The Rainbow

September 3, 2017 Background Scripture: Genesis 8:20 – 9:17 Lesson Passage: Genesis 8:20 – 22, 9:8 – 17 Our next three lessons will focus on signs as a physical representation of a divine-human covenant. Note that Jesus admonished the Jews during the time of his earthly ministry to avoid craving after a sign from God. He said that those who do so are evil and unfaithful. On the other hand, as we will discover, each of the signs covered in our lessons was initiated by God as an assurance of His agreement with the covenant that He outlined. It is fitting that these lessons will be based on scripture passages from the book of Genesis. Genesis is the beginning or origin of everything in the physical world including man. It is also the place where foundational covenants between God and man were established. Each covenant was initiated by God without human involvement or input. Today’s lesson is about the rainbow and what it symbolizes relative to the divine-human covenant. As a child, I thought rainbows were some of the most beautiful displays in nature. Their sheer size and range of colors made them the object of my continuous gaze and fascination. I didn’t know of anyone who could see a rainbow and not call it to the attention of as many people as they could. Beauty on this scale deserves to be shared. Of course we heard the tale that the beautiful display was being projected from a pot of gold. Later in life I learned the story of Noah and the origin of the rainbow. Many believe that rain was a new phenomenon in the earth when it was sent as a judgment against the living creatures of the earth. This judgment came because of the wickedness and sinfulness of the hearts of mankind. God saw that man’s thoughts were evil continuously. After the judgment, God allowed rain to continue to be a part of the climate in this world but He tempers it so that it will never be enough to destroy all living creatures in the world. Whenever God allows clouds to gather over the earth, He promised to place the rainbow in the clouds as a visible reminder to Him that He will never again destroy all living creatures on the earth by using a flood. His assurance of this is the rainbow He provides for Himself when He allows the clouds to form above the earth. God causes a rainbow to occur with the clouds as assurance that the rain would be limited and never again a total judgment against the living creatures of this world. Just as the rainbow serves as a reminder to God to limit the rain’s destruction, it can also serve as a sign to us that God does judge sin. God promised to not use flood waters to destroy all living creatures as a judgment but He did not promise to not judge sin. God’s pleasure with the burnt offering offered by Noah after exiting the ark is evidence that sin is still an affront to God’s holiness. The burnt offering is a sin offering. The burnt offering acknowledged sin and the creature that was sacrificed represented the sins of the people. The life blood that was shed by the sacrifice was pleasing to God. Robert C. Hudson August 23, 2017

Called to Be Inclusive

August 27, 2017 Background Scripture: Acts 10 Lesson Passage: Acts 10:19 – 33 One of the most difficult challenges of Christians in the early church was the challenge to overcome their own racial bias. To a large extent, this is still one of the greatest challenges of many Christians today. We may all desire to be judged by the content of our character rather than the color of our skin but we are not necessarily willing to judge others the same way. It’s not that we don’t want others to be blessed or to prosper both physically and spiritually. There is a huge trust issue when it comes to racial differences both in this nation and in this world. For many, “Birds of a feather flock together.” is not just a saying but it is the belief that that is the way it ought to be. Everybody should stay with their own kind. But this is often applied in such a narrow way that it seems almost okay. Does anyone think that all left-handed people should associate together and avoid being around right-handed people? That perspective really shows how silly it is to use a narrowly defined physical characteristic to determine the treatment of others. Sometimes feuds can last so long that no one remembers what started it in the first place. Hatfield’s are supposed to hate the McCoy’s. Nobody seems to remember why except that’s the way it’s always been. There are no allowances provided for this type of thinking in the kingdom of God. The Bible declares that God has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on the face of the earth. Somehow we allow this truth to be omitted from the doctrine of our religious faith. Jesus did not allow the infant church to exist for long before he addressed the issue of racial bias. In our lesson today, the Holy Spirit sent Peter to the home of a Gentile to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to him, his kinsmen, and near friends. It is noteworthy that Peter’s first discourse to the group was to remind them that it was against the Jewish law for him to be in their house and in their presence. This was not just what was on Peter’s mind but these are the very words Peter spoke to them. Peter basically said “I am not supposed to be around you but God showed me that I should not call non-Jews unclean.” How’s that for a formal introduction? No reasonable person would dare teach this as a proper way to evangelize people who are of a race different than your own. Peter then asked them why they sent for him. Cornelius’ testimony was that God had answered his prayer and part of the answer was to send for Peter and have him come and speak to them. Peter understood Cornelius’ testimony to be proof that God does establish relationships with non-Jews. After this was understood, then Peter preached Jesus Christ to them. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for all people not just a select few. It is inclusive of all that would accept the Christ of God by faith. Christianity is the totality of all personal relationships that God establishes and not a private religion for a select few. People may continue to be more comfortable around others who share their physical characteristics but Christianity can never be contained within some private group that excludes others. That is religion and not Christianity. Religion need not be inclusive if the adherents choose not to be but Christianity is inclusive and all who are saved should embrace that because otherwise it would only be a Jewish religion that many of the Jews despised. Robert C. Hudson July 6, 2017

Called to Preach

August 20, 2017 Background Scripture: Acts 9:1 – 31 Lesson Passage: Acts 9:10 – 20 It seems that God’s sense of humor is really on display when one considers who He calls to preach the gospel. (I especially thought so when I was called to preach the good news.) Certainly, many of these callings leave no doubt that it is not the will of the individual to do such a thing. Many individuals spend a lifetime in church and God does not call them to preach and yet other individuals spend almost a lifetime outside of the church and are called. Now, that’s a sense of humor. If you want to see this taken to an extreme, consider the text of our lesson today. God saved the most feared persecutor of the church and called him to preach the gospel at the same time. If this were not laughable, it would be embarrassing to the man. Saul of Tarsus was a devout Jew who defended the religion of Judaism to the point of arresting and executing all who were considered a threat to Judaism. He pushed his authority to the limit when it came to trying to destroy the church. Saul was convinced that the church was a heresy that threatened Judaism. He went after anyone who was a follower of Christianity—at that time called “the way”. He was given warrants to arrest any Christians he found and bring them bound to Jerusalem to stand trial. He did not limit the scope of his work to Jerusalem or Judea. He was on his way to Syria because he apparently received word that there was a group of Christians there. This proved to be a life changing journey for Saul—and the church! As Saul traveled to Damascus, he encountered the founder and Lord of the church, Jesus. Jesus did not defend the church but rather he defended himself. He made it clear that persecution against the church was persecution against him. Jesus totally identifies with the church as being his physical body in this world. Saul inquired as to what Jesus wanted him to do. Jesus gave him instructions to continue on where he was going but he would have a very different mission upon his arrival into Damascus. That’s right. Jesus did not tell Saul to turn around and go back to where he had come from. Neither did he tell Saul to just stop persecuting his church. Rather, Jesus sent Saul to the very place he was going but with a totally different mission. Saul was no longer working for the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem. Saul was now on a mission to do the work of Jesus—the very work that he was attempting to destroy! Again, it can be said that God has a wonderful sense of humor. Saul arrived in Damascus blind and totally dependent on the very people he was going there to arrest and take back to Jerusalem to stand trial. Meanwhile in Damascus, the people he was going there to arrest were in hiding because they were forewarned that Saul of Tarsus was on his way to get them. Jesus didn’t even tell Saul the details of what he needed to know but told him that those in Damascus would tell him. Interdependence has been a characteristic of the church since its beginning. We are all made better as we serve each other. Jesus later changed Saul’s name to Paul and Paul went on to write half of the New Testament writings. Much of his writing provides instructions for church leaders as well as instructions for how churches are to grow in grace and handle the problems that arise in their midst. The body of Jesus Christ in this world is better today because Paul was called to preach. Robert C. Hudson July 6, 2017

Called to Break Down Barriers

August 13, 2017 Background Scripture: Acts 8 Lesson Passage: Acts 8:26 – 39 The infant church in Jerusalem underwent a lot of turmoil in a relatively short amount of time. The members faced mounting persecution from the Jewish religious leaders even as they attempted to continue to gather for prayer among them. The Roman civil authority joined the Jewish leaders in persecuting the church in order to curry favor with the Jewish leaders. While this was going on, internal dissension arose within the congregation between the Jewish Christians of Palestine and the ones from outside of Palestine (the Grecians). This internal dissension was resolved by identifying a group of men in the church to become servants within the congregation to attend the daily work of serving tables. The members of the group of seven men chosen to serve tables were all Grecian Jews. Philip was one of the seven men. The internal dissension in the congregation was resolved but the external persecution continued to mount and some from among their ranks were put to death because of their faith. This life-threatening persecution against the church caused many of them to flee Jerusalem seeking safety. Philip was one of the Christians who fled Jerusalem because of the persecution against the church. As those dispersed Christians spread out from Jerusalem, they continued to give witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people they encountered. Philip proclaimed the gospel in Samaria. Afterwards, the Lord directed Philip to go south to a road that led from Jerusalem through the desert to Gaza. It was on that road where Philip encountered a chariot carrying an Ethiopian eunuch. He was traveling from Jerusalem back to Ethiopia. The eunuch had worshiped in Jerusalem and while returning back to Ethiopia he was reading the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. The Holy Spirit directed Philip to go and run next to the chariot. There, Philip could hear the eunuch reading and used it as an evangelistic opportunity. Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. Although he was educated enough to read the scriptures (it was either written in Hebrew or Greek), the eunuch knew that he needed a teacher of the Jewish scriptures to guide him in his understanding. He invited Philip to sit with him in his chariot and from there he began to seek understanding of the scriptures from Philip by asking him very specific questions. Philip, who was filled with the Holy Spirit, expounded the true meaning of the scriptures, i.e., the gospel of Jesus Christ. This exposition of the scriptures by Philip led to saving faith in the eunuch who then asked to be baptized. After Philip gave him the criteria for water baptism, the eunuch affirmed his faith and commanded the chariot to stop at a place where they had come to some water. Since this route was described as passing through desert, this water was either an oasis or a miracle. It was enough water for both Philip and the eunuch to go down into. When they came out of the water, the Spirit translated Philip to Azotus and the eunuch carried the gospel on to Ethiopia. Robert C. Hudson June 29, 2017