Tag: John 8

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Jehovah, the Self-Existent One

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“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” ” Exodus 3:14 

“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.””  John 8:58

In conversations with my dad about God I used this analogy: If you see a beautiful watch and open it up and marvel at the craftsmanship we then assume there was a craftsman.  I would point out to my dad each item around us.  The table where we sat, the meal we were eating, the clothes we wore, the plants around us – all were built, planted, mixed, sewn, by someone.  Everything has a creator, even us.  The problem was when my dad asked, “But who created God?”

Who created God?  Should be an easy question for you to answer today before your coffee when asked by an unbeliever, right?  For those who know me personally they can probably hear me make this statement tinged with humor.  I don’t want us to get lost in the weeds of philosophy and metaphysics today, but acknowledging God as self‑existent is essential to the Christian life.

Why? Because most other religions rely on gods which were created, limited or dependent on man.  

The most honest answer we average folks can give to the age-old question of who created God is “I don’t fully understand the mystery God’s self-existence.”  While we may not completely understand it, we should know and accept that He is self-derived or self-originated.  We don’t come to that acceptance out of whole cloth.  

I AM

When God assigned Moses the task of speaking for the Israelites, Moses rightfully inquired, “Who should I say you are?”  With God’s short and mysterious answer of, “I AM who I AM” He made the bold announcement of being Jehovah – the self-existent one. (On a side note reading that scripture always reminds me of Popeye the Sailor Man: “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam!)

“He is wholly and completely “other” and unlike anything else in the known or unknown universe. He is autonomous, operates with complete control, and is infinite in all of His power, ability, and knowledge.” For The Gospel

That “other,” as described by Pastor Costi Hinn, must be front and center of our Christian life and reverence for God.  He is not us.  He is not like us.  He is outside us and created us.  In fact, He created every single molecule.  The Bible affirms this concept and Christian thinkers have wrestled with what that means.

Outside Time

C.S. Lewis has some wonderful chapters in his timeless book, Mere Christianity, on this puzzle of God’s self-existence.  He surmises that God is outside time, having created that as well.  He has no history and no future.  He just is.  If you really want to get deep one day, just think about time as a created thing.  We think of it as “real” because we see the clock move, the sun rise and set, our bodies grow old.  But God is above all that.  

Lewis describes God in this way:

“If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn…God has no history.  He is too completely and utterly real to have one.  For of course, to have a history is losing part of your reality (because it has already slipped away into the past) and not having another part (because it is still in the future): having nothing but the tiny present.”

God is always in the Now.  Our yesterday was His Now.  As is our tomorrow.  He is without a beginning or an end.  We should find comfort in that mystery because it speaks to His authority and power.  It reminds us that He is wherever, whenever we are.  He is not beholden to another.

Friends, God is not reliant on our concepts of physics, time or space.  Mysteriously, He just IS.  He is the I AM for time eternal.  The steady rock or north star to place our sights upon.  

“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.” Isaiah 46:9 

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Day 1 Way Maker

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When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

My Christian journey has had long stretches of a lazy attitude toward God.  I realized I was trying the straddle the line between darkness and light.  The worlds of my will and His will.  However, within the last 10 years, I’ve begun to grasp the amazing and wonderous facets of our Holy Creator. 

I discovered God is the giver of love.  He provides.  He comforts.  But best of all He is the giver of light.  The light that guides us on this narrow and frequently challenging path Jesus laid out for us.  He is the one to hold tightly to so we are blessed with every day and not-so-every day miracles.

He is a promise keeper since time began.  We can trust Him when the Bible tells us He will keep watch over His sheep who know His name.  I read recently that there are more than 2,000 promises of God in scripture. Conservatively, Jesus alone fulfilled at least 300 of those prophecies or promises made by God through the prophets.  That is who He is.

I recall a day I heard this song playing on a random Christian playlist.  I was sitting in my “She Shed” working on a Bible study.  I stopped what I was doing and listened intently to the words.  As tears of joy and gratefulness touched my cheek, I threw up my hands in worship.  Singing loudly for all the heavens to hear, I wanted the Lord our God to know not only that I love Him but how much I appreciate all He has done and is doing in my life and yours.

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Glory in the Truth

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The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. John 7:18

Christian, I have some really good news for you. Not the Good News which you have already received but news that is crucial for continuing in the faith, for growing in your sanctification journey. Here it is: God’s Word is the inerrant truth. Oh, it’s true that many “learned” scholars have attempted to prove this truth as untrue. And they have failed, over and over. As people living out our Christian faith we must make it a requirement to rely on truth, lest we be pulled to the newest, shiniest idea — which interestingly enough, always seems to satisfy our flesh

Our current society isn’t the only one that has tried to disavow the truths in His Holy Word although, “truth” does seem to be taking a beating lately throughout culture. In fact, just yesterday I saw a Facebook post about a woman named Sacheen Littlefeather (born Maria Louise Cruz). The post told of this actress’ 15 minutes of fame when she took the stage for Marlon Brando at the 1973 Academy Awards to “not accept” his award for Best Actor in the Godfather. It was his way of protesting Native Americans’ portrayals in Hollywood. Littlefeather claimed heritage of Apache and Yaqui ancestors. Only one small problem. She was from Oxnard, California born of a father from Spanish-Mexican descent with no tribal ties. Her mom was a white European. While her message may have been appropriate, she as the messenger was committing the same “crime” she and Brando argued against. She erased her own heritage and pretended to take on that of another– lying to everyone who would listen.

I commented on the post (which didn’t tell the truth of her heritage, just the event and what the issue was) that she was a false representative and in fact, stole other people’s heritage. While my comment received a number of “likes” the first comments in reply were full of vitriol on how I was the problem. How being Mexican meant she was a native. How I was erasing the beautiful message. You see, so often now when we get attached to a good idea, or a cause that makes us feel good and righteous we are very unlikely to let go. Even when it’s all a lie. Our feelings have become supreme, not truth.

In the verse I highlighted today, Jesus is speaking directly to a large group of Jews who have their own idea of the “truth” of Jesus.

“Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, he deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders. Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’” John 7:12-15

 Jesus was just a nice, moral guy. Jesus was all smoke and mirrors. Jesus never claimed to be God. Jesus was just some poor Nazarene. Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. You’ve probably heard some, if not all, of these lies about Jesus. But our faith is built on actual events. On real people. Not dreams and fantasies. Not some guy who went off into the woods by himself and had a revelation then wrote an entire religion from it. Real people, real events, well documented outside the text of the Bible.

Friend, we should be so very thankful the God gave us His written Word. It has stood the test of time. If your Bible is gathering dust, you are not prepared to face the cultural storm. You need its strength, its wisdom, its knowledge, its promises and most of all its truth.

If you don’t believe the Bible is the inerrant truth, you are creating your own religion. You can do that, of course, but it’s not Christianity. I encourage you today to take that Good Book and start, not just reading it, but studying it. Discovering the amazing true story of God laid out since the beginning of time. Written by about 35 different people over centuries through God’s divine election and spoken to by the Holy Spirit, the Bible stands up to the most surgical like scrutiny. And lest you be led astray by those who say, “But what about the books not included?” First, become proficient and confident in what you do have in front of you and see its completeness. Jesus told those who wanted a more comfortable, more socially acceptable truth that they would never be open to The Truth because they always wanted more proof. Remember Judas still didn’t accept Jesus as The Christ even after He brought Lazarus back from confirmed death.

Just after leaving the festival where Jesus’ deity was questioned, to the Jews who believed Him in the town square and followed Him, He gave us this amazing promise:

 “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

The glorious and beautiful truth of God and the life He wants for us can now be held in just about every hand in the world. It offers freedom. A freedom for which we can look to the heavens and be ever so thankful for its truth.

May all glory and honor and power be to God. Amen

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Gentleness Misunderstood

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When I announced to my non-religious parents many years ago that I was going to start attending church, my mother asked why I needed religion and my father called it a crutch.  To my father I responded, “Great, I’ll take two please!”  It’s so frequently the case when speaking to non-religious folks that they will say similar things.  “Who needs faith?  Your religion is just a ‘sky dad,’ I don’t need some fake person to tell me what is right and wrong.”  I’ve also heard people say, “Christians just turn their minds off and give themselves over to a made up god.  They don’t think for themselves.”

As for the last comment I would say they are half correct.  A true and faithful Christian seeks to turn their sinful self “off” and submit their heart, mind, body and soul to the one true God.  The world calls that a weakness.  In fact, some twist the idea of “meekness” or “gentleness” to mean that very thing: a weakness.  When the world says we need self-praise and self-assertion we say we look to God for His will, His love, and our direction.

Meekness is not weakness, for both Moses and Jesus were meek men.  The word translated “meek” was used by the Greeks to describe a horse that had been broken.  It refers to power under control.”  

Warren Wiersbe, commentary on Matthew 5:5

The word “meek” and “gentle” come from a similar word in Greek – praus (prah-ooce) and prautes (prah-oo-tace).  One is an adjective and one is a noun.  It’s interesting, however, when you look up the word “meek” in the English language you get these definitions: quiet, gentle, easily imposed on.  Isn’t that what we tend more to think when we read in the Bible that the meek are to be blessed and inherit the earth?  And when we read in Galatians of the fruit of the Spirit, one being “gentleness,” don’t we think of some sweet old person quietly living out their days in obscurity?  Someone who probably doesn’t have much of an opinion about anything? And if they did, they certainly wouldn’t voice it!

But wouldn’t that be in conflict with the full picture of Jesus?  In the one place where Jesus describes the state of His own heart, He gives us a picture of what we too should mirror – a gentle and humble heart.  And yet He was a man with an opinion.  A man who clearly spoke of sin, judgment, mercy, righteousness, and eternal life. He stood strong and faithful in front of those who mocked Him.  He was meekness under control.   More importantly, gentle under God’s control.

"The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So, what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground." John 8:3-8

As a person of action, frequently lacking in gentleness, I had always found this passage so frustrating!  I wanted Jesus to look these hypocrites in the eye and tell them off.  Put the full strength of God into His words and watch them melt into a puddle of shame.  But He squatted down (a look of weakness it would seem) and started doodling.  Doodling!!  And the world shakes their head at His apparent lack of authority and power.  “Here is the God YOU submit to,” they say.  “If He had any god-like qualities He would have given them the ‘you’re fired!’ response.”

And yet… 

"But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:9-11.

Jesus brushed off His hands and shrugged.  No anger needed.  No smoting.  Just a gentle ripping open of the accusers’ souls.  And still the world misunderstands because they are so attached to the sins of pride and self-importance and fleshly pursuits of power.

Friend, the world will call you weak.  The world will say you have turned your mind over to a god.  You are submissive.  Your response? Tell them thank you for noticing because it means they can see your fruit.  It may not be to their liking but it’s not the world we seek to please.

Coming up: Gentleness in action