What Happens In The Garden

My mom has always loved gardening. For as long as I can remember, she has had lush flower beds and a vegetable garden. While the eleven of us were growing up, mom and dad had a huge garden, along with goats and chickens. Most of what we ate came from our own pasture or gardens. In retrospect, it was an idyllic time, and a wonderful way to grow up.

In the span of salvation history, gardens are important places for God as well. When God created Adam and Eve, he placed them in a garden (Gen 2:8). It was a lush place, with everything that could be desired. It was also a place of intimate fellowship with the Creator, and he would physically manifest (preincarnate Jesus?) and walk with them in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8).

But the garden became defiled by sin, as Adam and Eve willfully said “no” to the command of God and they, their descendants, and the earth over which they were given dominion fell. From then on, sin reigned and through sin, came death. As a result, they were expelled from the garden that had been their only home.

Thousands of years later, another scene was taking place in a garden. This time it was the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus, who would be called the “second Adam” (1 Corinthians 15) The difference was that this Adam, who was a perfect man in an imperfect garden, was saying “yes” to God and would, through His obedience, bring eternal life to all who would receive it.

Someday, there will be another garden. One that is perfect, wherein righteousness dwells. With a river flowing out of the throne of God, and with the tree of life. We shall once again have perfect communion with our Lord, and spend eternity in his presence. John describes it this way:
“Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 22:1-5 NASB)

My friends, that will be a garden worth seeing. And unlike the gardens of my youth, there will be no weeds to pull. Just the full enjoyment of paradise spent in His presence.

And THAT will be the most wonderful garden of all!

Hearing The Testimony You Are Seeing

I arrived a little early to work today, and parked the van along the tree line at the back of the parking lot. After only a moment, an American Goldfinch landed on top of a thistle that had some blossoms which had turned to fluff. This tiny bird immediately began picking off tiny slivers of fluff to carry back to her nest. These birds know how to build a nest that is so well put together that it holds water. All this after flying back up to Wisconsin for the summer after spending the winter in Mexico.

As I sat there watching this marvel of nature, it baffled me that someone could see a little bird, which is more complex than any machine or computer we can make, and believe this was the result of a huge explosion, followed by change, spontaneous generation, and random mutations.

Paul, in Romans chapter 1 wrote, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:20, 21 NASB)

To observe such complexity and design, and at the same time deny the existence of the designer is illogical at best. But satan still uses such tactics to deceive millions. Why? Well, other than the pleasure he takes in human destruction, it is an attempt to deflect credit that would otherwise go to God. In the throne room vision of Revelation 4, it is recorded that this praise goes out continually to God.
“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” (Revelation 4:11 NASB)
Yes, creation itself, from the tiniest particle, to the expanse of the universe, is an expression of worship to God!
“You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before You. (Nehemiah 9:6 NASB)

It is also an attempt to give credit for creation to someone or something other than God. And by publishing the lie that the universe created itself, he rocks the faith of some and causes them to stumble, or even to never search for God at all. But we, as Christians know this is a deception from the evil one.
By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. (Hebrews 11:3 ASV)

So, thank you mr and mrs goldfinch, for your fine devotional lesson this morning! You spoke to one of God’s children through your building of a nest. And you also were yet another reminder that, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” (Psalm 14:1a NASB)

Picking A Different TULIP

On many occasions I encounter staunch Calvinists, who hold to a system of doctrine that uses the acrostic of T.U.LI.P. These letters stand for:
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace, and
Perseverance of the Saints.

As with many doctrinal systems, there is an element of truth in each of these doctrines if one defines their own terms. Well, I have decided to pick a different TULIP, using my own titles to make the acrostic work. Plus, finding away to make anything memorable out of chrysanthemum was just too hard.

Total Natural Inability – Apart from an encounter with the Word of God, and the Spirit which makes that Word living and active, the natural man is incapable of, and unwilling to, find salvation and regeneration. Only when the Word of God is heard and understood can there be faith (Romans 10:17) and without faith it is impossible to please God. Left to his own devices, a natural man is totally unable to find salvation.

Unconditional Corporate Election – God has predestined that all who are “in Christ” will be justified, sanctified and glorified. This election is one of the group, or corporate, vice individual in nature. The gift of salvation is free to “whosoever will” appropriate it. At that moment, one is in Christ and has access to everything else that is in Christ, such as redemption and justification.

Limited Efficacy of Atonement – The atonement, purchased for the elect at the cost of the blood of Christ and through His finished work on the cross, is only beneficial (or efficacious) for those who are saved. It’s value is sufficient for all mankind, but only efficacious who believe and obey the Gospel.

Irresistible Love and Grace – Once a sinner whose heart is prepared (i.e. good soil) hears the Word of God preached and truly comprehends the love that God has shown him in his lost state through the sacrifice of His Son, he or she will repent and run to Jesus Christ for salvation. Those who reject this invitation either do not comprehend, or have hearts which have been hardened to the point of inability to receive the seed of the Word.

Perseverance of the Saints – Those who are saved and are faithful to the end, or at least by the end, have persevered and receive the crown of life. The saints should continually be encouraged to persevere, so as not to grow weary and quit the race. In the vast majority of cases, salvation is not lost; it is left. The secret to final victory is this – don’t quit!

I know there will be points of agreement and disagreement, and there is probably some verbiage that could be tweaked to make what I am trying to say more easily understood. But the purpose is to provoke to discussion and to individual searching of the scriptures like the Bereans in Acts 17:11.

“But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matt. 26:29)

Mark 4:35-41

35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

What is the worst storm you’ve ever been through?

How did the disciples react to this storm? And what did many of them do for a living? (They were fisherman: 1:16-19.) So how strong can we surmise this storm was? (These seaworthy fishermen were accustomed to storms on the Sea of Galilee and this one must have been fierce for them to fear for their lives.) The pillow in the stern was a large bag of sand that was used for ballast to keep the boat steady as the men were working. It was typically covered by a wooden platform that would have provided Jesus with protection from the elements.

Hebrews 2:14-15

Fear of death is the ultimate root of all fear. Whatever we are genuinely afraid of at its core, is a fear of something dying; a career, our reputation, our marriage, our relationships. All of it is rooted in the fear of death. That is the kind of fear that causes anxiety and torment. Fear and bondage go hand in hand and Jesus died to set us free from fear. Fear may to your door, but don’t invite it in for supper. Especially don’t invite it to spend the night. Fear will come in and take over. Before long, every decision will be based on fear instead of on your faith in God. “I would obey God, but….” Is an indication that you are making fear based decisions. That is why you cannot walk in fear and in faith. We also cannot walk in love and faith.

I John 4:18

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Fear will make you do or say things you would not normally say if you had been thinking clearly

But what about the consequences? After all, isn’t a little fear a good thing? NO

When God repeats himself we need to take notice. In the Word, God says “fear not” “be not afraid” or words to that effect 365 times. I don’t think that is a coincidence. We have a “do not fear” for every day of the year. I think we should pay attention to something like that, don’t you?

It is a violation of the commandments of Jesus

8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

The word for fearful in the Greek here means to be full of dread. But isn’t a little fear a good thing? Do you see anything on the list in this verse that you would say that about? Really?

4. Dad’s story from the typhoon. A wonderful thing my father did was to write down his life story years before he died and give copies to each of his children and grandchildren. In the conclusion of those memoirs, he related some things that had made of great impact on his life. One of them was the following:

a. “The second experience has returned to me many times when I have been faced with a seemingly unsolvable problem. I think of the night in the typhoon off of Okinawa. I had fallen asleep in what seemed to be a hopeless situation. The winds exceeded 200 miles per hour, the waves were 80 feet high and the ship was rolling up to 43 degrees, and I was so seasick I had little desire to live! But I awoke to the most beautiful morning I have ever seen, or so it seemed to me. The ocean was calm and blue and sparkling in the early morning sunlight. I was told the storm had passed during the night, and we were sailing back to Buckner Bay. I resolved that from henceforth, though the night be dark, I would always anticipate the beautiful morning to follow. I also decided I could no longer place implicit trust in my knowledge of science, but realized that knowledge of science leads to the Creator of the Universe, and to His will revealed to us in His Word.

Exodus 6:6-7 (New King James Version)

6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

We can see that Jesus is saying these things after the main course, or supper is completed. He is taking the bread that was broken, wrapped in cloth, and then hidden, and giving it new significance. From now on, this bread, which is called “the bread of affliction” would remind them of the affliction that Jesus bore for their sins.

Since Luke records that the cup was “likewise” raised after supper, that means the cup he raised was the cup of redemption. Well wine is produced from grape juice that is made with a winepress. The grapes are crushed, not in the sense of the breaking of bones (which we know did not happen to Jesus), but in the sense of the weight being applied as pressure on the grapes and causing the juice to flow.

The winepress is symbolic in prophetic scriptures of the wrath of God. Isaiah 53:5 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

Our Passover Lamb

b. Our deliverance from the slavery of sin (Rom. 6:17-18). Freed from sin and are now slaves to righteousness.

Some here were raised on livestock farms. Children on farms were not allowed to get attached or name livestock. This was to prevent the feeling of eating a family pet. An Israelite family, however, loved, petted, even named their lamb. Then watch it die and ate it. This was all a part of God’s plan. Why?

Through this Passover lamb, God began to show us the ugliness of sin, the price of deliverance; something we love had to die! Imagine a pet raised to be put to death, now imagine your child coming into this world for the purpose of being put to death.

A shared lamb (4).

This lamb was to be shared, no leftovers. It was a time of fellowship and sharing, the families all under one roof (Similar to our Thanksgiving meal). This foreshadowed our partaking of the Lord’s Supper. We too, are one family under one roof, partaking of one bread, one fruit of the vine. Like Israel we celebrate our deliverance. Imagine the emotions of that occasion (sadness, joy). Shouldn’t we share the same type of emotions when we partake of the feast?

The best lamb (5).

The Passover lamb was to be in the prime of life (one year old), perfect in every way, no spots or blemishes.I Pet. 1:18-19 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

The only perfect human who ever walked on this sin-blemished earth was crucified at the age of 33, in the prime of His life. Why so young? He could have perhaps accomplished more if allowed to live longer, but it had to be a perfect sacrifice.

A bleeding lamb (6-7).

Blood is important in our lives. In this first Passover blood was essential for the sparing of life.Blood was smeared on the doorposts. Blood from this lamb was salvation. We too, face death; spiritual death and we need blood to save us.I Pet. 1:18-19

Blood on the door symbolic of the cross.

A whole lamb (8-9).

They were to roast the lamb. Could not boil, that would hide the lamb in a pot. Head, legs and insides were to be kept intact. Keep in mind when you roast something you place it on a spit, a wooden stick for all to see. When we cook an animal we have the butcher prepare it in such a way until it no longer resembles the animal we are eating. (Some even dislike eating whole fish.)

Simplicity In Christ
There is something to be said for keeping things simple. It seems that with everything that we add, with every layer of complexity that feels like a good thing at the time, we give ourselves more opportunity for distraction. In the end, we can even end up focused on things other than what we started with. As with driving your car or running a race, we tend run to go in the direction we are looking. And as they said in West Texas, “if you don’t get off the road you’re on, you’re liable to end up where you’re headed!”
The same is true when it comes to the church and the things we do as the Body of Christ. Over the past two thousand years, many layers of “good ideas” and new programs have been added on by well intentioned people. As a result, the focus has shifted to things other than Christ. We have come to see those who attend as the audience, while those up front on the platform perform. Yes, the congregants sing along with the songs from the band, but most of what happens is designed to minister to us and bring in more people.
Many would be shocked to discover that Jesus didn’t say a thing about marketing the church. Or for that matter, about programs designed to provide what other churches don’t or can’t, in an effort to win over people like they are religious consumers and the church is a service provider in the marketplace.
The Apostle Paul put it this way:
“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3 NASB)
A call has gone out, and continues to go out. It says to strip away the programs, the marketing and everything else that has been added on, and return to simplicity of devotion to Christ! Let’s gather as a spiritual body and worship with only one person in the audience — Jesus Christ. Let’s focus on love and spurring one another on to good works. Let’s get rid of the marketing plans and draw people to Christ by lifting Him up instead of what we have to offer spiritual consumers!
It may be uncomfortable at first. After all, we have gotten used to some things that we like. But if we can get back to the basics, to the simplicity of devotion, we will be able to keep the main thing as the main thing. What does that look like?
Well, here are some examples of things that are add-ons. Let’s dump D.L. Moody’s invention called the “sinners prayer” and go back to having converts accept Christ and ask for His pardon the way they did in the First Century. It was and is called baptism. The concept of an unbaptized believer is foreign to the New Testament. Modern churches have someone say a prayer, wait awhile, and make their faith public by water baptism. But in the New Testament, baptism was the sinners prayer. It is an “appeal to God for a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21) and the way sinners “called upon the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16. While some will point to Romans 10:9-10, those verses have a context. Even the NIV Study Bible says they contain the early baptismal formula, required before one could be baptized like Paul had said earlier in Romans 6:3-11.
There were also no choirs or instruments for the first 700 years of the church, in large part because they wanted to avoid being like the world. Singing without a choir or instruments means we all must participate sing to one another, and worship the One who is our sole audience. It is not that instruments and choir are evil. I have been in and used both. But it is a distraction, and if we aspire to be like our original brethren, they just don’t fit the paradigm of simple Christianity.
Where can this simplicity be found? Well I can tell you where some are attempting to do it. It was the place I grew up in, left, and have come home to. I would encourage you to look for simplicity at one of the churches of Christ. I am part of a congregation that is striving to keep it simple, yet keep it in love. If you are in the Fox Cities area in Wisconsin, come on down to the Appleton church of Christ. We don’t believe in denominations because Christ is not divided, and denominations represent institutionalized division. We are just Christians worshipping and serving in simplicity.