Sin and Death

God made everything, including animals.
Then, he made Man and put him in charge of the animals to take care of.
God gave Man one rule, and he broke it.

Suddenly, Man was aware of his nakedness, so he covered himself with fig leaves.

But, God made clothes for Man out of leather instead.

Leather.

One of Man's animals had to die, and the skin of that animal was draped on Man both to hide his nakedness and for him to wear his shame.

Thus, was the first sacrifice to atone for sins.  The wages of sin is death.


The people of Israel were enslaved by the Egyptians when Moses came to lead them out of captivity.  A series of plagues befell the Egyptians to convince Pharoah to let the Israelites go to worship their God.  In the final plague, the Angel of Death went throughout Egypt to kill the firstborn.  The people of Israel had prepared for this plague by sacrificing a lamb and painting its blood on their doors.  When the Angel of Death came, he saw that death had already happened there, and moved on.

The Basics - a Work in Progress

 

Jesus is the creative power of God

Creation – light and dark, stars and planets, seas and land, plants and animals – was spoken into existence through Jesus, the creative power of God – the Word of God.  They, God and Jesus, were pleased with this creation.

The ingredient for Man – clay – was spoken into existence through the creative power of God, whom we would later call Jesus.

But, God formed man with his hands from the ingredients of creation – clay, and breathed divine life into Man, thus distinguishing Man – making him Holy – from all creation.  We are literally clay vessels containing the divine breath of God , our souls – the Holy Spirit of God breathed into the first of us.

The Word of God, the creative power of God, came to Earth in a clay vessel called, among other names, Jesus.  He allowed his clay vessel to be broken, and it remained broken while he went to the dead.   He returned to his broken vessel, repaired it, reentered it, and walked among us, continuing to preach.  He was taken up to heaven – still in his clay vessel – after reminding us that within us – our clay vessels – the divine breath of God, the Holy Spirit, remains to guide us, counsel us, and comfort until we join him in the heavenly realm.

Jonah and the Prodigal son

I just finished reading Jonah and I feel like there is a parallel between Jonah's story and the prodigal son parable, which was originally the Parable of the Two Sons.  Ninevah is the prodigal son's analog, and Jonah is the analog for the faithful son.  

I need to stew on this a while and see if it pans out.

Jonah = the faithful son

Ninevah = the prodigal son

God = the father

Ninevah was far from God, just as the prodigal son left his father.

God relented when Ninevah repented, just as the father welcomed the prodigal home

Jonah was vexed by God's compassion toward evil Ninevah, just as the faithful son was vexed by their father's treatment of the returning prodigal.

Basically, the lesson is that God loves all of his children and wants them home with him.  So, if we are the prodigal/Nineveh, then we should repent.  If we are faithful/Jonah, we should not be vexed by the joy of a repentant son.  We should share in that celebration.

Pelagics

I love to go scuba diving.  It's been many years since I've gone, but it was a beautiful adventure every time I went.  It was like entering a whole different world.

The sounds change.  Little sounds are magnified, and you hear your own breath sucking in through your regulator like Darth Vader and then bubbling out when you exhale.

The feeling is different.  You're weightless -- almost flying.  You operate in 3 dimension: swim up, swim down, swim left, right & forward.  Sometimes, you just float inverted.  The water is cool against your skin, and the tanks that were so heavy on the dive boat are now light.

The sights are different, too.  You see the usual coral and fish.  Brain coral, elkhorn coral, staghorn coral, etc., and the usual array of little fish like gobies, sergeant majors, cardinal fish, wrasses, blue tangs, and goat fish.  It's always beautiful, and never gets old.

But, once in a while, you get lucky enough to see a pelagic.  That's a $2 word that means big sea creature.  They are rare and awesome.  The first time you see a manta ray, or a whale shark, or a sea turtle, or a hammerhead shark, it absolutely fills your eyes.  You can't get enough of it.  The experience is brief lasting seconds, maybe minutes.  And then, it's over and all you have is the memory, and maybe some video or photos.

A great quote from the movie, The Bridge to Terabithia, was spoken by a girl reading her essay on scuba diving.  She said,  "I don't have enough time to see everything. That's what makes it so special." That's so true about diving.


I'm a blessed guy.  I get those same diving experiences without ever having to go diving.  You see, my family is my 'whole different world.'  Every time I come home from work, I see the usual array of stuff.  My wife is on the couch or making dinner, my daughters are doing homework or on a computer, the dogs are greeting me in enthusiastic anticipation of a dog treat.  The house smells like dinner, and the clamoring sounds of domestic chaos are familiar and comforting.  These are the Squirrel Fish and Christmas Tree Worms of my life.  It's always beautiful, and it never gets old.

But, once in a while, I get lucky enough to see a 'pelagic'.  No, I don't see whale sharks swimming through my living room.  But, I do see my daughters spontaneously hug each other.  It lasts only seconds, and then it's over, and all I have left is the memory.  I see that my wife has worked diligently to clean the house while I was at work, and everything is fresh and bright, a fleeting condition in our circumstance.  'Little Bit', my younger daughter, will tell a joke and laugh uproariously.  'Squirt', my older daughter, will play a new song on her guitar that she just learned that afternoon.  They sound like little things, but they fill a 'pelagic' space in my heart.  

And yet, when I look at the 'little fish & coral' that I see every day, I still appreciate the beauty.  

I know I miss a lot while I'm at work or commuting.  I can't see all of the fun stuff that happens while I'm away.  But, that's what makes it so special.

Here's to diving into my family and loving every minute of it. 

Hooks

We visited the local Red Lobster restaurant for a special occasion a while back, and we met a man who was sitting by the lobster tank in the waiting area.  He had prosthetic hooks for hands.  My older daughter was 8 or 9 years old and innocently asked me about the man's hooks.  I asked the man if it was okay if she asked him about them, and he graciously explained that he'd gotten his hands stuck in a machine, and the machine had mangled his hands.  They had to be amputated, and now he has hooks for hands.  He's grateful that he has the hooks, but would rather have his hands back.

In life, we often make mistakes that damage our bodies.  How many people have lamented their poor choices that resulted in damaged or missing body parts.  I knew a man who was trying to clear the grass from his mower . . . while it was still running, and his thumb soon communicated the fact that the blade was in motion.  My dad was working on a machine that had a chain & sprockets, and he 'bumped' the motor to advance the chain; a few minutes later, he was driving himself to the hospital missing a fingertip.  I have countless scars on my body from being careless and making mistakes, but no missing body parts yet.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a way to undo the damage we do to our bodies?  We cut off our hands in a machine, and they are restored.  A foot gets mangled in farm equipment, and it's made whole again.  We smoke 6 packs a day, get lung cancer, and our lungs are turned from blackish-gray to pink, and we can breathe again.  For the most part, that kind of redemption doesn't exist.  But, I imagine we just might be a little more careless if it did exist.  Why not take more chances knowing the consequences are reversible.

In life, we often make mistakes that damage our souls, too.  We call it making 'poor choices' or 'mistakes'.  It boils down to 'sin', of course.  But, unlike the damage we do to our bodies, our souls are constantly being restored by the grace of God.  But, that endless grace, which was purchased by the sacrifice of the Savior, should not inspire us to be a little more careless.  Paul wrote against that sort of thinking.  We can't assume that we can sin as much as we want because we are saved by Jesus.  

Instead, we should be overflowing with gratitude for the gift of redemption, and that means living our lives in such a way as to honor the one that made our souls whole again, and purchased our way into the presence of God.

Paul Harvey Quote - Timely for Christmas

American radio broadcaster Paul Harvey once told a modern parable about a religious skeptic who worked as a farmer.

“One raw winter night the man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.

Touched, the framer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn door for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights and tossed some hay in a corner. But the sparrows, which had scattered in all directions when he emerged from the house, hid in the darkness, afraid.

The man tried various tactics to get them into the barn. He laid down a trail of Saltine cracker crumbs to direct them. He tried circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn. Nothing worked. He, a huge, alien creature, had terrified them; the birds couldn’t comprehend that he actually desired to help.

The farmer withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like lightning from a clear blue sky: If only I could become a bird – one of them – just for a moment. Then I wouldn’t frighten them so. I could show them the way to warmth and safety.

At that same moment, another thought dawned on him. He had grasped the reason Jesus was born.”

Fight Like a Man

In Matthew 4, Jesus cites written scripture to defend against Satan's temptations.  It seems natural that, being himself the Word incarnate, Jesus would cite the written law to fend off Satan's attacks.  So, why would Satan even get into a duel with Jesus regarding scripture?  Did he not think Jesus knew it backwards & forwards?

And second, did Satan not know who Jesus was?  Didn't he realize that Jesus already knew he could turn stones to bread?  According to John, all things were created through Jesus.  If Jesus created the stones in the first place, surely he knew He could turn them to bread without Satan pointing it out.  ("Wow, Satan!  I never thought of that.  I've been starving for over a month, and all this time I could've just turned the stones to bread.  You've been a really, really big help.  Thank you so much!")

Of course, Jesus' deity was absolutely known to Satan.  After all, even the demon(s) 'Legion' recognized him on sight.  (Mark 5:9)  But, Satan realized that He was not only God, bu he was now also fully human, and therefore, as vulnerable as He ever would be.  This was Satan’s best chance for victory over God.  Jesus was human.  He was hungry from being in the desert for 40 days.  And, He had the full creative power of God at His disposal. 

I remember times when I was hungry...usually, just before dinner.  On one occasion, I had fasted literally for hours (can you imagine?), and I spied a snack that I knew would ruin my dinner.  But, I justified the snack as being an ‘appetizer’ and ate it, and then regretted it.

That’s a pale comparison to what Jesus suffered.  He was 40 days in the desert, not 4 hours since lunch.  He was tempted by the ultimate tempter, not by a candy bar.  Yet, where I succumbed, he overcame.  He didn’t justify yielding to his temptation.  Instead, he justified his suffering by quoting scripture.

The temptations were fended off not as the Creator of the Universe would fend off temptations.  No lightning strikes.  No powerful winds blowing the Devil into a valley.  No ooh-ah miracles whatsoever.  Instead, Jesus resisted the temptations using the scriptures found in the Bible.  

Maybe this was Jesus’ way of showing us how we should fight Satan's temptations.  Every one of Satan's temptations was thwarted by Jesus' knowledge of scripture.  Not by His deity.  Not by His omnipotence.  Not by His connection to the Father.  It was Jesus the man that fought Satan and won, using the same resource each of us has at our disposal—the Bible.

To put it another way, if Jesus had used his Godly powers to overcome Satan's temptations, then wouldn't man say, "Well, yeah Jesus can do that.  He's God.  We're just men.  We can't stand up to Satan and win."  So instead, Jesus used the tools available to man to defeat Satan's temptations...to show us how to do it.  By his scriptures, by his Word, we have the tools we need to defeat Satan's temptations.  Paul Harvey once said something like, "Jesus lived a good life in a wicked world to show us it could be done."  (He added, "And he died. And he rose again. To show us...we could do that too.")

But, we have to know scripture, and we need to be adept with it.  To own a Bible is a very different thing than to know the Bible.

I have a router table, and it's a pretty good one.  An expert woodworker could probably do amazing things with it.  When I use it though, every once in a while, a work piece explodes in my hands.  I shut down the router, count my fingers, and go looking for the shrapnel and shards that disintegrated in my hands.  It's a good tool.  I'm just not very good at using it.  It's not that I don't have the potential to be good at it.  I do.  But, here's the problem.  I need to work with it more so I can become good with it.  But, it can be hard, and who has the time?  (Yeah, you know it--it's a metaphor.)

Most of us have a Bible.  Most of us who have Bibles, don’t read them regularly.  We wait for our preachers to tell us what we need to know about the Bible on Sunday mornings.  We get biblical snippets from social media that make us feel warm and comforted.  And, that feels like enough.

But, that’s not enough.  That’s like practicing karate by owning a gi and nunchucks, and watching Bruce Lee movies on TV.  We could actually get up and practice the strikes, blocks and kicks.  But, it's hard, and who has the time?

We simply must read and study the Bible if we are ever to use scripture as our shield against temptation.  We must become adept with the Word of God so that we can wield it like a sword.  Otherwise, temptation will make our lives explode in our hands like wood on a router table.