If God is Good Why Is There Evil In the World?

Posted by Branden Earp on April 7, 2014
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ImageIf God really is good, how can there be such pain and evil in the world? For me, this is constantly a struggle and something I have to wrestle with as a Christian. If God is truly sovereign and in control over the events that take place here on earth, why do terrible things happen to good people? I mean why do kids have to die of Leukemia at age 7 or why doesn’t God just stop someone from walking into a school and shooting innocent classmates?

To be honest, I think that ultimately we will never understand in this life why some things happen. And in the times when we don’t understand why evil is taking place all around us, we do need to come to terms with the fact that God is God and we are not. A story found in the Bible can also help to shed light on this topic.

A man named Joseph was a good man and had favor from God and his parents. His brothers out of jealously actually sold him into slavery and left him for dead. Joseph, not really understanding what was happening stayed faithful to God, even when things progressively got worse and worse and was even thrown into prison on inaccurate charges. But God had not forgotten Joseph, and 13 years after being sold into slavery he was made overseer of Egypt and eventually re-united with his family. When looking back at the atrocities in his life Joseph stated, “It was not you who sent me here but God…As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 45.8; 50.20) Even though at the time Joseph did not understand exactly why all this evil was happening to him, behind the scenes God was working for something greater than Joseph would realize and looking back he saw that what God allowed was right.

It is also good to note that the Bible affirms that God never takes pleasure in evil and that he never directly causes evil to happen but does allow it through the moral choices of people. The Bible also states that God is just and that one day, all evil doers will be held accountable for the wrong that they have done if they do not trust in Jesus.

Also, it helps to look at how God originally created the world. The Bible says that in the beginning when God created everything it was very good. There was no war or famine or death and disease, just God having perfect relationship with his people. Soon after being created mankind chose to rebel and sin against God and thus break that perfect relationship bringing death into the world. Immediately, God promised them that one day a Savior would come to ultimately right the wrongs that we brought to bear. That Savior is Jesus Christ who died in our place for everyone who would believe in him. This was the greatest evil that has ever happened, yet brought about the greatest good history has ever seen.

We are now living in the time period after Jesus has resurrected and is seated in heaven, and when he will come back one day to make all things right as they ought to be. When speaking about that day, Revelation 21.4 says, “He [Jesus] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Ultimately, God will once again make everything right for those who believe in him and evil will be no more.

In a world where you cannot even turn the news on for 10 minutes before you see the evil that takes place, imagine what it would be like to live in a place where everything will be made right. The crazy thing is, that day will actually happen.

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Do Miracles Happen Today?

Posted by Branden Earp on April 6, 2014
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ImageWe have all heard about something extraordinary that has happened and just can’t be explained through natural laws, but do miracles actually happen today? Webster’s Dictionary defines a miracle as, “an unusual or wonderful event that is believed to be caused by the power of God.” Even though there are many who say that either miracles just plain do not exist or they were only for a certain period of time in early church history, the Bible just assumes that miracles happen and are even happening today through the church.

It’s hard to even begin to think of the legitimacy of miracles when you look at all the crazies on tv that fool the masses for their own personal gain, but we must not use those wackos as our measuring stick but the Bible its self. Also, even though someone may seem to be doing marvelous things, the Bible gives many examples of people who do false miracles through satanic power. But there are several purposes of miracles as well as reasons why we should not be surprised that they happen today.

Purposes

Even though God is always working in the world, he also chooses to act in less common ways by means of miracles. But what for? What are the purposes of miracles happening today? The three main purposes of miracles is to authenticate the message of the Gospel, to exalt God by showing his rule on earth, and simply to help those who are hurting and in need. It must also be said that it is the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that saves people and not miracles. Many times in the Bible women and men saw incredible signs and wonders done by God but still chose to walk away.

Do they happen today?

Some would say that miracles did exist, but it was just for a short period of time with Jesus and the Apostles. However, the Apostle Paul and the Bible just assume that miracles are being used in the church. In 1 Corinthians 12.9-10, the gifts of healing and miracles is included in the list that the Holy Spirt gifts to some christians. These gifts are also not just describing the gifts of the apostles, but to the church as a whole. A few lines down in verse 28, Paul even makes himself super clear and makes a distinction between the apostles and those who have been given the gift of miracles from God.

In other portions of Scripture, Paul writes to places where no Apostles are even present and just assumes that miracles are being done in the church. And even though they are done not for personal benefit but to glorify God, there are actually more verses given of times when the Apostle Paul could not heal someone than when he could. So even though a christian may have the gift of healing, it does not mean that God will chose to work through that person 100% of the time.

Think of times when you may have experienced a miracle in your life or in the life of a friend. And if you have never experienced something extraordinary from God, ask that he would do the greatest miracle and make himself known to you in a real way this week.

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Is God Involved In Our Lives Today?

Posted by Branden Earp on April 5, 2014
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ImageHow exactly is God involved in our lives? Did he just make us and then abandon us to watch as deists believe? Or is God really just everything that exists as pantheists think? The Bible paints a different picture, one in which God is continually involved with his creation, even to the extent that he directs evens for his purposes and for his glory.

In defining God’s Providence, the Westminster Confession of Faith states, “God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.” In other words, God is the boss and does what he wants, but he also loves us and choses to interact with us on a moment by moment basis. Hebrews 1.3 says that, “he [God] upholds the universe by the word of his power.” The original language that the Bible was written in literally has the word upholds in this verse as meaning that God is continually bearing and carrying. God is separate from creation, but still holds together all things, and runs the show.

God is so involved in his creation that he even directs events in history. Ephesians 1.11 says that he, “works all things according to the counsel of his will”. This is cool because even the most mundane parts of our lives really do mean something and that “for those who love God all things work together for good” as Romans 8.28 says. He is so intricately involved in our lives that the Scripture says that he even directs our steps. Now of course we are free to act out of our desires, but there is a point where God’s rule really has no limits, even so that the writer of Psalm 139 could state, “in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet tree was none of them.” 

The best analogy that I have heard about this paradox of our free will and God’s providence is from Dr. Wayne Grudem. He gives the example of King Duncan in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. He states that in the book it is clear that Macbeth kills King Duncan. But on a whole different level, Shakespeare actually planned and caused King Duncan’s death. There was both, Macbeth did kill the king but Shakespeare wrote the play and directed the events.

Even though the totality of God’s Providence we cannot really fully grasp, it is good to know that the one who ultimately is in charge is also good, just and loving. Good enough go send his Son to die for us and redeem us. Take some time to think of the times in your life where God’s hand was clearly involved in a moment in your life.

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Evolution or Creation?

Posted by Branden Earp on March 31, 2014
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ImageOne of the biggest questions that skeptics have about the legitimacy of the Bible is that of Evolution versus Creationism. In a recent study, 46 percent of Americans say that they believe that God created man and woman, 33 percent believe in theistic evolution while 15 percent believe in naturalistic evolution without any divine intervention.

Creationism

Creationism holds that God created humans and many of the animals that we see today. There is a huge difference between macro and micro evolution however. Micro evolution has been scientifically proven, such as variations within species or the fact that human beings are getting taller over time. Macro evolution, on the other hand, would say that non-living matter became a living cell and so forth. This view would hold to a literal reading of the Bible and the verses that say that God created us. It would also affirm the passages in the New Testament that refer to the fact that original sin came into the world through one man named Adam.

Theistic Evolution

Theistic Evolution would say that evolution and creationism are not completely exclusive opposing views. This camp would say that all aspects of evolution are correct, but it was God who divinely orchestrated all of the evolutionary steps to take place. The problem with this view, however, is that it would mean that it took God millions upon millions of tries to get things they way that he wanted them to be. He also made things according to “its kind” and not a fish that would eventually be an orangutan. The Bible paints humans as being formed by God out of the dust of the ground and having a soul, this would be hard to reconcile with billions of years of evolution.

Genesis also portrays Adam and Eve as having intelligent and moral integrity, not really the first picture you think of when you picture a cave man. Theistic Evolution would say that Adam could have been a real human, but it was after a long evolutionary process. Also, a basic tenet of evolution is random chance and this is contrary to God having a purpose in mind when God created things.

Probably the biggest problem that you face if you believe in Theistic Evolution is where sin and death entered into the world. The Bible states in Romans 5.12 that through one man came sin and death, and that it would take the second Adam, or Jesus to come to this earth and atone for that sin. With evolution, it would take billions of years of death and the survival of the fittest to take place for a man named Adam to appear on the scene.

Naturalistic Evolution

Naturalistic Evolution in its essence is random mutation combined with natural selection to produce the varying species that we have today. While this is in fact the prevailing view in the scientific community, the Bible in 1 Corinthians 15.45 and Romans 5.14 see Adam as a historical, literal man who walked the earth and not the product of mutations. It would be hard to hold to the complete authority of scripture and also hold to evolution as a viable option. The Bible is just too specific about the creation of man and woman for this to be.

Also, when you look at such complexities as the human eye or some specific species such as the bombardier beetle, there is statistically no way that these complex organisms can come from tiny mutations, because all of these tiny mutations would have had to happen at once for the end result to occur. Studies have shown that statistically the chance of a protein becoming a living cell is 10 to the 340 billionth power, with anything over 10 to the 50th power being statistically impossible.

Transitional Fossils, or evidence of species in-between known species, also poses a problem. Even Darwin in his Book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, (no comment on the title) while speaking about the lack of transitional fossils is “…the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory,”. In the two hundred years since the writing of that book there still has not been a single intermediate transitional fossil found, and the ones that have been brought forth have proven to be a hoax.

Finally, naturalistic evolution also takes away the purpose and significance we have on this earth as humans. If we really did just come from nothing and are going to nothing then we really are quite hopeless. If this life is really all there is, and there is not a God who designed everything, there really is no purpose for us.

To sum things up, theoretically evolution could be the reason life is here on this earth, but theologically looking at the Scriptures it is hard to hold to the complete authority of the Bible and also hold to evolution. This week, search google images and see the vast array of species that may have been the product of micro evolution but ultimately were created from God and thank him that we have such awesome things surrounding us on this earth.

 

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How Old is the Earth?

Posted by Branden Earp on March 30, 2014
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ImageAlthough to most people the question of how old the earth is is not even on their radar, many Christians spend an exorbitant amount of time trying to figure this out. The earth has scientifically been dated as 4.54 billion years old, but there are many who would say that it is actually only around 10,000 years old. The two different sides are called Old Earth Creationism and Young Earth Creationism and are summarized below.

 Old Earth

Old Earth Creationists would say that the earth is in fact 4.54 billion years old as evidenced from such things as: scientific fossil records that are aged millions of years old, the millions of years to equate for continental drift and such things as coral reefs that would take much longer than 20 thousand years to grow.

They look at the verses in the Bible such as Matthew 1.8-9 where three generations are skipped in a genealogy section or at Matthew 1.20 where a 1,000 year period is skipped to show us the point that the verse is making. This view would say that the Bible is not trying to tell us how old the earth is was written for very different purposes in mind. They would say that the creation account found in Genesis were not literal 24 hour periods, but were long periods of time.

The supporting arguments for this are that the word for day or “yom” is not only used for a literal 24 hour period, but also as en extended period of time, such as Genesis 2.4 and Ecclesiastes 7.14. Also, day 6 has so many events (creation of animals, creation of man, creation of woman, creation of plants and trees, naming of all the animals by Adam) that it is unlikely that it only encompasses a 24 hour period. The Old Earth argument would also say that it would be deceitful for God to create such scientifically provable dating techniques such as residual heat or the age of stars or even for him to spread fossils that are millions of years old out onto the earth when they are really only 10,000 years old.

 Young Earth

The best argument for Young Earth Argument are the creation verses such as Genesis 1.5 that state, “And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” People who hold this view would say that the earth is really only between 5,700 years and 20,000 years old. One caution about taking this as completely literal, however, is that there was no sun for the earth until day four, (even when there was plants on the earth in day 3) so it was not like a typical literal day that we have today. There are times in the Scriptures that the word for day (“yom” in the original language that the Bible was written in) does mean a literal 24 hour period such as Exodus 20.9-10 and Leviticus 23.27 but again it does not necessitate that this was the usage of the word in the creation account.

To summarize, reading the creation account as 24 hour literal days may seem easier to our western way of interpretation, but there is no scientific data or reasoning to show this. The original account was actually written in poetry and most likely was not even trying to tell us exactly how old the earth is. It is even possible, as Youngblood states, that it was completely poetic and that days one, two and three were just showing us that God created the earth, while days four, five and six are showing that he filled his habitation with creatures. This is known as the Literary Framework Interpretation.

The scientific evidence leans towards Old Earth Creationism, and frankly we should not try to draw a clear conclusion where the Bible has not even given us enough information to do that. Today, take a walk outside and just thank God that he made such beautiful things, including you and me. 

 

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How Was the Universe Made?

Posted by Branden Earp on March 29, 2014
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Most people think that faith and science are completely in opposition to each other. This might actually be the primary reason why you don’t believe in Christianity. But most people have a misconception of how things really took place because of hard-lined “Christians” who are bitter because they think that science refutes the Scriptures.

Science would say that the universe was created from a big bang, and I completely agree. The one point where we may differ is what caused the big bang. Non-Christians or possibly some Christians that do not hold to the whole authority of Scripture, would say that this was a single event that broke the laws of thermodynamics and the universe somehow exploded from nothing. Christianity and the book of Genesis would say that the universe did come from nothing, or “ex nihilo”, but it was God that was the initiator.

The Bible says that God created all things for his glory, and to point to how awesome he is. There have also been many wrong views in the history of religion about the universe. Pantheism would say that the universe itself is God. This would be religions such as Buddhism, Native American religion and man eastern religions. Dualism would say that the universe has simply just existed and there has been a struggle of good and evil that pervades throughout history, and it is a toss-up who will win in the end. Deism says that God did create the universe, but he is not intimately involved in it, nor cares about it. Finally, Materialism would say that universe is completely physical and there are no spiritual aspects to it whatsoever.

The truth is that God created the universe, and all three parts of the Trinity were uniquely involved. The Father ultimately created the universe through the Son while the Spirit was present and gave life to creation. Psalm 33.6 says, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made.” This all happened approximately 13.8 billion years ago as evidence by the expansion of stars in the farthest of galaxies that exists. At first all things were created “good” and to reflect God’s glory, but it was our sin that ultimately brought death into the world. However, as Christians we look forward to a day when that will all be restored as seen in the book of Revelation, Chapter 21.

Tonight, if you live in a place where you can actually see the stars, look up and see how awesome the universe is and how powerful of a God it would take to create such a magnificent thing.

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The Trinity – Part 2

Posted by Branden Earp on March 23, 2014
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If you were to explain who God is from a Biblical perspective, you would have to define him as a Trinity. The Trinity has three unique characteristics that we will look at: 1) God has always existed as three persons.. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 2) Each person is fully God and 3) there is one God.

There is really no analogy that could explain exactly what the Trinity is like. Some would try to say that a good illustration is H20. The same molecular component is water at a certain temperature, ice in another and steam at another. While this could be helpful, it is not completely accurate, for each of these all are composed of the same substance, but they are not also all three at once. And this is somewhat comforting that there is really nothing to equate to the Trinity, because why would you want to worship a God that you can completely study and figure out? Even though we as humans are incredibly intelligent, there is an absolute distinction between the Creator and the creature. Here are the three characteristics that make up God the Trinity: 

God is Three Persons

One of the biggest misconceptions about God being three distinct persons is something called modelism. Modelists believe that God just acted as the Father in the Old Testament, as Jesus in the Gospels and as the Holy Spirit in the epistles. I mean a person can be a mechanic by day, a city council member during the afternoon meeting and a father at night. Isn’t this just what God does? Nope. Again, God is still God while being three distinct persons at once. This is how in John 17 Jesus could pray to his Father in heaven while he was still here on earth. 

Each Person is Fully God

While there are three distinct persons within the Trinity, each Person is also fully God. There has been little dispute that God the Father is God himself, but a sect called the Arians say that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were both created by God and hence not fully God. Isaiah 9.6 says, “and his [Jesus’] name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God…” and about the Holy Spirit Acts 5.3-4 affirms that the Holy Spirit is God as well. 

There is One God

As crazy as it seems, while the Bible affirms that there are three distinct Persons within the Trinity and each one is fully God, it also affirms that there is but one God. At the end of the book of Matthew, after Jesus rose from death, he told his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..” As with many other passages, this one affirms that there are in fact three persons within the Godhead, but that we are to baptize in the name (singular) of the three. 

This week make an Old Fashioned or have a coke and think about how awesome it is that a God created us that we can’t even explain!

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The Trinity – Part 1

Posted by Branden Earp on March 22, 2014
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If a friend were to walk up and ask you to explain God, what would you say? Throughout the Christian Scriptures, God is spoken of as a Trinity. Simply put (as simple as possible to explain) the Trinity has three unique characteristics. 1) God has always existed as three persons.. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. 2) Each person is fully God and 3) there is one God. 

Now I know upon reading that it sounds completely crazy, but this is the reality found throughout the Bible and in the history of the church. As early as the first chapter in the Bible the Trinity is hinted at. When God created mankind, Genesis 1.26 states, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” It is clear from this verse that there is a plurality to the Godhead. Some try to explain this verse away as it referring to the angels talking amongst themselves. But this is clearly not them talking, being that we are created in God’s image and not the angels’. This is also not the royal “we” as sometimes seen today for the Hebrew language that Genesis was written in did not have such a thing. 

Within the New Testament of the Bible we have a much clearer picture of the Trinity. Probably the best example of this is found in Matthew 3 when Jesus is baptized to show that he chooses to relate to us his people. Matthew 3.16-17 states, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’”

Crazy. Here we see all three members of God the Trinity interacting at the same time. Jesus, having grown up and seeking to get dunked asks John the Baptist to baptize him. Having descended into the water, God the Father rips the sky apart for a brief moment and speaks, as God the Spirit descends on Jesus and empowers him for his ministry on earth. 

Throughout the Bible, there are also a few generalities about the roles of the three persons of the Trinity. As a generality, the Father is the one who sends the Son to come and save humanity, while Jesus came to do the Father’s will and redeem us, and both the Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit who comes and empowers believers and gives new birth or makes a person an actual Christian. 

In the next blog we will look at each of the three characteristics that make up the Trinity in detail. But until then, think about what exactly you have or have not been taught about who God is and even how crazy it is to try to wrap your mind around!

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Communicable Attributes of God – Part 2

Posted by Branden Earp on March 16, 2014
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As we saw in the last blog, Communicable Attributes are those that describe the attributes which God shares with those created in his image, to a certain extent. While God possesses all of these characteristics in the perfect ultimate sense, we also have many of them to a lesser degree.  

Freedom

The Creator of the universe is free to do whatever he pleases. Everything that he does do is completely in line with all of his attributes, such that it is actually impossible for God to do some things such as lie, or be tempted with evil. We as his creation also have the freedom to make willing choices and seek to do things that please us or others around us. 

Holy

God is completely without sin. Even though we as humans are born into a sinful world and continually do what is wrong, we are also called to be holy for God is holy. The theological term for the process that a Christian goes through to become more and more like Christ throughout this life is also known as sanctification. 

Wrath

Because God is completely just and holy, he abhors all sin. For us to continually pursue sin without concern and not repent is to in effect turn our back on God and even grieve the Holy Spirit. God hates this evil so much that it even took killing his very own Son, Jesus Christ to atone for the wrath that he had against it and to save us.

Glory

God is excellent in his character, and his glory is even shown many times by the glory of his presence, such as during the transfiguration found in the gospels. Because Jesus lived a perfect life and rose from death victoriously, as Christians we also believe that one day we also will be raised in glory and have eternal life because of him. 

Omnipotence 

God is all powerful and rules over all creation. Nothing is too hard for him, and he is able to do far more than we could ever ask or think. As humans created in his image, we also have dominion over many things on earth and exercise power ourselves in all spheres of life. 

In what areas of your life do you see your God-given characteristics play out each day?

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Communicable Attributes of God – Part 1

Posted by Branden Earp on March 15, 2014
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While the Incommunicable Attributes are those that God does not share with us, Communicable Attributes are those that describe the attributes that God shares with those created in his image, in some way. Ephesians 5.1 says, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children.” There is some sense that because God created humans in his image, we share many of his characteristics, at least to a certain extent.

Wisdom

While God is infinitely wise and always chooses the best means to accomplish his goals, we also have wisdom. While we may not know every reason why he chooses to do what he does, we can also truss that he knows best and also use the wisdom that we possess to decide what action to take.

Love

As First John states, God is love and he displayed this attribute in that while we were still sinners Jesus Christ died for us. It was his love for us that continued his steadfastness in going to the cross and dying a criminals death to atone for the sins of the world.

Justice

God does exactly what is right and his character is the standard of what is just. God’s attribute of righteousness found within the bible shows us the standard of what the ultimate form of justice looks like. Because we know that God is just we can have peace about what happens here in this life, knowing that ultimately all things will be made right in the end. Colossians 3.25 states, “For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.”

What are some other characteristics that you can think of that we possess because of being made in God’s image?

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