This past Sunday we were on our way to look at an apartment when we passed a church with marquee sign that said, "May is God's Apology for January" which is just a cute saying about being happy about spring.
Maybe I am too analytical but this sign really got me thinking about what that sign said about God. My first thought was why would God apologize about January? Was January a mistake? If so, has God continued to make the same mistake every year since 45BC when January was created as a month? Or what if, like my friend Dan and my dad, you live in Florida and January is a nicer month than May, does that mean that God is apologizing for giving you a nicer month and then giving you something worse? Or what does it mean if we get record rain fall in May?
Yes I know, right now you're thinking, "Brad you thought way too much about that sign!" However, let's take it a little further. What if we took a serious look at what we as Christians credit God for saying. Does God hate some people because of the sin issue in their lives? Would God not allow anyone to go to hell because of His love? Are the death of soldiers God's judgment?
These are all statements that people have given credit to God for. The question we need to ask is, do these statements that are accredited to God match what God says in His word? In Acts 17:11 the Bible says, "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
I love this passage. It tells us not to just accept what we are told is true by our pastors, teachers, priests, rabbis, or religious friends and family members, but to examine what we are taught. To study the scripture, to see if it is true. Not our thoughts, not our beliefs, our ideas, our hopes, but to examine the scriptures. Sometimes, this requires setting aside ourselves and taking up our cross and following Jesus even when we don't like what we find.
Let us be like the Bereans and be people of more noble character, studying the word of God, letting it shape our beliefs rather than letting our beliefs shape how we interpret the Bible.
Haha!! That sign was one block from New Hope - I thought the same thing.
ReplyDeleteYOu started well, but didn't go anywhere with it. Does God apologize in Jesus? Is Jesus God's apology for an effed up world? I think perhaps.
ReplyDeleteGood question. The answer is no, Jesus isn't God's apology. God didn't design or create a messed up world. Mankind messed it up by choosing to not live the way God intended us. God has nothing to apologize for. He provided us with life, a place to live and everything we need to survive, but man in rejecting God's way brought sin, destruction and death into the world. This sin goes against the very character of God. It is an affront to His holiness and righteousness. Because of this the just nature of God demands punishment and the punishment for sin is death (Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.)
ReplyDeleteBecause God's just nature demands death for sin God, in His mercy sent Jesus to die in our place. (Mercy is the act of not giving us what we deserve) Since Jesus died on our behalf we can receive salvation by God's grace. (Grace is the act of giving us something good that we don't deserve)
Jesus isn't an apology. The Bible says, "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." ~Romans 5:9-11