I was in a store today and while waiting in line I saw a package of Natural American Spirit cigarettes. Now I normally don’t pay attention to those smoking sticks but this one caught my eye. Apparently these are “organic” and “natural” cigarettes. I busted out laughing. Can you imagine…”while you’re killing yourself slowly with these, rest assured that the tobacco is grown with the utmost care for your health”.
Why would someone want to smoke organic tobacco? Isn’t that defeating the purpose?
We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God’s commandments.
Martin Luther, Treatise on Good Works, 1520
When we think about God and who He is, it becomes obvious that He has characteristics that are shared by humans and at the same time those that vastly different than us. Those that are shared are called communicable (because He has communicated or given us those same characteristics) and those that are not shared are called incommunicable. It might be helpful to just list some of these characteristics to see the difference.
God is totally superior to us in every way. Many of His characteristics can only be attributed to Him alone for they are the very essence of what it means to be God. For instance, God is all-knowing. There isn’t a particle of information or knowledge that is outside the scope of His understanding and awareness. Nothing is hidden from God. He does not learn; not in any sense or way. He does not learn of situations or people. Circumstances in our lives do not catch God unaware or by surprise. His knowledge of the future is as complete as His knowledge of the past. This characteristic of omniscience is necessary to be God and is not shared with any part of His creation.
The same could be said of God’s presence. He is everywhere at all times. His very being pervades the entirety of His creation and at the same time is not limited by it. God does not only fill the universe but beyond. He is timeless in His being and unbounded by anything. God is also all-powerful. He is not limited in His power or the exercise of that power. He is eternal, having no beginning, no middle and no end. He does not change in any regard or in any respect. God simply is.
All of these traits and more are those that He does not share with anything in His creation. Even though man has been made in His image, that sharing of His image does not include the incommunicable. However there are aspects of God that He has shared with us. The communicable traits include the characteristics of intellect, reasoning, the ability to love in the manner that He loves. God is a creative God and we share in that same style of creativity if not to the same degree. God has a will and a freedom to exercise it. So do we. There is goodness and mercy and holiness and wrath. All of these and more are communicated by God to His special creation – mankind.
Of course the question of practicality comes into play. What does this mean for me on the street corner of life? Several things pop up. First, we are not gods and we do not share in everything there is to being God. He is distinct from us, on a level that we are unable to fully comprehend. Secondly, though we are separate from God, He has created us in His image and we share in some of the attributes that He has. Therefore we should exercise these characteristics in keeping with His own holy character. In like manner, God’s communicating some of His character to us teaches us that man is special. Every person has a measure of worth no matter their situation because they are part of His special creation. Even though sin has corrupted that image, a tiny spark of it is present in all of us and we should work to protect all of human life, from the two cell baby till death’s final call.
There is a show on the Discovery Channel that pits a man against the wild. Now I think there may be a basis for a new show called “Man vs Machine”.
From the AP News:
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man was accused of shooting his lawn mower because it wouldn’t start. Keith Walendowski, 56, was charged with felony possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle and misdemeanor disorderly conduct while armed.
From the AP: “MANILA, Philippines – The 346 passengers were cruising at 29,000 feet Friday when an explosive bang shook the Qantas jumbo jet. The plane descended rapidly. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling as debris flew through the cabin from a hole that had suddenly appeared in the floor.
“For by this scripture, l saw that the man Christ Jesus, as He is distinct from us, as touching His bodily presence, so He is our righteousness and sanctification before God. Here, therefore, I lived for some time, very sweetly at peace with God through Christ; Oh, methought, Christ! Christ! there was nothing but Christ that was before my eyes, I was not only for looking upon this and the other benefits of Christ apart, as of His blood, burial, or resurrection, but considered Him as a whole Christ! As He in whom all these, and all other His virtues, relations, offices, and operations met together, and that as He sat on the right hand of God in heaven.
It was glorious to me to see His exaltation, and the worth and prevalency of all His benefits, and that because of this: now I could look from myself to Him, and should reckon that all those graces of God that now were green in me, were yet but like those cracked groats and fourpence-halfpennies that rich men carry in their purses, when their gold is in their trunks at home! Oh, I saw my gold was in my trunk at home! In Christ, my Lord and Saviour! Now Christ was all; all my wisdom, all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my redemption.
Further, the Lord did also lead me into the mystery of union with the Son of God, that I was joined to Him, that I was flesh of His flesh, and bone of His bone, and now was that a sweet word to me in Eph. 5.30. By this also was my faith in Him, as my righteousness, the more confirmed to me; for if He and I were one, then His righteousness was mine, His merits mine, His victory also mine. Now could I see myself in heaven and earth at once; in heaven by my Christ, by my head, by my righteousness and life, though on earth by my body or person.”
John Bunyan, 1628 – 1688
Robert Burn’s wrote in his poem “To a Mouse” a well-known phrase; “The best laid plans of mice and men/often go awry.” It is true that planning doesn’t always result in the intended action and often plans are messed up for a variety of reasons. However, that shouldn’t be the reason for not planning at all. The Word of God is clear in the necessity for good planning. The proverbs extol the virtues of the ant, highlighting its work and it’s planning ahead for the future (Pr 6:6). Proverbs 21:31 recognizes that planning is proper as long as one trusts in the Lord for the results. James 4:13-16 indicates the same, again not condemning planning but only planning that leaves God out of the picture.
One of the challenges we have as a church is to think of the future. Planning today is one way in which we can influence tomorrow. The actions we take today will often set the direction we are headed in for the future. That is why I have challenged out ministry teams to write out a plan of ministry for 2009. What do we want to accomplish in the areas of worship and discipleship? What do we want to accomplish with our children and our youth? Planning is by no means easy nor is it quick. It takes thought and foresight. It takes prayer and seeking the face of our God.
But planning has it’s own rewards. It will give us as a church body boundaries to our ministry. It will help eliminate the crisis of the immediate need if we have thought it through well. It will set a target before us that is tangible and from which we can evaluate if we are being effective. Planning will help us to budget correctly to meet the ministry we desire to accomplish. Planning can help excite the church body as together we see what our ministry dollars are going towards.
What can you do to help in this process? First of all be praying for the ministry teams and their leaders as they work towards these goals. Pray for wisdom and God-given direction. Second, prepare yourself to endorse what God is directing our church to do. Buy in to the dream we have for ministry through First Baptist. Thirdly, already become or remain faithful in the giving of your abilities, your time and your resources to see this dream become reality.
One of the harder things to try and work out is what is the most basic of truths? At what point do you begin to try and develop a personal basis of theology? As Christians, do we go immediately to redemption or to Christ or where? Can you start with the doctrine of Scripture? You soon realize that almost all of our doctrine is intertwined with other aspects of truth. Trying to unravel them seems as hopeless as it was to comb my daughters hair when she was four 
One conclusion that we might make is that it is impossible to find a starting point. But I would beg to differ. A possible place to start (and by no means the only place, but only the one that I think seems to be most reasonable) is with God. Even before exploring anything else about God, our basic doctrine should begin with the truth that God is. He exists in realm of reality, not merely a figment of imagination or fantasy. There are those who would say that God is just a cultural necessity; a crutch on which the uneducated or emotionally unstable have developed.
But the very basis for our faith rests on the doctrine of God’s being. We grant that all people, in every land, culture, society and time have a deep and inner sense of God’s existence. To attribute this to some mass hysteria or evolutionary glitch in the human brain is to illicit belief in the unbelievable. While some people obviously deny the truthfulness of God’s existence (i.e. atheists), they are few in number. At best, people will only deny an awareness of God or any possible knowledge of Him (agnostics). However, is their any proof that God does indeed exist? Well, if you are looking for empirical, laboratory results then you would be disappointed. Yet we do not question the reality of existence at all, although it and a whole host of other truths are unable to be dissected in a lab dish.
What arguments are there for God’s existence? Let me list just a couple of “classic” arguments that might whet you whistle to seek out others.
The cosomological argument says that everything in the universe has a cause. Because of this, it stands to reason that the universe itself must have a cause and that cause must be God.
The teleological argument says that everything in the universe has a purpose and a design. Since it is so complex, it gives evidence for some type of intelligent arrangement. Therefore, there must be an intelligent being who is greater than the universe who made it as it is.
The ontological argument says that the idea of God is defined as a being greater than anything else. Since it is greater to exist than not to exist, God must exist.
There are other traditional arguments that might be used to “prove” God’s existence. All of them fail to completely provide the whole answer. While belief in God is rational, in the end it still comes down to acceptance of the truth or rejection. This doesn’t change His reality but it does change our perception of that reality. And to do that, only He can overcome our fallen nature that would rather deny than submit.
Whether you realize it or not, we are all theologians. A core definition of theology is simply the study of God and in that regard, all people theologize (not sure that is a word) at least off and on. Sit down with any person and they will be able to give you their thoughts on God; some may be very open about it even if others are not. But everyone is a theologian. Somehow though, we have relegated to the seminarians and the professionals the job of really working through theology. There is an image of a theologian as some guy who can’t quite cut it in the real world who sits over some dusty books and writes long and boringly academic papers. And while I would say such a description is unfair, there are those whose jobs are to devote themselves to theological thought. In evangelical Christianity, we should be thankful for those whom God has blessed with the ability and the gifting to work through some very difficult issues.
However…theology is not for academia. Theology is for the backstreet alleys of Mooresville. It is for the suburban housing of Indianapolis. Theology is for the lab rooms at Eli Lilly. Theology has been and always will be for the blue collar thinking. By blue collar I mean to say for the average Joe living what we would call an average life. Theology is for practical application in the real world!
Stay tuned over the next several weeks. I’m not 100% sure where this will end but it is important to discuss, work out and apply theology to our lives. To avoid it is to become weak in our faith. To embrace theology strengthens our walk with God as we study who He is, what He does and how we relate to Him.
“It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that the does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his . The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in thi covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen.”
Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
