Rev. David G. Bostick
02-15-09
This morning I need to start with a clarification. In my sermon about creation as one of the stones for the foundation of the word Christian last week I said: “I will say this even at the risk of sounding old fashioned and extremely conservative, or whatever label you want to give me. After studying this issue for thirty-seven years, I believe the evidence we have shows that God created the universe in six, twenty-four hour days and then rested on the seventh day.” This was a statement of personal faith in the traditional creation account as it is given in the Bible. It was not a statement of doctrine necessary for salvation. My faith in traditional creationism is based on 37 years of investigation and study of the evidence that I have found in both scientific and the Biblical resources. An investigation that I have not stopped pursuing even to this very day. I continue this investigation because, I do know, that there is still more to be discovered. In these 37 years I have seen the possibilities of the theistic evolution position, the day-age position, as well as many other views. Because of the evidence, both in science and in the Bible, I have come to be a firm believer in traditional creation. The evidence I have studied, has brought the resolution of this broad discussion, closer and closer to the Biblical account of traditional creation for me. Yes, when all the evidence of science is presented there is no clear conclusion, the debate is ongoing in the area of scientific proof. However, there is a block of evidence that I believe tips the scales in favor of traditional creation. That block of evidence is the Word of God. I do not want anyone to think that I was making a statement of doctrine necessary for salvation. My statement was a statement of personal faith.
In our last sermon in this series on The Foundation of the Word Christian, we saw that the Supremacy of Christ is the very basis for the Christian faith. The basis for the supremacy of Christ is the fact that He is the Creator and head over all of creation. Colossians 1:15-20 (NIV) I want to start with a quote to help orient us in our discussion about the three foundation stones for the word Christian.
In order for the true gospel to be preached, the full scope of God's work must be told, for it is only the true gospel, wholly and uncompromising, that is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). This gospel encompasses the threefold work of Christ: creation, conservation, and consummation. If the gospel story neglects the creation of the past, there is no foundation, standard, or ability. If it neglects the cross, there is no authority, justness, or power. And if it neglects the coming kingdom, there is no hope or joy or victory. (Morris, 39) (Emphasis added - dgb)
As we study these three foundation stones for the word Christian, we must keep in mind that there is an element of faith that is necessary in understanding our relationship with God and His plan of salvation for each of us. Paul said it like this...
Romans 1:16-17 (NIV)
[16] I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. [17] For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
"If the gospel message neglects the cross, there is no authority, justness, or power." This statement reveals three important characteristics of the actions God took in the cross that we need to look at this morning. They are; authority, justness, and power.
It would be important to understand the simple plan of salvation as it shows the importance of the cross. The following list is not an exhaustive list but it does include the important highlights of God's plan of salvation.
I wondered why Morris used the word conservation to describe the actions God took in the cross. The dictionary describes conservation as... "a careful preservation and protection of something; esp: planned management of a natural resource to prevent exploitation, destruction, or neglect. (Merriam-Webster) I never thought of using the word conservation to describe God's intentions for His plan of salvation. Think about it for a moment. Wanting to prevent mankind from being exploited, destroyed, or neglected, God made plans for the careful preservation and protection of mankind. His planned management included the cross to deal with the problem of sin in the world and give mankind the opportunity for eternal life and fellowship with Him. In the cross we see the authority, justness, and power of God.
Without absolute authority over everything, God does not have the ability to provide for the conservation of mankind. It is important for us to understand the authority of Almighty God for without it we are lost.
In the Preface to the New International Version of the Bible there is a statement about authority that serves as a good introduction to our discussion about the authority provided by the cross.
"From the beginning of the project, the Committee on Bible Translation held to certain goals for the New International Version: that it would be an accurate translation and one that would have clarity and literary quality and so prove suitable for public and private reading, teaching, preaching, memorizing and liturgical use. The Committee also sought to preserve some measure of continuity with the long tradition of translating the Scriptures into English.
"In working toward these goals, the translators were united in their commitment to the authority and infallibility of the Bible as God's Word in written form. They believe that it contains the divine answer to the deepest needs of humanity, that it sheds unique light on our path in a dark world, and that it sets forth the way to our eternal well-being." (NIV, Preface)
As men and women of God have always done, we take the Word in hand and discover it's truth for us concerning the authority of God as confirmed in the cross. In the old testament the word hand is used to convey the idea of authority. The primary sense of this word is “hand”: “And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life ..." (Ge 3:22—the first biblical occurrence). (Vine)
Adam and Eve had taken charge of their own lives, they had stretched out their hands to take and eat the forbidden fruit. The action of stretching out their hands to take that forbidden fruit was an act of taking authority away from God who had said they were not to eat from this one tree. In order to keep them from using that self-authority to eat of the tree of life, God removes them from the garden.
When we talk about authority in our culture we think of persons in command like a governmental agency or officer. The basis for this thought is the fact that in our culture the word authority means "the power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior". (Merriam-Webster)
When Adam and Eve took the forbidden fruit and ate it they were taking the power to influence and command their own thought, opinions, and behavior. They set aside the authority of God concerning the command He had given them not to eat the fruit of this one tree. The power to influence or command their thoughts, opinions, and behavior was tainted because man took authority for his own life. In the New Testament, as Jesus established His authority here on earth, He was questioned many times. For example in...
Matthew 12:38-41 (NIV)
[38] Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.”
[39] He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. [40] For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
[41] The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.
Leading up to Jesus comment about the sign of Jonah in the belly of the great fish, Jesus has healed a man who was demon-possessed, blind and mute. (Mt. 12:22...) The religious leaders accuse Jesus of using the power of the prince of demons to perform this miracle. They are questioning His authority as God. After Jesus answers them, they ask Him to perform a miracle, a sign. Jesus tells them that they should look at the sign of Jonah. As Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days, so Christ would be in the grave for three days. Jesus would come out of the grave to establish His authority as God and to confirm the message of Salvation that God had for all of mankind.
Today, many people think that Jesus' claims to be the Son of Almighty God were not valid. Certainly the religious leaders of His day did not believe that He was the Son of God. But Jesus even claimed to be Almighty God, and for this He was eventually crucified. But when Jesus came out of the grave, everything He said, and everything He claimed to be, was confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt. Remember Jesus' words in Mt. 28:18 (NIV) “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me..." His authority is confirmed to us in the fact of His resurrection. In other words His empty tomb has established His authority as Almighty God. I think sometimes it is hard for us to realize the scope of these words. There are many passages that are important to keep in mind when talking about authority. Another example is found in...
John 2:18-21 (NIV)
[18] Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
[19] Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
[20] The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”
[21] But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
Here it is again; Jesus wants the people, especially the religious leaders of His day, to know that His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead will be the thing that establishes His absolute authority over all.
The second important term we need to understand in God's conservation of mankind is His justness or justice. In the cross justness is established. In talking about justice it is important to understand how the concept is used in the Bible. For example...
In fact as you study justice in the Old testament it's emphasis is that it must be handed out with an even hand. But what about justice in the New Testament?
Romans 3:21-26 (NIV)
[21] But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
[22] This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
[23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
[24] and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Look at the (NASB) translation of verse 24... "being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" The NIV uses the
English word "freely", but in the Greek this word is the word gift. It comes from the a noun meaning to give. It is a free gift with emphasis on its gratuitous character. (CWS-NT) Gratuitous means "1a: given unearned or without recompense b: not involving a return benefit, compensation, or consideration c: costing nothing: FREE 2: not called for by the circumstances: UNWARRANTED." (Miriam-Webster)"
When Paul wanted to convey the nature of God's justice toward mankind he uses the word gift. A gift that man obtains by faith in Jesus Christ. The justice we have in God's eyes is a gift, one that we do not deserve and cannot earn. It is a gift that cost God everything He had.
[25] God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—
[26] he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
The justness of God is seen in His self-sacrifice on the cross, without it there is no conservation of mankind. We are utterly lost and doomed to eternal destruction. Remember what we said about conservation: "Wanting to prevent mankind from being exploited, destroyed, or neglected, God made plans for careful preservation and protection of mankind. His planned management included the cross to deal with the problem of sin in the world and give mankind the opportunity for eternal life and fellowship with Him. In the cross we see the authority, justness, and power of God."
I think the topic of justice is one of the most important aspects of social interaction that mankind deals with. World war one and two, as well as the Korean conflict, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the wars with Iraq, are all actions of conflict about what justice is or is not. Almost every serious movie you might decide to watch deals with justice in one way or another. There are many examples I could give. One of my favorite movies is titled, "It's a Wonderful Life". It is about a man who has all the hopes and dreams of a wonderful and prosperous life. But the injustice of an overbearing banker who controls the lives of most of the people in town keeps this man from his dreams. In order to make sure that there is at least a small measure of justice in his community he gives up his dreams, and dedicates his life to serve the people of his town. He wants to give them a chance of, at least a small measure of justice in their lives. Now when you watch the movie remember it is about justice not theology. God made all of us to crave justice, but sometimes the view of justice we have is warped by sin. But when we look to God we see justice in the perfect sense. When we look to God we see justice handed out in love and mercy, and without this love the conservation of mankind is worthless.
Next week we will look at the third aspect of God's conservation of mankind which is seen in His power.
Let's stand and pray together.
Merriam-Webster, Inc. Merriam-Webster 11th collegiate Dictionary. 2003
Morris, Henry M. III. 5 Reasons to Believe in Recent Creation. Dallas: Institute for Creation Research, 2008.
NIV - The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). Cedar Rapids: Laridian, 2003.
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. The NIV Center-Column Reference System, copyright © 1984 by Zondervan.
NIV – The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV). Grand Rapids: 1984
Vine, W.E., Unger, Merrill F., White, William Jr. Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, © 1984, 1996.