illustrate "the … [Read more...]
