Got Questions Week 1
Got Questions? Week 1!
So we are starting a new series this week called GotQuestions? This is not just an intellectual exercise it is a display of the fact that if we come to God in faith and diligently study His word it is useful to us
2 Timothy 3:16 says
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
The Word of God is our authority and is helpful to us in the engagement of life. That is the intention of this series.
This week we will be answering the following questions:
“If the Bible is the Word of God we cannot question anything – or can we question or challenge the Word of God”
If God knows everything, are some people born destined to fail and not be saved?
The Trinity
What happens to the Christian in eternity?
Why do we have different Denominations? And Jesus refers to the church as the Bride; How does God deal with many denominations and brokenness in His Church
Will Jesus help our family in the crisis as we believe He will?
So we have a lot to get through.
So lets start
If the Bible is the Word of God we cannot question anything – or can we question or challenge anything in light of the Word of God being the Word of God?
There are three things I want to address here:
Can we trust the Word of God?
Do I trust the Word of God?
Can I question?
In terms of if we can trust the Word of God to be the Word of God; absolutely. The evidence is profound.
The prophecies found within Scripture are only one instance of this; there are hundreds of prophetic utterances within Scripture that are fulfilled in our past.
The unified nature of scripture is another confirmation – due to the fact that it was written over thousands of years
And the historic accuracy of Scripture is profound with both the OT and the NT being some of the most accurate text of antiquity ever produced.
The Word of God is trustworthy!
b) do I trust it? Well that is another question; and I believe it is where a lot of Christian’s start to loose their way; is when they start to question the trustworthiness of Scripture and start allowing their culture to interpret Scripture rather than Scripture to interpret culture.
So
C)Can I question it? Well yes and no. Yes you can ask questions of Scripture; but are you willing to set aside your bias and hear what it actually has to say or are you trying to prove a point in questioning Scripture.
If God knows everything, are some people born destined to fail and not be saved?
This is one of the oldest questions that Christians have been asking; literally the first person to address this question was Augustine of Hippo in the 4th Century.
To answer this we need to address why this is a question:
God is sovereign; he is in control of everything
Man has obviously stepped out of that control because He sinned and step out of the will of God.
God is control of all things; this is the greatest security to the Christian and is a joy to those who know and trust in the sovereignty of God. Add to this is another profound truth revealed explicitly within Scripture; God has elected those who have been saved. He chose them. This too is a joy for those who have been saved as their salvation does not depend on them but on God who chose them!
But something else is also revealed in Scripture; man has a choice; and if you chose not to follow God you are left to suffer the consequences of that.
So going back to the question does God send people to Hell? There is enough revealed in Scripture that tells us absolutely not!
How can that be if God is in control of everything? The answer is complex; God is not bound by the constructs of time that we are and so in His profound being is able to allow free will within the confines of His own sovereignty.
In other words God is so big that He is still in control in spite of the fact that man has gone his own way.
The Trinity
Again another question that has been asked since the church started; how can God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all be God and Scripture declare “behold o Israel the Lord your God is one.”
To Put it simply Scripture reveals that they are one and three; different yet equal and of one substance.
There are many traps to fall into in this profound doctrine;
Firstly is to think of them as one God who reveals Himself in three way; this is not true and not revealed to us in Scripture
Secondly is to think of them as three modes of God like water – it can be ice it can be liquid and it can be gas – all is water.
This fails to understand the true nature of the God-head though as these cannot coexist together and God cannot become son nor son Holy Spirit.
So what can we state about the trinity well
God is one
God is three
Three is eternal
They each have their own function
Each is distinct yet one
Finally this may seem almost contradictory – but it is not it is simply incomprehensible because God is not like us.
How would you describe three dimensions to a two dimensional being; it would be through poor illustrations that leave more questions than answers and that is where we find ourselves when we behold God; He simply is greater than us; and in this I remain the creation and He God and creator; greater than me and my ability to understand Him fully.
What happens to the Christian in eternity?
Simply we will be with God!
The New Testament emphasizes Resurrection – therefor we will have bodies and live eternal lives; it is beyond our ability to grasp not
We will be without sin – or even the desire to sin
We will be with Christ
We will be ourselves
Why do we have different Denominations? And Jesus refers to the church as the Bride; How does God deal with many denominations and brokenness in His Church
Let’s start with the obvious fact that in every denomination there are lots of churches and within those churches there are lots of people and people often don’t get along. Christian’s like everyone else struggle with pride, selfishness, stubbornness, the desire for power and hypocrisy.
This all builds to a toxic blend that causes splits and divisions; is this of God: no! Does God use it for His glory yes.
And by His grace there is a growing trend in the world for different denominations of the church of Christ to work together for the glory of God!
Will Jesus help our family in the crisis as we believe He will?
The short answer to this is yes – but it might not be as you expect Him to work.
Romans 8:28 states that God works all things to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.
Does this mean that He will take away the crisis maybe not; does it mean that He has left you alone in the crisis no. Will you come out the other side a better people; if you learn to use your crisis for what it is for the development of your faith and character.
God is with you in your crisis; and He is in control of your crisis; but often He needs us to go through our crisis in order to do the work in our lives that needs to be done.