In Honor of Opening Day: Funny or Not Vol. 34

Cross Central-Worse off than Frogs

You may have heard it said that the greatest display of love is the cross, and, in fact, it is an intense display of love. But what makes it such an intense display of love?

1. God shows his love by the intensity of his sacrifice

In Revelation 19:16 Jesus is described as the King of kings and Lord of lords. John 3:16 defines Jesus as the only Son of God. Hebrews 3:18 reminds us that Jesus is eternal and unchanging.

This isn't just some man dying for other men. This is the infinite, eternal ruler of the universe dying for his creation.

We tend to place men at a high place, separate from all other creation, but he true separation is between God and all he has made, including man.

There is a saying that goes:

Christ didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans.

This saying implies that we deserved to be died for because we are so awesome. John Piper has a better way of looking at our position as humans:

We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated god with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren't bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it. (50 Reasons Jesus came to Die, p29)

2. God shows his love by the intensity of our unworthiness to be saved
According to Romans 5:7-8 we deserve divine punishment, not divine sacrifice, but that is exactly what we get: divine sacrifice that leads to eternal life.

While we were still sinners Christ died for us!

We benefit from the riches of his grace!

It's true that the cross is a great example of God's love for us. It is an intense example of God's love for us. But remember that its intensity is related to our sinfulness and his sacrifice. Don't let the cross make you proud by thinking, "Jesus died for me!" Instead let it humble you as you think, "Jesus died for me!"

Systematic Theology Part 22-A Sweet & Sour Creation that Matters Part 1

People are sweet.

People are sour.

Humans are capable of great acts of love, can create majestic works of art, and can even enter into a relationship with an infinite God; yet they are equally capable of horrific evil and cruelty and share many features in common with other animals. In the end, despite all their efforts to resist it, they die, and most are quickly forgotten. Scripture compares us to a mist 'that appears for a little while and then vanishes' (James 4:14). No wonder the psalmist marvels in amazement that God is mindful of us (Psalm 8:3-4).
(John S. Hammet, A Theology for the Church, p340)

And it is amazing that God is mindful of us, and even created us, knowing how sinful and rebellious we would be. But we do see special attention given to man in the Bible starting with the creation account.

There is a change in language used in Genesis 1 from "let there be" to "let us make" when God is making man. This shows that in some way the act of creating man is special and deserves special attention. The creation of man is described in much greater detail than any other act of creation. Animals and plants are mentioned in large groups, we don't even see the creation of the angels and the universe, galaxies, and planets are mentioned in just a few words.

So, what is man that God is mindful of him? Why did God bother creating us?

When people create or invent it is usually to fill a need, for convenience or for happiness. But God did not need to create us. It certainly didn't make things more convenient for him, so why did he create us?

4 Reasons God Created Man

1. God created man that man may glorify God (Isaiah 43:7)
2. God created man that God may delight in man (Isaiah 62:3-5; Zephaniah 3:17)
3. God created man that man may delight in God (Psalm 16:11; Psalm 27:4; Psalm 73:25-26; Psalm 84:1-2)
4. God created man that God may share life with man (John 10:10)

But when God created did he really just start with one man and one woman, Adam and Eve?

The Hebrew word "adam" actually means "dust, man, or mankind" and the Hebrew word for eve, or "hawwa" means "living one". These generic terms have led some to translate Genesis 1 & 2 as "mankind" and "human race" instead of the specific people Adam and Eve.

Does this mean that Adam and Eve are just metaphorical representations of all men and women? Are the two people that we know as Adam and Eve actually historical or did God create the whole human race at one point in time?

Paul (in Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 15 and Acts 17) certainly taught that Adam and Ever were actual people and the belief in Adam and Eve as real people provide an important foundation for other doctrines, beliefs and traditions. If we lose the foundation of Adam and Eve the actual historical beginning of the human race then an tower of beliefs crumble around it.

If Adam and Eve are not the historical beginning of the human race then...

...Traditional marriage collapses (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9)
Jesus points back to Adam and Eve as the starting point of marriage. God institutes marriage immediately after creating eve from Adam. Without Adam and Eve marriage dissolves.

...Racist ideals are strengthened (Acts 17:26)
If God created Adam and Eve first then the rest of us are descended from the same family line. This is part of Paul's argument in Athens. There are no races, only the human race. We are one big family. No one color is better than another because we all come from the same gene pool. Without Adam and Eve racism explodes.

...The universal sinfulness of mankind and the need for a savior disappear (Romans 5:12, 19; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22)
Paul points back to Adam as the source of all sinfulness and the need for Jesus. Without Adam and Eve there is no universal sin or need for a savior.

The creation of Adam and Eve as real people, and the first people through which the rest of mankind came, is foundational to important social concerns and eternal truths. We have seen the crumbling of marriage and family, the strengthening of racial tension and the loss of personal responsibility and understanding of sin. Much of this can be tied to a loss of the belief in the historical Adam and Eve which then turns into a rejection of the rest of God's revelation to man: the Bible and Jesus.

Funny or Not? Vol. 33

Contemplate & Consider Vol. 17

Watch your words!

A fool's lips walk into a fight,
and his mouth invites a beating.
A fool's mouth is his ruin,
and his lips are a snare to his soul.

Proverbs 18:6-7