Sometimes HATE Feels Like LOVE

Introduction

     People love to hate, but I would assert that it isn't our natural tendency.  From an early age, we are told what is right and wrong.  This alone would be great; all people need a sort of moral compass taught to them when they are too young to understand the world around them, but we are also told to hang out with the "right" people and avoid the "wrong" people.  Since these values are taught at such a young age, they are ingrained in us; this creates the false illusion that hate is love.  The reality of this is that, for many of us, hate feels just like love.

God is Love vs. God is Just: What is Just?

     On a crisp clear night in the bustling cityscape of New York, two friends bump into one another.  Gabe and Drake had grown up together; they lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same church most of their lives.  Both Gabe and Drake went away to college and didn't see each other or talk much during the school year.  Tonight they had randomly met while walking through their peacefully noisy city.  Two years had passed since they had last had an in-depth conversation and tonight would be the night to change that.

Jesus and the Cross - Theories of Atonement

Jesus is NOT the Cross

     Why did Jesus, the centerpiece of Christianity die?  It's interesting how many people believe that the cross was the way Jesus paid our debt to God (or the Devil). There is absolutely no doubt that Jesus died for our sin. But some people think He died because of our sins and some think He died to forgive our sins.  There is a distinct separation between the two and there is no shortage of people ready to speculate on them.  Some say Jesus paid our debt to God, others say He paid the Devil, and still others say He led by example.  These ideas have been debated throughout history, but one idea of Penal Substitution has dominated the playing field for almost 1,000 years.  However, it has recently been challenged by the very ideas that it had silenced so many years before.  Penal Substitution is a refinement of a slightly older idea known as Satisfaction.  For the thousand years before Penal Substitution was created, two ideas were formed about the death of Jesus.  One was Ransom, and the other was Moral Influence.  The more prevalent of the two was Moral Influence.

Biblical Creation vs. The Big Bang

Introduction

     “In the beginning there was…” can lead to complete concurrence or dissension depending on what completes that statement.  If the Evolutionary theory is added to complete the statement, then you will have the scientists’ concurrence and the Christians’ dissension.  If Biblical creation completes that statement, then you will have the Christians’ concurrence and the scientists’ dissension.  There are also various positions that find themselves in-between the two sides; some Christians believe in the Evolutionary theory, while some scientists are Christians and believe their Bible.  This paper focuses on the argument between Christians who believe that the Bible is clear about creation, the scientists who believe that science paints a different picture, and the ever-increasing middle ground that sees both sides coinciding rather than contradicting the other.  It also will be written under the assumption that God exists.  Many Christians tend to demonize science because it seems to revoke their traditional values; however, scientists see their work as not revoking traditional values, but progressing onto better values.  A good example of this in another realm would be that slavery was a traditional value and seemed to be Biblical, but it was morally wrong and we progressed onto a better set of ethics, which were better supported by the Bible than slavery was.

Grace / Law

     The “Grace/Law” picture at first glance conveys a message of Jesus the Christ’s grace being sufficient for all religions and beliefs.  It also shows the law dying on the cross, which would remove the notion of sin in the world.  This is very controversial in Christianity today and there is great criticism between the grace and law messages, as well as all of those in between.  The letters of grace each represent a belief system; the beliefs being Evolution, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Gender Equality respectively.  The cross has the Ten Commandments nailed to each arm representing the law being fulfilled through Jesus’ death.  The cross also reinforces this idea with the words, “The Law Fulfilled” engraved on it.

Jesus and the Cross

     Jesus' death on the cross doesn't really make sense as a sacrifice, but His death to fleshly desires does. We are called to be Christ-like and are called to be living sacrifices, so wouldn't it be safe to venture that Jesus' sacrifice was a living sacrifice? Sacrifice for atonement of sins was a specific practice for the ancient Hebrews and was nothing like what Jesus did for us on the cross. Sacrifice for the Hebrews consisted of choosing an animal without blemishes, projecting their sins onto the animal, slaughtering the animal, and laying it before God. Jesus came and was set before God at His baptism, slaughtered His flesh in the desert when He was tempted by Satan, projected His cleanliness onto us, and rose again because He was perfect in the sight of God.

Is Jesus or the Bible the (W)word of God?

     Which is the (W)word of God; the Bible or Jesus?  My answer depends on what you mean by word.  If you are using word as the means of communication (the way we generally use words) then it is definitely the Bible.  However, if you are using Word as the power that caused things to happen at God's "word", then my answer would be Jesus.  Too many Christians try to elevate the Bible into the fourth member of the trinity and you cannot do that.  The Bible has an important message, but it is about Jesus and is not the written form of Jesus.  The Bible explains why we are here and tells us of our purpose, but Jesus gives us what the Bible can't, life and power.  The Bible is not the fourth perfect member of the Godhead because that is reserved for the three-in-one.  The Bible is just the means of communication.
     In John 1, it can be seen that Jesus is the power of God. Power in this sense means authority or exousia in Greek.  When God spoke, Jesus was the word that came out and caused things to be*. This is why we see that Jesus had power on Earth during His life to speak things into being; He is the Word that God used. This is also why He told us that anything asked in His name would be done because He is the means of making it happen**.  Jesus is the power, God is the initiator, and the Holy Spirit is the Overseer.  I have already explained how Jesus is the power.  When I say, "God is the initiator", I am referring to the fact that everything was created from God's will and He had a perfect design for it, thus He initiated it***.  God is the one who starts everything.  In saying that "the Holy Spirit is the overseer", I am saying that the Holy Spirit is watching over what has been created and is guiding us in God's perfect plan for our lives.  The Holy Spirit was placed here to guide us and lead us in our following of Christ<>.
     To see the Bible's part in being the word of God, we must look at 2 Timothy 3:16. In this scripture we see that the Bible is the inspired word of God meaning that God revealed Himself in someway to the writers of the Bible and they captured what they saw, heard, or felt in writing that we now recognize as the Bible><. When reading the Bible we must realize that it is in the perspective of the writer of that specific portion of the Bible. If we heard, saw, or felt what God showed them, then we may have noticed and written down something different. If you would like proof of this, then read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and compare the four. All four tell the same story of Christ, yet all say something different because they saw things differently from one another. This does not mean that the Bible is flawed, but that everyone notices something different and the writers wrote down what they thought was most important.

* John 1:1-10 -- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."

** John 14:13-14 -- "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it."

*** "The Lord God, the great initiator – the story begins One of the things that struck me as I reread the first chapters of Genesis is seeing God as the great initiator – or the central actor in this divine drama.  Watch Him move: “God said” – 15 times in Genesis 1-3 “God made” – 7 times “God saw” – 7 times “God blessed” – 3 times “God commanded” – 1 time  Starting in 2:15, though, is where the drama begins: 2:15 – God “took” and “put” man in the garden that he created for him (setting) 3:9 – God “called” to the man (the tension is building after the fall) 3:21 – God “made” for Adam and eve garments (sacrificial covering for their sin – at the height of climax) 3:23 – God “sent” them out of the garden (resolution)" http://r3cru.com/2010/01/god-as-the-great-initiator/

<> John 14:16-17 --  "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
<> John 16:13 -- "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come."

>< 2 Timothy 3:16 -- "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"