Simple and pround truths recieved by a humble and broken heart naturally elicits praise. One of my favorite worship songs:
Who, oh Lord, could save themselves, Their own soul could heal?
Our shame was deeper than the sea, Your grace is deeper still
You alone can rescue, You alone can save,
You alone can lift us from the grave
You came down to find us, led us out of death,
To You alone belongs the highest praise
You, oh Lord, have made a way, The great divide You heal
For when our hearts were far away, Your love went further still
Yes, your love goes further still
but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more - Romans 5:20
Monday, August 13, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Contradictions or Not At All?
I've always wondered if there was a word to describe the apparent contradictions or paradoxes in the bible that in full consumption of truth arent really contradictions at all. I've called them paradoxes sometimes... or even in some theological circles the word antimony is used - which means mutual incomptability. Well as far as I am concerned there isnt one. That may be because it is that hard to really describe the truth of God sometimes. The truths of God work in harmony to complement each other but incapsulating it with expression such as language, or our human logic... is at times very hard to do The bible gives us what we need but any fairminded Christian knows that there are obvious mysteries to the nature of our God and how he has revealed and chosen to speak to His people. God knew our imperfections in advance yet still actively works to advance His kingdom day by day as we see it. We are called to exercise wisdom and discernment in continually living according to His purposes laid out for us. Still as a kid wanting to ask his dad "why"... when observing the realities of Christianity here in this life, I am intrigued to do the same.
You look at the incredible diversity of mankind... in race, in appearance, in beliefs, in environment... what do we attribute this diversity to ultimately? God is sovereign over all and sometimes I wonder how he has crafted His ultimate plan of redemption and grace for His ultimate glory. Christians sometimes take these contention points, these paradoxes which many times aren't paradoxes at all and make them rival thoughts or competing doctrines. There is a balancing act and while most concede that at some point there is a point of mystery it is how far into that mystery (knowingly or not) sometimes we are willing to dive into to claim our positions that become a little harder to judge. Explaining that mystery sometimes requires a little conjecture, or injection of context the way we see it... and this has lead to trouble for some churches (for example, prosperity gospel churches probably need to inject ALOT of conjection, opinion and "wisdom" to arrive at the conclusions they have). Some are easy to compare against Gods word while other points hard harder to judge. We many times are CONVINCED, that this is how God meant it but how could so many spiritual giants of the past, the great thinkers of yesterday, genuine Christians and people who have devoted their whole lives to God... be so different in opinion, or at odds with the our beliefs?
I sometimes also wonder if God did it this way to keep people like me continually striving and continually engaged, continually in awe. I tell you the mysteries of the gospel.. and the human reaction to His word and truth facinate me. The rock solid foundation of the Word is imperative in my life... the absoluteness, the divineness and the ultimate supremacy of God and His word (for me to hold on to) are like treasures to a beggar for me. It is important to grow and consume the revelation of truth through the Holy Spirit... especially the foundational gospel principles. At the same time, the questions of todays Christian scholars, the percieved disunity and frailness of Gods word in some cases (as an example... you look at facebook reaction by Christians to the Chick-Fil-A homosexuality issue) intrigue me. While these are serious issues to work out, I believe God is sovereign over all and sometimes I wonder if he crafted what he's revealed in such a way that it speaks to the differences and diversities, and extreme differences in makeup of believers and non-believers alike, all across this globe. Or maybe not at all, God certainly doesnt need to cater to and appeal to our detractions, differences, diversity and sinful tendancies to ultimately write His redemption story.
Such a paradox? Or not at all? I wish there was a word to describe it.
You look at the incredible diversity of mankind... in race, in appearance, in beliefs, in environment... what do we attribute this diversity to ultimately? God is sovereign over all and sometimes I wonder how he has crafted His ultimate plan of redemption and grace for His ultimate glory. Christians sometimes take these contention points, these paradoxes which many times aren't paradoxes at all and make them rival thoughts or competing doctrines. There is a balancing act and while most concede that at some point there is a point of mystery it is how far into that mystery (knowingly or not) sometimes we are willing to dive into to claim our positions that become a little harder to judge. Explaining that mystery sometimes requires a little conjecture, or injection of context the way we see it... and this has lead to trouble for some churches (for example, prosperity gospel churches probably need to inject ALOT of conjection, opinion and "wisdom" to arrive at the conclusions they have). Some are easy to compare against Gods word while other points hard harder to judge. We many times are CONVINCED, that this is how God meant it but how could so many spiritual giants of the past, the great thinkers of yesterday, genuine Christians and people who have devoted their whole lives to God... be so different in opinion, or at odds with the our beliefs?
I sometimes also wonder if God did it this way to keep people like me continually striving and continually engaged, continually in awe. I tell you the mysteries of the gospel.. and the human reaction to His word and truth facinate me. The rock solid foundation of the Word is imperative in my life... the absoluteness, the divineness and the ultimate supremacy of God and His word (for me to hold on to) are like treasures to a beggar for me. It is important to grow and consume the revelation of truth through the Holy Spirit... especially the foundational gospel principles. At the same time, the questions of todays Christian scholars, the percieved disunity and frailness of Gods word in some cases (as an example... you look at facebook reaction by Christians to the Chick-Fil-A homosexuality issue) intrigue me. While these are serious issues to work out, I believe God is sovereign over all and sometimes I wonder if he crafted what he's revealed in such a way that it speaks to the differences and diversities, and extreme differences in makeup of believers and non-believers alike, all across this globe. Or maybe not at all, God certainly doesnt need to cater to and appeal to our detractions, differences, diversity and sinful tendancies to ultimately write His redemption story.
Such a paradox? Or not at all? I wish there was a word to describe it.
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