Saturday, January 28, 2017

Re-Created to Live in Harmony

February 5, 2017 Background Scripture: Galatians 3:26 – 4:7 Lesson Passage: Galatians 3:26 – 29; 4:1 – 7 The text of our lesson today is like the closing argument of a defense attorney. At the beginning of Paul’s letter to the churches in the region of Galatia, he did several things. He first identified himself as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to defend his apostleship as genuine and his work for the Lord as authentic. Then Paul proceeded to establish that the salvation of the Christians in Galatia was made sure because of their faith in Christ brought about by Paul’s preaching of the gospel message. Their faith was made sure because they had received the Holy Spirit as the earnest of their inheritance in Christ. They did not receive the Holy Spirit because they had performed specific acts specified in the Law but because they trusted Christ. Paul was disturbed because some Jewish Christians had been teaching that Gentiles who were saved needed to also participate in some of the rituals specified by the Law. This teaching caused confusion in the churches of Galatia and as a result some of the Christians there were also trying to perform the rituals of the Law. The presence of Jewish and Gentile Christians in the churches and in the same region had caused confusion as to what constituted salvation. Paul explained that God promised salvation to all races of people through the seed of Abraham over four hundred years before the Law was given and therefore salvation is by promise and not by the Law. Furthermore, some of the Jewish Christians were starting to separate themselves from the Gentile Christians socially. Paul confronted some of the pillars of the church because they set a bad example which caused that behavior. Having settled all of that, Paul then turned to the theme of unity within the body of Christ. The Law made many distinctions among the keepers of the Law. There were requirements and restrictions depending on which group a follower of the Law belonged to. There were guidelines based on gender, race, and economic status. But in Christ, there are no distinctions because all who are in Christ are considered children of Abraham by faith. This status of being children of Abraham through faith entitles Christians to be heirs of the promise God made to Abraham. Meanwhile, Paul does not discard his brethren the Jews. Rather, he likens the Jews to heirs who are minor children. Although minor children may be heirs, as long as they are children, they are under tutors or baby sitters and exercise none of the rights of heirs but are regarded very much like hired servants. Paul uses this analysis to suggest that the role of the Law is that of a tutor preparing the children as future heirs. So Christians should not be attempting to imitate the Jews by observing the rituals of the Law because the grace of God makes that unnecessary. Likewise, the Jews who have accepted Christ should realize that their salvation did not come through the ritualistic keeping of the Law but through their faith in Christ. In Christ, we have all been recreated to live in harmony through faith and not rituals. Robert C. Hudson January 5, 2017

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Praise God the Creator

January 22, 2017 Background Scripture: Psalm 104 Lesson Passage: Psalm 104:1 – 4, 24 – 30 Sometimes the forces of nature can be so violent that the natural world appears to be untamable. We hunker down as winds blow boisterously and wait for them to subside. Great earthquakes reduce skyscrapers to heaps of rubble. Flood waters rush in and quickly destroy all in its path. An Arctic front sweeps an entire nation and encapsulates it in ice and cripples it with brutally low temperatures. A scorching drought reduces vegetation to dust and brings a quick end to many living creatures. Yet, there is one who is unmoved by all of this. The Creator of heaven and earth causes nature to obey His will and succumb to His righteous demands. Everything in existence reflects the wisdom of God. There is no doubt that nature is the result of intelligent design. The Creator uses the wind-tossed waters as pavement and speaks to it as He would a little child. When we see a raging sea, He sees a playground for an innumerable quantity of His creatures to live in and enjoy. They behave as loyal pets desiring the substance of life that comes from their Master’s hand. Their life is in God’s hands and they will live or die at His whim. God can speak life into existence and He can speak death to a creature. He summons a cloud as a fare hails a taxi. He is chauffeured about as if it were a limousine. Nature knows its Creator. What we may view as violent and out of control, the Lord sees as His creation available at His beck and call; nature is always ready to obey His voice. Nature is a physical display of the greatness of God. The vast cosmos is as a curtain in His hands. He can move and rearrange the various star systems and galaxies as it pleases Him. God can take light and wear it like clothing—and even hide Himself within it if He chooses to. He created it all for His pleasure. Mankind was created to have dominion over the earth and the earth is but a tiny speck in the realm of the cosmos. Yet, on this speck that we call home, we oftentimes live in awe and fear of natural phenomena that is part of the intricate makeup of the earth. Why so much talk about nature and what we call acts of nature? Because understanding some of the intricacies of creation is paramount to seeking an understanding of something about the Creator. It is observation of the physical world around us and an internal yearning that pulls us towards our Creator’s side. The awesomeness of creation should cause praise to erupt from the creation towards the Creator. The smallest matter around us can lead to volumes of research and publications that go on for centuries. Such research, reflection, and publication are passed from one generation to another as the years roll by. It could revolve around the lifecycle of some obscure snail or the search for the smallest item of sub-atomic matter that can be detected and studied. In other words, we don’t need storms to impress us concerning God’s greatness. Just try to build your own snail or working atom. Confusion quickly sets in when we attempt to study the makeup and workings of man. How can we not be in awe? How can we not praise God? Praise God the Creator. Robert C. Hudson December 22, 2016