Teaching tip 56 - God's unconditional love.
T.T. 56 - God's unconditional
love.
One of the hardest truths for both
children and adults to grasp is that of God's unconditional love for us. It is
natural to think that if we obey God, spend time worshipping Him, and are good
to others, He will love us more. Conversely, if we disobey Him, ignore Him, and
treat others badly, God will love us less. However, unlike our love for each
other which often changes, God's love for us is always at it's maximum. No
matter how good or bad we are, God's love will never increase or decrease. There
is nothing we can do to make Him love us any more or any less than He already
does.
The lyrics of an old song "More than
yesterday" say "I love you more than yesterday, and less than tomorrow." This
reminds us that human love can increase each day. But, if it can increase, it
can also decrease. Not so with God. He may like or dislike the things we do, but
His love for us cannot change. He cannot love us any more or any less than He
does today.
I once asked a group of children how
they knew that God loved them? I was expecting responses like "Because He sent
Jesus to die for me." But one ten year old girl gave a very insightful answer.
She said "I know God loves me because He made me. If he didn't love me, He
wouldn't have made me." How true that is. God loves all His creations
The amazing thing is that God loves
each one of us just as much as He loves His Son, Jesus. You may ask "But what
about the really "bad" people, the tyrants, terrorists, and mass murderers and
all the evil people that we read about in history. Does God love them just as
much?" Yes! "But most of them are dead now, does that mean that because God
loves them - despite what they did - they are now in heaven?" No! People don't
go to heaven because they are good, and they don't not go to heaven because they
are bad. They go to heaven or not depending solely on whether or not they have
accepted God's love by
receiving His love gift of Jesus Christ into their lives. (John 1 v. 12). The
behaviour of the tyrants etc. indicate that they have almost certainly refused
to accept God's love so, much as God still loves them and grieves over the fact
that they have rejected Him, I don't expect to meet them in
heaven.
Conclusion. Our Creator loves us, not because
we are lovable, but because "God is
love." (1 John 4 V. 8).
Teaching tip 55 - Christian Myths.
Teaching tip 55 - Christian
Myths.
People are susceptible to believing
many different strange beliefs. Unfortunately many people even have wrong ideas
about what true Christians believe. In fact even some professing Christians have
beliefs that contradict the clear teachings of the Bible. Listed below are some
of the most common "Christian Myths."
How do we know what is true and what
is false? As Christians we believe that the Bible is the inspired and infallible
Word of God. As God knows everything, is never wrong and cannot lie, we must
compare whatever we believe with the Bible. If what we believe is contradicted
by the Bible, we have to admit that we were wrong and change our belief so that
it lines up with God's Word.
1. If you lead a good life, you
will go to heaven.
I am continually amazed at how many
children believe this, even after they have been exposed to "Bible" teaching.
No, none of us are good enough to go to heaven. As Romans 3.23 puts it "There is
no difference. All have sinned and come short of God's glory".
If we could all earn our salvation
and a place in heaven by being "good", then God must have made an awful mistake
in sending His Son to die on the cross! I don't believe that God makes mistakes.
On the contrary, Jesus had to suffer and die because that was the only way that we could get to heaven.
Salvation, eternal life, a place in heaven is a free gift. We can never deserve it or
earn it, but we can all accept it.
"If we can be acceptable to God by
obeying the law, Christ died for nothing". Galatians 2.21.
2. All religions lead to God and
heaven.
There are hundreds of different
religions, and many people believe that if you are sincere, if you do the best
you can in following your particular religion, you will eventually end up in
heaven. An illustration has been given of a mountain. The mountain top
represents God or heaven where everyone wants to end up. But there may be many
different paths that lead up to the top of the mountain. It doesn't really
matter which path (religion) you choose to take because they all lead to the
top.
The above belief is contradicted by
Jesus, Himself who made it plain that He was the only way to God
(heaven).
"I am the way, ------------- no-one
comes to the Father, except through me." John 14.6.
True Christianity is actually the
opposite of Religion. All religions are about trying to please God, to reach Him
by doing "Good works". Christianity is about God (in the form of Jesus) coming
down to meet us where we are.
"Religious people" are probably the
unhappiest people on earth. They each have a set of rules which they try to
keep, but when they inevitably fail to match up to their standards, they end up
feeling condemned. Christians, on the other hand do good deeds, not to earn a
place in heaven - they know that that is already secure, but because it is
"natural" for them to do so. The ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit in their
lives causes them to become more and more Christlike. And no-one did more good
than Him.
3. Jesus was just a good
man.
The Christian faith is entirely
based on the belief that Jesus was actually God Himself who had taken on the
form of a man. If Jesus was just a man, then his death on the cross cannot have
any value for us whatsoever! So is/was Jesus God or man?
If Jesus was a man, then he
certainly wasn't a good man. That is not an option. Jesus made some remarkable
claims about Himself, such as He was the only way to God, He could forgive sins,
He and the Father were one, all authority on earth had been given unto Him, and
anyone who has seen the Son had seen the Father. If Jesus was just a man, all
those claims were false, and Jesus was a liar and a deceiver who has misled
countless millions by giving them a false hope. No, if Jesus was just a man,
he definitely wasn't a good man.
Was Jesus, therefore, a bad man?
Good trees produce good fruit, and bad trees produce bad fruit. It is the same
with people. Good people are known for their good deeds, and bad people are
known for their bad deeds. I don't think anyone can argue that Jesus did many
good deeds. In fact, over the last two millennium, most of the "good" on the
earth has been carried out by the followers of Jesus.
A third alternative is that Jesus
was a mad man. If anyone today went around making the claims that Jesus did
would certainly be considered "mad". But Jesus certainly didn't behave like a
mad man. In fact He always behaved in a balanced and normal
way.
So who is/was Jesus? As C.S. Lewis
put it - The choice comes down to three possibilities - MAD, BAD, or
GOD.
4. We have more than one
life.
This belief is known as
reincarnation. Many "Eastern" religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, teach
that when a person dies they "come back" as someone else. This cycle of death
and rebirth is then repeated over and over again. Usually, if a person has led a
good life, they will be reborn into a "higher" position (e.g. into a wealthier
family). Conversely, if they have led a bad life, they will be reborn into a
lower position (e.g. a poorer family). Many believe that if a person has led a
particularly bad life, they may not be reborn as a human at all, but rather as
an animal - or even as an insect!
This teaching is clearly
contradicted by the Bible which states (for example) "Man is destined to die
once, and after
that to face judgment." (Hebrews 9.27). Obviously, if reincarnation were true,
that would mean dying more than once.
Does it really matter if a person
believes in reincarnation? Yes it does. What we believe determines the way we
live our lives. Belief in reincarnation is dangerous for two reasons
:-
1. It lulls us into a false sense of
security. We think "If I make a mess of my present life, it doesn't really
matter because I will have another chance of doing better in my next life."
However, there is no "second chance". We only have this life to make sure that
we are in a right relationship with God before we go to give an account of our
lives to Him. (Romans 14.12).
2. Belief in reincarnation can often
lead to danger, disease and poverty. In some cities in Asia, where belief in reincarnation is the norm, there are
infestations of rats. These rats pass on diseases to humans, sometimes bite them
and have even killed some babies. However not much is done about this massive
problem. Why? Well people think "I cannot exterminate that rat - it might be my
Grandfather in another life!"
In many Asian cities there is much
poverty. People literally starve to death. But very often there is a huge food
supply right where they live. Many cows roam freely through these cities. But
they are regarded as sacred or holy. People are not allowed to slaughter and eat
them. Why? They think "Well that cow might be my Grandmother in another life.
And I cannot risk eating my Grandmother! And if that cow isn't my Grandmother,
she is probably someone else's Grandmother."
Thus reincarnation, as well as being
a false teaching, is also very destructive.
5. Jesus was able to perform
miracles and heal the sick because he is God.
This is a very common misconception.
Jesus is God, but He is God who became a man. When Jesus came to earth about
2,000 years ago He left his divine (Godly) qualities behind in heaven. During
his 33 years on earth, He was still God, but totally human, just like other
men.
For the first 30 years of his
earthly life, Jesus didn't perform any miraculous deeds. Then, at the time of
his baptism, he received the Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Spirit is God (The
Third Person of the Trinity), He is also the power of God. God always
accomplishes what He wills through the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, for the
remainder of his earthly life, Jesus did do many mighty deeds - through the
power of the Holy Spirit.
The exciting thing for all
Christians is that this same Holy Spirit that was in Jesus is available to all
believers. That is why miracles and healings still occur today.
Jesus once said "If you have faith
in me, you will do even greater things than I." (John 14.12). Even greater
things than Jesus? That is a remarkable claim! Let us consider this for a
moment. During his time on earth, about how many disciples did Jesus personally
make? It is impossible to say, but because of the much lower population back
then, it is not likely to have been more than a few thousand. However, there are
Christian ministers today (such as Reinhard Bonnke) who regularly preach to up
to a million people in one day - with sometimes as many as 100,000 of them
putting their trust in Christ. A hundred thousand in one day, compared to a few
thousand in 3 years for Jesus! This is surely an example of the "greater
things".
During his time on earth, how many
people did Jesus raise from the dead? I think the answer is three (at least only
three that are recorded). Yet in the first half of the last century, it is
claimed that Smith Wigglesworth was used by God to raise fourteen people from
the dead. Fourteen compared to three! Surely another example of the "greater
things".
Of course, I am not suggesting that
Bonnke or Wigglesworth are greater than Jesus. No-one is greater than Jesus
because He is God, and you cannot compare a man with God. But in these specific
areas of works, "greater things" have been done by followers of Jesus because of
the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
6. If we do wrong, God will punish
us.
People might think to themselves
such things as :-
"I've got sick. It must be because I
told all those lies."
"I've had an accident. That was
probably because I stole some cakes.'
"My Dad has left home. God must be
punishing me because I disobeyed my Dad."
"The people in Christchurch must be
really wicked. That is why God sent those earthquakes."
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
Wrong!
God has already punished sin. On the
cross Jesus was punished for all our wrongdoing - past,
present and future. And a Just God cannot punish twice for the same
sin.
The reality of life is that "bad
things" can just as easily happen to the "good" as to the "bad". Matthew 5.45
puts it like this "He sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous."
In view of this, is there any real
benefit in being a Christian then? Yes. A million times "yes". Although God has
not promised to take us out of tough situations, He has promised to always be
with us as we go through them. We are able to know His peace, comfort and
guidance even at the worst of times. And we have all His hundreds of wonderful
promises. One of my favorites is Romans 8.28 "All things work together for good,
for those who love God."
The worst thing that could happen to
you is that you die. But for the Christian, that will turn out to be the best
thing - because then you will enter into God's eternal presence!
