Foundation of Reality

 

 Foundation of Reality

John 8:32; 14:6; 17:17; 2 Cor. 5:7; Hebrews 11:1

Theme: Authentic facts point to God’s truth; we must live by God’s truth and not mere facts…by faith and not by sight.

Relevance:

John 8:32, says, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Accepting and actively living by Christ’s teachings breaks the heavy chains of sin, fear, and spiritual blindness. God also delivers us from spiritual confusion when we believe Him instead of our circumstances. Facts are subject to misleading, but embracing God’s truth is freeing, liberating, and life transforming!  

Hebrews 11:1 states: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Rather than relying strictly on physical observation or human scientific measurement, biblical faith treats God, His word, and unseen spiritual truths as the ultimate foundation of reality.

Introduction:

God’s spiritual truth (His word and promises) supersedes temporary earthly facts (physical or biological realities or human observations). Again, selecting God’s reality over our mere visible or empirical world perceptions is the very meaning of living by faith (Heb. 11:1-6). While the exact phrase “truth over facts” is rather modern, the King James Bible explains that God’s eternal word overrides human circumstances, obstacles, and observations always. God’s statements in the Bible are not dismissed merely because some misguided soul says so. Bible teachings are not relegated to sheer superstition or nonsense just because some supposedly ‘intellectual,’ ‘highly educated’ person, or ‘vastly esteemed group’ demotes it to such status. I do not apologize for valuing God’s revelation over human education! 

Message:

Secondly, Truth Must Override Facts as a Standard!

Once more, God’s truth does not change with time, culture, or personal feelings, nor is it diminished in its real significance by an elite group of esteemed individuals. Truth always remains constant for all people, and abiding within truth (embracing complete reality) is the power of authentic spiritual freedom! Truth provides a correct foundation for reality. 

This Tendency to Select God’s Truth is a Recurring Thesis in the Word:

• John 17:17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” — God’s standard as always is absolute truth. Jesus in His ‘High Priestly Prayer’ is asking the Father to cleanse the disciples and separate them from worldly corruption so they can serve Him.
• “Truth” (the content and occurrence points to ‘what happened’ or ‘whole truth’) constitutes the environment God uses to make us holy—His word. His message and standards do not change. In a confusing world, His word is the ultimate, absolute stable reality.
• Now His second petition for them was for their sanctification. Sanctify means “set apart for special use.” A believer is to be distinct from the world’s sin, its values, and its goals.
• The means of this sanctifying work is God’s truth. The truth is communicated in the Word, which is both personal and propositional. As the message about Jesus was heard, believed, and understood, the disciples’ hearts and minds were captured. This change in their thinking resulted in changes in their living. The same is true of believers today. As they appropriate God’s Word to their lives, they are sanctified—set apart for God and changed in their living in order to honor God (cf. 15:3). God’s message set the apostles apart from the world so that they would do His will, not Satan’s.^[1]
• John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life...” Truth is a person, Jesus Christ, —a divine reality, not just data points, a collection of metrics, or a clear pattern for making informed decisions. Jesus during the Last Supper is telling His disciple Thomas that He is the sole path, ultimate truth, and source of eternal life required to reach God the Father.
• Beloved, Jesus literally embodies divine reality; He is God’s absolute standard. He represents the final, complete, and most accurate revelation of God to the world. God does not simply consider some data pipeline that directly drives operational performance and strategic growth. He relies on Jesus, the TRUTH and so should we!
• As the Father is Truth and Life, Jesus is the embodiment of God so people can come to the Father (cf. 1:4, 14, 18; 11:25). By His words, No one comes to the Father except through Me, Jesus stressed that salvation, contrary to what many people think, is not obtainable through many ways. Only one Way exists (cf. Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus is the only access to the Father because He is the only One from the Father (cf. John 1:1–2, 51; 3:13).^[2]
• 2 Corinthians 5:7: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — This may be taxing for some individuals, but Believers are instructed to live by spiritual reality rather than physical evidence or observations.
• The word [faith] is not used actively in the sense of vision. Faith is contrasted with the actual appearance of heavenly things.^[3]
• To “walk” in the Bible indicates our daily life, habits, and the way we conduct our journey through life.
• “By faith” is literally trusting the truth of God and His eternal promises even without physical/material proof or verification.
• “Not by sight” is refusing to let temporary physical data, struggles, fears, or worldly-wise emergences control our hope or decisions.
• Beloved, by this strategy we can overcome difficulties by permitting this ‘truth’ when facing intense suffering remind us that earthly life is brief but rather hard at times. We MUST remember our eternal hope constantly! We are to look ahead to an eternal, perfect home with God after physical death, which cannot be seen now but is gripped by our faith.
• The fact that we walk by faith, not by sight is abundant proof that we are absent from the Lord. We have never gazed upon the Lord with our physical eyes. Only through faith have we ever seen Him. As long as we are at home in the body, we have a life that is less close and intimate than the life of actual sight.^[4]
• What sustained Paul was the realization that this was a temporary and transitory state (2 Cor. 4:18). He focused not on present but on future conditions, not on the seen but the unseen. To live this way is to live by faith, not by sight. It is to live in light of ultimate rather than immediate realities (cf. Rom. 8:24–25), to be obedient to God’s commands despite the hardships that obedience produces (e.g., 2 Cor. 11:23–29). Such was Paul’s life. If the choice were his, he would have seized the opportunity to depart this pilgrimage life and take up residence (be at home) with the Lord (Phil. 1:21–23). But the constraints of his commission caused him to press on (cf. Phil. 1:24; Eph. 3:1–13).^[5]
• Child of God, genuine believers are instructed to live according to spiritual reality rather than physical evidence. It is not that we forsake our ability to think, we conscientiously choose to ‘see’ things God’s way! We make daily choices by trusting God’s unseen promises instead of relying only on physical circumstances, the perceptions of human logic, or what our eyes can see…what seems extremely real. Remember, you must exercise your faith; your ability to reason will not give you all the information…only what’s tangible. We are called to steadily trust in the Lord Jesus always and especially during difficult times.

Truth always remains constant for all people and cultures, and abiding within truth (embracing complete reality) is the indisputable power of authentic spiritual freedom! Truth provides the only correct foundation for all reality. 

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^[1] Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 333.

^[2] Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 322.

^[3] Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 3 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 319.

^[4] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1838.

^[5] David K. Lowery, “2 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 566.

Secularizing Your Home?

 

Secularizing Your Home?

Colossians 2:8-10

 

Clearly, we must stay alert against false ideas, guard against clever notions that are traps, mere human rules, and worldly systems so they do not take our minds hostage or steal our faith in the Lord Jesus. Genuine faith remains anchored in Christ, who holds all the fullness of God and complete authority.

The supposed “new morality” has led to a serious breakdown in traditional Judeo-Christian morality affecting the American family.  In fact, this moral shift has resulted in a tremendous increase in sexually transmitted diseases (STD), illegitimate births, and abortions.  No-fault divorces create millions of single-parent families that have inherent difficulties.  Mothers entered the workforce by the millions, and latchkey kids became a national concern. Homosexual behavior, palimony, family violence, date rape, pornography, sexual harassment, drug and alcohol addiction, alternative family lifestyles are some of the additional problems resulting from the disintegration of traditional morality. The ‘new morality’ has ushered in a age of deterioration throughout society.

The average person should be concerned about changes in the family because the family does not exist in a vacuum. It is interrelated with four other basic institutions of society: religious, economic, governmental, and educational institutions. Changes in the family will dramatically affect others in our society.

Many changes take place in the family when the wife enters the workplace.  The two-worker family is the most profound change in family life in the twentieth century.  This change is driven by materialism and industrialization. The result is pressure for changes in marital roles, the division of labor in the family, and child care, and it is creating new perceptions of self in both men and women. After the Industrial Age, our society shifted into the Information Age (or Digital Age) in the mid-to-late 20th century. This negatively impacts families by reducing meaningful face-to-face communication, blurring the boundaries between work and home life, and contributing to behavioral or sleep issues in children.

Geographical mobility has also affected the American family.  Immigration from northern and southern Europe not only populated the industrialized cities of America, but they also brought their own customs, traditions, values of family life in their homeland and tried to preserve these as much as possible.  The same could be said for the people groups immigration from Asia and Latin America, thus shaping the landscape of the ‘American family’ across the country. There has also been a significant amount of internal migration in America during times like the Great Depression, and post WWII which accelerated the urbanization of America.  But this also left children without the knowledge of relatives, lasting friendships with neighbors and peers.  Thus, producing a “generation without roots;” many young people have very little sense of belonging to a close knit kin group with whom they can identify.

What is secular humanism?  How does it differ from humanitarianism?  From the humanities? A good working definition of secular humanism by quoting Webster, “a system of doctrines and practices that reject any form of religious faith and worship.”  The term secular humanists have been used to identify those who would remove religious influence from the institutions of American society.   In addition, others describe humanists thusly, “In their self-definition God does not exist, and it is a destructive illusion to believe in him.  They promote a way of life that systematically excludes God and all religion in the traditional sense.”

It is also interesting to note that humanist masquerade as humanitarians, but their belief is actually anti-human and they are the number one enemy of the traditional family. A true humanitarian will promote human welfare and social reform, but secular humanism inspires destructive relativistic value systems, divorce, remarriage, serial polygamy, rejection of biblical authority, situation ethics, hedonism, and extremes forms of women’s liberation, legalizing abortion, and the elimination of marriage.  There are four basic convictions that distinguish secular humanism from Christian humanism, “confidence in God in Christ; supernatural worldview; the power of Christ acting through the church; and incarnational humanitarianism.”  Francis Schaeffer insisted that the conflict is between the Judeo-Christian view of God with absolute values of right and wrong and a humanistic system “with only personal, arbitrary, relative values.”  The current conflict between Christianity and humanism is the age-old struggle between God and Satan, right and wrong, darkness verses light, sin against righteousness.

We may wonder about the impact of television viewing on the American family, and how it contributes to the violence in American culture…. The impact of television on the American family is a net negative.  Since television programming is largely influenced by secular humanism, it is a moral descent from filth, smut, and innuendo into serious depravity. It is their aim to destroy the country’s moral fiber and with it the traditional family. They manipulate this communication tool to control the way people think and over exposure to secular input is “dangerous.”  Many parents use the television as a babysitting method, but this exposes the children to sex, profanity, and violence.  This is one of the leading causes of aggressive behavior in preschool children according to the National Institute of Mental Health.  In addition, the violence viewed on television is being carried out in the homes, schools, and streets of the nation.  Generally, young people are desensitized to violence; this is presently a cultural reality in America.

There are several noteworthy advantages of the home computer in changing the way the American family operate.  They can be used in record keeping, storing recipes, and keeping weekly schedules.  They are also used in home-based businesses and home entertainment in the form of video games.  Word processing is a common usage also; an individual can work at home and transmit his finished product via phone line to another state or even around the world. This development allows women to be with their young children as they earn a living while staying home. Computers are also being used in modern education to prepare young people for their place in the information age.

There are some disadvantages to using the home computer we must be aware of.  It may permit one to come home from the office at a decent hour, but only to spend several hours working projects from work. With regards to entertainment, personal computers can be a source of anything available on the worldwide web.  This further exacerbate the problems with television viewing: exposure to sex, violence, pornography, and profanity.  Children can become vulnerable to sexual predators on the internet posing as young people on youth connection sights.  Any tool or technology that can be used for good could potentially be manipulated for dark purposes also. 

Christians should be concerned about governmental family policies because such social policies affect the home.  These policies help set the rules of the game—the stakes, the risks, the payoffs, the tradeoffs, and the strategies for making a living, and raising a family.  Laws, regulations, and restrictions will affect the family from birth to death; therefore, social policy must be of great interest to the Christian. 

Governmental family policies do affect my family as with other Americans.  Proposition 8 in the state of California was passed to define marriage in a traditional manner; that is as between a man and a woman. On Election Day, the voters spoke with great clarity and rejected the notion of same sex marriage in the state. This affects my family because it signified that Americans generally still regard marriage in a traditional manner.  Even in the very liberal state of California this is true; the people do not want to redefine marriage in radical secular progressive terms. These developments basically reinforce what I have expressed time and again in the context of my family and church.  It was encouraging to see the general populous in California still hold heterosexual marriage as the natural, legal, and legitimate union and nucleus of the family and society by extension.  Historically, we understand that California’s policies can eventually influence the rest of the nation.  In the past this has been more negative than positive, but this time it’s clearly good.

The government’s policies regarding Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security have been greatly beneficial to my family also.  Both my wife’s and my parents are retired and dependent on these services. There have been instances when we have assisted them financially because of special needs, but they retain their independence largely because of these programs.  Our financial gifts to them for the most part are for birthdays and anniversaries; they are acts of love and generosity and not necessity.  In addition, we have peace of mind that our parents’ medical needs were/are being adequately addressed. 

Is there a contrast between the secular home and the Christian home?  Which term describes your home? The secular home can be defined as the one which leaves God out of their lives.  Their values are humanistic and materialistic and there is never a need for God in any facet of their life. The same can be said for the nominal Christian family. They may attend church and use some Christian terms, but essentially, they too exclude God from every other facet of their existence.  A Christian home, however, is an entirely different creature because it gladly welcomes God and the Bible into every aspect of their lives. They cherish a relationship and warm fellowship with the Lord and they freely interact with each other in a manner that is pleasing to God and chose the Bible as the source of their values.  A truly Christian family does have distinguishing features.  It is where the Lord Jesus Christ is loved by all members and is overtly demonstrated to each other.  This bond of love manifests itself in various ways: harmonious relationships, family worship, regular church attendance, active witnessing to friends and neighbors, service to the Lord in the local church and in the community.

Lastly, we want to honestly say that our homes are Christian homes because we do embrace Judeo-Christian values and cherish a relationship with God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.  We do have private and family devotions and regularly attend church when the doors are open.  We sustain an active witness to unsaved family members, colleagues, friends, and strangers. The Bible is not only respected but followed with good application in many facets of our family life.  While there certainly are numerous areas where we need to improve, we can recognize good progress over the years.  

God presents the home as a spiritual foundation centered on Him, contrasting a faithful household with secular or ungodly residences.

• Psalm 127:1, says that “except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it,” meaning a home lacking a spiritual foundation with God fails to endure in a true sense.
• Matthew 7:24-27, contrasts a wise man who builds his house upon a rock (hearing and doing Christ’s sayings) with a foolish man who builds his house upon the sand, representing secular or unstable foundations that collapse under pressure.
• Joshua 24:15, famously declares, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” establishing the intentional choice required by believers to reject secular alignment in their domestic lives.
• Romans 12:2 instructs us believers not to be conformed to this world, which extends to maintaining a household culture distinct from secular ideas.
• Colossians 2:8, reminds us, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

We are warned to avoid being captured or cheated by false teachings, human traditions, and worldly ways of thinking that pull us away from the complete sufficiency of Jesus Christ. Child of God, we must test every cultural trend, worldview, and spiritual idea against the truth of the gospel. We are warned that in Christ “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” reminding us that we already have everything we need in Jesus and do not need worldly ideas. Therefore,

·                 Remain Rooted in Christ: we grow strong by staying close to Jesus anchored in loving obedience to Him every day.

·                 Trust Him for All Fullness: Christ gives us everything we need to live a complete life for His honor and glory.

·                 Regard Jesus Who Has All Authority: Jesus Christ holds supreme power and absolute rule over everything—complete right to rule and absolute jurisdiction over all domains. His supreme rule extends both to spiritual and physical realms, as affirmed in Matthew 28:18! Beloved, intentionally submit to Jesus!

This supreme status was formally affirmed and given after Christ’s victory over death and the grave. God the Father granted such honor because Jesus lived a sinless life and atoned for our sin. Beloved, knowing his power and authority removes doubt and provides God’s constant presence throughout each day. Beloved, genuine faith remains anchored in Christ, who holds all the fullness of God and complete authority. It is clearly alright to trust Him with your home and future!

Why Punctuate God's Severity?

 

Why Punctuate God's Severity?

 

Romans 11:22, Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

God’s severity and goodness denote the fact that God is both just to those who fall away and loving to those who trust Him. God’s “severity” towards fallen Israel with His “goodness” toward believing Gentiles are the continuing focus of this article. These concepts must be understood nationally and not individually. 

 So....

What are the Specific Implications of the Severity of God?

Again the “severity of God” refers to His strict, exact justice and His unwavering intolerance of unrepented sin. This features how God’s love does not negate His holiness, and that rejecting His grace ultimately brings decisive dire consequences. Such a perception of God is not an isolated facet or singular event; it is His essential nature. This is how He really is!

What is the Biblical Foundation for this Persuasion about God? (Romans 11:22)

Again, the concept originates in Romans 11:22, where the Apostle Paul indicates: “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you...” –Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Greek word for “severity” is apotomia, literally pointing to ‘cutting off’ or ‘harshly cutting out’. God does not grade on a curve! This idea refers to God withdrawing His blessings and severing a nonfaith-based relationship with those who stubbornly reject faith and persist in tenacious defiance—unbelief. It does not matter if these actions are intentional or inadvertent…whether these peoples meant it or not. God is not obligated to remain generous to those who gamble—take wicked chances by ignoring his kindness!

Now whenever, we discover anything about God’s nature, then we will likely find that trait repeated or illustrated in other places in the Bible! God explicitly uses the word “severity” in Romans 11:22, pointing to His strict justice towards unfaithfulness. Throughout this passage we have concrete examples illustrating this holy strictness against people’s rebellion and sin.

But this is not the only Bible Illustration of this overlooked divine quality—severity:

• The Flood of Noah: God destroyed the ancient world with a massive water cataclysm because wickedness was great in the entire earth (Genesis 6:5-7; 2 Peter 2:5).
• Sodom and Gomorrah: God literally rained fire and brimstone from heaven, turning these wicked cities into ash heaps as an example and warning to those who would live ungodly. As the Judge of the entire world He created, He will do right (Genesis 19:24-25; 2 Peter 2:6).
• Nadab and Abihu: Aaron’s sons offered strange fire before the Lord, and fire went out from the Lord and unapologetically devoured them both (Leviticus 10:1-2). God decisively rejects the sin of unbelief and disobedience.
• Uzzah's Actions: God struck Uzzah dead on the spot for putting forth his hand to stabilize the ark of God when the oxen stumbled (2 Samuel 6:6-7). In this manner, God warned of His strictness and inspired respect for His unbending character!
• The Exile of Israel: God broke off natural branches from the olive tree due to unbelief, showing that unyielding rebellion brings severe removal (Romans 11:20-22).

This uncompromising and rigid nature of God may be pervasively ignored or temporarily reduced in its significance by many, but God desires for His people to think of Him in this way to avoid cheapening the Gospel and to reduce our inclinations to take chances with faith.

What are the Central Concepts of these Expressions? This notion is deeply essential to the Gospel message.

• God’s Exact Justice: God does not merely overlook sin, unbelief, or wrongdoing. His holy nature demands that sin be addressed, which certainly requires payment or punishment. 
• Our Need for Discipline: Rather than just a final punishment event, reminders of God’s severity can serve as corrective disciplines meant to turn us back to a righteous course of action. 
• Jesus, Our Atonement: The “severity of God” is perhaps most profoundly demonstrated through the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s severe justice regarding sin was undilutedly and un-mitigatingly poured out on Christ at Calvary, permitting God to offer “kindness” to us sinners instead. 

But Why Such Strictness or ‘Severity’ Still Today? What is the Purpose of Reflecting on God’s Severity?

We must understand that dwelling on this attribute of God is not meant to inspire crippling terror, but rather to inspire fitting reverence and devotion in us at the heart level regardless of the timeframe. This is a timeless facet of God’s very essential nature! Recognizing His severity is meant to: 

1.     Emphasize the gravity, significance, and pure seriousness of our sin.

2.    Create a deep appreciation for the extraordinary mercy found in God’s incredible kindness. We need to deeply treasure God’s goodness far more than we do…a great deal of complaining will stop immediately if we realize just how gracious God has been to us believers.

3.    Encourage believers to remain humble and faithful rather than becoming arrogant or self-reliant. A discipline existence instead of a permissive lifestyle takes shape!

While these are serious implications, even our natural world recognizes the beauty and marvel of an uncompromising presentation.

·       Uncompromising illustrations in nature merge absolute scientific truth with raw, unyielding artistic media—where tools like pen, ink, or direct elemental exposure reject artificiality and demand total fidelity to the ecosystem.—Vintage Nature Landscape

• Rigorous Naturalism gives us artists like Michael Rothman who depict ecosystems with uncompromising scientific accuracy, capturing the exact biological truth of flora and fauna without sentimental alteration.—Inspirational Art Group
• Structural Taxonomy issues classic compendiums like Art Forms in Nature by Ernst Haeckel reveal the uncompromising geometric symmetry and design embedded intrinsically within microscopic and macroscopic organic life.—Art Forms in Nature by Ernst Haeckel

An uncompromising natural world operates strictly on God’s physical laws, biological necessity, and unbiased creative reality rather than people’s feelings. Nature does not negotiate, show moral favoritism, or bend its rules for comfort. The natural world operates on God’s exact physical laws, remaining entirely indifferent to human desires, moral ideologies or beliefs, or the never-ending search for security, meaning, or contentment. It functions through God’s predictable forces like gravity, thermodynamics (physics and chemistry studies that show how energy moves and changes), and intelligent design (divine cause rather than undirected processes like natural selection). God’s absolute nature is manifested in His created dynamics. Gravity and thermodynamics are testable, mathematically consistent physical forces rooted in God’s very real empirical scientific nature; these laws point directly to our Creator. Yes, this is where real faith meets real science!

This lack of compromise certainly forces us all to modify, focus, grow, and struggle as we thrive daily. So, the concept of divine “severity” is not so strange after all! Additionally, there is no need for ordinary people to seek individualistic solutions because they perceive this fundamental idea of God fails to be relevant and practical!   

Beloved, when fundamental notions about God and life are abandoned, foundational frameworks in real viable science, inspired philosophy which is basically Christian apologetics, or even serious cultural shifts naturally follow. These shifts lead to the replacement of old certainties (time tested truths) with new unproven theories, substantially altering how people understand reality, truth, and meaning. Child of God, there are ample reasons why God’s balanced nature is set forth to grip our attention!