The Supreme Gift of the Ages — Part 2

The next phrase at hand in John 3:16 is “shall not perish.” As part of the conclusion of this verse, it begins the purpose statement about the mission of God’s Son: To save a people that are perishing. So what is the nature of this condition that warranted such a drastic measure by God? The root of the answer lies in the beginning in Genesis at the Fall in the Garden of Eden. For those who ascribe the book of Genesis to being myth, legend, allegory, or merely metaphoric literature, but not actual narrative written as truth and fact, this redemptive verse can not hold any water whatsoever. There must be a real threat to humanity that this verse, along with the Four Gospels, is addressing. Therefore, the whole redemptive plan of God is a rescue mission that begins in Genesis and culminates in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 3 chronicles the fall of Adam and Eve, the first human couple created by God, into sin from a perfect state of innocense. The sin that was incurred is described in Gen 3:1 – 13. The consequences are pronounced in verses 14 – 19 by God. The entire Bible speaks to those events as real and part of human history. As the progenitors of the human race, Adam and Eve became the archetypes for all humans thereafter. In theology this concept is defined under the Headship principle. Under Headship, Adam is our Federal Head who represents the whole human race in a spiritual sense. Whatever is spiritually ascribed to Adam is imputed by God to his progeny–the whole race of man. The Westminster Shorter Catechism A12 teaches that, “When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.” Then the transgression followed: “A13: Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.” As a consequence, the Westminster Larger Confession, A22 states, “The covenant being made with Adam as a public person, not for himself only, but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in that first transgression.” As a result of this fall into sin, God cursed Adam and Eve and expelled them from the Garden of Eden. Expanding on this, the full scope of God’s curses for Adam’s sin involve all of creation, both the heavens and the earth, but in Genesis the focus is on the generations of mankind thereafter and are manifested in the individual as well as in all created things. The implication is the Fall plunged the entire population of humanity into a state of sin that begins from conception for each person. The penalty involves both an immediate spiritual death of the individual and an eventual physical death. One is born into spiritual death or rather without spiritual life and the same is destined to physical death. This includes a struggle with a cursed physical environment in several dimensions. Without God’s intervention, everyone lives their lives opposing God and practising sin through a constant violation of His laws, whether consciously or not. They are cut off from a positive relationship with God and live as enemies against Him. This is true regardless of how well-intentioned or even religious people may try to be. All humans in this state are said to be perishing by the Scriptures. The same are appointed after death to suffer in hell in an unphysical state and eventually are cast into the Lake of Fire in an eternal resurrected body at the end of history to suffer torment for eternity (Rev 21:8). Such is the destiny of all mankind apart from God, according to the Scriptures. To deny this doctrine is to deny the Word of God.

This dire state of mankind is what John 3:16 addresses. The rescue mission is paramount in God’s eternal plan and is of highest priority, with all of history revolving around it, in God’s sovereignty. Thus the atonement achieved by Jesus Christ through His suffering and death on the cross is said to occur at the appointed time of God in a climax of events that He brought together for this purpose. John 3:16 is a short gospel depicting that plan.

The Supreme Gift of The Ages – Part 4

The article “How to Avoid Misinformation and Disinformation Online,” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/avoid-misinformation-disinformation-online/, on The Gospel Coalition (TGC) website, by Patrick Miller, is a good read for Christians who want to be careful to avoid the rivers of falsehoods and of becoming guilty of violating God’s ninth commandment—do not bear false witness (Exod. 20:16), while engaging with social media. The terms misinformation and disinformation can be modern euphemisms for slander, lies, and deception that Christians should never take part in. The article includes practical ways of checking the actual sources of posted information on the internet that can reveal the original context, etc. It reveals how Christians are a favorite target of misinformation and disinformation which is used to sow distrust, division, and dissension and to tarnish the credibility of Christianity. This article can help to avoid becoming a casualty or prisoner of war on the Devil’s battlefield in social media today.

In the article “Nature Can Teach-A Biblical Introduction to Natural Law by Steven Wedgeworth” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/nature-can-teach, the author explains the concept of classical natural law as a basis of moral reasoning used to determine the rational foundation for a moral duty or prohibition. Natural law is grounded in the divine law reflected in the Ten Commandments (Exod 20) and Christ’s summarization in the Gospels (Matt 22:37). The moral principles of natural law can be used to derive human law that can be extrapolated in the legislation of society’s laws. According to the Bible, natural law is stamped in God’s creation, including in the heart of man, so that what can be known about God, including the fundamental divine law, is plain to man (Ps 19:1 – 4; Rom 1:19f; 2:15, 26). But the natural law is impotent in revealing the nature and remedy for sin and the sin nature can distort the understanding of natural law. For that, the special revelation of the Bible is needed (Ps 19:7 – 13; John 1:1, 2; 3:16; 2 Tim 3:16). The Scriptures contain the written revelation of God to man and is the highest authority (Deut 5:32f; 6:1 – 6); it also teaches concepts of natural law in the apostolic writings, for instance, Paul appeals to it with respect to custom, fittingness, and decorum to teach godly practices for the church (1 Cor 11:14).

An observation that can be made of our culture and the current state of affairs from the standpoint of natural law is that much of the more recent changes toward extreme radical policy and practices, such as LGBT, the continual expansion of the sexual revolution of the 60s, the normalizing of lawlessness and imposition of a counterfeit morality by the elites, insurrection and the overthrow of constitutional governance, abortion and eugenics, humanism in its Hydra-headed multiple forms, etc., can all be tied fundamentally to a burgeoning rebellion within society against natural law and its customs, against divine law, and ultimately against Christ as Lord over His creation, a rejection that began at His first advent with the Jews. Therefore it is vital for God’s people to realize this danger and steer completely clear of this rebellion in all of its manifestations, but continue to stand on the truth in the Bible and shine the light of the Gospel. Whether or not the heathen culture heeds the natural law in God’s creation and its legitimate expressions in society, Christians always have the prerogative to obey the law of Christ revealed in the Scriptures.

The devotional article “The Marvel of Design” (http://www.icr.org/article/13052/?utm_source=phplist9671&utm_medium=email&utm_content=HTML&utm_campaign=November+14+-+The+Marvel+of+Design) in Days of Praise on the ICR web site uses the unlikely passage in Genesis 43:33 about Joseph’s encounter with his eleven brothers in Egypt to illustrate how the ordinary capacity of common science (rational common sense) can discern the unreasonableness of expecting random forces to create design of any kind. This innate sense possessed by all individuals from birth (a faculty instilled by God) also discerns the existence of God, but modern humanistic teachings, especially evolution buttressed by academia, mainstream media, liberal theology, and the consensus tyranny of the political cabal, work to erase this from the consciences of ordinary people to make them captive to Satan – Roms 1:18f.

In the article “Does It Really Matter Whether Adam Was the First Man?” (https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/adam-first-man/) by Dr. Michael Reeves, posted on The Gospel Coalition’s website, he breaks down the arguments from Scripture supporting a historical Adam and refutes the opposing views, such as those proposed by Denis Alexander, that appear to be elaborate escape devices to synthesize biblical truth with the concept of evolution. The Pauline doctrine of the federal headship of Christ and Adam is shown as a pivotal argument to buttress the truth of the historical Adam. A must read for all who are truth seekers both within and outside the evangelical community.

The article “Where Did the Idea of “Millions of Years” Come From?” (https://answersingenesis.org/theory-of-evolution/millions-of-years/where-did-the-idea-of-millions-of-years-come-from/) by Dr. Larry Mortenson, traces the history of the deep time concept that arose in the field of geology in the late 18th century. It describes how this quickly took hold in academia and then the Church in the 19th century, eventuating in the great apostasy of the Church into liberal theology and the demise of biblical faith. That this has had a significant and devastating impact on societies and civilization as a whole cannot be overstated. Recovery can only happen by a return to orthodox biblical truth in perhaps another Great Awakening and Reformation movement by the Church.

In the TGC article, Neither Progressive nor Conservative: The Politics of a Confessing Evangelical, Steve Bryan addresses the danger for evangelicals in immersing themselves in or identifying with the political poles of progressivism or conservatism. He builds the case that the safe way, the way of truth, can be found in confessional evangelicalism that is grounded on the principle of semper reformanda, always reforming, as the compass for navigating the turbulent and treacherous seas of politics. The focus and locus of the confessional evangelical, then, is on the Truth handed down to us in the Scriptures, and to be ever reforming our lives to it. We are to serve as “prophets” of that truth to the world, with voices, as it were, calling from the wilderness and outside of the halls of political power. He concludes by saying, “What ‘rulers’ need most from evangelicals is not our political support but our clear confession, our loving witness to the God who alone is good, and a commensurate commitment to the good of our neighbors.”

In his article “Kingdom of God Economics” (https://news.gab.com/), Andrew Torba, CEO of Gab social network, promotes the concept of “having a Christ-First Kingdom-Oriented Mindset. When Christ is the cornerstone of every aspect of your life making the shift away from the City of Man becomes rather straightforward.” It is a personal call for Christians to unite and help one another in Christian love, networking together in community, making “a strong and dedicated effort to keep the majority of our time, money, and data with our brothers and sisters in Christ and start building for the Kingdom.” It is a practical call to reorientate our focus on Christ’s kingdom on earth in the practical affairs of life and how we make our living in order to glorify God. It promotes the idea of building a parallel economy in the culture that is dominated by Christian principles and centers on believer-owned businesses to enable believers to make their transactions within the sphere and to the benefit of God’s kingdom without contributing to the kingdom of Satan.

However, the Christocentric message of the Bible is that God is building His kingdom through the Gospel (Matt 28:19, 20) and therefore, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but in righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” Roms 14:18, 19.

On the AIG website, the article “Hebrew Scholars: 24-Hour Days in Creation” (https://answersingenesis.org/days-of-creation/24-hours-plain-as-day/) describes the journey of Dr. Jud Davis that led him into research that confirmed that all modern world-class Hebrew scholars, regardless of their position on religion, agree that the original Hebrew text of Genesis 1 – 2 was written intentionally to convey chronology in terms of normal 24-hour days. This begs the question: If this is the overwhelming consensus of Hebrew scholars, on what possible grounds can evangelical scholarship today reject what is the proven intent of the author of Genesis? If they hold to inerrancy for the rest of the Bible, why not for Genesis? Their rejection also directly flies in the face of the literal interpretation held by Christ and the Apostles clearly recorded in the New Testament. Dr. Davis concludes with 7 challenging questions for the evangelical community today.

Dr. Kenneth Gentry, Jr. clarifies the application of the New Covenant for both the Church and Israel according to clear New Testament teaching, in the following post: https://postmillennialworldview.com/2021/05/14/new-covenant-old-israel-and-the-church/.

The biblical concept of the New Covenant has met with confusion and erroneous teaching today, when it is part of the bedrock of theology for Christianity that Christ instituted during the Last Supper through His sacrifice at the cross. To get this wrong would have major impact on the believer and the church. It is essential for spiritual health that we correctly apprehend this truth taught in the Scriptures.