Saturday February 22, 2014

Read 2 Tim 2:1-2

Reformed smokers are the worst kind, aren’t they? But what about reformed church historians?!! Throughout my Bible College years I dreaded church history subjects! More dates. More councils. More dates and even more dates. But when I started parish ministry I soon realized how relevant and valuable church history was. How I wished I’d paid more attention! Doh!

So many people who sat in the pews week after week disclosed to me, often privately, that they struggled with the very issues we had studied in Church History. So many struggled with issues related to the Trinity and to the persons of the Godhead that I was sorely tempted to simply preach through the first 400 years of the church!

The early church struggled and wrestled with many issues. Two errors that crept into the church were modalism and adoptionism. Modalism taught that God is one and all three persons operate or behave in different modes at different times. God the Father created the world then became God the Redeemer and then at Pentecost became God the Spirit.  Adoptionism argued that God created the Word as the first of His works and through the Word created all things. The Logos was only one with the Father in mission and goal. He was not deity. He came to be called the Son of God because He was adopted by the Father due to His willing and perfect obedience!

As the church wrestled with these questions it called many councils and debated and argued and came to an orthodox understanding of the Truth.

The Council of Nicaea met in 325AD and dealt with the issue of Christ’s deity. It declared.

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.  Through Him all things were made.  For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and He suffered death and was buried.  On the third day He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father.  With the Father and the Son He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.  We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.  We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

Note:  The word "catholic" with a lower case 'c' does not mean the Roman Catholic Church, but the universal Christian Church as a whole.

The Council of Chalcedon met in 451AD to deal with the issue of the human and divine nature of Christ. It declared

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards His Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards His manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards His Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards His manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of Him, and our Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

The history of the church is not a boring litany of dates and names. It is the narrative of how godly men and women have fought, often with their very lives, to preserve the truth and to pass it down to future generations. Since we live in an age of relativism and individualism the result is a ’who cares?’ mentality where each person has his/her beliefs in total isolation to others. The modern day believer would do well to read the battles and struggles of bygone eras to protect the truth. The modern day believer would do well to take on such a spirit as well.

Prayer: Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

ª Ask the Lord to bless your church gathering tomorrow and that He’d be powerfully present among you. Pray that the Word would be faithfully proclaimed and that the children would be faithfully taught as well. Pray for a growth in godliness in everyone.

ª Pray that each person in your congregation would have a passionate desire to know the truth and to speak it out in all situations. Pray that everyone who loves Jesus would share that love with non-believers and that you’d see your church grow 30,60 even 100 fold.

Witness Moment –  We need to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit when we are witnessing. He will give us wise words to use, the right approach and the right heart.  But He will never contradict the Scriptures and He will never seek to bring someone to God except through faith in Christ!

 Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. How can you tell if a prompting or inner voice is from the Holy Spirit or not?

2. Some people say that the Bible doesn’t say ‘The Holy Spirit is God’ so we aren’t called to believe it. How do you respond?

3. What is the role of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture?

Friday February 21, 2014

Read Luke 12:8-10, Matt 12:32

Remember the person at your door yesterday, who didn’t believe in Jesus’ deity? It turns out that she doesn’t believe in the deity of the Holy Spirit either!

There is a wide spread belief that the Holy Spirit is not a person of the Godhead but rather is simple the force or power of God much like electricity. The central claim is that the Spirit is not God but is the power of God to achieve the purposes of God.

Again we have to ask, Can you be a genuine Christian and not believe in the deity of the Holy Spirit?

In Luke 12 as Jesus spoke against the Pharisees He made a startling claim. He claimed that anyone who speaks against the Son of Man (ie Jesus Himself) will be forgiven if they repent and seek forgiveness. Then He said, ‘...but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.’ If the Holy Spirit were simply the power or force of God, this statement is absolutely ridiculous! Can you sin against electricity? Would you be guilty of sin if you kicked a power point in your house? What if you called that power point horrible names? Would you be guilty of sinning against it? Only if the Holy Spirit is God could you be eternally guilty for blaspheming against Him. Anything else is ludicrous!

Added to this, the New Testament consistently puts the Holy Spirit on par with God the Father and God the Son. In Matthew 28:19 we read,

 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

What is significant is that the word ‘name’ is singular but we have three names - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If the Father and Son are divine, we can expect that the Spirit fits into this formula as well.

We find a similar pattern in 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 where each person of the Godhead has a role in a person’s salvation. In 1 Peter 1:2 we see this repeated again. In 2 Corinthians 13:14 Paul applies the benediction mentioning the grace of Christ Jesus, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in one group. The Holy Spirit is constantly linked to God the Father and God the Son concluding that He is God the Holy Spirit.

Can a person be a Christian and constantly resist the Holy Spirit? The testimony of the Scriptures is that an unyielding rejection of the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin leading to eternal damnation.

Prayer: Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

ª God promises in 1 Cor 12:7 that each believer has a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Pray that God would pour out His Spirit and bring that manifestation to bear in the lives of your fellow believers. Pray that each person would know their gifting and use it for the common good.

· Pray that each believer would be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led so that they can worship God at work, at home, at school/uni etc. Pray that God would be greatly glorified through this worship and that many would come to faith in Christ through it.

 Walk Moment –  The Godhead exists in perfect unity and agreement. The Father loves the Son and the Son obeys the Father. The Spirit reveals Father and Son to us! That perfection of relationship and harmony is a model for our human relationships. Marriage, family and friendship can all be modelled on the perfect relationship seen within the Trinity!  

 Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Can you prove the deity of Jesus from the Scriptures?

2. Can you refute the claim that Jesus was the first created being of God and through Jesus all subsequent things were created?

Thursday February 20, 2014

Read John 1:1, 8:58-59, 10:30-33

A JW knocks on your door and introduces herself to you. She calls herself a Christian and begins to talk about her faith. After much discussion you learn that she believes that Jesus is NOT God but rather was the first born of all creation. Is it really possible to be a Christian and not believe in the deity of Christ? Is it possible to be a Christian and to think that Jesus is the first part of God’s creation? Could you defend the deity of Jesus to this woman at your doorstep?

The Bible is exceedingly clear that Jesus is God. There is no doubt in the New Testament that Jesus is God. In John 1:1 we read that the Word, who is Jesus, was there or existed in the beginning. He was with God but we also read that He WAS God. John 1:1 is a direct statement that Jesus is God! If the lady at the door gets out her bible (trust me, it doesn’t deserve a capital b), she’ll read John 1:1 and it’ll say, ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was a god’. The simple addition of that little word ‘a’ means that they don't have to worship Jesus as God! Even though the Greek construction (called an anarthrous construction) doesn’t allow that little ‘a’ to be put in, they put it in to deceive millions of people!!!

Added to this, we see that Jesus claimed to be God on several occasions. In John 10:30-33 Jesus said, ‘I and the Father are one’. How we interpret the statement is irrelevant to a large degree. The crowd that listened to Jesus clearly heard Him state that He was God! Verse 33 is clear. They heard Him claim to be God and they tried to stone Him for blasphemy!!!!!

In John 8:58-59 Jesus made one of His many ‘I am’ statements. The Greek text, in which the New Testament was originally written, is much clearer than the English. The Greek version of ’I am’ clearly refers to the Hebrew name of God Yahweh which translates as ‘I am’. What is significant in John 8 is that Jesus should have said, ’Before Abraham was born, I was’ to be grammatically correct. But He used the ‘I am’ statement to claim to be divine! In verse 59 we again read that the crowds understood exactly what He was saying. They wanted to stone Him for blasphemy! It would not be considered blasphemous to say I am very very very old. It may be considered looney but certainly not blasphemous!

Other passages in the Bible also identify Jesus as God. When Thomas saw the resurrected Jesus he cried out, ‘My Lord and My God!’ (John 20:28). If he were crying out in astonishment as modern people sometimes do, he would have been stoned for blasphemy or at least rebuked by Jesus for his error. He was not!

Hebrews 1:8 also identifies Jesus as God. While word order is not overly significant in Greek and can be changed around, the Lord God is speaking to the Son Jesus and says that His throne, O God, will last forever!  The Son is clearly called God in Hebrews 1:8!

Jesus also makes a claim that shows He is above all created beings. In John 15:26, 16:6 and Luke 24:49 Jesus promises that He will send or commission the Spirit to come to the disciples from heaven. In John 14:16-23 Jesus affirms that the Holy Spirit will mediate God the Father and the Son to the disciples. Both will come and dwell with the believer! Given that the Spirit of God was understood by Jews to be God Himself, Jesus’ claim to be Lord of the Spirit and His authority to direct the Spirit goes above the possibility of any created being. The only conclusion is that He is God!

Is it possible to be a Christian and to reject the deity of Christ? The biblical testimony is clearly NO!

Prayer: Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

ª Ask the Lord to bless the work of R.I in state schools. Pray that God would bless each R.I teacher with wisdom, insight and Biblical knowledge. Pray that the children would grow to love Jesus and to worship Him as their own Lord and Saviour. 

ª Pray that the chaplains in our state schools and high schools would have many opportunities to introduce Jesus to students, parents and teachers.

Witness Moment –  If you are confused about the Trinity and the various roles and differences in the Godhead, you will be unable to evangelise effectively. Many people have questions about God the Father, Son and Spirit. They need you to answer clearly and precisely. You need to understand the theology of our God so that you can share it more clearly with others.

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Can you suggest some verses that show the NT is monotheistic?

2. Can you suggest some verses that show Jesus is God?

3. Can you suggest some verses that show that the Holy Spirit is God?

4. A fellow church goer says to you, ‘This Trinity stuff doesn’t really matter! It’s all the stuff that theologians talk about and doesn’t affect me.’ How do you respond?

Wednesday February 19, 2014

Read Mark 12:28-34. Acts 17:16

Many believe that the whole concept of the Trinity is made up. Some even go so far as to suggest that it’s a concept created by church men and theologians over the centuries to cover up some startling truth. Great stuff for a non fiction novel!

But is the Trinity a cover up? Is it something that has been made up? In reality, the concept of the Trinity developed because of the revelation of Scripture. Churchmen and theologians simply reacted to and systematized what was in the Holy Bible.

The New Testament paints two truths:

· God is one and there is no other. The New Testament, like Israel, is fiercely monotheistic. The New Testament is unified in its testimony to the one true living God. Jesus clearly states that God is one and that there is no other. In answering the question by the teacher of the law, Jesus quotes and affirms Deuteronomy 6:4 (see Mark 12:28-34). Paul likewise, when in Athens, is distressed to see so many idols (aka false gods) being represented and worshipped. Later in Romans 1:28 Paul says that the only true God has revealed Himself to all peoples across the world. There is, according to the New Testament, only one God!

· The New Testament also affirms that Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God. This statement does not contradict the above truth nor does it cause error, even though it has caused much confusion in us.

The two sides of the Trinity coin are clearly presented without contradiction or error. Church men and theologians sought to put this into a systematized form of teaching. They used a word that would capture the essence of what the Bible taught - namely that God is one in essence but exists as three distinct persons. That word is ’Trinity’.

Prayer: Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

Adoration:

Confession:

Thanks:

Supplication:

ª Ask the Lord to bless cell groups this week. Pray that strong relationships will be built and a firm foundation laid in the Word of God. Pray that there will be open and frank discussion about the topics covered.

ª Pray that we would see our youth and children grow strong in the Lord. Ask God to grow their understanding of God and love for Him.

Word Moment –  Even though Israel was monotheistic the word for God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim which is plural. However it is always used with singular verb forms to show that there is only one God. Added to this, God often speaks of himself in terms of ‘us’ and ‘we’. See Genesis 1:26 as one example. Thus Israel was confronted at least in concept, of the idea of a Trinity!  

  

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. Even though every illustration has problems when it comes to the Trinity, can you think of an illustration for the Trinity?

2. Why do you think it is important to get the understanding of Trinity right?

3. Why should believers defend the truth that we worship one God not three?