What Is God’s Word?

Judging from most Christian media today, especially print media, one might conclude that the Bible is a self-help manual that promises to help you fulfill all of your dreams, cure all of your ills, and give you a good shot of self-esteem to boot. Is this truly what the word of God is all about?

The answer of course is, absolutely not.

When we look at Scripture we must approach it as a great drama or what the postmoderns call a metanarrative. A metanarrative is the Mother of all narratives. It is an overarching story which provides the frame of reference by which all other stories must be judged. It is the story from which all other stories derive ultimate meaning.

So what is the metanarrative of Scripture? It is God’s redemption of mankind. God creates man, man falls, God redeems mankind through His Son Jesus Christ. Everything, and I mean everything from Genesis to Revelation is intricately woven into the greater metanarrative.

Therefore the word of God is not a self-help book, but rather a book chronicling our “self-helpless”condition and the means by which God provided salvation from sin, and ourselves.

This means that all of the instruction for practical living found in Scripture is given only for the one who has submitted his/her will to Jesus Christ. For example, how is an unbelieving person able to love their spouse “as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it” if they have not received and experienced the love and forgiveness offered through Jesus Christ themselves. How is the unbelieving parent able to teach and “train their child in the way they should go?”

The answer is, they cannot. Until man’s sinful condition is dealt with all the self-help in the world is worthless. “Your Best Life Now” does not come through finding value and worth in yourself, but rather value and worth in Christ in whom our righteousness is found (1 Cor. 5:21).

God has some pretty serious words for those who preach any other message, especially one which glorifies man. We see this in Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.” (Gal. 1:6-9)

So what is this gospel?

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:23 “…we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness”

We do no one any favors by giving false hope to people based upon their own goodness. We have only one message for the world and that is Christ crucified for the forgiveness of our sin.

God Bless,
Pastor Duane

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."
~2 Timothy 4:3-4

On Doctrine has posted excerpts from an interview Dr. Michael Horton conducted with Robert Schuller. I think it proves Paul's warning to Timothy very true.

http://www.ondoctrine.com/1schul01.htm

Pastor Duane

As If Sharks Weren't Enough

From the Observer "It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing."

We used to swim out to the dolphins. Now that's not even safe.

Speechless

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 1 Corinthians 5:21

Praise God! What more can I say?

Natural Disasters And The Will of God

We have had a particularly active hurricane season this year, Katrina being the most destructive up to this point. Now Rita is barreling toward Texas and appears to be an even more dangerous storm than Katrina was.

I have been asked on several occasions how do these events square with Christianity? Did God cause and direct these storms? Were they out of His control?

As Christians we often feel the need to somehow explain away these things as having nothing to do with God. We don't like to talk about the wrath and judgment side of God anymore than the unbeliever wants to hear about it. Many Christians attempt to put together their own version of God much like a child assembles a teddy bear at a "Build-a-Bear" workshop.

We often talk about God working in very personal ways to direct our lives but when it comes to the big events we suddenly become practicing Deist who see God standing on the sidelines watching it all happen. So what does God's word have to say? Here are a few passages that seem to provide some answers.

Amos 3:6 "If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?"

Psalm 148:8 "Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word"

Psalm 135:6-7 "Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries."

Lamentations 3:37-38 "Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, Unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?"

Interesting.

Pastor Duane