New City Catechism #5

What else did God create?

God created all things by his powerful Word, and all his creation was very good; everything flourished under his loving rule.

 

Genesis 1:31

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

 

“The highest good, than which there is no higher, is God, and consequently He is unchangeable good, hence truly eternal and truly immortal. All other good things are only from Him,” said Augustine of Hippo.

The goodness of God extended from Himself to His creation at the beginning of creation. Despite the fact that sin entered the world and it no longer seems so good to us, everything that God created was good and was created to proclaim the goodness of God.

At the day of restoration and consummation, we will perhaps understand Genesis 1:31 better and see how everything that God created was good before sin entered the world. This also will be the moment when we will fully realize the goodness of God through all the creations proclaiming the goodness of God.

 

What is meant by the “goodness” of God to which all of God’s creation reflect and express this trait of Him?

In their understanding of the “good,” the Hebrews used the word  טוֹב (tove) throughout the Old Testament. The goodness of God is His moral attractiveness that is satisfying, pleasing, and praiseworthy. God’s goodness is not holiness because goodness has to do with appreciating the moral excellence of God: the holiness and the righteousness of God.

Even in human terms, we call someone “good” when he has a morally excellent standing and when he does right things. We call God “good” because He is always morally excellent and He always does the right things that push us to worship and praise Him.

God’s goodness, attractive moral excellence, is observed by us and we appreciate His righteousness which any man spiritual especially delights to acknowledge. God’s love is the communication of His goodness. God manifests His goodness in four distinct ways: benevolence, patience, mercy, and grace.

 

God’s benevolence deals with God’s concern to promote happiness and the general welfare over all of His creation. He does not distinguish between sinners and saints in showing them the common benevolence.

“In the past generations he [God] allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” (Acts 14:17)

The idea of benevolence establishes the relationship of a King and His subjects. We are God’s subjects and servants who dwell in His benevolent goodness.

The good news is that God is full of good will toward men. By His nature, God desires to bestow blessings and God is pleased to see the people delighting in His blessings. However, the sinful man rejects the relational blessings (which comes from the relationship man has with God) and does not desire to delight in the goodness of God. This leads us to the next communication of God’s goodness.

 

God’s patience deals with His long-suffering nature. Over and over, throughout the Scripture, the Israelites commit grievous sins against God and, yet, He withholds the punishment against the Israelites for their sake. It is the great attribute of God to exercise power of His will upon His actions to punish.

A.W. Pink puts it this way: “How wondrous is God’s patience with the world today. On every side people are sinning with a high hand. The Divine law is trampled under foot and God Himself openly despised. It is truly amazing that He does not instantly strike dead those who so brazenly defy Him. Why does He not suddenly cut off the haughty, infidel and blatant blasphemer, as He did Ananias and Sapphira? Why does He not cause the earth to open its mouth and devour the persecutors of his people, so that, like Dathan and Abiram, they shall go down alive into the Pit? And what of apostate Christendom, where every possible form of sin is now tolerated and practiced under cover of the holy name of Christ? Why does not the righteous wrath of Heaven make an end of such abominations? Only one answer is possible: because God bears with “much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction.”” (Romans 9:22)

God waits patiently on such sinful people for: “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” (Romans 2:4) When we turn from our wickedness and realize the miserable depravity of our lives, we understand that God’s mercies are good.

 

God’s mercy deals with the relieving love that God shows to men who cannot otherwise save themselves from the distress and the agony of life. God pities us in our miserably depraved and weak state. Mercy presupposes that the recipient of mercy has sinned and wronged the giver.

Mercy of God is reserved for those who know and fear God: “Oh how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind!” (Psalm 31:19)

God has all the rights to show mercy to whomever He desires. “For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” (Romans 9:15)

And it is to the repentant and the fearer of God that God will show mercy. It makes perfect sense that this would be the case even with human logic. Those who truly understand their wrong and desire to change from their wrong will receive mercy and forgiveness. But, even arriving to understand their wrong, is solely by the grace of God.

 

God’s grace deals with the love exercised to the unworthy. It is bestowing of God’s immense blessings upon those who have no merit and there is no compensation necessary. It is the favor of God to those who are well deserving of ill and hell.

This is from G.S. Bishop: “Grace is a provision for men who are so fallen that they cannot lift the axe of justice, so corrupt that they cannot change their own natures, so averse to God that they cannot turn to Him, so blind that they cannot see Him, so deaf that they cannot hear Him, and so dead that He Himself must open their graves and lift them into resurrection.”

Grace is given to those as pure act of God’s loving chastity as it often comes unasked and undesired. It is an act of freely giving so that the unworthy can be made worthy.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

 

These are some ways that God clearly manifests His goodness to us throughout the Scripture. Because God’s goodness is one of His attributes, it means that His goodness is self-caused, infinite, perfect, eternal, and immutable.

God will not be more good or less good because He is immutable. God’s goodness will last forever for He is infinite. Because the cause of God’s goodness is Himself, all recipients of God’s goodness benefit from it regardless of one’s merit.

A.W. Tozer mentions why God must be good: “That God is good is taught or implied on every page of the Bible and must be received as an article of faith as impregnable as the throne of God. It is a foundation stone for all sound thought about God and is necessary to moral sanity. To allow that God could be other than good is to deny the validity of all thought and end ill the negation of every moral judgment. If God is not good, then there can be no distinction between kindness and cruelty, and heaven can be hell and hell, heaven.”

The goodness of God must be the solid foundation of our faith. Without faith and trust in the goodness of God, our faith will shake. Trust in the goodness of God and that He will reward the righteous – the righteous in Christ! Trust in the goodness of God to preserve us through all times – whether good or evil.

 

“Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous woks to the children of man!” (Psalm 107:8)

Our response to God’s goodness ought to be that of gratitude. That is all that is required of us from God – that we be thankful to him. The goodness of God should appeal to our hearts and we should never be discouraged because His goodness is the very thing that Christians must trust.

“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” (Nahum 1:7)

Whatever the situation and circumstance may be, we ought to give thanks to God and take refuge in His goodness. When there are troubles in life, we need to give thanks because God is good. When we feel that we are so far from being good and are at the brink of crisis, we ought to bless and remember the Lord’s goodness.

Just like the Prodigal Son, we must come before God remembering His goodness. As we come to remember and trust God’s goodness, all fear is wiped away and there is a joy unceasing.

Our greatest joy as a believer is when we express how good our God is and praise Him! Remember those moments of answered prayers and God’s gracious blessing of provision in our lives – those were truly delightful moments because God was so good. Cherish those moments and praise His goodness throughout our lives!

Praise God for He is good in all circumstances for all eternity, for He created us to enjoy in His goodness, and for He has created for the very good purpose of proclaiming His own goodness.

 

New City Catechism #4

How and why did God create us?

God created us male and female in his own image to know him, love him, live with him, and glorify him. And it is right that we who were created by God should live to his glory.

 

Genesis 1:27

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

 

What is this glory of God? We’re dealing with the intrinsic glory of God.

The Old Testament language for glory is כָּבוֹד (pronounced kabowd). This Hebrew word is the summation of the understanding of honor, splendor, majesty, and abundance.

The New Testament language for glory is δόξα (pronounced dok-sa). Within this Greek word, there is the understanding of splendor and brightness, magnificence and excellence, majesty, and exaltation.

The early church theologians used the term, gravitas, to explain glory. The Latin word means weight, seriousness, dignity, importance, substance and depth.

Even with all these meanings summed up, there is not enough explanation to understand the full meaning of glory.

 

Whenever we use the term, “glory” in worldly sense, we use it to point out how great something is within the natural world. Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, the cosmos – the natural world – appears so transcendent and magnificent, GLORIOUS, to us.

We might, perhaps, talk of glory in terms of human achievement. The concept of glory was often tied with sports and war in the ancient times. Still to this day, we talk about the glory of sports – especially in Olympics or a team with prestigious legacy, like Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.

These glories fade away, but God’s glory lasts forever. It is difficult to exemplify the glory of God. However, when we usually think of the Glory of God, the first image that comes to mind is some sort of brilliant light. Indeed, the Bible frequently associates the glory of God with light – as a matter of fact, God is light. (1 John 1:5)

Isaiah 60:1-3 talks about how God’s glory is to be seen like a light on this world. Revelation 21:23-25 talks about how God’s glory will shine like light and the kingdom of God will not need any sun or moon to shine.

 

God’s glory is also heavily associated with His holiness and His weightiness. His glory is emanation of His holiness – holiness is the defining characteristic of God. This also means that God must not be taken lightly. He is holy, and we must worship Him for His holiness.

Leviticus 10:1-3 gives an account of two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, who offer “strange fire” to God and are consumed by the real fire of God. Moses tells Aaron that they did not sanctify and glorify God, and this was the exact reason for their death.

Even in the New Testament, we are supposed to take into God’s glory when worshiping Him. 1 Corinthians 11:29-30 tells us that communion is not meant to be taken lightly. Taking God lightly can have serious consequences. God is to be glorified because He emanates in holiness and seriousness.

 

What does the glory of God have anything to do with the fact that we are created in God’s image?

“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:7) This verse clearly sums up what the purpose of man are supposed to be. We are created for the glory of God.

St. Thomas Aquinas explains the glory of God for human beings in this way:

“Wherefore we see that the image of God is in man in three ways. First, inasmuch as man possesses a natural aptitude for understanding and loving God; and this aptitude consists in the very nature of the mind, which is common to all men. Secondly, inasmuch as man actually or habitually knows and loves God, though imperfectly; and this image consists in the conformity of grace. Thirdly, inasmuch as man knows and loves God perfectly; and this image consists in the likeness of glory …. The first is found in all men, the second only in the just, the third only in the blessed.”

Although the glory of God was supposed to be experienced by all men, the glory of God was experienced only by the blessed throughout the Bible. This was the result of sin and the broken relationship between men and God. God desired to restore this relationship that we might experience His glory.

This glory is found in His Son, Jesus Christ. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) Christ is where the glory of God can be found – the death and the resurrection of Christ being the most glorious. Looking to the man and the work of Jesus Christ constantly in our lives is what is ultimately going to transform us to experience the glory of God.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

And we, who have been formed in the image of God, behold the glory of God only as our relationship with God is restored through Christ. The Spirit helps us to transform to image ourselves more after God.

 

Not only that we have the Holy Spirit living and indwelling in us.

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Paul urges us that we live to glorify God in our bodies as we are the temple of God. What was the point of the temple in the Old Testament? It was a place where God’s glory dwelt. The most glorious moment of the temple was just after its creation. (2 Chronicles 5:13-14)

As we behold the glory of God, we ought to glorify God in all of our actions and through our lives.

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

We are the temple of God that the world must see. We are the glory of God revealed to the world. The world will see the glory of God as the believers live to manifest this glory.

To display the glory of God to the world, the believers and the church must behold this glory in sanctification and excellence. God called us to “his own glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 1:3)

We are the vehicle to transmit the glory of God to the watching world, and it is certainly a privileged for we are blessed with the message of the gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit. With great power comes great responsibility, indeed. Beholding this glory of God and beholding the glory of God, we must live an exemplary lives before the eyes of the world.

The glory of God resided in the Garden of Eden, shown through the shining face of Moses who had just seen the glory of God, manifested by the cloud that filled the tabernacle and the temple, incarnated in the God-man of Christ Jesus, and now dwelling in us through the Holy Spirit. There were only select few people who saw the glory of God, but we now have the glory of God indwelling in us and we manifest the glory of God through our lives!

Though we must carefully tend to beholding this glory of God, we ought not to be afraid or intimidated. The Holy Spirit will help us to manifest the glory of God properly in our lives if we truly desire to live to the glory of God. Are we desiring to live to the glory of God? May the world see us and glorify God through our lives.

 

New City Catechism #3

How many Persons are there in God?

There are three persons in the one true and living God: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

2 Corinthians 13:14

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

 

This is probably the aspect of theology where people become heretics. It is too hard to say just enough on what the Trinity is. In our limited understanding and our incomprehensibility of God, we will either say too little or say too much on this topic of Trinity.

That is exactly what the Christian history tells us. There were those that completely misunderstood the doctrine of Trinity and ended up being heretics.

Arius (256-336 A.D.) is one of the most famous heretics in Christian history and a priest at Church of Alexandria. Arianism denies the eternal deity of Jesus and his equality with the Father. It argues that Jesus was created by God the Father. Arius pointed out that the Father and the Son were not of the same substance – that the Son was an entirely lower being than the Father. (Jehovah’s Witness)

Photinus was another theologian and the Bishop of Sirmium, who had a wrong view of the Trinity. Like Arius, he rejected the deity of Christ and suggested the idea that Jesus was chosen by God to be his Son while in Mary’s womb. Photinus rejected the pre-existence of the Son – that Jesus Christ existed before time and before the world along with the Father.

Sabellius was a third century theologian and priest who was a proponent of modalism. Modalism is the belief that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are different modes of God and not distinct Persons within the Godhead. In other words, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are descriptions of how one Being of God acts and is perceived accordingly by different periods of time in Biblical history.

The word, trinity, was first found in the writings of the early church father, Tertullian. He was a theologian from Africa, and he was dealing with the heresy of Sabellius and the modalists. It was then that he proposed the idea that God is “one substance (substantia) consisting in three persons (persona) and, perhaps, coined the important term, trinitas or Trinity.

The idea of Trinity generally holds unto these four views:

1. There is one and only one true and living God.
2. This one God eternally exists in three Persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
3. These three Persons are completely equal in attributes, each with the same divine nature or the essence (What does it mean to be God?)
4. While each Person is fully and completely God, the Persons are not equal. (Who is God?)

 

Unity and distinction explain the concept of Trinity. God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) are equal and united yet distinct in function.  These two concepts within the Trinity must not be compromised for the other. They must coexist.

The fullest joy of Christian life comes from worshiping this triune God and His different function.

Jonathan Edwards gives an analogy. Though the analogy must not be taken to explain the essence and the nature of God, it does a fairly good job in explaining how the Triune God functions.

The other is in the visible creation, viz., the Sun. The father is as the substance of the Sun. (By substance I don’t mean in a philosophical sense, but the Sun as to its internal constitution.) The Son is as the brightness and glory of the disk of the Sun or that bright and glorious form under which it appears to our eyes. The Holy Ghost is the action of the Sun which is within the Sun in its intestine heat, and, being diffusive, enlightens, warms, enlivens and comforts the world. The Spirit as it is God’s Infinite love to Himself and happiness in Himself, is as the internal heat of the Sun, but as it is that by which God communicates Himself, it is as the emanation of the sun’s action, or the emitted beams of the sun.

 

How does the theoretical knowledge and understanding of the Trinity pertain to practical implications of our lives?

We are redeemed through the work of the Trinity.

“how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:14)

This is how Jonathan Edwards puts it in his Essay on the Trinity.

Our dependence is equally upon each in this office. The Father appoints and provides the Redeemer, and Himself accepts the price and grants the thing purchased; the Son is the Redeemer by offering Himself and is the price; and the Holy Ghost immediately communicates to us the thing purchased by communicating Himself, and He is the thing purchased. The sum of all that Christ purchased for men was the Holy Ghost: (Gal. 3:13,14) “He was made a curse for us… that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

Praise God! Our redemption relies wholly in the work of the Trinity. How beautiful is this work of redemption that does not deny any Person of Trinity in the work of redeeming us. The entire Persons of Trinity work for the good of us – that is redemption.

How empowering is it to know that the entire Trinity has worked in order to redeem and save me! How much does God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit love us!

 

Another implication of the Trinity is that we see the ultimate model for relationships we will have in this world – mainly the Church and the Christian community– through the relationship within the Trinity.

Perichoresis – the mutual indwelling of the Trinity in each other as a being! This is to show God-in-himself, God in eternity, God from all eternity as a mutually indwelling and, that also means, loving community. As much as God loves Himself, the Three Persons mutually love each other.

This is the relationship that we get in John 17:20-26. However, the passage also shows that we are to partake in the Triune relationship.

Paul also uses the Triune relationship to explain the relationship that we ought to have in the Body of Christ.

“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” (Philippians 2:2)

Paul’s explanation of the Church sounds frighteningly similar to how one would explain the Trinity. Thus, the community formed amongst those created in the image of God must be the very example of the Triune relationship.

The Church and the Christian community ought to reflect the divine community. When the world sees us, do they really get the picture of the Trinitarian community? (John 17:22-23)

The Christian community in trying to emulate the Trinitarian community needs to love one another, share with one another, rejoice and mourn with one another; share our lives. We’re to make decisions with regards to one another if the decisions influence the community.

Praise God for allowing us to partake in this Christian community in our lives that emulate the Trinitarian community. The Christian community prepares us for what is to come! Indeed, praise God for the community and relationships He has placed in our lives!

New City Catechism #2

Q: What is God?

A: God is the creator and sustainer of everyone and everything. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in his power and perfection, goodness and glory, wisdom, justice, and truth. Nothing happens except through him and by his will.

 

Psalm 86:8–10 and 15

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God…. You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

 

Yahweh – He causes to be; I AM WHO I AM

Through an in-depth study of who God is, the point of theology and study of God’s Word is to really marvel at the greatness of God!

That was David’s response when he praises God in Psalm 86.

When thinking about who God is and the works of God, it is impossible not to come before Him in a state of worship for our God is a great God.

 

What makes God a great God? In order to answer this question, it would require multiple sessions and many hours to explain the attributes, the names, and the images of God throughout the Bible.

We’re going to mainly deal with the attributes of God today.

The attributes of God are usually divided into two categories: incommunicable and communicable. Incommunicable traits are traits that only God possesses, and communicable traits are traits that men possess to certain degrees.

Following are two incommunicable attributes of God: incomprehensibility and supremacy. These attributes show that God is God and that He is the great One.

 

Incomprehensibility – the idea that God cannot be fully and exhaustively comprehended.

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Romans 11:33-34)

Not only is it impossible to fully comprehend the being of God but even each of his attributes are not possible, by human minds, to be fully comprehended.

Few reasons are that God is the infinite creator while we are finite creations, that the perfect unity of God’s attributes is beyond human understanding, that the effects of sin have our minds depraved to fully understand the mysteries of God, and that God has chosen to not reveal some things.

This incomprehensibility of God can be summed up in one word, “wonderful.” (Judges 13:18)

The Hebrew word, פִּלְאִי  is used to denote this understanding of God as wonderful but also incomprehensible. What the angel of God tells Manoah sums up our understanding of God – it is too wonderful, too beyond our comprehension.

Job also utters the same words when standing before God as God reveals some of the most wondrous works that He had made and done.

“Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” (Job 42:2)

Why is our God so great? Because God is wonderful! By that, He is incomprehensible.

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” (Psalm 145:3)

Thank God, though, for He has revealed Himself through the Bible that grace, peace, life, and godliness be multiplied for us. (2 Peter 1:2-3)

God has availed Himself to be known to us through the Bible, so read that book! For it gives us grace, peace, life, and godliness as we seek to better understand and learn about God.

 

 

Supremacy – the idea that God is beyond all creations in position and power.

God cannot be compared in any manner to us for God is a supreme being as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

God is the most Supreme Being. Considering his position, God is a Potter, and we are the clay. What God wants to do with us is his choice – whether he molds us into vessel of honor or dashes us into pieces.

If it is the case that all beings of heavens and of earth decide to go revolt against him, God laughs for it seems to him a joke. (Psalm 2:4,9)

Look at the Scripture to see God’s supremacy over the works of His hand: God divided the Red Sea (Exodus 14), allowed the earth to swallow the rebels (Numbers 14), made the sun stay still (Joshua 10), made the sun go back (Isaiah 38), made ravens carry food to Isaiah (1 Kings 17), iron to float on water (2 Kings 6:6), lions to be tame, and fire not to burn three Hebrews.

He also has the control over the will of human beings and does it so accordingly to His will.

“In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” (Ephesians 1:11)

On top of that, our incomparable, supreme God also has the power over salvation.

“who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5)

What does this incomparability of God to the created beings mean for us?  What does it mean that God is this Supreme Being who has all control over His creations?

“Here then is a sure resting-place for the heart. Our lives are neither the product of blind fate nor the result of capricious chance, but every detail of them was ordained from all eternity. and is now ordered by the living and reigning God. Not a hair of our heads can be touched without His permission.” A. W. Pink

 

Praise God for He is a great God! He is beyond our understanding which drives us to learn more about Him which He uses to transform our lives.  Praise God for He is utmost supreme beyond all His creation that He will not let anything fail which is not of His plan and not for His glory, which is ultimately for our good.

Remember that God’s incomprehensibility shows that there is so much grace in God’s part by letting Himself be known to us and our need to be humble before His so grand a presence. God has provided Himself to be personal, relational, and sufficient for a life that is styled to delight in Him.

Remember God’s incomparability and His supremacy. It will help us to go through the tough times of life, knowing that God is over all things. It will give us a conviction that we ought to reach the lost for so many are mocking the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

There are a lot to talk about in discussing the many attributes of God. If we truly understand who God is and what He does, our lives will not be the same anymore. It will push us to, ultimately, be in worshipful mindset through our lives and convict us to share about the greatness of God to others around us.

New City Catechism #1

Q: What is our only hope in life and death?

A: That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Romans 14:7-8

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

 

The point of catechism is not to retain more knowledge but to let the words sink in and transform your life.

 

The word “Lord” κύριος refers to Lord, Ruler, and Disposer.

If this is to be true, Christ has the authority to dispose of our lives and do whatever he wants with our lives.

He has the control over our lives.

Are you allowing Jesus the choice to do whatever he wants in your life?

 

In looking at the context of this word, it was directed to the Roman emperor.

By not calling the emperor “Lord” and declaring Jesus as “Lord”, the Christians would have faced political persecution.

The typical consequence of political persecution usually meant death through torture.

“This was the occasion of the first persecution; and the barbarities exercised on the Christians were such as even excited the commiseration of the Romans themselves. Nero even refined upon cruelty, and contrived all manner of punishments for the Christians that the most infernal imagination could design. In particular, he had some sewed up in skins of wild beasts, and then worried by dogs until they expired; and others dressed in shirts made stiff with wax, fixed to axletrees, and set on fire in his gardens, in order to illuminate them. This persecution was general throughout the whole Roman Empire; but it rather increased than diminished the spirit of Christianity. In the course of it, St. Paul and St. Peter were martyred.

To their names may be added, Erastus, chamberlain of Corinth; Aristarchus, the Macedonian, and Trophimus, an Ephesians, converted by St. Paul, and fellow-laborer with him, Joseph, commonly called Barsabas, and Ananias, bishop of Damascus; each of the Seventy.”

Is Jesus really the LORD of your life?

By declaring Jesus as Lord, in its most proper historical context, you were giving unto him your life.

If you understand this, Romans 10:13 makes perfect sense in light of the entire Bible for calling Jesus as the Lord would have cost you your life back in the first century.

If Christ is the Lord, what does that make us?

Are you a bondservant, a slave to Christ? Do you bear and have you been branded the mark of Christ on you wherever you go? (Galatians 6:17)

In the ancient times, the slaves and the soldiers bore this “stigma” that represented who they belonged to.

Paul was really branded with a mark of Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:23-33)

Have you been branded with a mark of Christ and does your life show it as Paul had?

 

When we refer to the time that we have received Jesus as the Lord and Savior, we often say that it was through an altar call.

Do we understand what the altar is?

Altar is a place of sacrifice. It is a place of worship unto God! It is the most sanctified and holy place that is wholly dedicated for and to God. It is a place where the atonement is made in order that you may live for the glory of God in replacement of that atonement.

Don’t disgrace the altar where you have been sacrificed unto the Lord and anointed for ministry.

Those who offered strange fire or disgraced the altar through any sinful means would face death (Aaron’s two sons, Eli’s sons)

God is not to be mocked by your half-hearted sacrifice.

If you have not completely given yourself over to the lordship of Christ and you talk of the altar, you disgrace God.

There is a need for repentance if we have not truly offered ourselves up as a sacrifice unto the Lord and mocked this altar through unchanged life.

Come before this altar only if you wholeheartedly decide to give your life unto the Lord as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1-2)

 

Let’s not mock God, but also let’s not mock the martyrs.

When we stand before the cloud of witnesses and before God (Hebrews 12:1), the very people who were martyrs because they called Jesus as the Lord, do we have any right to say we lived for God?

Let me tell you a man who can boast in Christ for the sufferings that he went through.

David Brainerd – a missionary to the Native Americans in the 1700s.

Choosing the narrow road, Brainerd chose to become a missionary despite his impending death through illness. God had blessed his ministry with the Delaware Native Americans. At the young age of 29, he died due to weak health as he spent time in cold weather and labor for God’s kingdom.

Hear this line from David Brainerd.

“We should always look upon ourselves as God’s servants, placed in God’s world, to do his work; and accordingly labour faithfully for him; not with a design to grow rich and great, but to glorify God, and do all the good we possibly can.”

Is this where your heart lies for God? To disregard all the good things of the world and seek to glorify God even to the point of death.

 

Make Christ the real Lord, not a supposed Lord.

Do not disgrace the term “Lord” because if you call him Lord, you are saying you are letting go of your life.

But how can we not give our lives to Him who gave His life for us?

Perhaps it is discipline we need. How can we be more practical in giving the lordship to Christ?